Dancing With The Devil

Chapter 4

My grey, glazed over eyes were locked on the spotless window, watching people pass by as my hands were wrapped too tightly around the porcelain mug that held my caramel flavored steamed milk. I felt like I was just waiting for him to appear, like he would just walk through the doors, come straight up to me and drag me back to the life I had run away from. I knew he was out there now and it felt like it was only a matter of time before he pounced on me. But I knew it wasn't entirely possible for him to do it right this second. He would plan his every move precisely and leaving my office to go out for coffee in the middle of the day was not something he would plan for. Hell, it wasn't something I had planned for, but the fear of him wandering into my office was enough to make me send out the text. Thankfully for me, Sophie was always ready for coffee based outings at the drop of a hat.

"I know that Sandra cares about me, but I'm just not sure if I'm into it, you know? But that's not fair to her or me because she's legitimately ideal for me. Or at least, I think she would be perfect. She's a little rougher than Jessica was which I like, Jessica was a little too polished for me, but now that I'm talking about Jessica I'm worried that I'm just rebounding, you know?" Sophie's words were hitting my ears, but they certainly were not being processed, and she noticed immediately, "You are a million miles away, Celeste." She probably wasn't the most social person in the world, but she read my body language like no other, able to decipher me through all of my fake smiles and sweet lies.

"Sorry." I blurted, finally pulling my eyes away from the window and back onto her, "You aren't really the rebound type. And Jessica was a long time ago, I know you loved her, but it's time to move on to someone different, someone refreshing who won't always remind you of her." I soothed, raising the hipster mug to my lips for a sip.

"What's wrong?" Sophie demanded. Her expression shifted to one of complete seriousness and her sympathetic brown eyes remained steady as she leaned back in her chair, assessing me fully. Her delicate eyebrows were raised in suspicion and her lips were being pressed in a tight line as she tried to read me.

"Nothing." I said, forcing a large smile. Sometimes I was too much a business woman and not enough of a normal person. Covering my true feelings had become second nature to me, even with my best friend.

"You called me out of the blue in the middle of your work day to meet with me, and since I got here you've been biting your nails and not drinking any of your steamed milk." She pointed out, unable to prevent herself from wrinkling her nose at my choice of beverage despite her obvious concern.

I let out a tense breath, feeling my shoulders slump, "My condo was broke into." I confessed, feeling both lighter and heavier after the words left my mouth. It was nice to share the burden with someone, but saying it out loud made it feel much more true than before when I had kept it bottled up.

"Shit, that sucks." Sophie replied, her brow now furrowing. She took a deep drink of her black coffee before she continued, "Did they take anything?"

I swallowed hard, feelings tears well in my eyes as the reality of what had happened, what the break in meant, settled on my shoulders once more after chasing it away with work and other things to occupy my restless mind.

"My original documents." I whispered. "The documents with Camila Lopez on them."

I was teetering on the edge of keeping myself wonderfully numb and being swept away in a river of my own distraught tears. I forced myself to stare at my frothy drink, knowing that if I looked at my friend's sympathetic expression I would not be able to hold onto my sanity. And I couldn't lose it, not here in a busy coffee shop where many people knew my name.