Butterfly's Year

43. Trojan horse

In the morning, there was no indication that Victor was still thinking about a rushed wedding. He waited until Alec arrived at his post, then tenderly said goodbye to me and left for work. The entire day was routine. Nothing happened that could hint at a sudden cooling of relations within my close circle.

After classes, Alec drove me home, and since Victor wasn't back yet, I took advantage of the time alone to go to the gym. After a moderately intense workout, I returned to our floor using the fire stairs to finish my cardio, and when I entered the hall, I heard Alec's voice.

He was alone and talking on the phone.

– Yeah, sure – he agreed, holding the smartphone to his ear and glancing at me briefly. – We're in the apartment. She just got back. We won't go anywhere. – He paused, listening to the person on the other end of the line. – But how do you imagine that? She'll notice... – he trailed off, pulling the phone slightly away from his ear as if the caller had raised their voice. – Okay, if you say so – he responded in a conciliatory tone after a moment, putting the phone back to his ear. – You're the boss. Take care.

He hung up and looked at me but said nothing, just let out a loud breath as if he had been holding it for a while.

– Who was that? – I asked, intrigued by his odd behavior.

– Victor – Alec replied, avoiding my gaze, which made me even more suspicious.

– Is something wrong?

– Ah, nothing – he muttered, waving his hand dismissively, as if to emphasize how unimportant the conversation was. – Nothing special.

The little creature inside me raised an eyebrow, and I did the same. Something was fishy.

I raised my eyebrows and gave him a look that said:  "I know you're hiding something" but he didn't crack easily. At first, he looked me straight in the eye, then his gaze darted around the walls, and finally, he couldn't withstand my silent pressure.

– Paula, please... – he groaned, giving me an impatient look. – He's just worried about you. Probably because of that circus yesterday. He calls me because he knows I'll tell him how things are and won't hide anything from him.

I wasn't satisfied with this answer, but Alec seemed determined to keep his mouth shut about whatever it was, so I let it go.

– Fine – I muttered curtly. – I'll find out what you're up to sooner or later anyway. I'm going to take a bath. Relax and take a break from being a watchdog.

I filled the tub with lots of hot water and submerged myself in the thick foam on its surface, enveloped in the scents of lavender and damask rose. Time passed slowly, and I luxuriated in the tropical atmosphere of the bathroom. Eventually, however, I had to return to more pressing matters, like studying for tomorrow's test, for which I had barely touched the material. So I slowly got to my feet and reached for a towel, but where there was usually a stack of clean ones, it was empty.

– Alec? – I called out, sinking back into the sea of foam. – Could you bring me a towel? The clean ones must be in the laundry room.

– Sure – came Alec's muffled voice from behind the door.

He returned shortly with an armful of clean, fragrant towels. He carefully entered the bathroom, mostly staring at the floor, handed me the fluffy white stack, and quickly backed out to the door, but hesitated instead of pushing them open.

– Are you happy with him? – he suddenly asked, still turned away from me and staring intently at the door.

I looked at him, a bit surprised by the question.