LITMIR.BIZ

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del Pozo referred to Mr. Moreau in the French manner because he was, in fact, a native Frenchman.

      – I’m at the Olympic Plaza.

      – Where?

      Apparently he didn’t hear me, so I said it louder:

      – At the five-star Olympic Plaza Hotel.

      A small silence ensued.

      – Mr. Norland is at this particular hotel at the moment, senora.

      My heart was beating at a frantic pace.

      – Where exactly? Can you tell me?

      I looked around to see Mike at last.

      – He’s currently on the 46th floor.

      It’s going to be very hard, kind of an accident to be there.

      – What about you? Where are you at the moment?

      – I am currently in room 303 in the same hotel.

      – Then, may I come up to see you, Señor del Pozo?

      Once again, a short-lived silence.

      – Si, senora, you can.

      – In that case, I’ll be with you shortly.

      I reset the call and walked to the elevator, not understanding why my hands and feet were shaking so much. I heard the sound of the elevator arriving, and when its doors opened, I stepped in with the other people and pressed the third floor.

      «Welcome to the operation Miss Spikes!»

      Chapter 11

      What was I experiencing?

      Love?

      Resentment?

      Disappointment?

      Or maybe I was trying to realize what Mike had done?

      I don’t know. I didn’t want to think about it. In my life, there was a lot of that going on together. At this point, I wasn’t smiling or sad or even bursting into audible laughter or crying. I was just a bystander, my realization that Mike was alive and that he was actually a regular crook. Yes, I adored him, but that love was a deception that transformed my wounded heart into a punching bag. My feelings were swinging from side to side like a pendulum. I sat in a seminar and tried to figure out what it was that I was feeling. No matter how hard I tried, it wasn’t like that.

      – It’s mind-boggling, isn’t it?

      Eric’s voice brought me out of my thoughts. I’d completely forgotten that he was sitting next to me.

      – Uh-huh.

      It really is mind-blowing! I don’t know myself and my feelings.

      – In the past year, this young man talked about the newest online game.

      I looked at Mr. Davis, who was giving us a presentation on new developments in the web environment. He was a tall man, thin, with narrow-rimmed glasses on his eagle nose and a bald head. His voice was quite sonorous, but even he could not shout out my thoughts.

      And so again I came back to my thoughts.

      How should I behave when I see Mike? What would I say to him? Would I feel the feelings I’d been harboring all these years again?

      But there was no answer. I honestly tried to imagine our meeting with Mike, his face, and the likely environment. I couldn’t get myself in the mood, so I sat and fidgeted in my chair.

      – Not interesting for you?

      I turned to Eric, and the suffocating scent of his cologne made me shiver.

      – Why is that? I just don’t like to sit in one place for a long time.

      – Ah, I see. Same problem.

      – The truth?

      I had to act surprised.

      – Especially when I have to wait for a long time at the airport. This is the height of my patience.

      Mrs. Hughes, sitting in front of us, turned halfway around to face Eric and shushed him softly. I don’t know why, but it made me smirk. In my head, I said, «Thank you,» to Diana. Because I wasn’t in the mood to have a conversation with Eric at the moment.

      A few minutes later an SMS from the detective arrived.

      «Mr. Norland in the elevator.»

      I nervously tucked the phone into my purse on my lap and looked around confused. I needed to make sure I didn’t miss my own chance to meet Mike, but how was I supposed to do that when I was sitting in a seminar? In truth of the matter, this event was just a cover, but I still felt bad for the speaker. Damn the upbringing!

      My phone vibrated again.

      «Are you there yet?» – I read and quickly dialed the answer, «Not yet.

      I bit my lower lip and glanced toward the door.

      «It’s now or never!»

      As I got up from my seat, the look on Eric’s face spoke volumes for him. He certainly didn’t approve of my behavior, but I didn’t care anymore. I cautiously, ducking a little, walked around the rows and quickly made my way to the exit, hiding behind the door.

      «What am I doing?» – I didn’t really hit myself on the head as I huddled against the cold wall as I walked out of the conference room.

      «He’s on the first floor,» came from the detective.

      Everything was very fast-paced. I felt sick at the thought of Mike. I tried to pull myself together and move forward, but it was like my legs wouldn’t listen.

      «So Violet! This is your only chance to find out the truth. So get it together already!»

      After I told myself off, I had to take one last deep breath and walk unsteadily to the hotel lobby. Now that I knew the detective’s face, I had no trouble finding him out at once. He was standing near the front desk, flipping through a magazine.

      To be sure, I imagined Mike’s face in my head, so familiar and my favorite. I was so caught up in my ideas that I didn’t see the lady walking toward me. A collision was inevitable, because I was in the clouds, and at the same time the lady was rummaging through her own bag, not noticing where she was going. Her belongings flew a few meters forward after our collision, which left even me with a small tube of lipstick on my cheek.

      – Oops! Sorry…

      My cry was answered in French, and so quickly that I could barely catch a word or two. My French was not as good as my German, so I had to jog my memory and remember a few phrases.

      – Excuse me. – I said in French and started running around the lady picking up her things that were scattered on the floor.

      Her grumbling lasted until she stepped away from me, casting a hateful glance in my direction. Here’s a thank you for you! It’s not my fault she doesn’t look where she’s going! After all, I’m on a mission of principle.

      «Oh right! Mission!»

      I turned around to go to a safe place where I could see my ex-boyfriend, but before I could take a step I ran into someone. I looked up and faced the eyes that hadn’t left me in years.5

      – Mike!?

      And that was it, the abyss. I collapsed right in the middle of the crowd of people, into the arms of an ex-lover. It was the same feeling as if I had sat on a stained bench, and not anywhere, but in the middle of town.

      So, now let’s take our seats according to our purchased tickets and watch the mentor movie «How to Get Attention or One Bad Day by Violet Spikes»!

      Chapter 12

      I like

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