Los Angeles

The big city. Everyone knows L.A. for being one of the largest cities in California. There are several parts of Los Angeles. Gina, a manager at a sound studio nearby, lives alone in a small house on May street in the Mar Vista area. Maybe that is why what happened there almost went without anyone noticing.

Gina has been working at the sound studio for the last ten years and just received her promotion to manager. She walks to the bus stop every morning to take the bus to work. With so much traffic in the Los Angeles area, taking the bus is about the only way to get around without going crazy. Or worse yet, someone going crazy on you.

Today, Gina just finished working on some voice over scripts that needed to be done for an upcoming movie. Not difficult work, but long hours. This one fin- 9

ished at midnight to meet the deadline. Gina would be the first to admit that it is late night work sessions, like this, that makes her wish she drove her car rather than taking the bus. But she never knew what kind of day it was going to be until she got to work. So, there was no way to plan ahead. It was those demanding producers that would always come in at the last minute saying they needed something today.

Gina was happy she was finally able to go home. However, she was not looking forward to the ride on the bus at 1 AM. Waiting at the bus stop at this time of night was always unsettling in L.A. Gina was happy to see nobody else was around at the bus stop when she got there. Now she just had to make it a few minutes more before the bus arrived. There was a slight sigh of relief when the bus finally showed up. Another relief for Gina –nobody else was on the bus, which she was liking. This late at night, you never know if you are going to run into some creep.

Gina reached her stop near her home and got off the bus. She started walking towards her home at a faster than usual pace since it was so late at night. It was only about a block and a half away.

Gina was relieved to get home. Even though there has been little crime in her neighborhood, there was always an uneasy feeling she had. Especially after the divorce. She felt safe. It was time for a well-deserved hot shower, a glass of wine, and then straight to bed.

The next morning, Gina’s phone started to ring. It was her mother wanting to get her weekly update and to make sure Gina was doing okay. Ever since the nasty breakup with her ex, Gina’s mother had been worried about her wellbeing. Mainly because her ex was, in her opinion, was a psycho. There was one time he and Gina were over for dinner and he accidentally let it slip out that he had done time in jail for assault. He tried to cover it up by switching it to his brother that did the time, but she knew it was him.

The phone rang at Gina’s house. No answer. Gina’s mom did not want to panic, so she convinced herself that Gina was probably in the shower or something. She

will try to call again later. Which she did, about five minutes later.

The phone rang again and still no answer. Now Gina’s mom was starting to get a little worried. She knew that Gina should have been expecting this phone call. It happened every week. She decided to call again in about thirty minutes.

Your turn… finish the story: