“WHAT?” YANA ASKED Misha while Yana stared at her while she stared at Soren who was now at the coffee bar talking to a barista. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”Misha would probably have preferred seeing a ghost as it was less scary than seeing Soren here in the same place with him after her dream about him that occurred just a few days ago and was still vivid on her mind. And all the details of the dream came rushing back towards her. Yes, she could now remember that hard, thick long thing poking her while Soren was on top of her buck naked and his eyes brimming and burning with lust.“Soren,” she said in a soft voice, now confused whether to feel annoyed or amused while still looking at the man who was still at the counter, casually talking to a barista. Why was he here? Was he stalking her? This would be too much of a coincidence, him being here while she was here. How many coffee shops were there in this city? And why would he crave for a cup of coffee at the same time s
MISHA STARED AT the black pickup truck cruising behind a white car that immediately followed them, focusing on the man behind the wheel. If it was Soren, she was certain that Maggie would be fiercer than her family in ordering her to avoid him.“Can you see him?” Maggie asked.The white car changed lane and the black pickup truck was now running right behind them and Misha could now clearly see through the windshield the man driving it—it wasn’t Soren. And she sighed in relief. And it was only then that she noticed that the black pickup truck was old and looked beat up, unlike Soren’s. “No, I can’t see him, he’s not following us,” Misha said, and then she wanted to scowl when she remembered that Maggie considered Soren as a dangerous man, like she was hurt for him.But it really wasn’t surprising for Maggie to be saying those things as they all knew her as someone cynical, doubtful of anyone she didn’t know, suspicious of anything strange. And being a victim of crimes largely contri
MISHA WENT TO Ellis’ Facebook account but aside from them being Facebook friends, there was no sign on his account that he and Soren were close. But then, it was already prima facie evidence that Soren had something to do with Ellis’ company’s decision to choose them to audition as models for their product. Soren in the coffee shop, well, Misha could still be convinced that it was just a coincidence but this, Ellis’ company contacting them to audition with strange occurrences like specifically choosing her and two of her best friends, this couldn’t be coincidence.She remembered Soren liking a photo of her with Yana and Maggie on her Facebook account.If this was a scene in a TV commercial or even a movie where the writer would present it as a simple coincidence, the director might object as it was really hard to believe. Too much cinematic license, the director might say, just too unbelievable. And the audience would likely agree with them.But she decided against telling it to Yana
ALL THREE OF them saw it—Soren kissing a woman at their table— and they all stopped dead in their tracks, with Maggie standing two meters from the door, Yana a meter away from the door and Misha standing with the door just behind her. Some customers had also seen the unusual scene and were also gawking at Soren and the unidentified girl. He was sitting on the chair and the girl, who was standing in front of him, was leaning towards him with one of her hands holding onto the backrest of the chair. The kiss lasted only around five seconds and the girl stood up straight afterwards and walked, with hurried steps, towards the door, leaving Soren who had an embarrassed look on his face, like he had committed a very shameful act.The girl, who was now walking past Misha at the door, was very pretty and young, looking like she was just in her early twenties. She had short black hair, wore a red tank top and white mini skirt and red sneakers. Suffice it to say that red was probably her favorit
MISHA WAS STUNNED and was speechless while looking at Soren, waiting for him to utter that he was just joking while Maggie and Yana grinned widely and Soren, he was staring back at her with a little smile on his lips, with no plan seemingly to take back what he just said, though his face was a bit red and his eyes shyly sparkled, like two small stars at the start of the night. Yes, she already inkling about that, him having a crush with him, but she had no idea he would admit it this early and in front of her friends and within hearing distance of his employees and strangers.Misha finally recovered her wits and cleared her throat and took her eyes off him. “Don’t take him seriously,” she said, gesticulating with her hand, “he’s just kidding.”“I’m not,” he said while still looking at her, the little smile on his lips not fading, a smile that if she would describe, she’d describe as hopeful—probably hoping that she would not embarrass him that moment and that she would react positivel
MISHA WAS ALREADY opening the door of the car when she noticed that Soren was holding an umbrella—she looked up and yes, it was raining, but Soren’s smile was so alluring and so bright that she noticed it first before the rain. But then, why would she notice the rain first? She was sure God made that lovely rain that afternoon for everyone but Soren’s smile, he made it beautiful just for her. The clouds were dark but Soren and his smile were little suns giving her light. She wanted to grin at that thought. It was only just then that she noticed the black pickup truck parked at the opposite side of the road. She briefly wondered why he didn’t park right in front of their house. Did he want his arrival to be surreptitious to his family? So, that inquisition affected him after all. Soren approached the car as Misha was alighting from the car and quickly positioned the umbrella above her, protecting her from the rain, not minding if he’d be the one getting wet.“Hi, Soren,” M
“I WILL DATE SOREN?” Misha asked Maggie.“Yes, so Soren won’t be able to stop us while inside the coffee shop,” Maggie replied. “Yana and I will go there unannounced.”“But will the crew cooperate?” Yana asked.“Of course, we will charm them,” Maggie chuckled. “Besides, they already know us. They saw how Soren was so attentive to us. But we won’t tell them that it’s the purse we’re investigating. We’ll think of another reason why we want to look at the footage.”“What reason?” Misha asked.“I’ll think about it. I’m sure I can come up, or Yana, or you with a reason before we go to the coffee shop.”“When will we do it?” Yana asked.“Tomorrow morning,” Maggie answered. “Before they could erase the incriminating footage.”“If Soren is guilty of stealing the purse, then, he‘d erase it immediately. Maybe he had erased it after we left the coffee shop.”“Maybe, but we’ll see,” Maggie said. “We’ll be there at ten o’ clock. He probably hadn’t realized at that time that he had to clean out the
“WHAT DID YOU see?” Misha asked Yana, not really sure whether she was prepared to hear the answer.She heard Yana sigh, and it made Misha’s heart thud against her chest. That sigh sounded like someone was caught doing something crooked. Would this be the end of whatever she and Soren had? Soren stealing her purse would prove a lot of things. He was really a kleptomaniac. Yes, she returned her purse but it was probably just an afterthought. Maybe, he thought that returning it to her would impress her, especially with the rain and his umbrella. Imagine, a handsome billionaire like him taking time and effort to return her purse when he could just call her up and tell her about so she could pick it up at the coffee shop.It would also prove that he was indeed a liar. He lied about picking up the purse from the floor. It would also prove, okay, not really prove, but it would serve as a circumstantial evidence that he was a sex addict because he would lie and invent a story just so he could