Calculated Coincidence

Bonus Chapter

LIAM SMITH

"Good morning, Mr Smith. We're so glad to have you visit us."

"Good morning. It's my pleasure. Thank you for everything you do for our company." I say, shaking the hand of one of the workers at the store owning the best results in Smith Tech.

He greets Reagan who is following behind me as we enter the store. There's surprisingly more customers than I expected at this early hour. I search for the store manager but realise she's occupied with speaking to a customer. Heading towards them, I catch her eye.

"Mr Smith." The woman acknowledges me with a smile. "Good morning. This is Mr Amato." She gestures to the customer, an older man who's slightly taller than her.

"Liam Smith." I introduce myself, shaking his hand. "Looking for anything in particular?"

"Ah, yes." He answers, surprised. "My daughter just moved into a new apartment. It's the first time she'll be living on her own and you can imagine just how worried that makes me."

"Of course. What measures were you thinking to take? Cameras?"

"Yes. Cameras, maybe an alarm..." The man, who's dressed in a suit, wonders. "I'm not sure yet."

"Sure. Let's have a look, I'm sure we'll think of something." I reassure him, steering the man towards our display. "How old is the daughter?" I ask, wanting to start some small talk.

"Twenty three. Maybe you know her?" His brown eyes look into mine. "Alessia Amato."

"I'm sorry, it doesn't really ring a bell."

"She's a... What do you call them? Influencer?" He takes out his phone and searches for something. "There you go." The man shows me a photo.

A young brunette is standing beside an older woman. Maybe her mother? The brunette's full lips are tilted into a smile, enhancing her high cheekbones. Chocolate eyes bright alongside her brown hair.

"Yes, well, I guess a busy man like you doesn't spend time on all of that social media." Alessia's father slips his phone back into his pocket.

"Now that you've shown me your daughter, I see what a shame that is." I admit, causing him to chuckle.

"Yes, she's beautiful." The proud man nods his head, having no idea that he's just woken up my curiosity from a deep slumber.

🐾

"Mr Smith-" Francesco starts.

"Please call me Liam." I interrupt.

"Liam, you didn't have to come here personally. I'm sure your employees are capable."

"It's no problem, really. It's my pleasure." I smile as I enter his daughter's apartment.
He's right, I didn't have to come here myself. Even more so, I shouldn't have. Then why am I here?

"So where would Alessia like to place the cameras?" Curiously looking around, I ask.
I find myself enjoying the way her name slides off my tongue.

"Oh, she has no interest for such things. She told me to take care of everything."

I try to listen to Francesco as he starts talking about how worrisome it is to have his only child move out but what mostly interests me is the apartment I'm currently in. It's a shame that Alessia is nowhere to be seen but her home is just as rewarding as she would be.

Clothes, cosmetics, photos and even more clothes. Judging by the elegant but daring pieces, I can tell that she's interested in fashion. The various cosmetics tell me that she takes care of herself and her appearance. From the plenty of photos of animals, it's not hard to guess she loves them. But this I could already tell from her social media.

The place is dripping from a vanilla aroma and that is something I did not know. So you smell so sweet... I wonder how you taste...