Therapist's therapy

Bugs and meetings

"So what do you think?" Arianna stroked her chin and thought hard "it's too obvious to be be a trap and too cringe to not be"
"Is cringe a bad thing?" Travis asked brows raised
"Depends on how cringe it is" Arianna dug her hands into her pocked and brought out a tiny remote
"What's that?" Travis asked
"Some sort of tracking device, if I push this button it alerts Mr. Benson right away" she explained.
"That's convenient. Why don't I have one of those" Travis complained
"Oh you do alright" Arianna ignored Travis plea to explain. "For now let's go and see what happens"
"Are you sure? If Julianna is involved i'm sure she would have thought about this being in the picture" he said eyeing the remote.
"Well that just confirms that we don't have any other choice. If it's a trap we will just have to get the hunter first" Arianna slipped the remote into the band of the skirt.

They arrived at an apartment minutes after. Travis explained that it was the apartment they had stayed when Travis grandfather had visited for lunch. It was pure Deja ju as they would be visiting his grandfather soon as well.
"Why here..." Travis wondered uncertain.
"Don't think too much about it, you'll get old" Arianna led them into the apartment. All the lights were switched off except for that of the sitting room. They slowly crept in careful not to make too much noise.
"Why are you guys acting like thieves, this is supposed to be our secret base, is it not?" Jasper sat cross legged on the sofa looking dashing as usual.
"Then you should know traitors aren't allowed in" Travis shot more like a statement than an accusation. Arianna thought it was too early for accusations but didn't comment.
"I know the rules well enough Travis since I wrote most myself. Sit" Arianna sat at the couch closest to the exit and Travis reluctantly plumped beside her. "I had a feeling but I really wasn't expecting you guys to be together this late, coming from somewhere?"
"Depends on who is asking" Travis commented. Arianna sat silent assessing the situation. She needed to decide if Jasper was on their side or not, anything they say now could be used for or against them. From what she could gather they were alone. Jasper sat on a couch that was pressed against the wall, if he had protection they would have most likely been stationed somewhere behind him in case someone attacked him upfront, charging from the opposite direction or adjacent would make them too late.
"Why are you acting this way? It's almost as though you know something" Jasper said furrowing his brows. Arianna froze, Travis' tone had sold them out. "Well, that saves me time explaining. I thought seeing Travis alone would make my resolve waver but seeing you too together... I think my decision was right after all, I can't choose people who never chose me" People? Arianna thought. His decision was undoubtedly because of how Travis treated him. So who else was involved? The answer struck her like lightening. It was her. Jasper loved her but every time push came to shove she always chose to remain on Travis' side. She was in this situation because of a freaking love triangle! Arianna was at a loss of what to say. She always kept emotions out of work. Now that it was interwoven, she didn't know how to react.
"What are you talking about? Look I'm sorry for the way I treated you I wasn't in my right mind I was being manipulated by Julianna and that stupid lemonade"
"There you go again blaming others for your problems and now you are bringing my mother into this?" When Travis saw everything he says will backfire he remained silent "But that's fine, I don't hold any resentment towards you Jasper. I'm just doing the logical thing, right Arianna?" Arianna didn't want the conversation to be stirred to her but there was no escaping it. "It's unlike you Arianna to side with the loosing side. Mr. Benson would have had a chance but all efforts now would be useless" When none of them spoke back, Jasper got to his feet and strolled to the entrance "The time I spent with you guys was really fun, but I guess that's all it was, children games"
"Are you sure that's how you really feel?" Arianna finally said hoping he would face her and meet her eyes so she would know how to feel but he didn't, not even a side glance.
"Why don't you guess, You are sort of a great detective right?" With a wave he was gone, into the cool of the night.

Jasper walked to the next street corner where a black Benz awaited him. Walking in the cool breeze was heavenly almost like all his tension was freezing up and he could finally breathe and think properly. He crossed the street and ducked into the back of the car.
"So, how did it go?" Julianna asked. Her face only visible when a car passes by.
"It's unlike you to ask unnecessary questions" Jasper replied glancing at the receiver between them. He took off the bug in his collar and handed it to her.
"Seems they had information so our plan didn't work"
"But good things still came from it. We now know we have a traitor amongst us " Jasper said sternly.
"The answer is quite obvious. I just need to know if it was intentional. I don't want to be impatient and loose pawns"
"On to plan B right"
"But of course. I need to practice my patience and wait for my opponent to make her move"

Travis was walking around looking for something to throw around. Lemonade or not he was still pretty feisty. Arianna hadn't left the couch, thinking. She had made so many mistakes and miscalculations she could hardly believe her stupidity. She was supposed to warn Travis not to give out too much information but she was too occupied thinking of other things. She hated when something as fragile and unstable as love got involved it always messed things up. For a brief moment she regretted meeting Jasper but just a few seconds her heart seemed to repel the thought. On the bright side, she was able to confirm that Julianna did in fact think Mr. Benson dead but she felt far from breakthrough. Matilda had been found out.
"This sucks" Travis sighed settling back beside Arianna finding nothing to pounce on.
"What does?" Arianna asked not facing him.
"I'm trying but I just can't get mad at him. Almost like I saw it coming from miles away. And I'm sorry for giving too much away"
"Of course, we all will reap the fruit of our actions and don't sweat it all these are dual swords, it pierced us but it pierced out opponent as well" Arianna got up and pulled Travis along with her. "For now we need to regroup. Mr. Benson has to find a way to warn Matilda" the weather has gotten colder. It must have been well into the night. But it wasn't the cold that made Arianna shiver it was the frequent feeling, one she had experienced many times. They were being watched. They got into the car and pulled into street.
"It's a left here. You always miss this turn" Arianna said. It was the street that led to her house not Mr. Bensons'. Travis who was scared of making any more mistakes just obeyed. They got out of the car and into the halls.
"What is going on" Travis asked when he was felt it was safe. This whole apartment was protected by Louis after all.
"We were being followed. And I don't know for sure but maybe your car was bugged"
"Why would she go to such lengths"
"You are an unstable son, I'm an outsider, the only reason we aren't backing down is because we have a strong force backing us up. Julianna needs to know who that person is and trailing us will be the obvious next step. Especially after that encounter with Jasper we are totally insane for not regrouping. Who knows what could happen tomorrow" Arianna led Travis upstairs to her room. She unlocked her door quietly careful not to wake her grandmother. She definitely didn't want her to find out she brought a guy home.
"Wooo.." Travis exclaimed at her suspect board. He signaled to his picture hanging in a far corner "I'm a suspect too?"
"You were my first suspect" Arianna made a pathetic effort to clear her room. "Well, it's not fancy but it's a roof over our heads"
"I'm not complaining" Travis took off his jacket and made himself comfortable on a single couch in the corner "so, what are we going to do?"
"That's not an issue. Physically meetings are overrated."