Alexander's Disappearance

19

        Noah's greeting to me was not casual this time. It was formal. We both stayed silent as we made our way to his place. As I walked inside, I noticed that for someone with a busy schedule, Noah still kept it tidy. He prepared his own dishes and did his own housework in this spacious penthouse. I had to admire him for that. Noah was incredibly busy at times but made time for me which was admirable. 

        "Are you okay?" He leaned closer to me and studied my face. 

        I walked past him and dropped onto the couch. I wasn't exhausted. My eyes were wide open, my heart was beating normally. My body just had a rush of adrenaline. With everything going on, I should've been panicking. Noah followed me and sat across from me. It was hard to decipher his facial expression. I was never able to pinpoint the exact emotion he was feeling. I liked that about him. This calm, dominant demeanour was handsome on a man. I didn't care very much to disguise my feelings towards him. But, I preferred to restrain myself from anything that could be too romantic or passionate. I was battling with things, and he knows. Half of me felt guilty that Noah was secretly dragged into this with me. He was oblivious—clueless almost about how I am not the person he thinks I am. Could I hint at what I did and let him solve it himself? I would have to seduce him and make him fall deeply in love with me—so deep that he can't get out. Then, I'd confess. 

          His dark eyes continued to pierce mine. He was searching for any hints on my face but I kept a blank expression.

         "Pour me a glass of wine," I said, softly. 

         Noah slightly tilted his head in confusion but made no remarks. I let my eyes linger on my purse, debating on whether to pull the pen out or not. Quite frankly, I didn't even know if Noah knew anything about these sorts of things. Knowing Noah, he probably did. He was quite knowledgeable on every single topic which is why I enjoyed discussing everything with him. There was never a dry conversation between us. 

        My mind went back to Elijah's pen. The pen was not to be in Elijah's hand anymore but I still broke the microphone part. 

         When Noah sat back down, he placed the bottle of wine on the alien-like glass table followed by two wine glasses. He poured and we clinked glasses. After taking a long sip, I placed it down. I let out a slight smile. "Pétrus, good choice."

         "You still haven't told me what was so urgent," Noah said. 

        "Oh. Yes." I nodded. He didn't smile. There was concern in his eyes and I almost felt bad for stalling. I had to get straight to the point. My hands were slightly shaking as I poured a bit more for myself. "I don't have to verbally explain it to you. I can show you it." Noah watched as I opened my purse and placed the pen on the table. Then, I quickly put my purse away. We made eye contact with each other before looking back at the pen on the table. "It's a spy pen," I explained, pushing it towards his side before taking another sip of wine. "Elijah came to my office to speak to me about private matters. Private matters, which is Alex, by the way. His demeanour had changed, which I assumed because hearing the death of his best friend was very traumatizing. But I didn't question it. He wrote down a number for a private investigator and left his pen."

        "Not the brightest, is he?" he scoffed and started inspecting it.

        I smiled. "Could it be that he left it there on purpose, for me to find out that it was a spy pen? Or did he truly think that his plan would succeed? I don't want what his motives are, but I'm sort of indifferent to it."

        "Of course, you should be," Noah said. I took another sip of wine. "You didn't do it, I presume. Is this a camera one, or just the microphone? Surely it's only a microphone. Elijah doesn't seem to be a creep to me, but appearances can be quite deceiving."