Unidentified

Chapter Sixteen

TRISTAN

As I close the hood of the car that I finished working on, I hear my phone buzz on the table. I go towards the table and take my phone. I unlock it and see that it's Alyssa who texted me.

Alyssa: "Tell me when you're done with work. We have a lot of research to do."

Sometimes I have the feeling that she has more determination to do this than I have. I quickly type back a response;

Me: "I just finished."

A second later my phone buzzes again, indicating another text from her. She says that she is standing outside. Okay...

"Grant, I'm done, I'll see you tomorrow!" I say, hard enough for him to hear me from his office. He just says goodbye and I go towards my motorcycle to take it outside with me. Alyssa is standing there, simply waiting for me. "How did you know when my shift is done?" I ask her. "Hello to you too, Tristan," she says, rolling her eyes at me. "And to answer your question, Harper told me."

"Stalker much," I mumble and she rolls her eyes at me once again. "Don't you have some homework to do or anything?" I ask her. "Nope, already did that. I hope you did yours?" she asks, probably referring to our... my research.

I simply sigh, before handing her a helmet for her to wear. "We're going with your motorcycle?" she asks me. "Well, I don't see your car anywhere near here, so how else did you wanna go?" She doesn't reply, but simply puts the helmet on.

"Hop on," I instruct and she does as I say. I get on as well, before also putting my helmet on.

"Uhm, you better hold on tight, because I'm a fast driver," I warn her. "Oh, okay," she says, before putting her hands on my sides. "If you hold me like that, you're going to fall the second I drive away," I say to her, before putting her hands tightly around my waist.

I start the motor and drive towards my apartment building.

When we arrive, we both get off my motorcycle and she follows me towards the entrance. We take the elevator till my floor and when we're finally inside, she starts to ask me a bunch of questions.

"So, did you find anything yet?" is the only question I really paid attention to. "Yeah, uhm, I did some more research after you left and I might have found something..." I tell her. "So, what is it?" she asks, starting to get impatient. "Shelley Henderson, my... mother..." I don't really know if I should really call her like that. "She works as a stylist at a barber shop, not far away from here."

"How do you know for sure that it's her?" she asks me, sitting on the couch. "I don't, but I don't think that there are so many people with that name, who live here in Portland," I say to her and she simply nods. "So, let's go there," she suddenly says and I furrow my eyebrows at her. "What? Now?" I ask her. "Yes, don't you want to find out?" I want to reply, but I just keep myself from talking.

It's not that I don't wanna find out, but just visit her at her workplace? Isn't that a lot to take at once?

"Stop overthinking," Alyssa says to me, as if she could read my thoughts. "You're right," I mumble. "Let's go, then. I have the address on my phone."

When we arrive in front of the barber shop, I don't know what is happening, but I freeze. "Tristan, come on let's go," Alyssa says, trying to get me to move. "I can't," I sigh. "I thought you wanted to find out. You're going to regret it if you don't do it," she says to me. "Don't you think that I know that?" My tone is way more aggressively than I intended. "I have been looking for this woman for so long and trust me, I have repeated everything that I am going to say to her all over again into my head. But standing here and knowing that we are going to face each other, that is something that I never imagined to happen!"