Face2Face

Gav is sitting in his apartment watching television. He looks around the small space and sees the moving boxes that still littler the floor of the living room, the bedroom and the kitchen. A good amount of the boxes are empty but after being in the new apartment for almost a month now he was hoping to have the place all set up. Works been busy but honestly Gav is just a procrastinator. He comes home from work and always has grand plans to do something productive but usually finds himself on his couch. The television usually one but most of the time he isn’t paying attention to it because he’s always on his phone.

Tonight, is no different. He crumbles up the last taco wrapper from his take out dinner and throws it in the bag it came in. He wipes the grease off his mouth and hands with the napkin and throws that in the bag as well.

He pulls his phone out from his jeans pocket and types in his passcode. The phones Home Screen pops up, lighting up the dimly lit room. He does his normal routine. Checking his email first, nothing but junk, so he deletes them all. Then he goes through his social media accounts. He spends a few minutes commenting and liking some posts and videos and then closes the apps. He sits there for a few minutes just staring at his tv.

He isn’t paying attention to what’s on, some horror movie he has seen a dozen times already anyways. He’s busy thinking about what he might be doing this weekend. That thought makes him pull his phone out again. This time logging into the Face2Face app. The app started out as just a meet up app. Something that people could join if they are looking to meet new people. It was created for people who had just moved and are new to the area. This is exactly why Gav downloaded it. He just moved to this area a month ago and knows no one. He moved here for work and hasn’t had the best of luck meeting new people, so he decided to try the app out. The week or so that he has been using the app he hasn’t had much luck, but that doesn’t stop him from trying again tonight. However, like most of these apps, it quickly turned into a dating app. Gav is ok with that too, he wouldn’t say no to a date with a good looking guy.

He spends a few minutes scrolling through the new matches he was sent. Not finding anyone that he likes, he readies to close the app when he hears the chime of another match ring. He taps on the picture of the match and is greeted to a picture of a man named David. Gav is staring at a tall man with shaggy black hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He notices a little grey in the beard and for some reason that makes Gav smile. In the picture David is standing in front of a small pond at what looks like a park. Children’s playground equipment, swings, slides and a merry-go-round can be seen off in the distant. Standing next to David is a little blonde girl. Gav wonders if that’s his daughter. That wouldn’t bother him if she was though, Gav loves kids.

Gav reads through the man’s profile. It says that he just moved to the area last week and is looking for someone to hang out with. The man likes to fish, something he likes to do with his niece. He would also rather grab a beer at the bar and watch hockey as opposed to going to some club. He’s more of a homebody which is something Gav likes. He swipes through his pictures and decides to message David. He introduces himself and asks him if he’d like to go grab a drink and watch the hockey game Sunday afternoon. Gav closes the app and continues to watch the movie. Just in time to see the part where the naïve guy rips open the cotton candy cocoon and finds a bloody face.

A chime rings out that startles Gav who fell asleep on the couch. He jumps at the sound of it and accidentally flips his phone onto the floor. He catches his breath, looking at the television screen looping the start screen for the movie. He picks his phone off the carpet and taps it on. He types in his passcode and sees a red tick next to his email app, notifying him of a new email. He opens up the app and reads the subject line of the email. Please Reset Password. He looks at the from line and sees the senders name. [email protected]. He opens the email and reads it.

This is Gemma from Face2Face. We have reason to believe that your password might be compromised. It would be in your best interest to reset your password.

Gav has seen emails like these a hundred times before. Although this one does seem legit, most of them don’t say a persons name. He decides to ignore it anyway. He presses the little trash can icon in the lower left of the screen and the email vanishes. He puts his phone back down and clicks the play button for the movie.

He gets to the same part of the movie again when the notification chime rings out again. He grabs his phone, hoping this time it’s David messaging him back. The more he thinks about his profile the more he likes him. He inputs his passcode and scrolls over to the Face2Face app. It shows no red tick, and he gets slightly disappointed. The notification is for his email again and clicks open the app. The from name is the same as earlier but this time the subject line reads different. Urgent! Unauthorized Activity. Maybe someone really did hack into my account he thinks. It’s not like there’s any important information on there but he decides to read the email anyway.

This is Gemma from Face2Face again. We have reason to believe that your account might be compromised. This is the second suspicious activity on your account in the last thirty minutes. It would be in your best interest to reset your password.

Gav stares at the email for a moment. This is different than the usual reset your password emails most are just automated emails, this one seems more personal. Almost like Gemma actually sent this to him herself. He decides to click into the app and reset his password. While he is there he decides to check and see if David responded to his email. Gav is disappointed when he realizes that the man hasn’t. He closes the app and decides to turn in for the night.

He turns the television off and pulls himself off the couch. He twists the deadbolt lock on his apartment door. He reaches up and latches the chain as well. He doesn’t usually latch the chain but something in him instinctively did it tonight. He lives alone but that’s never really bothered him. He lives in a building with nineteen other apartments so there is always people around. Something about those emails have just really gotten to him though. Thoughts race through his mind of all the horror movies he has seen and he starts to freak himself out.

He readies himself for bed, doing his normal routine. He places his head on his pillow and turns the tv on. He doesn’t usually sleep with the tv on but tonight he does. He tries to convince himself it’s because he’s not tired yet and not because he’s still a little freaked out. He decides horror movies aren’t the best idea and turns on something a little more laid back. He watches for a while and just as he feels his eyes growing heavy his phone rings out again.

He grabs it and swipes it open. He sees the red tick next to his email app again. It’s late and he’s tired, he doesn’t want to open it but something in him tells him he should. He taps open the email without even reading the subject line and reads the body of the email.

Gavin M, this is Gemma with Face2Face again. I know this is the third email I have sent you tonight about your account but there has been some unusual activity associated with it. We temporally suspended your account. Please click the link below if you would like to reactive your account.

Is this a joke? Is this what they do to new members? Gav doesn’t know, and he’s irritated by this whole situation, but he really doesn’t want to miss out on the potential meet up with David. He lets out a yawn, rubbing his eyes but instead of putting the phone down and going to sleep he clicks the link attached in the email.

Gav spends a few minutes answering the account recovery questions. When he’s done the page refreshes to the Home Screen of the app. He sees a red star burst next to the envelope icon, meaning he has a new message. His stomach starts to turn slightly, the nerves slowly making their way through him. The anticipation of what the message could be. Did David write back? Is it just a system message about the account recovery? He touches the icon, and a huge smile overcomes his face. David’s name appears at the top under the messages received. Gav taps the message and reads it.

When he finishes reading it he can’t stop smiling. The message is filled with smile emojis and excitement about hanging out. The end of the message has an invite to a video chat. That is the heart of Face2Face. You can message your matches but they allow free video chats between matches as well. All studies show that connections grow when you can see and hear your match before you actually meet in person. It also comforts people to see who they are talking to before they meet in person.

Gav sits up in bed and runs his hands through his hair. He accepts the video chat request and in seconds his screen flips to a dimly lit room. The room sits empty except a chair centered in the screen. Gav tries to make out anything else in the room but the light is so dim he can’t. All of a sudden a figure sits down in the empty chair. It’s a man and Gav can tell it’s the same man from all those pictures he looked at so many times earlier that night. They introduce themselves and the first thing he notices is the man’s deep voice, it’s like something you would hear in one of those movie trailer voiceovers. After a few awkward minutes of not knowing what to say the two men relax and start chatting. They talk about all the normal things you talk about when meeting someone new. They talk about their jobs and their family. Then they transition into their hobbies and what they like to do for fun. The conversation is going great Gav thinks. Actually, it’s going perfect.

A chime rings out, startling Gav. David notices and asks if everything is alright.

“Yeah, it’s just a notification.” Gav says, looking at the email notification. He reads the sender info and sees it’s another email from Gemma.

“Do you need to get that?”

“No, it’s nothing.” He says, not wanting to end this amazing night. “I’ve just been getting these emails all night about weird activity on my Face2Face account. They keep wanting me to reset my password. I did and I’m still getting these emails. There must be something going on with their system. Have you gotten any emails from them today?” He asks David.

“No, I haven’t.”

Gav decides to ignore the email and continue on with his conversation with David. A few moments later another chime rings out. Gav is so into his conversation with David that he doesn’t realize at first that the noise is different. David excuses himself, he needs to take his dog out. A giant golden retriever that David showed Gav earlier in their conversation. Gav minimizes the window showing the empty chair and sees that he has a new text message. It shows a number but no name and Gav taps the box curiously.

I hope this is still your current number. This is Gemma from the Face2Face app. I know I have sent you a few emails today, but I’ve noticed that you have not reset your password and I really need to talk to you about your account. If you could please text me back or give me a call at this number, this is my personal number, that would be great.

Gav rubs his eyes, feeling even more tired now but this text has him concerned. He knows now that those previous emails weren’t fake. David hasn’t returned yet so Gav grabs his work phone and decides to call Gemma.

She answers the phone on the first ring and lets out an exasperated greeting.

“Hello! Is this Gavin M?”

“Yes, it is. Can you tell me what is going on?”

“Have you received any of the emails I sent?”

“Yes, I received them all. “

“How come you haven’t gone into your account and changed your password?” She asks angrily.

“I have. I mean the first email I thought was a scam, so I just deleted it. But I did after the second one. I also clicked the link from the third email about my account recovery and went through the steps to reactivate my account.”

“You did?” She asks confused. “Are you sure you did? I’m looking at your account right now and it’s showing no attempt recover it.”

Gav doesn’t understand how that’s possible. He knows he clicked those links. He’s on his account right now in fact. But either way, what’s the big deal? Obviously, there’s some kind of mistake, his account is fine.

“Can you tell me what’s going on with my account, or at least what you think is going on? I mean most companies don’t go to these lengths to try and reset someone’s password.”

“Well, it goes further than that. I had to deactivate your account because of the things that were being posted on it.”

“What do you mean, what kinds of things are being posted?” Gemma grows silent for a minute, Gav can tell something serious is going on. “I’m on my account right now on my other phone.”

“That’s not possible.” Gemma says, confused by what Gav just told her. “I locked your account. There hasn’t been any activity on it in the last hour.” Gav grabs his personal phone and checks the screen. The video chat is still up and running. He sees David in the background taking the leash off of Bentley.

“I’m looking at it right now. I’m in the middle of a video chat with a match I had earlier. We’ve been chatting for almost an hour now.”

“Sir I don’t know what app you’re on, but it isn’t Face2Face.” His attention gets pulled away from what Gemma just told him when he hears David call out his name.

“Hey Gav, you still there? Everything ok?”

“I don’t know.” Gav says, feeling uneasy about this whole situation. “I’m talking to that lady from the app, the one who emailed earlier about my account. She’s saying some weird things.”

Just then, the lights in Gav’s apartment go out. The only light is coming from the two phones. He hears Gemma’s voice coming from his work phone laying on the table and David’s voice coming from his personal phone sitting in the stand on the table.

“What’s going on?” David asks.

Gav hears David but doesn’t respond. His focus is on Gemma and her urgent tone. He can’t fully concentrate on either voice.

Chimes ring out on his phone, pulling his attention back to David and his personal phone. The chimes keeping going, notifications littering his screen one by one telling him he has a new email.

“Gav, hey Gav.” David calls out to him.

“What is going on?” Gav mumbles to himself.

“I can tell you.” These words bring Gav back to David.

“What, you can tell me?” Suddenly the lights on Gav’s apartment start to flicker on and off in rapid succession. Gav sees a slight smirk appearing on David’s face right before the lights go out again. Gav sits in complete darkness, both of his cell phones have shut off as well. He hears a noise behind him, and he becomes stiff with fear. He can sense something behind him, but his body is paralyzed with fear. A cold breath tickles the back of his neck. The breath moves around to the side of the Gav’s neck and up to his ear. A cold chill runs through Gav’s entire body as a familiar deep voice speaks softly into his ear.

“Next time you should reset your password.”