January 25, 2017

I walked out of the apartment building onto the streets. He had asked me if I wanted photos from the past few weeks sent to me before leaving and I said yes. The pitch black roads that were reportedly paved with recycled material contrasted with the shiny white sidewalks. I headed towards the next subway station over to pick up some medication.

I went down to the underground mall when I got an e-mail with the attached photos. “We should have been better” read the body of the text. After looking away for a brief moment, the thumbnail preview of the photo album had changed. I recalled that it used to look like a photo of a credit card. I assumed that was originally a mistake and that it was now corrected. I finally opened the album to see that it not only included photos that were taken on his phone but also a few pictures of cars.

I heard someone on the escalators making a call and talking about me. They were laughing at how I was wandering in the mall alone and taking my time. “It’s not as noisy as the night market” they added.