Searching for love

10

My father stood outside the building talking with another tall man. I couldn't see the man's face as his back was turned towards me. But as I observed the man I felt an ache in my heart, weird. He seemed well dressed and his hair was a chocolate brown that was swept up. He ran a hand through his hair messing it up. My father was smoking and leaning against the side of the building. He looked towards the direction of the car I was in as if sensing my presence. The car came to a stop and I stepped out, my heart thumping furiously and my pulse racing. Why was I so bloody nervous? As soon as I stepped out of the car the tall man turned to face the car and I swear it was like time froze. In front of me was the most heart-achingly perfect man. He had round glasses that framed his angular face. His eyes were slightly slanted and he had long eyelashes farming his deep soulful eyes. His suit fit his lean, athletic build and his rich brown hair was artfully messy. A strand was loose and was resting against his glasses. I felt my breathing hitch, he was so goddamn attractive. My father rushed to meet me and enveloped me in a hug. I froze. There was too much going on. First, the most attractive man I have ever seen is present and then my day hugs me! I shakingly wrapped my hands around him and relaxed. My father had stiffened for a second, he probably didn't even mean to ug me it just happened. He broke from the hug, his hands still loosely on my waist as he observed me. "Ah Layla, you look good. I'm so glad you're here. Let's go inside. You brought your id, right?"

I swiped my id and got my eyes scanned and entered the building first. The entire time I was conscious of the man who accompanied my father. "I haven't introduced you yet. Lay is the recently promoted HQ specialist Eren Stark. He'll be assisting us with your investigation. He's also a close family friend". Eren, I thought. That name suited him perfectly. He stepped forward and held out his hand and I immediately put my hands in his. His hands were cold, soft, and encased my warm, callused hand. "Pleasure meeting you Layla. Aiden has told me so much about you. I am here to support and keep you safe". His eyes held a fierce and intelligent gaze that met my soft blue ones. "It's good meeting you too. Thank you". I said politely and softly and with that, I pulled my hands out if his, keeping my breathing under control.

I was really embarrassed by my reaction to him. I had met quite a number of good looking men but had never given any reaction to them whatsoever. But with this man, I couldn't seem to control myself. I tightly smiled at him before rubbing my injured arm unconsciously and moving towards my father. "Are you okay, Lay? Is your arm still bothering you?", my father asked worriedly after noticing my reaction. My eyebrows rose and I quickly said, "Oh no, I'm fine. I don't have to bandage it anymore either. I called my Doctor earlier. It's just weird having the bandages gone". I reassured my reaction with some lies and smiled . "oh okay that's good to hear. We actually have some new information on your case and we should probably debrief you. So, let's head over to my office".

I nervously trailed after my father and Eren. My father turned back to face me and said, "There's no need to be scared Lay. We'll keep you safe". Oof looks like I was acting so weird that my father who only knew me for a day has noticed my odd behavior. Eren had stopped too and was staring at me expectantly. I sighed deeply and said, "Dad. I am fine. It's just weird being here away from...home". Immediately I noticed the dark shadow cross my father's face and I bit my lip and quickly said, "I didn't mean it like that! I'm glad that I'm here with you and I don't regret it! It's just a lot to take in". I quickly squeezed his hand to provide a sense of comfort and let it go quickly and brushed my hair behind nervously. My father smiled and while continuing walking to his office said, "Sorry, I didn't consider all this, but it'll take time for both of us to adjust to things. No worries". I really had to learn to control myself around Eren. He was proving to be very dangerous. It had only been a few minutes but I was already losing my mind when I was near him and was just babbling nonsense and making a fool of myself. "Sorry Eren, you're having to witness all this family...", my father said as we entered the elevator. Eren waved my father off and said, "No worries Aiden. It's to be expected, right. We're friends so don't worry about this and never apologize for this. I've got your back".

I was quiet the rest of the way to the office while my father introduced me to other people I simply smiled and nodded. I took a deep breath and sat down once we reached my father's office finally. My father and Eren had been stopped numerous times to answer questions, introductions, phone calls, and just work that I was glad to have finally reached his office after an hour! I can't believe it took an hour to get to his office room. Jeez. My father sat down and pulled a folder while Eren opened up his laptop in the corner. "So, with the threats you are facing we have two routes. One was that you are being targeted because of Keira. So, if we follow that route the suspect is probably some gangs. If you are being targeted because of me...it'll get harder to go through the possible suspects. We are in luck because we have strong evidence that you were targeted because of a grudge a gang had on Keira. Eren tracked the poison that you were given and found out that a prominent gang in New York is associated with that poison. We further researched the group and know that their current leader had once been engaged to Keira. Since this is gang-related I have contacted the FBI and they will be dealing with them in New York as they are more capable than us when it comes to dealing with gang-related business. Currently, they are keeping track of the gang and raided them today but the gang leader got away with some of his gang members. We have to track them down and try and understand their motive to harm you as well as obtain how they were able to track you down because Keira hid you very well. It was extremely difficult for Eren to find you as well. You have no social media accounts and were living completely under the radar so that's a worry. Now that the suspects have escaped...I don't think they'll come here because they have no way of knowing that you're here but still, I have security around the house and have taken some other precautions. Here this is a photo of the suspect, do you know him? Or have you seen him anywhere?"

I took the folder my father gave me and opened it and gasped. Oh, I knew that man alright. "That's Doctor...I don't remember his name but he treated me when I was poisoned". At my words, Eren quickly started typing in his laptop and my father rushed to his side, peering over his shoulder. "According to the hospital records the Doctor who treated you when you were poisoned was a female Doctor, Doctor Bell'', Eren said looking past my father at me. I shuddered, the Doctor was supposed to treat me but he was the one who tried to kill me! "Why didn't he try and kill me at the hospital after the poison didn't affect me?", I asked, getting up from my chair and running a hand through my hair in frustration. My father and Eren exchanged looks but didn't say anything. "I'll report this to the FBI and then I have to get back to my station for some reports. I'll update you if I hear anything else'', Eren said and walked away with his laptop. "Thanks for your help Eren!", my father called out to Eren's retreating figure, Who just waved his hand in response.

I spun in the swivel chair in the break room aimlessly while I listened to a podcast on true crime on my phone. My father had a lot of work to do and said I could chill in the break room or go home. I chose the former because at least I could get to interact with people. So far I talked to a few agents and officers who all stopped by here for coffee. They were all fun people and had been super shocked to discover I was the commander's daughter. They shared some fun stories but unfortunately none of them stayed longer than a few minutes. For the past hour not even one person stopped by and I was getting anxious. I was just about to call for a car to go home when I heard some footsteps. I immediately removed my earbuds and looked up from my phone to see two young ladies enter the room. They were both tall and beautiful. One had beautiful green eyes and light brown silky hair while the other had beautiful almond-shaped black eyes. They smiled when they saw me and the girl with the beautiful eyes said in a throaty British accent, "You must be the commander's daughter everyone's been talking about, Layla, right?"