Chapter 15
Valencia
I stared at the text message for far too long, reading it over and over again. I even pinched myself to ensure that I was not imagining this.
Had he really said that? And was I the intended person?
No, he could not have possibly been with someone else, right?
I typed a response on the phone but then deleted it and kept staring at the screen before coming up with a casual reply.
Me: Slept like a baby? I sure did.
I smiled to myself as I typed it. I had neither acknowledged what had happened between us nor denied it.
Just gave him something to be forced to comment on.
And soon enough, I saw bubbles appear on the chat box. A second later, the message appeared.
Him: Glad to be of service.
I kicked my feet and hands like a lunatic that was giggling to herself and then realized I was in a car and the honks would just anger some random passerby.
It was still too early for anybody to honk on a Saturday morning.
And then I saw another message pop up on my screen.
Him: I am sorry, I won’t be around for a while.
That made all the happiness drain from my face.
What?
I didn’t even bother typing and directly gave him a call.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked in a demanding voice and was greeted with his alluring voice on the other end of the phone.
“Good morning, Sleeping beauty”
I would have melted at those words, but now was not the time to act cheesy.
“Answer me, Ian”
He seemed to let out a sigh.
“Just like I said, work commitments will make me leave the city for a while.”
My happiness not just deflated, but it sank at the bottom of the sea.
“How long is ‘for a while?” I asked him in that same demanding voice, and he answered.
1/5
don’s way today to suck
try. When do you mem, try thewed my outre rain just a tide and was surprised how much i had grown suched to this
1 man in a meter of toys.
“I was worry. Plexe understand.” He began, but then I heard some poise around him. Something the worched the shutting of papers and hasty arrival of people ruding wards w
Tati, are you deny? 1 acked and then I heard a loud sound that wartled me so bad, I alsnost dryped the phone.
I scrambled to get hold of my phone and talk to him, but the phone had already goten discret
I fearity dialed his number again, But it was swatched off
Shar
Was he okay? I didn’t even know way of his friends to inform that he was in trouble or to ask about his work cons
What was that sound I had heard? & looked the people had rushed towards him.
Was he wader since
I couldn’t sit fight and worry beyou growing a me
While I was wondering what to do, my phone rang again, but it was Sophia this time.
I have already reached the und as soon as I received the call.
“You better not come up with mother work releed excuse, okay” She said with her voice raised a little, but I was too confused to exsen utter a word
My silence must have told her I was not okay became the then dropped her playful voice and got all serious
Val, are you okay?” she asked in a concerned voice
The 1 heard that sound and, and now I am scared, soph I began to blabber, but the tried to appease me.
“Okay wait, first calm down and tell me where exactly you are”
I told her, and five minutes later, I saw her walking towards the can
I was still dialing, far’s merker furiously and had already left him a dozen or so messages, but there was no reply. His wher continued to stay switched off
Serhits saw my worried face and only said, “I will drive”
1 nodded and hopped into the co-passenger and as the steered my car back in the direction of the cafe and parked it
She even offered me water and let me take a few sips while patting my back
Only after we were seated at a table in the cafe did the look at me and ask. “Okay, now can you tell me what is going on?”
1 gulped the last bit of water from the glass and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
“Tan is in tronkhe, and I don’t know how to help him.”
215
She knit her brows.
“Who is lan?”
And that is when I realized I was going to get an earful from her. But now the cat was already out of the bag.
Pushing my hair behind my ears, I tried to explain.
“He…I…we are sort of….”
I wondered how to explain it to her as she waited for me to form a coherent sentence.
“You he what?” she asked after a few seconds of me failing to do that.
“He was my blind date, sort of,” I said, and her eyes widened so much that I feared they would pop out of her sockets.
“What?” she asked indignantly.
“I was going to tell you” I began, but she gave me a scathing look.
“When? After this Ian of yours ditched you?”
I immediately rose to his defense.
“He is not like that”
And that didn’t go unnoticed by her.
“Oh my,” she said dramatically, placing a hand on her chest.
“Already defending him, are we?”
I tried to reason with her.
“Can you spare me the lecture, Soph? I think he might be in trouble.”
“Yeah, and I can’t help you if you don’t tell me everything from the start,” she argued, and I saw the logic behind her words.
“So, we have been meeting for the past few nights and…” I began, but she interrupted me loudly again.
“For the past three nights? Plural? Nights?” She asked, and I grabbed her hand to ask her to lower her voice because the cafe was not completely empty.
“Keep your voice down, girl” I nudged her, and she scooted closer to me, dragging her chair along with her butt that almost bumped into me from the side.
“What did you do? Did something happen?” The reprimanding tone was soon replaced by curiosity and excitement.
“That is not the point, Soph” I reminded her, but she silenced me.
“Taht is totally the point. In fact, that is the only point,” she argued.
The waiter came along to take our order and stood in font of us, but Sophia was too engrossed in hearing my story.
We were regulars here and Sophia almost always chatted with the staff here and made outrageous demands that they were too happy to oblige with because she also tipped handsomely.
3/5
But today, not only had she looked at the menu, she was also ignoring the waitress standing in front of her.
“Hello” the waitress greeted us, but Sophia just waved her hand away.
“Shoo, I am in the middle of something important.”
The waitress looked at me in confusion and I said, “Just get us a coffee and sandwiches, please. Nothing fancy today”
Her face fell as if she was imagining landing a juicy tip that had just walked away from her.
“Alright,” She managed to say and then walked away from us and into the kitchen.
“What is wrong with you? Aren’t you hungry today, Soph?” I wondered aloud, but she swatted my hand and said instead.
“Don’t stray away from the topic. Continue with this Ian of yours.”
Ian was not mine. Well, not like the way my head had suddenly imagined. But he did say that he loved serving me and that I was his special client.
“Uh” I thought about it again and explained. “It is complex, but I met him in that shady place you forced me to go to the other night.”
“OMG!” she screamed and looked excited, like a puppy who was being taken to get toys.
“Did you really meet someone there? Wait a minute, then why the fuck did you lie to me when I asked you earlier?”
I made a guilty face.
“Because I was not sure what I was getting myself into. I have not known him for long. But he is nice.”
“Nice?” She looked offended. “Grandmas are nice. Sunny weather is nice. Guys at an elite club that serve their prestigious clients aren’t nice.”
I worried at my lower lip and she asked,
“Do you have a photo of him?”
I shook my head, forgetting entirely that I did have it due to all the panic.
“Okay, and where did you guys usually meet?”
“My place,” I answered, and her eyes widened again.
‘Hm, okay. Where does he work?”
“At the bureau.”
I added after a pause, “I think” and she lost it.
“You think?”
I nodded.
“Are you even listening to yourself? You have been letting some random stranger in your house for three straight nights and you know nothing about him except his name?”
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