MIKES POV It’s the third day, I haven’t gone out. Just to get food and water. I have been pacing for hours. The small room feels like it’s closing in on me. The air is stale, The curtains are drawn and the tv is muted. Some preacher waving a Bible around. Donald said he would Come, he hasn’t. I can’t wait anymore. I sit down, only to stand up again. My body won’t rest, my mind either. I hate this feeling. I hate feeling trapped. How the hell did I end up here. I can’t stop imagining what could happen to me. I can’t stop thinking of that woman. Each memory stirring a deep rage within me. I hate feeling like a fool. God!!! I reach for my phone. I have ignored all messages. The phone’s still face down on the dresser. It’s been ringing on and off. I let it. I haven’t blocked her. I want to see how long she keeps trying. Part of me keeps hoping she’ll slip up say the wrong thing in a text, reveal too much, confirm everything Elias told me. But she doesn’t. I r
Olivia’s POV It’s the weekend, and I am bored. Staying home alone can be Lonely sometimes I must admit. And feeling alone can make you get creative, soon enough I am in my quest room technically a storage room now. I start organizing things I haven’t touched in years. Boxes of books, scarfs I forgot I owned, I find myself on the floor, my legs are folded beneath me sorting through drawers of papers. Then I see a small folded piece of paper stuck in the corner of an old jewelry box, I pull it out carefully. I already know what’s in it before I unfold it. A passport photo of Rodrigo. The colours have dulled over time. He’s not smiling. Of course he is not. He hates cameras, thought photos were for people who had nothing to do with their lives. Always said it anytime I had asked for a picture. Because I said I wanted to carry a piece of him with me, even when I couldn’t see him. He had grumbled and rolled his eyes. But he still did it. Now here he is. Frozen in time. In th
Donald’s POVIt has been two days and I haven’t heard anything from Mike. Not a single word. No calls, no texts. Not even one of those “I am good” dry texts her sends when he doesn’t want to talk. I tried to call him. More times than I can actually remember. I even stopped by his house yesterday and Bianca opened the door. Her hair tied in a careless manner like she hasn’t slept properly. She was surprised to see me. I had asked about Mike and she said he had left the day before, saying he would be back but never said when abd hadn’t pulled up either. She had called and apparently no luck. I didn’t stay long. It looked like she had a lot to say that she couldn’t have said when she was alone and I wasn’t in the mood either. Today I asked around. Not to make it obvious, I know how Mike gets about people poking around his business. So I try to keep it low. I just asked Leon if he has seen him. He had said no. I asked javi down at the docks, same thing. It’s really not like Mike to
For a second, the place is spinning around me. The jazz cuts at the background and a slow song fades in. My fingers tighten around the glass. Not a cop. Not a snitch. CIA Not the Kind of threat you threaten back. “Say that again” I say He doesn’t repeat himself. “Are you sure?.” “Triple checked. She’s embedded Deep. Her Official files are locked very tight, but the agency tag came up in an old clearance system. She’s been active since 2018. Drugs, international surveillance, covert infiltrations. This is Some High level shit we are talking about here” I lean back slowly, like I’m trying to look calm like I’m not already running through every night, every word I ever said to her. Every time I let her into my home. My head, My chest, my bed. It was a setup. All of it. The air in the room feels intoxicating all of a sudden. I adjust on my seat. “She has been in my bed,” I say quietly. “In my house.” Elias doesn’t respond. He knows. “She knows everything. Things I have
Mike POV I am at home when my phone buzzes on the kitchen counter.I don’t rush for it. I Just keep rinsing out the coffee mug in my hand, the one Bianca used this morning. Her lipstick stain is still on the mouth of the glass. She stepped out. Out to catch some fun with the girls she says. Friends I have never met and she also doesn’t want me to. Because in quote “she wants me all to herself” The phone buzzes again.I dry my hands on a dish towel, walk over to it, and pick it up.Elias, the guy I told to look up Bianca. I become suddenly too interested. Found something. You will want to see it yourself.I stare at the message for a long time. Then type:Talk.A moment passes byNot over the phone, he sends back. Too many ears lately. You free tonight?I glance at the living room. Bianca’s sweater is still draped over the back of the chair. Her perfume is still in the air.Yeah. Pick the spot.Old bar. Off Juniper and 8th. Back booth. 10PM.I don’t ask why. If Elias says it can’t
MIKE we are on the couch. The TV is on, a soap opera is playing. She is sitting beside me covering herself with a duvet. the lights are off. She is curled like she’s paying attention to whatever is playing but I know she’s not. She hasn’t said much in the past fifteen minutes together. Then her phone buzzes. I glance at her and she glances back. She check it quickly like she has been waiting for it. I notice how eager she is to leave. “I need to return this” she says already getting up. “It’s work” She doesn’t wait for me to respond. She is already halfway out of the room. I don’t say anything. I just keep staring at the screen, I lower the sound from the tv absentmindedly. Then I hear the sound of the door at it closes behind her. I count to five in my head and stand up slowly. I move towards her direction, on tiptoes. I walk down the hall way and stand a few feet from the door. Close enough to hear. Her voice is low, I am straining to hear. “I told
Mike. I will not confront her not yet. There is still so much I don’t know. So many things I did not see before. And now that I have seen this things. All the things I brushed off as Bianca just being Bianca because I thought they were harmless. I want to act. God I want to. But I need to be calm. If I have learnt anything from this world, it’s the person who speaks first often looses first. I won’t make accusations she can twist around. I need concrete evidence. Two can play the game she’s trying to play. I keep calling out Lucia sensori In my head. Trying to hard to make a connection. On my way back home I pull up infront of a flower shop. I mean, why not. I stop at the most expensive one on this side of town. I make sure of that. Exquisite show glass. Everything is white and delicate and over priced. Something that looks like it was taken out of a magazine. I walk and in and the bell rings as I open the door. There is a woman standing behind the count
I am seated on my black leather chair. The room is dark except for the light seeping in from a slight opening in the curtain. I haven’t moved from the chair in hours. Theo’s name sits heavy in my head. There is a knock on the door. “Come in” Leon walks in. He’s staring above my head like he is avoiding eye contact. “He’s awake” he says. “A bit weak, but he is okay.” “Let him go, Clean him up. Give him something to eat too” He turns to leave, then turns again. “Should I put him back on rotation?” I shake my head. “No, not for a while” He hesitates and puts his hands inside his pocket, wearing that old black hoodie he always wears. “Alright” he finally says and leaves. Theo has been in the basement for almost a week now. It’s either he is too stupid or he really doesn’t know anything. And I go with the latter. He looks to innocent, to naive to be disloyal to me. Still I sent him down there, just to be sure. I am still on in my thoughts when there is another knoc
Olivia The kitchen is finally quiet. The hum of the fridge is the only thing making this place have life now, After the clinging of cutleries, the chatter in the room a few moments before. I have cleared the dishes, wiped the counter twice. Anything to keep my hands busy. And now I am standing at the sink letting the water run down my palms longer then it needs to. Dinner was nice… there was a calmness with the way the dinner flowed. No underlying tension. Rebecca seemed lighter, more like herself than I have seen her in a long time. She hasn’t brought anyone home in years. Not since the divorce. Not since she built that wall around herself and decided it was safer to keep everyone out. My sweet little Rebeca. Always trying to be strong for everybody. I didn’t ask her anything. I never do. Maybe I should have, but I’ve learned it’s better to wait for her to come to me. And Donald, he wasn’t overbearing, not eager to impress, but there was something about him. He wasn’t the