Work Text:
When Kala wakes up on Saturday morning, she finds a text from an unknown number on her phone.
Do you want to come to my place? (Received 3:02 AM)
She’s confused. No one she knows would have messaged her at that hour. Kala wakes up early to visit the local temple every morning, and she doesn’t keep that fact a secret. Plus, her family is a million miles away.
Who is this? (Delivered 8:39 AM)
Unsurprisingly, she doesn’t receive a response right away. If they were asking someone over at three in the morning, they’re probably in bed now, she reasons. Kala puts it out of her mind, choosing instead to get out of bed and concentrate on preparing for her day.
—
Kala has all but forgotten about the stray text message by the time she’s finished praying that morning. When she gets home and begins to cook herself some breakfast, her phone buzzes. She absentmindedly takes it out of her pocket, unlocking the screen to find that she finally has a response from the unknown number.
Wolfgang. We met at the club last night. (Received 10:46 AM)
She raises her eyebrow. She’s only been living in Berlin for two weeks or so, but she didn’t think anyone was actually named Wolfgang anymore. Kala wonders if this person has given her a fake name for some reason. She dismisses the thought pretty quickly, though. To what end would they do that?
I think you have the wrong number. (Delivered 10:49 AM)
And with that message, Kala figures her conversation with this stranger is done. She puts her phone down on the counter and turns her attention back to her food. Several minutes pass as Kala finishes cooking and serves herself a plate. She grabs her phone to listen to music while she’s eating, only to find that she has another text.
I just checked. This is the number that was written on the napkin. If you don’t want to come over, I’m not offended. (Received 10:55 AM)
She chuckles as she realizes what must have happened. Poor guy.
I’m not sure who you think I am, but I didn’t go to any club last night. Someone gave you a bad number. (Delivered 11:07 AM)
Kala eats her food and cleans up after herself, her phone buzzing as she’s putting everything into the dishwasher.
Sorry. My mistake. Won’t bother you again. (Received 11:21 AM)
And from there, Kala intends to forget about the exchange entirely.
—
A little over a week later, Kala ends up getting stranded at her job. She had been working late, just wanting to test a few more things before going home for the day. But before she knew it, thirty minutes turned into an hour turned into three, and now it’s dark out. Normally she walks home, but normally she also leaves work at 5 PM. She is a lot less comfortable with the idea of walking home in a strange city at night. Kala checks her bank statement on her phone and winces. She hasn’t received her first paycheck from her new job yet, and without that Kala isn’t sure she can afford both cab fare and groceries for the week. She hasn’t even been in town long enough to really make friends, either, so she doesn’t know anyone she can ask for a lift.
Kala scrolls through her text messages just for something to do with her hands while she’s thinking over her options when she happens upon the unknown number from the previous week. The area code tells her the number is from Berlin. She doesn’t want to contact this person – she’s never met them, doesn’t know anything about them except that they were accidentally given her number. But she figures it can’t hurt to ask a local for advice.
Do you know a cheap way to get from Rhinstrasse to Haupstrasse? (Delivered 8:11 PM)
When she doesn’t get an answer right away, Kala starts scolding herself. What am I doing? You don’t know this Wolfgang person and now you’ve told him where you are and where you want to go? But Kala considers her other options and sighs. She can’t come up with a better idea. A few minutes later, her phone vibrates in her hands, and she tentatively opens the message.
How cheap are we talking? (Received 8:17 PM)
Kala thinks about her bank account.
As close to free as possible? (Delivered 8:19 PM)
She wonders why this person on the other end is answering at all. But since they’re kind of her only lifeline right now, she figures beggars can’t be choosers.
There’s nothing really like that. Why do you ask? (Received 8:22 PM)
Kala’s wondering that herself. She’s not sure what exactly she expected. All she knows is she’s getting kind of desperate. There’s no food in the building where she works, but if she leaves to get some, the timed locks on the doors will stay shut behind her. So it’s stay here and go hungry for the night, risk walking home alone, or message this person. None of the choices are good.
I’m new to Berlin and stuck at work. Was just hoping there might be an inexpensive way home. Thank you anyway. (Delivered 8:24 PM)
The next message comes almost immediately.
How stuck are you? Is it an emergency? (Received 8:25 PM)
She half laughs at that, as if she would be contacting some stranger if she had any other choice.
I mean, I’m not going to die if I stay the night, if that’s what you mean. But there is no food. (Delivered 8:26 PM)
Again, she receives a reply almost instantly.
I’m near Rhinstrasse if you need a ride. (Received 8:27 PM)
Kala considers this. Is she really going to accept a ride from a stranger? Her stomach growls as if to answer her thoughts. She hasn’t eaten since around noon and is actually starting to feel a bit light-headed, but she doesn’t want that to distract her from the danger she may be putting herself in. She weighs it against the potential risk of walking home in the dark, and finds that both kind of terrify her. Part of her feels like she should just try to stick the night out in the office without food, but she also wonders what they would even look like to her boss tomorrow. (She imagines herself, and she knows it won’t look good. Nothing nearby that sells food opens up until around the same time as she is supposed to get to work, which will mean she won’t get a chance to eat until lunch. Wearing the same clothes as the day before and possibly sick, she wonders what that would even look like to her supervisor. She literally can’t afford to lose this job.) In the end, she’s not sure if it’s logic or hunger she’s following, but she decides to text this Wolfgang person back.
Sure. I’ll meet you at the corner of Rhinstrasse and Allee der Kosmonauten. (Delivered 8:30 PM)
—
She’s only been waiting for a few minutes when a black car parks nearby. After a moment, she receives a text.
I’m here. I just realized I don’t know who I am looking for. (Received 8:48 PM)
Kala looks down at her clothes, grateful she’s always had a colorful sense of fashion.
I’m the woman in yellow pants. (Delivered 8:49 PM)
And sure enough, after that message is sent the black car pulls up to her. When it gets to the curb, the man inside the car rolls down his window. “Hello?” he asks.
“Wolfgang?” Kala replies with her own question.
The man nods and she hears the doors of his car unlock. Tentatively, she pulls the passenger door open and gets in. She clutches her phone tightly, the thought that at least she can still call the police if necessary the only comfort in her mind. After she buckles herself in and they start pulling away, he asks, “Do I get to know your name?”
She looks down in embarrassment, not even realizing she’d never given it to him. “Kala,” she says softly.
Wolfgang doesn’t reply, instead focusing back on the road. She looks back up, finally taking a moment to actually observe the stranger she is trusting. His features are sharp, intense blue eyes framed by high cheekbones and a square jaw. He’s dressed in black from head to toe. She notes with amusement that he’s even sporting a leather jacket to complete the ensemble. Part of her wonders if she’s just gotten into a car with a German mobster.
To his credit, though, he is taking the fastest route to the address Kala gave him. (If he’s planning on trying something, she thinks, at least it’s not a kidnapping.) Never good with silence, Kala feels the need to say speak. “Thank you for doing this. I know you don’t know me and this is probably a huge inconvenience, but I really didn’t have anyone else to ask.”
Wolfgang shakes his head, giving her a small smile before looking back to the cars ahead of him. “Don’t worry about it.”
Kala shakes her head. Now that she’s out of the immediate panic, she’s frustrated with herself for even getting stuck in this situation in the first place. “It’s my own fault. I just got so caught up at work that I lost track of time.”
“What do you do?” he asks.
“I work for a pharmaceutical company,” she answers before she thinks about it. (She wonders why she’s telling him any of this, actually. Why is this man she’s never met so easy to talk to?)
“So you make drugs,” he says with a chuckle.
Kala scoffs. “I develop new medicines.”
“The only difference between the two is how you use them,” he replies.
She pauses. “That’s one way to look at it.”
Before Kala knows it, they’re pulling up to her street. Wolfgang pulls over at her address and stops the car. The doors are still unlocked, and she realizes he really isn’t going to try anything. He’s letting her leave. This stranger really just showed up out of nowhere to drive her home, with no ulterior motive at all. She’s kind of amazed at her luck.
“Do you want gas money?” she asks.
He shakes his head. “I said don’t worry about it.”
Kala nods, but she still feels like she should thank him some way. “Have you eaten?” she asks.
Wolfgang shakes his head again.
“Just a minute. Wait here,” she says. Kala gets out of his car and hurries up to her apartment. She’s not sure if he’ll still be there when she gets back, but she wants to at least give him something. When she gets into her home, Kala scurries over to her kitchen and grabs some tupperware out of a cabinet. She then grabs some of the leftovers that she had been planning to eat that night out of the fridge and scoops a hearty amount into the new container. It’s not fresh, but she figures it’s better than nothing.
She’s almost surprised to find Wolfgang still waiting when she comes back outside. But there he is, checking his phone while his car idles at the curb. She knocks on the passenger window to get his attention, and he rolls it down.
“Here,” Kala says with a smile and hands him the food.
“What’s this?” he asks.
“Nothing special. Just some leftover lamb curry. But I figured it was the least I could do.”
Wolfgang inspects the food for a moment, then puts it on his passenger seat and smiles up at her. “Thank you.”
Kala shakes her head. “You’re the one who came to save me.”
He chuckles. “I was in the neighborhood. It’s nothing.”
She shrugs. “Well, the food’s there now. So you might as well enjoy it.”
Wolfgang’s grin widens. “Alright, alright.”
“Thank you again, Wolfgang,” Kala says.
“Any time,” he replies with a nod. With that, he finally rolls back up the window and pulls away. For some reason that Kala can’t quite place, she feels a bit disappointed.
—
That Friday, Kala is feeling restless. Other than her adventure at the beginning of the week, she hasn’t had a chance to do anything but go to temple, work, eat, and sleep. Once she gets out of work, she wants to do something different for a change. But she still doesn’t know her way around Berlin or have anyone to show her, so she’s not sure what to do.
An idea comes to her. Kala’s not sure if it’s a good one, but she just got her first paycheck today so she really wants to go out somewhere to treat herself. So even though she has no reason to expect this to be a necessarily great plan, she texts the only local person outside of her coworkers that she has in her phone.
Hey. Are you busy tonight? (Delivered 9:01 PM)
She doesn’t get a response at first, and she scolds herself for having sent the message at all. Just because he helped you in an emergency doesn’t mean he wants to be friends, Kala thinks. You don’t even know him.
Kala has all but resigned herself to another night in when she feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. (She doesn’t admit to herself how eager she is when she retrieves it to check the message.)
No. What’s up? (Received 9:26 PM)
She thinks about how to word what she wants to say next. (Kala feels a bit like a teenager again, analyzing text messages so acutely.) In the end, she scrolls back up to their first conversation and decides to take a cue from there.
Do you know any clubs near Hauptstrasse? Finally got paid and wanted to see what Berlin has to offer. (Delivered 9:28 PM)
Wolfgang’s next answer comes much more quickly.
I can think of a couple. Do you need another ride? (Received 9:29 PM)
No. I was thinking more of a tour guide this time. (Delivered 9:30 PM)
If that’s okay, I mean. Don’t feel obligated. (Delivered 9:31 PM)
Kala kind of wants to smack herself. (She wonders why she’s so bad at this, when talking to him in the car had felt so easy.) Then her phone goes off again.
I think we could work something out. Meet you in 30? (Received 9:33 PM)
She pretends her stomach isn’t full of butterflies, but when she goes to her bathroom to start putting on makeup, Kala finds she can’t stop smiling.