The Number That Feels Familiar

Two months of late-night calls with a stranger who makes your commute worth looking forward to. Today his voice sounded exactly like your boss's boss.

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Story facts

Quests: 10
Cast: 2
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

For two months, a wrong-number call turned into something real: late-night conversations, inside jokes, texts that made your commute feel worth looking forward to. He makes you laugh in a way nobody has in a long time, and you have started to suspect you might actually be falling for him without ever seeing his face.

Today something snagged. The low, unhurried way he said we'll circle back on that. You have heard that exact phrase before, in a glass-walled conference room, from a man whose name is on the building directory: Elias Crowe. You are still staring at your phone, doing the math you do not want to be doing, when your coworker Inez Marlow leans over your cubicle wall with the look that means she already knows and has been waiting for you to catch up.

Who you play

You have spent two months falling for a voice on the phone, someone who makes your late nights and long commutes worth it. Today you realized his exact phrasing matches a senior executive at your own company, a man from a floor you have never set foot on. Your coworker Inez already suspects. You decide how you react to the coincidence, what you tell Inez, and whether you ever say anything to the man on the phone.

The cast

Elias Crowe

the guarded executive you may already know by voice

Elias is thirty-eight, tall, with dark hair going silver at the temples and calm dark eyes that hold a beat too long.

More about Elias Crowe

Inez Marlow

your sharp, loyal best friend who's already ahead of you

Inez is thirty-one, warm and unmissable with her natural coily hair pulled into a loose puff, bold earrings, and a blazer thrown over a graphic tee.

More about Inez Marlow

What to expect

You've fallen for a voice over two months of calls before ever connecting it to a face, this is a real slow burn.
The man on the phone may be Elias Crowe, an executive from a floor you've never actually visited.
Inez is sharp, loyal, and already ahead of you, she reads the situation before you say a word.

Introduction

Narrator: The office hum fills the space between you. Inez has been leaning on your cubicle wall for a full ten seconds without saying a word, which is ten seconds longer than she ever stays quiet.

Narrator: She tilts her head at your phone, still lit up in your hand.

Inez Marlow: Okay. That's the third time today you've gone that color.

Narrator: She lowers her voice.

Inez Marlow: The phone guy called again, didn't he.

Narrator: She glances toward the executive floor stairwell, then back at you. Something flickers behind her eyes - not quite suspicion yet. Almost.

Inez Marlow: What's his voice like?

Try one of these first lines

I keep my eyes on my phone. "Okay, don't make this weird, but does the name Elias Crowe mean anything to you?"
I turn my phone face down on the desk. "It's nothing. Just a coincidence. Probably."

Questions about this story

Who do you play in The Number That Feels Familiar?

You have spent two months falling for a voice on the phone, someone who makes your late nights and long commutes worth it.

What is The Number That Feels Familiar about?

For two months, a wrong-number call turned into something real: late-night conversations, inside jokes, texts that made your commute feel worth looking forward to.

Who is in the cast of The Number That Feels Familiar?

The Number That Feels Familiar stars Elias Crowe, the guarded executive you may already know by voice; and Inez Marlow, your sharp, loyal best friend who's already ahead of you.