Chapter 12

• ***
• Alejandro's POV:
• I stepped out of my car and grabbed my bags in the backseat. I was unable to get what had happened earlier out of my head.
• I still couldn't believe it. I'd seen Maude?! Maude Dubreaux.
• 'I didn't see her closely but at a distance I'd noticed how prettier she was.'
• I frowned at the thought of how I'd not been able to see her face to face.
• 'She ran and hid herself. I'm not some monster am I?'
• I locked my car's doors and went into my apartment's building.
• ~
• I unlocked the door to our apartment and entered. I met the others eating and watching TV.
• "Hello." they all greeted but I was quite distracted and didn't realise I had not answered. I dropped my shopping bags in a corner.
• "You okay, bro?" Dino asked.
• "Yeah, you look lost and preoccupied." Lea added.
• "What's up, Al?" Lorenzo asked with concern.
• I stared at them.
• 'Should I tell them? Of course I should.'
• I sighed and went over to sit with Lorenzo. He immediately gave me his half eaten plate of food and I took it.
• "Thanks." I looked at them, "You guys will never believe who I saw today."
• "Who??" they asked curiously, giving me all their attention.
• I smiled a little and shook my head.
• "Maude. I saw Maude."
• As expected, their eyes widened a little and they frowned in confusion.
• "Maude??" Lèaina repeated the name for everyone else.
• "Yeah. Maude Dubreaux."
• "Seriously?" Lorenzo muttered, staring at me.
• "Seriously. At the mall."
• "She's here?? Are you sure she was the one? Did you speak to her?" Noemi asked the questions the others were wondering on.
• "No, I didn't. But it was her."
• "How can you be sure?" Lorenzo frowned a little, "Tell us all that happened."
• I took my time to describe the event of things and how I spotted her in that restaurant. I told them about her reaction to me and every other detail.
• "Woah..." Dino muttered.
• "No denying it. That was her." Noemi gasped, "This is awkward."
• "Why did you run after her?" Lorenzo asked, surprised.
• "I don't know. Maybe because she ran first. I just wanted to say hi or something. Or even just get a closer and better look at her."
• "She definitely recognised you." Dino said, "If she hadn't, she wouldn't have ran away."
• "What is she like now?"
• I described her the best I could.
• "I didn't see her very well but all I can say is that she's taller and still very pretty." I muttered staring at my plate of food.
• "You should've never ran after her." Lorenzo said and I looked at him.
• "I said I don't know why I did that, Enzo."
• "Yeah, given the fact that you two decided to close your chapters with them years ago and they probably don't want to have anything to do with you anymore." Noemi said with a shrug, "It's kind of not surprising that she ran away. I would probably do same if I'd been in her shoes."
• I sighed and shook my head.
• "Yeah, you're right. I regret that now. I should've just ignored her and not even try to approach her." I mused, "That was dumb."
• "Exactly." Lorenzo agreed.
• "You think she's moved to Miami?" Dino asked.
• "I don't think so. She's probably here for some other reason." Noemi replied.
• "Topic closed." Lorenzo said, raising his hands, "Let's all act like all that happened today never happened at all. We were living just fine and let's continue doing so. They don't exist anymore. Who's with me."
• We all raised our hands in amusement.
• "Good, thank you. Alejandro, forget it all. It was a coincidence and it'll never happen again."
• "Alright." I chuckled at how exasperated he was, "It never happened and I'll forget all about it."
• "Thank you. Now if you won't eat that,–" he took his plate back from me before I could answer, "– I'll have it back."
• We all laughed and I felt less troubled or so.
• "Don't mind him, Al. There's enough food in the kitchen." Noemi mused.
• "Alright. Lemme go get some, then."
• *
• Maude's POV:
• I returned to Reena's apartment after abruptly ending my little date with Brendan that left him confused.
• "How was it? From your expression I know damn well that it was disastrous as expected." Reena mused when I joined her in the little living room.
• "It's not even Brendan this time." I muttered, slowly taking a seat. When she noticed my expression, she became concerned.
• "Moe, what is it?" she asked seriously and I looked at her.
• "I saw him. Today." I muttered, still shaken.
• Reena frowned a little.
• "Who? You saw who?" she asked in wonder and I looked at her.
• "Alejandro Enrique."
• She froze and remained like a statue for up to ten seconds and it amused me a little.
• "Reena?"
• "You saw who??" she asked with wide eyes now, raising her voice unconsciously.
• "Alejandro Enrique." I muttered.
• "Maude, you play too much." she shook her head in disbelief and leaned back.
• "Reena, I mean it. I'm still shaking from the encounter. I saw him! At the mall!"
• Reena's mouth dropped a little and she seemed dumbfounded.
• "Are you kidding me?" she gasped, almost unheard.
• "I'm not." I replied seriously.
• She covered her mouth in shock.
• "Maude, how?!"
• "He recognised me. I don't know how he got there or what he's doing here! I was in a restaurant – he stared at me...approached me, I was confused and I... I didn't know. I was so confused Reena I–"
• "Moe, Moe??" she gripped my shoulders, "Calm down."
• I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
• "Tell me everything in detail." she said.
• "Alright."
• I went on to tell her everything. Reena listened attentively.
• "Girl, why the hell did he follow you??" she asked in wonder, standing.
• "I don't know. And he kept insisting that I step out of that stall."
• "And if the employee had not entered, he would've definitely kicked it open." Reena gasped lowly, "What did he want?"
• "I don't know. He said he just wanted to see me."
• "But why?!" Reena said with a little frown, "Just when life was getting better."
• "You think they're here?" I asked.
• "They? They?!" Reena repeated with wide eyes, "Him, not they."
• "What makes you so sure that they're not here together? Remember those two never went somewhere without the other."
• "Moe, they're adults now!"
• I could tell Ree was slightly panicked and I understood her perfectly. I was seeing anxiety slowly take over her in front of me.
• "You saw one, doesn't mean the other's here. Well, I hope he's not. I bet Alejandro's just here for one of their mafioso businesses because they'd left the States years ago and were sure never to return."
• "I hope so." I swallowed, feeling anxious again, "Gosh, why did I have to see him again."
• "What did he look like?"
• "I didn't recognize him at first because he had brown hair."
• "Brown hair?" she asked, surprised, "Tell me more. We never know. If his brother is here as well, and I unfortunately cross paths with him, I'll know how to flee before he sees me."
• I stared at Reena and it surprised me that I suddenly managed a little laugh that eased my mood.
• "Ree, you're terrified of him?" I mused a little.
• Reena's POV:
• "I just don't want to have to cross paths with him." I replied, the thought giving me goosebumps already.
• 'Lawd, I hope he isn't here. Pleaaaase let his ass be on the other side of the planet.'
• Maude giggled and I was a little appeased that she felt better though I was more worried about what she'd just told me.
• She went on to describe the Alejandro she'd seen and I took note of the details in my head.
• "This is crazy." I sat again.
• "I still find it hard to actually realise. It was a little scary and confusing. It caused so many reactions in me and I panicked so bad. I even thought I would pass out."
• I couldn't help it but imagine if it'd happened to me instead. I would've passed out right there.
• 'Please, let him not be here. Please.'
• "Well, at least he didn't succeed in getting hold of you. Don't think about it anymore, Moe. It was a pure coincidence and there's a chance on a hundred that you two meet again. I think that chance has already been used today and so don't worry at all." I said to her and we hugged.
• "Don't worry too, Ree. I know you're anxious but don't worry. You're right, he's probably here for some mission and will soon go away. And I'm sure his brother isn't here."
• "I hope so." I chuckled a little, "Now let's forget it all. Guess what?"
• "What?"
• "Dave invited me to his place next week."
• "Oh, really?" she cooed and we giggled.
• "Yeah. Wants us to have dinner one evening. Said I could chose the day. I'll probably chose Wednesday cuz I'm free."
• "That's great. What if he asks you out?"
• "Already? Nah, he has to woo me first." I said with a raised finger and we laughed.
• *
• Writer's POV:
• Late that night, when everyone had retired to bed, Alejandro couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned, feeling restless.
• "Aarrggh." he groaned angrily and sat up. It wasn't the first time he was having a restless night. He'd developed that problem at the age of nineteen and it refused to go since then.
• Some nights he would sleep without issues and on other nights he had to take sleeping pills to help.
• ~
• He lazily got out of bed and went to his little table and took a sit. He opened his laptop and decided to surf the web a little and watch movies until he finally felt sleepy.
• When he opened a searched engine, automatically, the name of Maude's company echoed in his head as if on command.
• 'Oh gawd. I should forget all about it.'
• He stared blankly at the laptop's screen for up to five minutes. He ended up shaking his head and raising his fingers to the keyboard.
• "Dammit." he muttered and rubbed the back of his neck before typing down the company's name.
• 'I'm a dumbass for this.'
• He waited for the results to load and then he clicked on the site's link. In no time, he was on the company's website.
• He read their construction work and the services they offered and much more. And then, there was this icon that read 'Managers and sub managers'.
• He clicked on it and pictures of the highest authorities of the company's branches in different countries and cities appeared.
• 'Long ass list.'
• He frowned and was going to exit but then he saw the search bar.
• 'Log out.'
• He thought. But stubborn Alejandro Enrique went on to type Maude's name.
• "Lorenzo would kill me if he caught me." he mused to himself and turned to make sure that his door was still locked, "I shouldn't be doing this." he shook his head and frowned a little.
• Just when he was going to close the tab, the search results appeared and there she was. The one and only Maude Dubreaux. Alejandro froze for a second before leaning in so close to the screen that his face was some inches away. He stared at the picture of her. Her name was written by it and her position in the companies. He noticed it mentioned that she'd recently been transfered from Chicago to Miami.
• "Fascinating..." Alejandro whispered and went back to focusing on her picture. His heart skipped a beat,
• "Well, hello there, Miss Dubreaux."
• "Wow..."
• 'Damn, she's even more beautiful than I remember.'
• He swallowed and turned to stare at his closed door. Then he faced the screen again.
• "Maude..." he whispered, eyes fixed on the screen, "You ran away from me." he seemed to muse as a little awkward smile drew itself on his lips.
• 'She's moved here. Miami.'
• He stared at the picture for another while before coming back to his senses.
• 'I'm supposed to forget all about her. She's done so and so why the fuck am I sitting here like a stalker?'
• He frowned and closed the tab.
• "Sleep time." he stood and retired to his bed.
• *
• The next morning, Maude sat on her bed in Reena's apartment and stared out the windows.
• She'd dreamt of Alejandro Enrique the previous night. In her dream she'd relived what had happened at the mall. But this time, in her dream, he'd broken the stall door and had grabbed her, forcing her to look him in the eyes. This had caused Maude to awaken abruptly, her heart palpitating and her forehead sweaty.
• ~
• She shook her head at the thought of the dream in what seemed to be anger.
• 'I should forget it all. It never happened and I'll definitely never see him again.'
• Or so she thought.