Between Perfect Strangers

Chapter 10- Ice Cold Looks - Cecilia

After three weeks of being in Miami, I had learned three things.

Sierra hated k-pop with a passion and made sure to eradicate it from all the spotify playlists we played in the ice cream store. I had already crossed paths with Vanessa Solis and it turned out she was the know-it-all best friend of Ayden.

Oh, and then there’s the fact that Viki was hiding a lot from me over her life. After a long shift at Walls’, I walked back with a tub of ice cream to our apartment when I heard shouting from inside the penthouse. I snuck to the uncovered window and spotted Oliver arguing with Viki. 

The window was slightly opened, so I quickly looked for the window from my room and started sneaking in to hear their conversation better. I crouched on the stairsteps, hearing Viki’s distressed voice.

“Oliver, I told you to keep her safe, not to earn her a spot to get thrusted back to Italy!”

“Well, not my fault your protege is smart.” He answered curtly.

“Ollie, I can’t have her heading back to Italy. They will be looking for her and we are dead meat the second she steps back there,”

“Well then, isn’t that why she does the con artist gig? Let her con again. It’s not like she hasn’t done it before, Viktoria.” a plate fell and she gasped.

“I am not letting her do such a thing again. She’s risked so much already, and each con could get her caught. I came here to settle down,”

“Did you know Cecilia is working at Walls with Sierra?” He asked her and I peeked to see the awestruck look on her face.

“So what? I’d rather her to be here than back with the sharks over there,” She snarled at him.

“Even after what Sierra did to you?” He asked teasingly and she took out the kitchen knife and threw it straight at him. He dodged it, the knife striking the wall and he smiled at her.

“Don’t you dare get in my personal life and affairs because you’re jealous of her, Oliver. You know who she is and why we need to keep her safe,” she snarled at him in an aggressiveness I’d never seen from her.

“Cut the bullshit about the promises you made to the family because I know damn well you don’t care about that. Cecilia’s cons benefitted you. You know very well that she needs to face her past at one point or another.” He explained as they circled each other in the kitchen like wolves watching their prey.

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that,” she turned around, picking up the broken plate parts and throwing them away.

“You’re too invested in this mission, Viki. Could the real reason for staying with her be different?” I moved closer and she closed her eyes painfully before she faced him.

“Be careful with your next words, Oliver. I’ve had enough of your crap and Cecilia is arriving soon.”

“Are you sure you’re not doing this for your loyalty to Ms. Montovani but because you’re in love with Cecilia?” The slap I heard reverberated through the whole room as she shoved him and he fell. When I heard the gun clicking and Ollie wrestling Viki by pinning her against the wall, she quickly slid her leg to make him fall. She stood, pointing the gun to him and I shivered, completely surprised.

Viki would never slap someone. She’d never threaten anyone because of me and she would never have a gun and throw knives as if she were some type of professional assassin. She was just my handmaid. My partner in crime. My best friend. 

“Get the fuck out of our place. If you do anything to screw Cecilia over, I will not hesitate to end you once and for all.” she snarled at him and for once, I was beginning to doubt who Viki was in the first place.

“Pull the trigger then. Do it, Viktoria,” her hands began to tremble and she stepped away from him, hiding the gun.

“Get out,” she said bitterly.

“You know I’m right. Why don’t you just admit that you’re-”

“GET OUT ALREADY!” she shouted angrily and I winced, watching him as he dusted off the germs and glared at her before leaving. I waited for him to leave and I was about to go back upstairs when Viki spotted me and she tapped her foot impatiently, her face tired.

“What did you hear?”

“Viki, I told you he was-”

“I said, what did you hear?” She asked me curtly. I sighed and pointed to the knife.

“Everything after the knife,” I lied to her, not wanting to admit that I had heard their whole conversation. She shook her head and wrestled the knife off the wall.

“Why Walls?” she asked me bluntly and I dragged her to sit down on the sofa.

“I lied, Viki. I-It wasn’t my intention to start a con again, but he… if you saw him, you’d like him. He’s like the sweetest flower and he’s so rare… I didn’t want him to know who I was,” I admitted quietly and she groaned, smacking her head.

“The guy you slept with? That one?” I nodded.

“How did you meet him again?”

“Viki, we keep bumping into each other. He helped me up in the airport when his brother crashed into me. He was at the party when we ended up sleeping together and he goes to the same university I do. He’s an architect major also heading to the trip to Italy. I couldn’t let him know who I was and  I-”

“You lied. You started a con after you promised you wouldn’t. When will you ever stop lying, Cecilia? I thought we were starting again, that we’d finally settle down into a life without cons,”

“Why would we start again when apparently you know more people here than anywhere else?” I snapped at her and her eyes narrowed at me.

“Because Miami is the perfect place to lie low. I know people that could keep us hidden away from your family,” she retorted icily and I got up, grabbing the kitchen knife.

“And this? The knife throwing, the secret gun, the secrets Oliver knows about you, what about that? What haven’t you told me, Viki? You’re supposed to be my handmaid. My partner in crime and best friends never keep secrets from each other,”

“You run away from your past like I do. My past isn’t important because what is more important is your safety,” she answered, deflecting my question and by then, my restraint finally snapped.

“My safety or your control over me?” she froze as she stared at me, her eyes glassy as she tried to answer, but when they hardened, I knew she would never tell me the truth. I had been travelling with a fellow liar this entire time.

“Forget it. I’m going out,” I told her, grabbing my handbag and she left after me, pulling my arm back softly.

“Cecilia. I am trying to keep you safe,”

“Because my mom said so or because you want to?” I asked her bitterly and she tensed, at a loss for words.

“When you’re willing to talk more about who you really are then I’ll listen,” I said quietly, leaving the door before I heard her cry. 

While her sobs broke a part of my heart, I knew I couldn’t live among another liar. Not when I had already created my grave to lie in. My name wasn’t Cecilia or even Lisette and if I didn’t even know my name…

Then how could I ever commit to loving someone?

And the questions multiply. Why is Viki caring over Cecilia? Is it duty, love... or is there more to her motives and on whose side is Oliver truly on?
Sandyfrogy