Planning It All

Javier spent the next few days meticulously observing Maria—trying to gauge where her thoughts lay. He felt the prick of paranoia inching into his mind as every casual glance felt scrutinized, every silence filled with suspicion. Maria behaved mostly the same, but he sensed an undercurrent of inquiry shimmering beneath her usual warmth.

On the day Sharla had planned to talk to Maria, he found it nearly impossible to focus, his instincts aflame with anticipation. When he received a message from her, his heart skipped a beat. “I spoke to her,” it read. “She seems concerned but not suspicious. My cover story seemed to help.”

A rush of relief washed over him, but he still felt the gnawing fear. “What did she say?”

“She asked about you—how you’ve been, if I’ve seen you recently, all those usual inquiries. I played it off as you being busy with work.”

“Good. I need to maintain the appearance of normalcy. Don’t let her see you’re concerned or that you’re probing into anything,” he replied, barely able to keep his nerves steady.

“I won’t! But we need to keep in mind that this can’t stay like this forever. If she continues asking questions, we will need to take bigger steps.”

“Understood.”

After their conversation ended, Javier felt a tinge of hope seep into his thoughts. Perhaps together they could navigate this invisible minefield and still preserve what they had fought so fervently to hold onto.