The café smelled of burnt sugar and espresso, the kind of scent that clung to your hair and clothes long after you left. Alondra stirred her cappuccino without drinking, letting the foam collapse while she stared at the people passing outside the glass window. Zara was already tapping her nails on the table, restless, lips painted a sharp red that caught the morning light.
"You're doing it again," Zara said finally, pushing her plate of croissant crumbs aside.
"Doing what?"
"Pretending you're here with me when you're actually up there in your head, somewhere between Madrid and New York."
Alondra forced a smile. "Maybe I'm just tired."
"Or maybe you're hiding something." Zara leaned forward, her bracelets clinking against the table. "You think I don't notice? Your eyes keep darting like you expect someone to walk through the door. Spill it. What's wrong?"
Alondra sipped the cappuccino just to buy time, the bitterness coating her tongue. She didn't want to say his name. She didn't want to remember the way he'd looked at her in that suite, cold but not really cold, like he was trying not to feel something.
"It's nothing," she said, too quickly.
Zara laughed without humor. "Nothing has you stirring your coffee like you're trying to drill a hole in the cup. Alondra, we've known each other since training. You can't lie to me."
Alondra exhaled, eyes on the window again. "A passenger."
"Oh," Zara's brows shot up, and the sound of that single word was already loaded with mischief. "So that's it. Someone important?"
"He was… difficult."
Zara smirked. "Difficult usually means handsome."
"Not in this case." Alondra tried to shut the door, but Zara's grin widened.
"Liar. If he weren't handsome, you wouldn't be sitting here twisting yourself into knots. Who was he?"
Alondra shook her head. "Just someone I shouldn't think about. That's all."
Zara tilted her head. "You always play it safe, amiga. Maybe one day you'll stop pretending the rules protect you."
The words landed harder than they should have. Alondra stared at her cappuccino again and didn't reply. Zara sighed, checked her phone, and said she had to run. She kissed Alondra's cheek and left her alone in the café, the seat across from her suddenly too empty.
When Alondra finally gathered her things and walked out, the street air felt sharper. She told herself she was being paranoid, but every face in the crowd seemed to tilt toward her, and every shadow felt heavier. She walked faster, heels striking pavement, until she ducked into the bright orderliness of Sainsbury's.
It was supposed to be safe—aisles lined with fruit, fluorescent lights humming overhead, children whining about candy. She picked up oranges, a carton of milk, and bread. Normal. Ordinary. She was reaching for a pack of pasta when her eyes snagged on something that froze her completely.
Him.
Not in a tailored suit this time but in a dark jacket, collar up, hair slightly tousled. Ezean Carter. He was in the wine aisle, looking so out of place it made her chest tighten. She ducked behind the pasta shelf, heart pounding in her ears.
This isn't real, she thought. He doesn't shop here. Men like him don't stand under fluorescent lights debating over merlot.
But when she risked a glance, he was still there, hand on a bottle, eyes scanning labels with the same concentration he might use in a boardroom. And then, as though he felt the weight of her gaze, he turned his head slightly.
Alondra pulled back so fast she almost dropped the pasta. Her pulse thudded against her throat. She forced herself to breathe, to walk calmly toward the checkout, but every step felt exposed. She didn't dare look back.
At the register, the cashier asked if she wanted a bag, and Alondra just nodded, hands trembling. She hurried out of the store, groceries digging into her palm. The city noises were too loud, the air too thin. She didn't stop walking until she was inside her small flat, door bolted behind her.
For a long while, she stood in the hallway, back pressed to the wood, groceries still in hand. She kept hearing Zara's voice—maybe one day you'll stop pretending the rules protect you.
By evening, the flat felt suffocating. The walls closed in with their quiet, the clock ticked too loudly, and the television buzzed with shows she couldn't focus on. She cooked pasta she didn't eat, pushed the plate away, and poured herself a glass of wine that sat untouched. Her phone lit up with a message from her mother asking if she'd met anyone nice at work. She typed back "no" and put the phone face down.
Night deepened. The city hummed outside, traffic like a distant heartbeat. Alondra curled on the couch with a blanket, trying to shut her eyes, but every time she drifted, she saw his face in that aisle, sharp and unreadable under supermarket light.
Close to midnight, a sound snapped her awake. A knock. Soft but deliberate, echoing through her flat like a stone dropped into still water.
Her breath caught. She glanced at the clock—12:04. No one knocked at her door at this hour. Another knock came, firmer.
She stood, bare feet silent on the wooden floor, heart slamming. She thought of all the stories she'd heard about break-ins, stalkers, and mistakes you couldn't undo. She reached the door but didn't touch the handle.
"Who is it?" Her voice was smaller than she wanted it to be.
Silence.
A third knock, slower this time, followed by the faint scrape of something against the door.
Alondra pressed her palm flat to the cool wood, her chest rising and falling too fast. She wanted to scream, to call someone, but her phone was in the kitchen and her body wouldn't move.
Then, just as suddenly, the knocking stopped.
Silence pressed in around her, heavy and absolute. She stayed there, frozen in the dark, listening to the rush of her own blood, until she wasn't sure if she'd imagined the whole thing.
And then—just when she was about to step back—her phone buzzed in the kitchen. A message.
Her throat tightened as she forced her feet to move. She picked up the phone with trembling hands.
One new message.
Unknown number.
Only two words.
Nice coffee.
Alondra's stomach dropped.