Under Pressure

Samia´s POV

I spent the whole morning tense and didn't even manage to get ready as usual, so I took the first simple black dress pants I could find and paired them with a green blouse, but I left my hair loose and had to put on a lot of make-up to cover up the dark circles under my eyes, as I hadn't slept for an hour last night.

My hands are sweating. Alina must be worse off than me, because every time I passed her in the company she looked at me with watery eyes and her appearance today is not the best. Her eyes are swollen and her hands are shaking.

I send her a quick message and make an appointment for lunch at 11, we need to talk urgently.

Disc a quick message to her:

Samia (message): “How are you, dear?”

Alina (message): “I don't know.”

“I still feel a weight in my chest, as if each breath is more difficult than the last. Anxiety is consuming me and I can't think straight. This is not normal, I don't feel like myself.”

Samia (message): “She goes to the bathroom to splash water on her face and meets me in the cafeteria at 11 o'clock.”

The cafeteria is white and has large tables that can hold up to six people, and I immediately waved for Alina to come, but before I could say anything, she snapped:

“I don't understand how he knew everything so quickly. He knew where I lived, who I was... everything.” - Meanwhile, I was running my hand through my hair, trying to dispel my obvious nervousness. “Was he following us? Or worse, did he already know everything?”

Samia looked a little dazed, stirring the ice in her juice with a straw as she tried to process Alina's words. Finally, looking at her, her face somewhat serious, she said:

“I don't know... I really don't understand. I don't understand how he found out about us so easily, and it's driving me crazy. I couldn't even sleep.” - She put her hands to her face and let out a short sigh.

Alina paused for a moment, a sudden thought crossed her mind, and she exclaimed, with a worried expression:

“Think about it, maybe he was watching us, or following me during other encounters. He knew I was impersonating you, Samia. And that could be a much bigger problem than we realize.” - I say, running my hands through my hair in exasperation.

Samia leaned back in her chair, frowning.

“Christ, that could be a problem... I have to be vigilant. I'll watch my father's reactions. Maybe I'll have to go to Alfa and apologize. I don't know... it's got to be something, right?”

Alina almost lost patience with Samia's suggestion.

“Apologize? That's a stupid and desperate idea, Samia! And he didn't even come after me. He unmasked me but didn't come after me. That shows that he doesn't care about any of this, maybe he's just playing with us.” - Dino in an attempt to hold on to this one thread of hope.

Samia replied with a wry smile:

“You're the one who's being stupid, did you forget about dinner? Your state last night? Wake up, he's already after us.”

Alina was silent for a moment, her eyes fixed on the table. She felt anger growing inside her, mixed with fear that she still didn't know how to control. Finally, she looked at Samia, her voice low and trembling.

“I've never been so humiliated, I've never been so frightened by someone like this... And now what are we going to do? Because it's not going to end here.”

Samia pondered Alina's words for a moment before sighing deeply, staring into the void. The situation was now much more serious than either of them had imagined.

The cafeteria buzzed with the soft hum of chatter around them, but for the two of them, the world had become a quiet, suffocating place. The weight of their predicament pressed down, unrelenting. Samia traced patterns on the table absentmindedly, lost in thought.

“I can't just sit around and wait for something worse to happen,” she muttered under her breath.

Alina, gripping her cup with trembling fingers, nodded. “We need to find out how much he knows. If he was watching us this whole time, there must be a reason. If he just wanted to expose me, he would have done it in a way that would have caused more damage. He was calculated. He wanted me to know that he was in control.”

Samia’s stomach twisted at those words. “Control,” she repeated. “That’s exactly it. He didn’t do this out of curiosity. He did this to send a message.”

Alina exhaled sharply and pressed her fingers against her temples. “Then we need to figure out what that message is before it’s too late.”

Samia hesitated before leaning in closer, lowering her voice. “I’ve been thinking... what if this isn’t just about us? What if this is bigger than we think?”

Alina blinked. “What do you mean?”

“My father. The Alfa. You said he knew everything about you. But what if it’s not just about you? What if he’s after something bigger? Maybe he’s using you to get to something else.”

Alina swallowed hard, her mind racing. “If that’s the case, then we’re in more trouble than I thought.”

A sudden noise made them both jump. A tray clattered to the floor a few tables away, and for a split second, Alina felt her heart stop. She turned sharply, eyes scanning the cafeteria, her paranoia spiking. But it was just another employee, picking up the mess with a sheepish expression.

“We’re losing it,” Samia muttered. “We’re so on edge that every little sound feels like a threat.”

“Because it might be,” Alina whispered back. “You don’t understand how it felt, Samia. The way he looked at me... he wasn’t just exposing me. He was warning me.”

The weight of her words settled between them like a cold shadow.

Samia glanced at her phone, fingers hovering over the screen. “Maybe we should tell someone. Someone we trust.”

Alina shook her head immediately. “No. Not yet. We don’t know who we can trust. If he knows this much already, what if he’s listening? Watching? Any wrong move, and we could make it worse.”

Samia’s throat tightened. “So what do we do?”

Alina set her jaw, a flicker of determination lighting up her otherwise exhausted features. “We play along. We act normal. And we find out who he really is before he decides to take the next step.”

Samia nodded, though the fear gnawed at her insides. There was no turning back now. They were in too deep. And whoever was behind this, he wasn’t done yet.