He wouldn’t shoot. Nathan knew. But Alexa was getting jittery and she might pass out any moment.
“Now unless you’ve lost your ears I’m sure you heard what I said” Mannie barked. He was an unkempt stout man and he smelt of cigarettes. He was scary. Wielding a gun, he looked even scarier.
Nathan moved towards Alexa.
“Take one more step and I blow your brains out”
Nathan gave him a daring look, and was about to take another step when Alexa shouted.
“Ohmygod! Nathan no!” She turned to Mannie” I don’t have anything!”
“You think I’ve got the time for this?” He waved the gun between them “I want that package ready by Thursday.”
This gave Nathan a clue, Mannie wasn’t sure if they were lying about not having it, so he’d given them three days time interval for the package to arrive—incase it hadn’t. Whether they lied or not, on Thursday he was going to come for it.
Mannie got out and closed the door with a loud bang.
The questions came in quick successions
“Who is he? Why was he asking for the parcel? How did he know I was supposed to get one?” Then a pause,”you know something don’t you?”
“Listen Alexa, you’re in danger—”
“Damn well I know I’m in danger!, what I don’t know is why!” Her whole body was shaking. It wasn’t everyday a random man breaks into your hotel room, point a gun at you while yelling for you to give him what you don’t have. “Tell me what you know” she demanded.
He gave her the story.
Someone was after the same package she was supposed to get and he was hired by her boss to tail her, incase she fell into danger.
Alexa remembered that day, someone from her hometown had called their office about having some special information, and as part of their protocol, they had to make sure it was not a ruse. Her boss had passed the job of investigating to her because of the location and he had deemed it top secret after speaking to the caller a second time.
“what’s inside the package” She asked
“I’m afraid that’s something I can’t divulge”
She threw him an incredulous look. If the package was going to get to her eventually, why hide what’s inside?
“Sure, that guy should know that whatever it contains must have multiple copies?”
“You see, whatever the package contains is not the problem, Mannie is working for someone who’s afraid you’ll dig too deep and unearth all his other atrocities. Using Mannie was just to scare you away from the job. I bet he never expected to find me here” he explained.
“Mannie?” she repeated quietly “you know his name.”
“In my line of work it’s hard not to. You’ll be surprised at how many officers are waiting to nail him.
She took in all this information. She was now being stalked by a wanted criminal. What she couldn’t understand was why Homer insisted on sending her after knowing that it was a dangerous trip. He hadn’t even mentioned getting a P.I. to tail her or anything at all. She suddenly felt betrayed.
“I need space”
He could see that. He remembered, the old Alexa would have jumped at him; even at the slightest scare, telling him to stay.
But now she looked at him with a cold, distant stare, said her goodbyes and closed the door.
****
She looked at the time. 3:42 pm. She’d been staying in her hotel room, different thoughts running through her mind. Nathan’s sudden appearance in her life being the most of it; especially because of that she’d poured herself into work to avoid thinking.
The phone rang, disrupting the grave silence in the room. She picked it cautiously.
“Are you alright” a voice said from the other end—a voice she knew so well. She took in a sharp breathe. She’d forgotten how husky his voice sounded “It’s Nathan, are you busy, Do you want to go out to get something?”
She sighed. This was the relief she needed.
Alexa stepped into the restaurant, stopping for a second to find Nathan. Her breathe hitched. Nathan was sitting by the window, typing away on his phone. Wearing a white dress shirt and dark trousers, he looked strikingly elegant. He hadn’t changed much over the years. He still had that prominent stance of someone who’s always on his guard.
Nathan looked up involuntarily and his eyes met hers. She wore a knee length cream gown which revealed long slender legs. Her hair, a rich brown shade, poured effortlessly over her shoulders.
Alexa was beautiful—she had always been.
She sat infront of him, wondering why the place felt familiar. “I know this place”
“Do you love there so much that you’ve forgotten the name of your favorite restaurant?”
She realized after looking closely that it was the same restaurant they’d gone, to celebrate their three months anniversary. It was only a one time visit, because it had been too expensive for them then. Add that to the changes that had been made, it was almost unrecognizable.
“I went away to forget things”
“You talk as if your life was miserable before you left. You had a perfect life Alexa…”
“yeah, until you came and ruined”
This was new to Nathan. He never quite thought she left town because of him. Their break up was as a result of her immature behavior and he told her that.
“Give me a break! I was only eighteen” the coming waitress—startled, awkwardly took their orders and went away.
She was in her last year of highschool when she started dating Nathan—a college boy. A lot of her friends had told her that he would soon dump her, that she was not not his type. She must have embarrassed him a few times but Nathan never acted as if it mattered.
She hadn’t cared about what her friends were saying then. Until he’d brutally ended things between them and left.
They began eating in silence. “How are you doing now” she asked quietly. “Not much, just a few jobs here and there.” She was a better person now, Nathan knew.
He sighed. “I guess we misunderstood a lot of things, want to start over?” To this, she smiled.
The rest of their afternoon was spent visiting places. Their last stop was the building he’d first asked her out. A lot of things had changed since she left. She felt a familiar pull as she glanced at Nathan and she knew he’d felt it too. Some things never change
They shared a slow, passionate kiss. A kiss filled with nostalgia from the past and promises for the future.
Soon, what began as a gentle kiss feverishly aroused into an unquenchable passion of fire between them. Hungrily, she drew her fingers over his chest, down to his waist.
She felt something hard, instantly she pulled back. A gun. She had felt a gun on his body.
“It’s for the job” he assured “Don’t worry, I have a permit for this.” He looked around warily.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. He was on his guard again. “Someone’s following us” he said, holding her head steady so she won’t look around. “We have to go” with that they went back to the hotel.
She opened the door cautiously. Lying still on her bed, was the long awaited package. She paused. Nathan looked over her shoulder and saw what it was. He entered, took out his gun and thoroughly searched the room.
“I’m sorry but you can’t stay here tonight”
I’m sorry, this came awfully late. It was supposed to end in 2 parts but a lot of things keep coming up. I guess you’ll have to watch out for part 3.🤎
Anjola Writes 