Chapter 2

One week before

"How can you eat all that?" I ask incredulously" Are you a bottomless pit? If you keep eating you're going to empty the cupboard.

My friend chews and swallows and then laughs.

"What can I tell you?"He shrugged, then took another bite of his sandwich. "When you work all day you tend to skip meals, so when I get home the first thing I do is eat everything in sight.

I deny.

Karla is my neighbor and only friend. When I moved to town I didn't know anyone, so I spent a few days without leaving home.

But one day in the morning a nice girl knocked on my door and offered me her friendship along with a delicious strawberry cake.

I am honest when I say that I had a certain distrust of her, but as the months went by we became good friends. So much so that now we are always together.

Karla is a brunette with brown eyes and wavy hair, she is about 1.60 meters tall and is passionate about writing, which is why she works in a small publishing house where she is in charge of proofreading books. She loves her job, even though it wears her down a lot.

" I don't know until when I have to tell you not to skip meals"I grab my sandwich and take a bite"It's not healthy. That job is forcing you a lot, don't you think you should give yourself a break?

She snorts and shakes her head.

" It's nothing special Kia"Roll your eyes" I can always replace lunch at dinner time. And regarding work, you know I can't leave it, how would I pay for the house?

Now it's my turn to roll my eyes.

This is a town where, even as a homeowner, you have to pay a monthly fee for always living here.

Go town.

Wow boss.

The whole town is run by one person: the boss of the Russian mafia, or as many call it: The Boos.

Few people have seen his face, few people know where he is, and few people know exactly what he does.

I don't know what he does with all the money from the townspeople, since being so filthy rich I highly doubt he needs it. But hey, it's not like I'm going to ask.

I've told you a thousand times that...

"And I have answered you a thousand times that I will not accept your money"He interrupts me as he gets up and collects our plates. He washes them quickly and puts them in the dishwasher" Also, I love my job.

" Money is not a problem, I have already told you "I inform him "Believe me when I tell you that I am financially well.

smiles at me

"Even so, I wouldn't feel comfortable accepting your money,"she says"I hope you understand."

I sigh and nod.

If Karla knew that money is not a problem.

" Let's go to sleep"Karla yawns" you promised me that you would accompany me to the market tomorrow.

Seat.

Today I will stay with Karla, since as she mentioned tomorrow I will accompany her to the purchases. Although that's just a lock, it pays to stay with her, since she could sleep at my house and come pick her up in the morning, but I like to keep her company because I know that sometimes she feels a bit lonely.

"I'm also very tired, but I'm sure I won't get much sleep"I tell him.

" Do the attempt Kia"he smiles at me"you have to rest.

Seat.

We both take care of closing, turning off and organizing everything. The nights here are a bit lonely, so closing everything is something that cannot be missed.

When everything is ready, we both go up to her room and without thinking about it we prepare to sleep.

This is going to be a long night.

***

I open my eyes slowly as my body reacts. I stretch a bit as I snap back to reality quickly.

I find myself lying on Karla's bed while she is literally on the floor. Her bed is very large, so more than 6 people can sleep on it, but Karla doesn't seem to understand that, since she has always preferred to sleep on the edge of the bed. For that same reason, it is now one centimeter from falling to the ground. I sigh and reach out my arm to grab her forearm and place her back in the center of the bed.

" Mmm" He murmurs once, that's it, it's his place. He moves a little and then drops down" I also want strawberries with whipped cream

I laugh low.

Karla is always sleep talking, it's funny and creepy at the same time. If he didn't love her so much, he sure would have covered her with a pillow every time he does it.

I rub my eyes then reach over to the nightstand where the alarm clock lies. I turn it on and see the time in this "5:43 am", —it's still early to get up— I go back to my place while I drop into bed and close my eyes letting myself be carried away by sleep.

A sound pulls me out of my sleep making me sit up reluctantly. The first thing I do is yawn and look for where the sound comes from. I slowly open my eyes and see that the sound is coming from my cell phone. Karla is no longer in the bed, so I reach over to the coffee table and grab the phone and then pick it up and put it to my ear.

"Hello?"I say with a hoarse voice while with my left hand"which is the one I have free"I rub my face.

" Good night sleeping beauty"They speak on the other side of the line, and only with sarcasm is their voice I can know who it is

"What do you want, Luis?"I roll my eyes. It is very unbearable.

Luis is a friend of Karla's that I met a few months ago. Since then he has had a strange obsession with me, he always calls me, sends me messages and I've even caught him watching you from afar. It's kind of awkward and weird.

I don't know who gave you my number, although it was most likely Karla. I'll talk to her about it.

"Did you wake up in a bad mood, precious?"He teases.

"Who gave you my number?"I ask annoyed. He woke me up for nothing. I wanted to sleep more

" have my methods, honey " He says "Now tell me, what are you wearing?

"Idiot"I say and hang up the call.

He only called to make my day bitter.

I get out of bed and look for one of Karla's many slippers. I bend down to look under the bed but I only find different pairs. With no other choice, I grab the first ones I reached—Which are not the same—and put them on. I quickly make the bed ready, leaving it ready and then go to the bathroom.

I go into the bathroom and go straight to the toilet. I relieve myself and then wash my hands to proceed to brush myself.

I like to stay at Karla's house, apart from keeping her company I like to be with her. Besides, she always has things for my personal use, so this is like my second home.

I leave the bathroom still wearing my pajamas and I also leave the room and go to the dining room to have breakfast. I walk slowly through the house until I reach the kitchen.

The house is not that big, it has what is necessary to live comfortably but not to live in luxury.

"Good morning"I say as I enter while I look around.

The first thing I notice is Karla, who is eating her breakfast while looking at something on her phone. I look around the dining room and the kitchen.

While he located an available chair for me to sit.

" You mean "good afternoon" my friend teases as she advanced towards the table and I sit right next to her.

"What time is it?" I ask as I grab a glass and pour myself coffee with milk.

" 1:02 pm" Speak and I'm not surprised that I'm getting up so late, since in these last days I haven't been sleeping well " Yes, you were tired.

"Lately I've been having a hard time falling asleep."I confess to which she looks away from her phone to focus on me"It's as if she had insomnia.

"But yesterday I didn't feel you awake"he tells me.

"Because I know how to pretend well"shrug" and well, I've also been waking up very late, surely it's due to lack of rest.

"And look that you say that I'm the one who doesn't rest"she shakes her head.

I roll my eyes.

If you are right.

We don't talk anymore and we get ready to eat. We will take 10 minutes there. After eating we got ready and went to the market.

I have a little money, since I would like to buy a perfume, mine ran out recently.

Once we are ready, we leave her house and grab a taxi to go to the market.

Here the Taxis are quite cheap and fast, so we arrive in less than 20 minutes. When we arrive at our destination we pay the taxi driver and quickly get out.

"I'll just buy a shirt and some shoes"he informs me as he takes out his wallet.

"I'll just buy a perfume,"I tell him as we walk.

I do not deny that I love going to the market, it is as if we were in a world parallel to the town. I like the feeling it gives.

We walk around the stores for a few moments until Karla decides to go into one.

There Karla focuses on finding what she likes. Karla had always been very picky about her clothes, so it took us a little longer than we should.

At the end we left the store with 3 bags full of shirts, shoes and pants.

As I walk I have the slight impression that someone is watching me. It's a strange and uncomfortable feeling, so I secretly turn around in search of something. It only takes me a few seconds to go through my entire environment, but I can't find anything.

I shake my head and focus on Karla and the road

They are my ideas

" I liked the shoes "I tell Karla to lighten the mood " White is your color.

"I think the same"she smiles as her cheeks turn a dull pink

Karla is very sweet, I always tell her that but curiously she doesn't like flattery. It's kind of weird. I mean, who doesn't like flattery? Exactly, Karla.

Then we entered the most glamorous perfume store in the square, because according to Karla, if we go shopping we have to buy big. And what better way to do it than to shop at the most expensive store?

Karla, despite all her monthly debts, can sometimes afford to buy certain luxuries. They are not great things, but luxuries are luxuries.

We enter the store and the exquisite aroma of the fragrances is present. We go to the upper bar where there is a boy behind us who is placing some perfumes on the shelf.

"Good afternoon boy, could you help us choose a perfume?"This time Karla speaks as she grabs a perfume from the shelf and smells it.

The boy turns and runs his eyes over Karla, scanning her quickly. After doing so he stops and stares at me. The boy is tall, m, has dark brown hair and brown eyes. He has bushy eyebrows and very long eyelashes. The features of her face are somewhat marked, which gives her a sexy touch.

I remain so submissive in my thoughts that I do not realize that I have been looking at him more than necessary.

Karla clears her throat next to me, somewhat uncomfortable seeing that we have both stared at each other. Embarrassed, I look away.

"Yes, of course, follow me."The boy answers after looking away. He begins to walk and we without hesitation follow him. I notice Karla's gaze on me but I ignore it.

We follow the boy to a counter where several new perfumes are on display.

The boy shows us several perfumes which are a total delight. I wouldn't bother buying all of them just to have such exquisite aromas wafting from these.

On some occasions I realize that the boy looks at me out of the corner of his eye, but I try to ignore him and focus on what I came to buy.

I'm not interested in meeting anyone, less now. I have to focus on what really matters; the job

It takes me a few minutes to choose the perfume and pay. The truth is, I didn't want to be there for so long, so we did all the paperwork quickly.

"And that boy?"is the first thing Karla says when leaving the store

i roll my eyes

"I don't know, I don't care

She just looks at me with a bad face but doesn't dare to say more.

After half an hour walking around the market, Karla and I are super tired so we decided to take a break in one of the banks that are in the mall.

For the second time today, that feeling comes back to me. The feeling of being watched. I look surreptitiously to the sides and I can't find anything. The sensation does not go away, but rather it becomes more and more present.

" You know, Karla?"he spoke, calling her attention" I feel observed. It's like someone is watching me from afar. It's a strange feeling.

My friend frowns and turns in her chair to look around the place.

"Are you sure?"She turns her attention to me and then looks around for signs of something. "I think you're a little paranoid."I don't see anyone.

"I know you're beautiful and you attract a lot of attention, but I don't think someone is watching you.

We both laugh.

Maybe yes, I'm just paranoid

" You're right" I sigh "I'm somewhat paranoid, but nothing to worry about.

I ignore that feeling and focus on my friend.

"Even my fingernails hurt."Karla complains as she takes off a shoe and massages her sore feet

This girl is crazy.

"I understand you,"I say as I massage my neck."But even if my toes are dying, I would never take my shoe off in a mall."

I make a face and she laughs.

"When you learn not to pay attention to what people say, you'll do better,"he says while I turn around to see how some people stare at what Karla does.

I nod at his response.

While Karla rests, I take care of buying us an ice cream. I chose mine chocolate and Karla's strawberry, since they are our favorite flavors.

While we eat our ice creams we see the panorama. There are parents taking their children shopping and that kind of reminds me of when mom and dad used to take me shopping. Nostalgia invades me for a moment but I quickly push it away

We sat for a while until we finished our ice cream and got up grabbing our shopping bags.

Walking towards the exit, I quickly take my cell phone out of my bag and see the time at this "2:45 pm."

Long time here, so my body already asks me to eat.

"Let's go now"I walk next to her while I put my phone back in the small bag.

" I have to go to the bathroom" He stops and looks around, probably looking for a bathroom" Have my bags, I'll go quickly. I will not be late

He holds them out to me and I grab them quickly.

" It's okay" I grab all the bags in my right hand while I let my left free" I'll wait for you on that bench" I pointed to the place with my free hand and she nods.

Without thinking, he runs in the opposite direction.

I took my cell phone out of my bag and I see my nets as I start to walk. The only thing I hate about the town is that the signal is almost nil, it's literally like being in a desert.

I have a few messages from my parents so I try to answer them quickly. They ask me to keep them informed with the news and I just send them an “Ok” sometimes they can be very stressful.

I am walking when suddenly my body suddenly hits something hard causing the bags and my phone to fall to the ground.

I curse under my breath.