MONSTER OF THE UNKNOWN

A DAY OUT

It's a sunny Saturday morning when Laura walks into 'Verre Y Table' (one of the most prestigious and expensive restaurants in the entire municipality) looking as stunning as ever in her red top and black jeans. She looks from left to right until she eventually spots the person that invited her here. Sitting alone at a table for two in the far right hand corner of the establishment is none other than Sara Bloomaert.

"I was starting to worry that you wouldn't show," Sara tells the brunette as she takes her seat across her. There are already two cups of tea on the table, so it seems she has already made an order. "I already ordered for both of us, they'll soon bring it. I hope you're not vegetarian 'cause there's going to be a lot of meat."

"Thank you, it won't be a problem," Laura expresses her appreciation. "I have to admit, I was a little bit surprised when I got your text."

In case you're lost, a few days ago, Laura received a message out of the blue from Sara, inviting her to come have breakfast with her at a fancy restaurant during the weekend without mentioning any particular reason. The former has never had an actual one-on-one conversation with the latter, so she can't imagine why she would ask to meet up with her.

"I needed to talk to you in person privately, and I guessed you'd be free this morning 'cause I know your boyfriend, Mathéo, would be having his weekly karate class with Lyam around this time," Sara confesses.

"Mathéo and I aren't dating," Laura immediately blurts out as her cheeks redden in embarrassment. "We're not like that, he doesn't see me that way. We're just friends."

"If you say so," the dark-skinned beauty says skeptically before taking a brief sip of tea. "In any case, I wouldn't even be able to tell you if he did like you like that. Mathéo is a really complicated and mystifying person in my opinion. Plus, we aren't that close. Only Aaron knows him that well. Those two are practically twins."

"Are they the reason why you wanted to talk with me? Aaron and Mathéo, I mean."

"Yeah, you caught me," Sara admits in response as she gently drops her teacup back on its saucer. "I get that Aaron wants to know more about his past and he deserves to find answers, but I just have a bad feeling about him meeting with the stalker and I need Mathéo's help convincing him. I would've asked him myself, but he blocked my number and restricted me from texting him on social media after their whole quarrel."

"Why can't you explain your concern to Aaron yourself?" Laura asks her while trying not to come across as rude. "You're his girlfriend after all. I don't really see why Mathéo has to get involved nor how I fit into any of this."

Sara is about to respond to Laura's question when she's shortly interrupted by the waiter as he serves the dishes she ordered. She requested the same dish for the both of them—filleted pork and some port red sauce along with salad croquettes. The server quickly leaves, letting the two girls continue their discussion.

"What I was going to say was that I'm afraid of telling Aaron myself 'cause I don't want to seem unsupportive. I know I'm sounding like a coward right now, but Mathéo has known Aaron longer than I have and he's better at reasoning with him," Sara explains to the brunette. "I know you two might not be dating yet, but it's very obvious you mean a lot to him, even if it isn't romantically. He'll probably do it if you ask him to."

"I feel like you're really overestimating me. I'm the farthest thing from a master seductress, and even if I was, Mathéo is still angry about his best friend nailing him to the ceiling like a chandelier. It's not exactly the sort of thing you just forget after two weeks."

"I'm aware that what Aaron did to Mathéo was very messed up and I should've tried to separate them before things got out of hand, but can't you at least try?"