Page 21 of Caffeine & Chaos

“Excuse me, I’ll be right back.” Nadia pushed her chair out and ducked inside the restaurant.

Navigating through the bustling tables of chattering guests, she finally slipped into the washroom. Leaning against the cool marble wall, she allowed herself a brief moment of respite. The night would be over soon, Valentina would return to New York, and she’d figure out how to gently let Travis down. A second buzz from her clutch snapped her back to reality, reminding her of the awaiting message.

Unknown: Hi beautiful. I’m sorry I haven’t been around the past two days, I’ve been dealing with an intense situation at the office. I will fill you in on the details soon, but please know you have never left my mind. I can’t wait to hold you in my arms and feel you melt into me.

Nadia felt her knees buckle, threatening to send her crashing to the floor. Her heart pounded so fiercely she feared it might burst through her ribcage. The sender of the unknown message had to be Ryan. Her lips quivered as she battled the tears pooling in her eyes. He hadn’t forgotten her. He hadn’t left her behind again. Clutching her phone tightly to her chest, Nadia held onto the moment for what felt like an eternity.

Finally, she flipped her phone over and fixed her gaze on the screen, considering what to say back. It might be foolish to just spill her heart out in a reply. That wasn’t how it was done; she had to craft a nonchalant response despite feeling anything but nonchalant.

Nadia: When?

Well, scratch the idea of a carefully composed, nonchalant response. She chided herself for it; she should have made him wait a bit longer for her reply. After all, the last thing a modern woman wanted was for a man to assume she was just idly waiting by the phone for him.

When her phone vibrated again almost immediately, Nadia jumped, nearly dropping it.

Ryan: I’ll come to you tomorrow, I’ve got to go now.

Her heart soared. All she needed to do was get through the rest of tonight, and tomorrow she would be with Ryan.

Nadia quickly freshened up in front of the mirror, preparing herself to return and confront her mother, and eventually, to handle the task of letting Travis down gently. She just had to hold it together until tomorrow.

The Watcher.

The room was dimly lit, illuminated only by the flickering bare bulb in the lamp on the desk where he sat. Before him lay his shrine, a collection of photographs and mementos that bore silent witness to his obsession. His eyes fell upon one of his most treasured relics—a single strand of hair, delicate and golden, carefully encased in a small glass vial.

With trembling hands, he reached out to trace the curve of the vial, his touch gentle yet possessive. It was a token of his love, a piece of her that he had claimed as his own in the dead of night while she slept, unaware of his intentions.

As he gazed upon his shrine, memories flooded his mind, each photograph a testament to the moments they had shared. There she was, smiling and carefree, her laughter echoing in his ears like a siren’s call. He had been with her again, touching her flawless skin, but now she was beyond his reach, a distant beacon of light in the darkness of his obsession.

But he refused to let her slip away from him. No, he was determined to be her only love, to possess her heart and soul as he possessed the strands of her hair that lay before him. And so, with a sense of purpose that bordered on madness, he set to work.

With meticulous care, he wrapped the package in yellow and white polka dot paper, each fold a labor of love, a symbol of his unwavering devotion. As he worked, he whispered her name like a prayer, his voice a soft caress against the stillness of the room.

When he was finished, he placed the package among the other offerings on his shrine, a beacon of color amidst the sea of memories. And as he sat back to admire his handiwork, he knew that he would stop at nothing to make her his own, to prove that he was the only one who could truly love her, the only one who could ever truly understand her.

7

Her.

“So spill, what happened with him at the end of the night?” Mandy’s gum smacked loudly in Nadia’s ear as she bombarded her with questions about the dinner, her mother, and Travis’s unexpected arrival.

“Mandy throw your gum out or something. It’s hard enough to understand you over the phone when you talk so fast, never mind while chewing gum.” Nadia yawned loudly and stretched her legs out on her couch, the tension from the evening finally releasing her.

“Boring you, am I? Not all of us are living the insane circus that you are, you know. Some of us have ordinary, mundane lives,” Mandy retorted, apparently taking offense at Nadia’s loud yawning.

“Ha ha, of course you’re not boring me, but the night was long and stressful. I know I’ve told you about my mother before.” Nadia brushed a piece of lint off the black cocktail dress she had yet to change out of.

“Okay, okay, so boy wonder shows up uninvited, poses as your boyfriend, you two play it up to piss off your mom, and then what? I mean how did you get rid of him?”

Nadia winced at Mandy’s words. “It was awful honestly. He convinced me to split a cab downtown with him and when I went to say goodbye, he grabbed both of my hands and just held them for a few seconds. Then he said that even though we weren’t a couple, he’d had a really good time with me.” Nadia hugged herself soothingly, “he forced me to take his number in case I changed my mind about him.”

“Wow.” Mandy paused before continuing, “he went all out with that one huh? Kind of a desperate move but you’ve gotta sort of respect it.”

“It was heartbreaking, Mandy. I should have never gone home with that boy in the first place.” Nadia sighed heavily and, feeling another yawn coming on, pulled her phone away from her ear to check the time.

“Don’t be ridiculous Nadia. He’s a grown man. Maybe he doesn’t have years of experience as a grown man, you cradle robber, but he’s a grown man. You made yourself clear. If he wants to imagine something more, it’s not your problem.”

Despite Mandy’s efforts to ease her guilt, Nadia couldn’t shake its burden. “Listen Mandy, I’m gonna let you go. I’m tired and just wanna crash out. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.” Nadia yawned again to make her point.

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