Secrets & Lies

Check Up On Him| 37

(Evangeline up top)

"You know for a rich guy I'd think you'd have a stylist," Kayla remarked as she and Javier cleared the table. "What makes you assume I don't?" He asked.

"The fact that you paired that shirt with...those shoes."

Evangeline and I stood at the sink trying to contain our laughter. While they were tasked with cleaning up the dining room we went to clean up the dishes. "Your friend's hilarious."

"She's a handful that's what she is." I chuckled. "And you somehow thought that that necklace went well with that dress."

"They have pretty good banter actually," Evangeline commented. "Wouldn't be surprised if they ended up together."

"I don't know about all that." I protested. "I know she's your best friend and he's your ex and that's weird."

"And she pretty much knows all his dislikable qualities," I added. The fact that Evangeline thought they'd end up together actually kinda creeped me out. Even when Javier and I were together it was very clear that they were not fans of each other.

When the dishes were done and everything was cleaned I escorted everyone to the front door. "Bye guys! Be safe." I shut the door behind Jace who was last to leave out and headed to the living room to unwind.

Just as I'd settled into my seat my phone started ringing. "What's up Amara?"

"Hey, um sorry to call so late. I had to go head to Mexico to attend to some business and Alex is coming with me, so can you do me a favor and check on Sebastian?" She requested hopefully. "What's wrong with him?" I asked as I sat up.

"Nothing urgent. It's just...he's been locked in his office since yesterday night and he's not answering his phone. Can you please just make sure he's okay?" She explained. I pulled the phone away from my ear to check the time with a sigh. "Yeah, I'll go check on him."

"Thanks, Nyla. I owe you one!"

After she hung up, I went to my room to grab a jacket and some shoes. Once I'd grabbed my purse and typical essentials I headed towards the door. As I turned the lock it occurred to me that there was a strong possibility that Sebastian hadn't eaten anything. A bad habit of his When he decided to stay at work all night was forgetting to eat. I went to the kitchen and grabbed the Tupperware bowl filled with leftovers for him.

I was pulling up to the company building about 30 minutes later and using my ID to get in. It was nearly 10 pm, so everyone was gone except the night janitor, security, and Sebastian. I headed upstairs after getting past security and knocked on Sebastian's door as soon as I'd gotten in front of it. "Leave me alone, Amara!" He shouted angrily.

"It's Nyla actually...I got food!"

It was silent for a few seconds before I heard the turning of the lock and he opened up the door just enough so that I could only see his body but I couldn't see what was inside. He was hiding something obviously. "What'd you bring?"

"Chicken and Pasta," I said and held up the Tupperware bowl. He eyed it suspiciously before taking it from my hand and going to shut the door. "Thanks."

"Hey! Wait."

"What?" He asked with a huff of annoyance. "What's going on?"

"Nothing I'm working, goodnight."

I put my foot in the door when he tried to close it again and he looked at me impatiently. "I don't have time for this."

I tilted my head to the side a bit and sighed. "Let me in," I said softly.

He took a breath and rubbed his eyes before stepping out of the way. I stepped inside graciously and took in the papers that were all over his office. There were some empty food cartons on the coffee table and an empty bottle of tequila. I sighed heavily, shook my head, and pulled off my jacket. "This is not healthy." I huffed as I grabbed the trash can by his desk and disposed of the trash.

"Let me guess, Amara sent you?"

"Yeah and I'm glad I came. Why are you being a slob and sleeping in your office?" I questioned while disposing of the trash and folding the blanket that was thrown on the couch. "Chasing down some leads." He shrugged.

"What leads could be so important that you have to do all this?" I asked as I gestured to the mass amount of papers everywhere.

"Nothing, Nyla. You really should be going—"

"No! Tell me what's going on. I'll have to find out eventually better sooner than later."

He ran a hand through his hair and lazily walked over to the couch. "Come here."

I complied and sat beside him on the couch. He opened up a file and showed me a picture of a white woman with dirty blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes. "Who is she?"

"Jules-or Um Julia. My ex." He huffed. "She Uh...she died. She died before Javier, 647–Gio, and I parted ways. When I told you I thought I saw someone, it was her. I thought I saw her. I knew it couldn't have been her, but then I started thinking about something Marcos said to me. No ones dead until you see there body in the grave."

"Is this why you've been staying here?" I asked. "I don't want to go home. It feels like she's haunting me again. I can't—I don't know what to do. I came here exhausting all my resources to make sure she's dead. But my P.I. hasn't gotten back to me yet."

"What will you do if she's not dead?"

"Find her. Question her. Ask her why she put me through all that she did." He sighed. I rubbed my eyes and closed the file.

"You can't stay here. You have to get home and you have to get some rest. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about." I assured him. "I doubt it. Somehow someway my past always comes back to haunt me."

He put his hands in his head and I looked at him for a second trying to think of ways to console him since I lacked the words. I hesitated a bit before placing my hand on his thigh to get his attention. "I'm sure everything is fine. You probably just saw someone that looks like her. The worst-case scenario she's alive. But we can cross that bridge when we get to it. Stop stressing."

"I wish I could. But you know I can be a bit obsessive." He chuckled bitterly. "Yes, I know."

"How about this, we look through a little more of this together and then I take you to a hotel if you still don't want to go home." I proposed. "Alright, okay." He nodded.

"Great, let's see what else you got."