Issuu

The onewho stolemyheart

by AnnaEleonora

To Inna withlove

Published: BoD Books on Demand, Östermalmstorg 1, 114 42 Stockholm, bod@bod.se

Printed: LibriPlureos GmbH,Friedensallee273, 22763 Hamburg, Tyskland

ISBN:978-91-8080-969-6

Introduction

Dating online is the most common way of finding apartner today.The time when you found your other half at arestaurant, at work or at the pub, is reminiscent of another time when the internet didn’tdominate our lives like today.Not only do the young people use Tinder or similar apps to find love, but even the older generations use it. At the same time as we find it easier to hide behind acomputer,webecome more vulnerable. That is not easy to know if you are talking to abot, ahired actor or to areal person. There are of course red flags to look for.Once in love, your cognitive abilities become weaker.

This lovestory is about an older woman who finds her great love on the net. She realises that it could be atrue response from the other part or afraud. The question is if it is the heart or the brain that will win this duel. None of the two protagonists have English as their first language and that complicates their way of thinking and communicating. The fact that they only write to each other and don’tspeak to each other or facetime, makes it even more suspicious, but also thrilling emotionally.

The story is told from the main character’s perspective of being myself (Anna) in the first part and the third part (epilogue) of the story.Inthe middle part you will see it from the perspective of the antagonist (Inna). As areader,you will have to decide yourself. Is this romance with obstacles or if it is spam or fraud? The truth is out there in cyberspace and maybe it is acombination of both that happens in this story.While you are reading, keep an eye on your love and on his/her phone. It could be your man/woman who is one of the antagonists!

Special thanks to Julie Leadbetter,myfriend and neighbour who helped me with the English language, whichI do not fully master.

Part 1Chatting

The sunbeams had found their way to enter the studio through the blinds of the small apartment. Awoman in her sixties stretched herself like acat to warm up her stiffmuscles as aresult of agood night's sleep. She happened to bump into the big black dog who was still sleeping at her side. Sheheard alow growl coming from him to show his dissatisfaction. After being at the toilet, she put her jeans on and at-shirt and then went back into the room to hoist up the blinds. The sun shone into the studio and warmed it up as she stood still for a minute to admire the two palm trees outside her balcony.She turned around and saw that the dog was now awake, but still sleepy and looking at her in aquestioning way of “Couldn’twe sleep alittle bit more?” The woman went to the entrance to fetch the leash and then went back to the dog to put it on the dog’scollar.Before going out, she drank some water from the bottle standing on the sink in the kitchen.

Once outside the apartment building shefelt the fresh air of February and reflected that it was lucky that she had brought some winter clothes from Sweden to Spain. Even if the sun warmed alot and it would soon be too much to wear acover jacket. It was the same procedure every morning: During the walk the jacket came offand was tied around her waist. The dog, ablack standard poodle, always made his number one in the middle of the road under the trees planted there. They continued their way to the sea by passing through the park with the green under the palmtrees, where they could hear the wild small parrots gaggling, but not see them.

Once on the rocky beach, the poodle decided to do his number two and the woman picked up the poop after him and turned around to look for the bin. The sun dazzled her eyes and she was just about to take astep forward when she stumbled on asmall, sharp stone that caused her to fall on the ground. Stunned by the pain in her elbow,she couldn’tget up and the dog looked frightened at her

Iamsitting in my studio at Costa Blanca where Ibought my apartment two years ago. The last two weeks have been very busy since Imoved down here permanently to enjoy the sun and the warm climate like many other Swedish pensioners have done before me. Ilook at my furryand faithful companion, ablack standard poodle,nine and ahalf years old. He is breathingcalmly and has his head on my pillow to feel safe by smelling my odor.Luckily he hasrecovered from the flight in the box as cargo and the ache in his ears which he got as we were to landinAlicante. When you come down from aheight very slowly,the pressure in your ears tends to cause more ear pain than normal.

My thoughts are swirling around in my head because of what happened three days ago when we arrived. As we were climbing the stairs at the restaurant Ferris, he was surprised by anotherdog who was popping out and he got scared. As aresult, he bit the other dog, who was injured. Iamnow working on the papers for the insurance company and liaising with the owner of the dog. Ihope the old dog will recover soon. Iamlucky to speak Spanish, otherwise it would have been very difficult to communicate with the old dog’smaster.

Igoand buy anew leash and the new muzzle to be sure it won’thappen again. We get down the stairs and Ican feel the warm wind caressing my cheeks. It is October here, but it feels like September in Sweden. Ireally enjoy the warm climate and Icherish every day Idon’t have to trot on snow or slippery roads.I feel so happy Imade the decision to move to Spain, even though the incident with the other dog causes alot of work and trouble

After the afternoon walk with the dog, Idecided to take anap. All the new impressions make me tired and there are alot of things to sort out as anew citizen in anew country.I already have my NIE-number since Ibought my studio two years ago, but now Iamgoing to stay here permanently and that requires other papers like padrón, spanish bank account, the document S1 from the Swedish Health Care System and apermanent SIP-card. So there is a lot of work to do.

Ilay down on the Sofa Klippan, boughtfrom Ikea in Murcia. Ilook for relaxing musiconmy phone, find the film music from The Big Blue, close my eyes and nearly fall asleep. When I open my eyes Ifeel like acup of coffee and jump offthe sofa to go and prepare acup of coffee from my coffee machine. The Colombian coffee capsules from Consum are my favorites. Igoback to the sofa, open the Chromebook and start surfing on the net.

Suddenly there is asuggestion about anew dating site which Ihave not tried before. Ihave already tried to meet someone on Match, where Ifound two interesting people from France. Since IspeakFrench, Ithought it would be nice to get to know someone from the country where Ilived for three years when Iwas young. The first one was really nice, but the language used in the chat was adisaster and when the ask for money came up, Ishut down the conversation immediately.The second one was also from France, but seemed well educated. This profile asked for financial help with her ongoing business, so Istopped this conversation too.

With these two experiences in my head, Ithink Iwill be alittle more careful and look for signs of fraud, which can be difficult. This site seems alittle bit more luxurious than the other ones Ihave already tried.

Icontact my sollicitor here in Spain to ask for help to get my Residencia. She says that Ifirst have to get my padrón and Itell her that Ialready got it last time Iwas here in September

The next step is to go to the bank to get bank statements for the last six months to show the Spanish Administration that Ihave regular income to live on here in Spain. So far,sogood.

Since Ihave been planning my move to Spain for ayear,Iasked for the document S1 from the Health Care Department at the beginning of the year.Sothe next step is to call them and ask why Ihaven’tgot it yet. When Iphone them to ask about it, they inform me that the normal time to get it is fifteen months. So Iwill have to wait another eight months!!! Before I get this paper,Ican do nothing at all. Just have to wait.

At the same time as Iamworking on getting the Residence, Ihave to have alot of contact with my Insurance Company about the injured dog. The owner doesn’tseem to be very literate, so Ihave to help him contact the insurance company.Ittakes alot of time and Iam glad that the dog seems to recover ahundred percent.

In Sweden we often look at Spain as acountry where everything takes alot of time because of the attitude “Mañana, mañana”. Idon’tknow if it is the procedure of becoming more international, but Sweden seems sometimes to be working in the same way.And specifically when it comes to the administration of the HealthCare System.

V.

After my siesta, Idecide to look aroundthe gallery of this new site. Isearch on profiles of the same age as me, between sixty and sixty five. They are all very handsome and beautiful and I can feel like an ugly woman compared to the people in the different photos. Iknow that Iam not beautiful, but Ilook nice in the natural way without makeup and my photos are natural photos without improved portraits.

Istop at aprofile whose eyes look really sad even if the face and the outfit show awealthy person. There is something about the eyes which make me reflect on the inside and outside of this person. They seem so contradictory.Ifyou are wealthy you should look happy and smile. The eyes are witnesses of unhappiness and adefiance against the fate of this person. Although the photos in the presentation are from the profiles’ earlier years, Iget curious and press the button to initiate contact.

Living in Florida, the profession of this profile is Lawyer,divorced with one child (a daughter). Interesting, Ithink. If this is afake profile, Iwould at least notice this in the language or in the way of using the language. Alawyer should use the language correctly and be careful aboutwhattosay.

The text of the presentation also suggests that there is something difficult in the person’spast, as to speak. By comparing life like azebra with both black and white stripes, where the black dominates, this description catches my attention and thatishow it all starts.

After the usual presentation phrases, Iamasked the question, why Iamhere on this site. As I am avery honest person, Iwrite about my previous experiences which were not very successful and admit that Ilike the attention from the young profiles here, but Iamlooking for someone my own age. Idon’tthink Ihave alot in common with the younger ones even if there might be some of them who are very mature for their age. There is also the culture, the music, experiences which are different for different generations.

The day after our first contact, we connect rather quickly to communicate again despite the time difference of about six hours. Ipresent myself as adog lover,francophile and ahobby writer.Iimmediately receive the attention about the fact that Iwrite. Iemphasize that Iama hobby writer and not aprofessional author.She asks me what Iwrite about and she wants to know from where Iget my inspiration. Itell her that Iget my inspiration from places, people and events Iknow about. Shewants to know more about it, but Itell her that it would take too much space on this chat.

Her name is Inna and she is still working. She doesn’twork as alawyer anymore. She has startedanew project, as she calls it. Idon’twant to be too curious and therefore Idon’task more about the project yet since it is our first “date”. Inna asks me what caught my attention to contact herand Itell truthfully that her eyes attracted me.

We agree that we are two different profiles who wouldn’thave paid any attention to each other on the street because of the personal style of each of us, witness of different backgrounds and maybe socioeconomiclevels.