An elderly woman opens the door with a friendly smile on her face.
"Oh dear, I didn't know we were getting neighbours, young ones at that." The woman says."
We're not neighbours, sorry." Andrew responds.
"Oh, well, that makes sense then." The elderly woman replies. "I didn't know of someone visiting me today, so I thought you were introducing yourselves."
[This isn't her. This woman is in her seventies, maybe eighties even. May would be in her late fifties this year.]
"Well, we have a question for you." Andrew continues.
"Go ahead." The woman says."Do you perhaps know of the family name Kerone? They used to live in this house."
"Ah, the Kerones. They were the previous owners indeed, and I bought this house from them." The woman answers. Mei silently waits behind Andrew, as he is questioning the lady.
"Oh, that's great." Andrew says. "Do you know where they moved?"
"Come inside, I'll make some tea." The woman says, as she steps away from the doorframe to let them through. "The tea is already on, so make yourself at home while I search for those papers." Andrew and Mei accept her request and head inside. They put their shoes and jackets in the hallway and go to the living room, where they sit down on the couch. The elderly lady comes back with three mugs of mint tea, and places them down on the coffee table in front of the couch.
"I haven't even been able to introduce myself yet." The lady says with creakiness behind her voice. "Youths are always so hasty and impatient, though I guess they have their reasons." She turns herself to the couch and sticks out her hand.
"You can call me Haley."
Andrew shakes her hand."Andrew." He replies.
Mei also shakes her hand. "I'm Mei."
"Oh, that name…" Haley says shakily. "The daughter of the Kerones was also named that. Such a wonderful name, if you ask me." She walks up to a cabinet full of papers, multiple stacks of them, and starts searching. Mei takes a sip of her tea.
"It's already lukewarm." She whispers in Andrew's ear. "You should drink up."
"Hmm… yeah." Andrew replies, and he takes the mug from the table, but doesn't take a sip.
[I shouldn't have expected them to be here, that was dumb, but, if she can find the moving papers, it might give us a clue to where they moved. This hunt is becoming more elaborate, I wouldn't want to become a detective… like Melissa expects.]
"Andrew?" Mei whispers.
"Oh… yeah, sorry." He responds, and he empties the mug in four shots.
Around twenty minutes pass, before Haley looks at a paper, smiling proudly. "I actually found it." She exclaims. "Sorry if that took a little while." She turns to a rocking chair and settles down in it, before handing the paper over to Andrew and Mei. "I hope this can be of help. From what I can see, you are looking for someone related?"
Mei looks up, while Andrew is still analysing the paper. "Well, yeah, we're looking for May. Our parents knew her and they wanted to meet up again, so we thought we would surprise them." Mei explains.
[Glad she's here with me, I wouldn't know how to make up stories on the spot like that.]
"Oh, and that brought you all the way here?" Haley asks curiously.
"It turned out more like a detective's search than we expected." Mei laughs, as she places her hand on the back of her head.
"Gosh, be grateful you have the energy. If I was twenty years younger I would've helped you." Haley jokes. Andrew lowers the paper to his knees and folds it shut.
"I think we got it, as there's another address." He tells Mei.
[It's already past three, I think we'll continue this tomorrow.]
"So you're already leaving?" Haley asks.
"Sorry, but…"
Andrew starts, but Mei interrupts him. "They first met on the 18th, with is two days from now." Mei explains. "We want them to meet on that day, so we really don't have a lot of time."
"Oh it's fine, but be sure to come back one day, to tell me how it went!" Haley exclaims excitement through her creaking voice.
Andrew and Mei says their thanks and goodbyes, and they leave with a copy of the moving papers in their hands.
They arrive at the dorm room around four o clock. Immediately after closing and locking the front door behind them, they take off their shoes and jacket. Mei pulls her tank top over her head and throws it on the clothing pile next to the bathroom door. Andrew also dresses out of his jeans and puts on shorts.
"Man, it was waaay to hot outside today. How did you survive in those jeans?" Mei exclaims, while wearing tight denim shorts raised up to above her hips.
[How do you survive in those exhibitionistic clothes? We're lucky we got an old lady at the door instead of some hormonal teen or middle aged pervert.]
"I tolerate heat quite well." Andrew replies. "But yeah, it was a little hot."
"A little hot, he says. All my places were sweating… I'm so glad with the AC." Mei exclaims. She has undressed to her underwear and bra, both a bright baby blue with a black trim. The bed shakes up and down again as she falls onto it, before turning on the television afterwards. Andrew turns on his phone and sits down besides her. She glances at him.
"What are you looking up?" Mei asks.
"The address, I just found it." Andrew replies.
[The lady said Mei was still a teenager, so she must have left right after finishing high school. Meaning, there's no guarantee we will find her there.]
The weatherman comes up on the news channel, and Mei turns her eyes to him.
[It's the best lead we have, though. The only one even, so it's still worth a shot.]
"It's a two and a half hour ride by Forb." Andrew says.
"Two and a half hours? Where is it?" Mei exclaims with annoyance in her voice.
"On the other side of London, in a small town called Mayflower Town."
"How fitting." Mei responds. "When do you want to go?"
[Fitting indeed.]
"Tomorrow, I guess. There's nothing to…"
"I'm not going tomorrow, but the day after." Mei interrupts. Andrew turns her eyes to her, and then to the television.
"Oh, I see. We'll go the day after tomorrow then, on Wednesday." Andrew decides.
[It's going to be even hotter than today, by five degrees even. Are these the lasting effects of global warming? Well whatever, it's cooling down drastically on Wednesday so I digress.]
The remainder of the day passes, and Andrew falls down onto the bed in his underwear. Sounds of water falling off a body can be heard from the bathroom, as Mei is showering.
[Mayflower Town… of course it had to be something like that. Would be surprised if she wasn't there actually.]
Andrew is browsing pictures of the town, and the neighbourhood of the address.
[Looks quite new. I've never heard of it before, not even when I was alive…]
He turns off his phone and looks at his own reflection in the black screen.
[A walking dead man, is that really what I am, Melissa? I don't see it… not yet.]
Andrew places his phone on the ground and closes his eyes. He lays on top of the blankets, as it's still warm late at night.
[May has changed her mind… she must have. There's no way she just… just… gave up and moved on after what happened. She must've cried, a lot, like all the others. They… must've cried and wept a lot too.]
A moist, warm, soft texture touches his stomach, slowly covering more of his body as it becomes heavier.
[I never really gave it much thought, but… they must have been in despair, crying every day… every hour. I'm sorry I did that to you all… and, it makes sense if you don't want to see me ever again. I would literally be a dead man… walking.]
He wraps his arms around the soft Mei laying upon him, and her eyes jolt for a moment from surprise, but quickly settle down again. She lays her full weight upon him, and closes her eyes as well.
[While you believe I'm fast asleep, I feel your warmth channelling through me, giving me the will to continue moving on. The will I almost lost… together with Melissa.]
Mei kisses him on his forehead. "It's a friendly kiss." She whispers. "You don't have to… take it as a declaration of love, but… if you want, you can."
[Mei… at least to you, I am alive. You're the only one to believe in me, even counting… myself.]