Chapter Six

The Secret

I got home shaken.

I couldn’t sleep that night. I was staring at the ceiling with two messages still open on my phone screen. One was from Daven. The other was from an unknown number.

The message from the number said: Do not meet Daven alone. He is not the one you should be afraid of now. I read these words over and over until they did not make sense anymore.

I was wondering who was sending these messages. First it was one number, now another. Someone who knew about Ethan, someone who knew about the dinner that night. Someone who had been close enough to watch everything and was still hiding.

I typed a message back to the number. I asked: Who are you?

I waited for three minutes. Then I got a response: Someone who made the mistake of trusting the person too. We will talk soon, Not yet. Stay close to Voss.. Sofia do not tell Ethan about these messages.

I put my phone face down on the bed. I was supposed to tell Ethan everything. Now I had a secret from him. I had signed a contract with Ethan. I was supposed to be at his side for three months.

My phone buzzed again. It was Daven this time. He had sent me four messages. Each one was more urgent than the last. He said: Sofia please I just need ten minutes. I know you are angry, you have every right to be. This is important. It is about your father, Sofia please.

The last message made me stop. He said: your father. Daven knew what to say to make me listen. He had always known what to say.

Aunt Rita knocked on the door. came in with a cup of tea. She said: You look terrible. I said: Thank you Aunt Rita.

She sat on the edge of the bed. Look at me. She said: That boy called the house phone this morning. He said he needs to speak to you. I told him you were not here.

I almost smiled. Aunt Rita said: I never liked him. Not from the day you brought him home. Something about his eyes steady like he was always thinking about something else.

My phone buzzed again. It was Ethan this time. He said: My office, nine o'clock we need to talk about what happened. I looked at the message. I thought about night Daven seeing us together Elenas face the new unknown number warning me about someone I should be afraid of.

There was a lot to talk about.. How much was I going to say? I typed back: I will be there.

I dropped my phone. I had a secret from Ethan. Ethan had secrets from me.. Someone out there was watching both of us but had not shown their face yet.

I was going to Ethan's office in one hour. I had no idea which one of us was going to tell the truth.