Fallin' From The Tree (StemxStud)

53

[ Valentine ]

I had dropped down in Houston about an hour ago. I needed to move quickly. I texted Anaela, asking where she was. She wouldn't think anything of it. She would assume that I was still in Wisconsin just checking up on the progress of her trip so far.

No response.

"Crap," I mumbled, pulling into a Citi Trend's parking lot. How am I going to move forward from here? If I don't know Anaela's whereabouts I'm about as useless as I was staying in Wisconsin. I called Teece for some of her advice but it went straight to an automated voicemail. She hadn't even set it up.

"C'mon Tino. You can't keep relying on other people. Use your brains," I said out loud.

If I kept bothering Anaela, she'll think something is wrong and I don't need any suspicion associated with me right now. I looked at my Find My iPhone. Our phones were connected but would she turn it off for the deal?

Apparently not.

"Score for Tino," I whispered, turning on my GPS and putting in the address for a Panera Bread. As I happily cruised along I happened to glance at the map and see her moving away from the food spot.

"Shit. Where are you going Anaela?" I asked out loud. Okay, the sensible thing to do would to at least go to the Panera Bread then follow her trail from there to wherever she was going next. Teece suddenly called as I stopped at a red light.

"What's up? Is something wrong?"

"I was just a little bit stuck. I got everything under control now. Just tryna stay on Anaela's tail. My only thing is- what am I gonna do? Do I just watch her or what?"

"You're just there in case something bad happens. Whatever you do, don't let her know you're there and don't interfere with the deal," Teece said seriously. "How are you doing?"

"Doing some stretches the doctor suggested and hoping I don't need to install Life Alert while you guys are gone in case I hurt myself," she told me sarcastically.

"Teece," I laughed.

A car honked behind me. "Focus on the road. Call me when you're in a more stable location," my friend told me.

"Okay bet, Mom," I said jokingly, hanging up.

I pulled out my phone and saw that Anaela was near the Galleria. It was a safe bet to think she would be stopping there. The people she was meeting were probably fancy. There's restaurants in there and all types of fancy stuff. I set my location to the Galleria and hauled ass.

Once I pulled up, I debated whether I should park underground or circle around until my phone tells me I'm close to her. GPS can only take you so far. I text her for the second time, just something innocent.

"I hope ur safe 😘".

My phone dinged back, as I sat in mall traffic. Anaela sent me her location and told me she was shopping with her mother because apparently she didn't look "presentable enough" for the representative in her mother's eyes. I guess this wasn't the spot for the meeting then.

I put away my phone and  mentally prepared myself to pay the parking fee. After circling around for a spot, I caved in to impatience and did valet. I got out, looking at the directory to find my way to the side of the mall Anaela was on. I walked quickly, trying to hide myself amongst the crowd.

I immediately spotted her through the window, laughing with her mother about some top she held up that said "F*ck Dis Pussy Boy".  I passed the window so I didn't look too creepy or like I was going to steal something. I spotted some restrooms and headed towards them to go relieve myself.