“Masks and Motives”

*Harper*

Another day goes by, and another day leads me to the university cafeteria to find lunch.

The place was full but somehow quiet, the way it always was before afternoon classes began. Murmurs of conversation, the hiss of the espresso machine, pages flipping lazily beneath the soft glow of hanging bulbs.

I sat near the window, my tablet open in front of me and my highlighter uncapped, but I wasn’t reading. I was observing.

I’d learned the art of stillness early, how to disappear in plain sight by simply not reacting. It has served me well, and I needed it now more than ever. Because the second I saw him walk in, clean-shaven and buttoned up in a navy blazer, I knew he hadn’t come for coffee.

He spotted me instantly, and I didn’t move. He approached like we were old friends, no guilt in his posture, only caution and calculation.

“Harper,” he said, with that smile that once pretended to be charming. “Hey.”

I looked up slowly, locking eyes. “Lance.”

He hesitated a beat, then sat down across from me without asking.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” he started, his voice was low, maybe to avoid attention, maybe to sound sincere. “About the other night.”

I said nothing, I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk about what happened that night, so I let the silence speak for me. Whatever I said to him had to be measured as well, because he left believing I was with Rowan, that mystery man.

He leaned forward, lowering his voice further. “Look, things got out of hand. I was drinking. I didn’t mean to make you feel… uncomfortable.”

Uncomfortable? That was the word he chose?

“You drugged me,” I said, not accusing, not emotional, just stating a fact.

He winced, eyes darting to the people around us. “Keep your voice down, would you?”

I smiled faintly. “I didn’t raise it.”

He looked away, jaw clenching. “I just thought… you were… exploring something new.”

“And you decided for me?” I perked a brow.

“I made a mistake,” he said quickly. “A bad call and I regret it. Please, I don’t want to have issues with Rowan… I didn’t know that when you said you were with someone, it was The Man himself.”

That only made me feel a bit hesitant about the man who saved me, someone who Lance seemed not wanting to get in trouble with. I was curious and also cautious about the situation I was in, and how lucky I was that he saved me.

Lance didn’t regret cornering me or drugging me. He regretted being caught and stopped.

Either way, I didn’t want to cause a scene and I decided not to push for more. I glanced at the time on my screen. “It’s fine. I understand,” and I looked up at him.

His eyes lit slightly, hopeful. “You do?”

“Sure,” I said, soft and noncommittal. “No hard feelings.”

But there were, and I wasn’t about to hand him the pleasure of knowing it. I had a hard time trusting people, and he did nothing to make me change my mind in regards to that. If anything, he had reinforced me with the thought that people were not to be trusted.

“I have class soon,” I added, starting to gather my things.

“I could walk you, maybe?” he offered, too eagerly for my taste.

“I’d rather not,” I said with a pleasant smile, and just as I was about to stand, she arrived.

“Harper,” Sophia’s voice rang like a chime dipped in sugar. “There you are! Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”

She was in a cropped cardigan and that short plaid skirt she wore when she wanted to look both innocent and irresistible. Her eyes darted from me to Lance, and her smile stretched wider.

I didn’t even bother to glare. “Lance, this is my sister, Sophia.”

Sophia held out her hand with a tilt of her head. “So nice to meet you.”

Lance, like clockwork, stood, took her hand, and looked like someone had handed him a trophy. Sophia was gorgeous, she was built to be noticed; blonde hair, blue eyes, and a smile that begged to be underestimated.

“Likewise,” he said, flashing his best grin. “I don’t know how I haven’t seen you before.”

Sophia giggled, shameless. “I’m hard to miss.”

I picked up my bag slowly, I watched them for half a second longer than I meant to, then I turned away.

Sophia perched on the edge of my chair and batted her lashes. “Harper didn’t tell me she knew someone so… polished.”

Lance laughed. He loved the attention. He didn’t even glance at me again.

They were already falling into their performance, flirtation and ego, sugar and rot. It was nauseating. I didn’t like people who were fake, and both of them were in their very own ways. I had to leave as soon as I could.

“Enjoy,” I said quietly, and I left.

Outside, the air was cooler than expected. I walked without looking back, my pulse steady.

Lance hadn’t changed. He just found someone easier to manipulate. Someone who smiled too easily and wouldn’t say no. I didn’t remember most of my former classmates because I was always at the front, avoiding distractions, and now I remembered why.

Sophia didn’t see danger, she flirted with it, but I had seen the real thing, and it wasn’t Lance.

It was the man who didn’t smile, didn’t beg, simply watched. The man upstairs.

And somehow… I hadn’t stopped thinking about him since.

-

*Rowan*

Rafe entered the room without a word, his phone in hand.

“She saw him again,” he said. “He approached her on campus. She played polite. Refused him.”

I was seated at the edge of my desk, watching the screens along the far wall. Financial reports. Logistics. People who owed me things.

“And the sister?”

Rafe’s lips thinned. “Arrived shortly after. Distracted him easily.”

I nodded once.

“She’s smart,” Rafe added. “Handled it quietly.”

I knew that already.

“Let the fool chase the shadow,” I said. “The real game is elsewhere.”