The phone rang. Another unknown number, but M knew who that would be. “Your food has arrived, please open door,” the service representative said.
The waimai was all drenched. “Nihao,” he said, handing him a paper bag that was stapled to keep the food packets inside from falling off.
“Nihao.”
This was the first time he had ordered from Hulu, so they sent him a complimentary bottle of wine and two cookies along with the pasta he had ordered. He swallowed a cookie right away. It was nice and delicious until the cookie crumbled. As it took a tumble in the insides of his mouth, he could feel a strip of paper getting stuck to his upper palate before, using his finger, he pulled it out, half meaning to call Hulu and complain until something written on the paper caught his eye. “The greatest risk is not taking one.”
So this was what the representative from Hulu had meant when he called and made pleasant conversation and told him they would be sending two fortune cookies and a surprise gift along with the food.
He was careful with the second cookie, cracking it open and taking out the paper first. He then opened the parchment to read what fortune held in store now.
“18511588XXX”.
That looked like a telephone number. He scanned the rest of the paper bag for clues but found none. Could this be a number he had to call to claim some gift? Brands these days were always coming up with such schemes to popularize products.
Hesitating at first, he called the number. The phone rang incessantly but remained unanswered. Maybe someone printed a number by mistake, instead of some interesting phrase. He forgot all about it as he attacked the Spaghetti Bolognese.
But once he had had his food he got an idea. Maybe if he saved the number on his phone he could check if the user was there on WeChat. Maybe it would be someone who comes up with phrases to lock inside nice cookies. He had nothing to lose. So he went to the dialed numbers on his phone and saved the last dialed number as, what should he call it, he wondered. FC, he thought, for fortune cookie. And then as an afterthought he added an asterisk after each letter. F*C*.
He then opened the WeChat app and thumbed his way to first Contacts and then New Friends, and there it was on top of Mobile Contacts, the number. But it had no profile picture.
He hesitated for a while before sending the enigma a friend’s request. The request was accepted right away.
“Hello M!”
“Hello! How do you know my name? Who are you??”
“Mmm. You sure like to know, innit? Check out my profile”
And suddenly the profile which had no photograph until then sprang to life. It was M’s very own photograph.
“WHO IS THIS?” he typed in all caps.
“And how did you get my photograph? I’ll report you to the police. This is illegal. Did you hack my phone?
“Cool down M! There is no reason to get hyper. I look like you because I am your fortune teller, one you discovered on cracking a fortune cookie. Now do as I tell you if you want to know what your future holds. As you must have figured out by now, the two of us have a cosmic connection about which I shall tell you more when we meet. But today is the only day when I can meet you. I will go back to my deep sleep tomorrow and won’t be bothered about people’s fortunes until the next time there is a lunar eclipse in the month of November. As you know November is a very fortunate month for you. If you don’t know why I will tell you when we meet. For that, you should cycle your way to the Drum Tower today at exactly 4pm. Wear your scarf, the white and black one, the one you have stowed away in your almirah. I know all about it. Once you are at the Drum Tower just ping me once and wait till I come and meet you. The road ahead of you is very crucial and only I can tell you what you should and what you should not do. Are you ready to hear what your future holds?”
Like M had a choice.
“Yes, yes, please guide me,” he wrote back, keying in the words frantically, while also shuddering at the thought of meeting a stranger who seemed to know all about him and even had his profile photograph.
“It’s 3 pm already. You seem drowsy after your meal. You must wake up now and start getting ready if you are to be on time. You won’t get to meet me if you are a minute late. Get up and get ready, fast.”
M stood up hurriedly. He looked for the time but was disturbed by loud thumping on the door. He wondered if he should open it. Walking to the door and looking at the peephole he could make out there was some commotion there. Looking into it he was confronted by an eye looking back at him.
“M, it’s me Kemal, open the door.”
That was his neighbor.
“You alright?”
“Yes!”
“What took you so long to open the door? I’ve been here for some time now. Did you order some food from Hulu? They left it at my door. I don’t blame them. Look at this label here. The 403 looks like 408. It’s been raining cats and dogs and I was almost struck by lightning as I sauntered to check with the lady at 408 in the adjoining building. She denied she had ordered it and looked at the label carefully to point out the anomaly. I really shouldn’t have bothered stepping out in this storm, but then as they say, the greatest risk is not taking one.”
