I stay at Lara's place for the weekend. Daniel tried calling a few times, when I didn't pick up, he sent me a text, Sofia â I am sorry. I shouldn't have done that. Please call. But I don't respond.
On Sunday morning, when the three of us are having breakfast, there's a hard knock on the door. Lara, Elias and I all pause. The stalker has made all of us weary, even Elias. He stands up to open it.
"Check who it is before opening" Lara says, he looks through the peephole, and opens the door without saying who it is,
"Can I talk to Sofia?" I hear Daniel's voice. Elias turns his head to look at me, I shake my head no,
"Uh, no... um, she's not here" Elias says,
"She is here. Tell her we need to speak"
"She doesn't want to talk to you" Lara says, walking up to the door. I stand up, too, and where I can see him in the opening, but am still a good distance from the door.
"Sofia, come here, we need to talk" he says when he sees me, he's wearing a short sleeve shirt, looks a bit dishevelled like he came straight from a workout or something.
"I don't want to talk to you" I say, "just leave"
"Sorry for what I did"
"You already said that. Now you can go" I say coldly,
He stands there looking at me, Lara goes to close the door in his face, but he easily stops it with a hand. It occurs to me that he could just barge in, Lara and Elias wouldn't be much of an obstacle for him. It also occurs to me that he could hurt Elias. He's still recovering from the concussion, and very weak, the thought someone might hurt him again scares me.
"Leave" I say, this time in a softer, more pleading tone. He doesn't move, just stares at me from the doorway,
"She wants you to go" Elias says, and Daniel's eyes cut to him. My heart pounding, I'm ready to run up and stop a fight, but luckily, I don't have to. Daniel sends me a final glance, his dark eyes digging into my soul. He gives a short nod, and walks away. What's weird is that I have to fight my own urge to go after him.
The next day, it's time for me to return back to my apartment. Nina will be coming back from her trip in the afternoon. We spoke on the phone a few times. I never disclosed what my argument with Daniel was, and kept our conversations short and joyful. From the sounds of it, she's been loving her time with George.
I catch a bus early in the morning, and arrive to our building by nine. The apartment is all quiet, no one is home. On my way back, I bought some ingredients for Nina's belated birthday cake, and given that she's a bit of a bookworm, and an upcoming lawyer, her gift is a book, crime and punishment. I write a little note on the inside of the front cover and stick on a tacky ribbon bow.
With my hair tied up into a bun, I start working on her small pistachio and walnut cake, really hoping Daniel or Phil don't show up. At around noon, Nina walks in through the front door. I run up and give her a huge hug,
"Happy birthday!" I sing, she laughs and takes a large whiff of the room,
"Oh, it smells so nice in here!" she walks over to the kitchen, the finished cake with a single candle and her gift are sitting on the counter, "is that for me?" she squeals then runs back to hug me again,
"How was your trip?" I ask,
"Amazing! I think I love him more now than I ever did before!"
"Tell me all about it!" I say, though she did keep me in the loop over the phone,
"I will! But, I have to say first, I'm really sorry about what George said to you that night!" she says, I wave my hand and shrug,
"Already forgotten"
"No, I lectured him all night. He was so apologetic!"
"I know, he apologised over the phone"
"But I told him he'll have to do it in person too! He's coming over later this afternoon, right now he's at his friend's place. I was so upset with him! It's so unlike his character, too"
"As I said, all forgotten. I'm just glad you had a good trip"
"Now the conversation you've been avoiding for so long. What happened with you and Daniel? Are you good now?"
I tell her what happened that night. Everything, in detail. She listens with a frown on her face, shaking her head left and right,
"He's such a brute sometimes!" she mutters, "you know when Daniel went after you that night? George and I knew you didn't want him to follow you, so George tried to stop him. Daniel gave him the scariest glare ever, I had to hold George off. I was worried Daniel was about to punch him or something"
"I know, I remember George called after him to stop him following me"
"Yes. But I knew if George actually did anything Daniel would have hurt him!"
"I don't doubt he would have"
"What happened then?"
"I caught a cab to Lara's, as you know. Daniel followed me the whole way there. He tried calling many times, then on Sunday he actually came"
"You spoke?"
"No. I told him I didn't want to talk to him"
"He's so mean sometimes" she shakes her head, "how did he ever think that was okay? But..."
"But?"
"You know what? I actually think he really likes you" she says, "and also he really looks out for you..."
"I thought you hated him"
"I hate how he treats George. That's uncalled for. But I like how he treats you. Excluding what he did at the party, of course"
"Hm... do you think I should forgive him?"
"I mean, I can't believe I am defending him after what he did, but I think he's a good guy overall. He just needs to take anger management classes or something" she giggles, "also, I can see how much you like him" she raises her hand before I can speak, "no, don't even try and defend yourself. You like him. And you really, really like him. And I think you owe it to yourself to give him another chance. Let him grovel, let him beg a little longer, but then give him that chance"
As I am thinking her words over, the front door opens and Phil walks in.
"Ah, hey. Haven't seen either of you in ages!" he's looking at me curiously, "you okay?" he asks me,
"Yes, Nina just came home from her birthday trip"
"Happy birthday! How was the trip?" he asks her,
"Amazing!" she responds, "want some?" she asks, ready to cut up the cake,
"Would love some! Smells really good" he turns back to me, "what happened with you and Daniel?"
"He didn't tell you?"
"No. It's impossible to talk to him, he's angry at everyone. He's been spending all days at the gym, if anyone dares fight him, they leave with a bruised body and ego. What the hell have you done to him?"
"Nothing. We had a fight" I say,
"A fight?" he asks, I nod. A physical fight, too. But I don't say that.
"What did he do?"
"Nothing. Just a bad argument" I respond, sensing I'm not ready to delve more into it, Phil drops the subject.
That same evening, I decide to go to the theatreas I have a class. In a weird sense, I've had enough of hiding and running. AsGeorge is still in town, he and Nina drop me off at six. George not onlyapologised once more for his hurtful words, but also bought me a huge bouquetof flowers. They ask what time they should pick me up, but I tell them I willcatch a cab.