I run up the stairs to the apartment, my lungs dying for air, my legs shaking from the run. I lunge at the door and burst inside the apartment, Daniel and Phil turn towards the door. Daniel is holding his jacket over his arm, looking like he was about to head out. He hurries towards me,
"Sofia?" he rushes past me to open the door and look into the hallway, "is someone after you?" he asks, I shake my head no, still breathing hard,
"What happened? I thought you were at the theatre?" Daniel asks,
"Were you running from someone?" Phil asks,
I shake my head no once more, imagining how ridiculous I must look to them. Dressed in a dance skirt, my hair up in a ridiculously high bun, with my face covered in excessive makeup.
"I am okay" I manage to say, "no one is after me"
"They why were you running?" they ask at the same time, I don't respond, just shrug my shoulders,
"I just came from the gym, was about to head out to follow you home from the theatre. Why are you here? What happened?" Daniel asks,
"I had to go to the hospital"
"What happened? Are you okay?" they ask in one voice,
"It's Lara, she... her brother, Elias, was attacked when they were walking to the bus stop"
"Attacked?"
"Yes... she thinks it's the stalker. He hit Elias in the head, Elias lost consciousness, but by the time that happened Lara managed to call for help, people came and the attacker ran off"
"Is her brother okay?" Phil asks,
"He had a concussion, but woke up. The doctor said he hopes for a full recovery"
"How did you get to the hospital?" Daniel asks,
"I caught a taxi"
"Why didn't you call me?" he sounds angry,
"I was in a hurry to get to Lara. At that point she didn't know if Elias was okay or not"
"So the stalker attacks her brother, and you are crazy enough to go to a hospital by yourself? What if he came for you?"
"A taxi is safe" I defend,
"Why did you run if you took a taxi?" Phil asks, "you're fit, so to be that tired you must have run quite a distance"
"I ran from the hospital"
"What?" Phil asks,
"Are you crazy?" Daniel speaks, "why didn't you call me?"
"Or at least get a taxi?" Phil adds,
"I didn't have any cash on me for a taxi"
"So why didn't you call me?" Daniel repeats, sounding even angrier than before,
"I knew you were at the gym"
"So what?" he asks, almost yelling, "you think I wouldn't leave the gym and come for you if you needed a lift?"
"That's insane, Sofia!" Phil jumps in, "I gave you my number, too, you could have called either of us! That's reckless!"
"I didn't want to be a burden" I say, defensively,
"Are you serious?" Daniel takes an angry step in my direction. I know he wouldn't hurt me in any way, but his towering presence feels incredibly intimidating. To makes matters worse, his anger is directed at me,
"I am okay. Nothing happened to me" I defend,
"Something could have happened to you!" Phil chimes in, Daniel takes another step forward, so he's standing in my personal space, I have to crane my neck to look at him,
"But it didn't" I say in a defeated tone of voice, Daniel's anger seems to evaporate, his expression changes to worry,
"Sofia, I can drive you anywhere, anytime, okay? Doesn't matter where I am, what I am doing, you call me and I'm there"
For whatever reason, his words make me tear up. I feel like hugging him, burying my head into his chest,
"Got it?" he asks, I nod, "good. And stop crying. We'll get the stalker soon, we'll catch him out. Didn't we agree? Just be patient"
"I am patient, but..."
"But?"
"I told you already, I don't think it's safe to try and catch the stalker out like that. Especially now that we know he's dangerous enough to attack Elias"
"The fact he attacked Elias proves that he's a coward. Elias is young, unexperienced. Anyone can see that from a distance"
"He's only a year younger than me" I defend,
"You're a baby"
"I'm eighteen"
"Exactly. A baby"
"And how old are you?"
"Twenty-two"
"I bet no one would've messed with you when you were seventeen either" Phil says in the background, with how close Daniel is standing, I almost forgot Phil was even there, "you should've seen him, Sofia. He was an angry seventeen year old that everyone was afraid of. A head taller than everyone, too" he says,
"That's beside the point, at his age I was already into fighting, but Elias is a kid" Daniel says, I try to picture what Daniel looked like as a seventeen year old. He was into fighting? Why? Where were his parents? What did his life look like?
"And we'll get him, sooner or later, okay?" Daniel asks,
"But..." I start, trying to come up with a reason not to go after the stalker like we did before.
"Another but?" Daniel asks,
"What if we catch the wrong person again? Like last time?" I ask,
"I wouldn't be so sure that it was the wrong person last time" he says,
"You can't actually think it's George?"
"Too many coincidences, Sofia. Maybe you and Nina have some obsession over him but-"
"I don't have an obsession with him! It's that we've known him for years!"
"People change. I see the way he looks at you"
"Looks at me?" I repeat, disgusted even at the suggestion, "no! He's Nina's boyfriend"
"Nina's boyfriend with eyes that keep seeking you out" Daniel scoffs,
"Don't even say that!" I shake my head in disbelief, even the thought of something like that is sickening. I know he's wrong.
"He's right" Phil jumps in, my eyes fly over to where he's standing, "maybe you don't see it but George is into you"
"No, he-" I stop talking when the front door opens, Nina walks in, her eyes go straight to Daniel,
"You're here!" she says accusingly,
"Where else should I be?" Daniel asks,
"You attacked George for the second time!" she says, angry,
"Did you ask George why he was following Sofia?" Daniel asks,
"Yes, I certainly did! He's planning a surprise for me next weekend and wanted to talk to Sofia, is that so bad?" She shakes her head, "look, I get you were trying to help. My number one priority is that Sofia is safe, too. But I was with George earlier, George has a broken nose and breuised eye. He's in terrible shape"
"What?" Daniel and I ask at the same time, shocked,
"That's not from me" Daniel says, "I didn't even touch him unfortunately. Someone else did that to him"
"Yeah, right! He said it was you!" Nina scoffs,
"No, he's not lying" I jump in, "I was there last night, Daniel didn't hit George at all" Nina frowns, looking at me questioningly,
"Dut George said it was because of Daniel"
"It wasn't" Daniel says,
"But he wouldn't lie to me" she holds. We all stare at each other in silence. My mind working, coming to the worst conclusion ever,
"Guys, remember Lara was attacked this evening" I remind,
"Huh?" Nina asks, surprised, "is she okay?"
"Lara was with Elias when a masked man attacked" I explain to her, "he fought with Elias while she called for help"
"Is she okay? Is Elias okay?"
"They are. I was in hospital with them. Lara wasn't hurt, but Elias was"
They're all silent again, everyone thinking this information over. I see the very moment Nina understands exactly where I am going with this, and she pierces through me with accusing, hurt eyes,
"What are you trying to say?" she asks, I look Nina straight in the eye,
"Lara said Elyas punched the attacker into face a bunch of times" I say, no one speaks, we're all looking at Nina. I see tears forming in her eyes as she shakes her head no. I feel my heart breaking for her, she looks so hurt.
"How dare you?" She cries, speaking at last, "how dare you accuse him?"
She turns on her heel and storms out the door, I run right after her.