Creed of the Leviathan I

35 | E + M

Emmanuelle

I focused all my energy on my work, not once looking into Marco's direction. I could feel his eyes on me and though I wanted to lash out at him again for doing this, I managed to keep myself calm.

At one point I was typing complete nonsense just to seem occupied and leave no room for him to talk to me. I cursed myself for working so damn fast.

The moment the clock showed that it was five in the afternoon I wasted no time in packing my bag and sprinted out of the office, no goodbyes were said. I was far too angry at him to greet him.

Downstairs, Marissa was already waiting on me with Anthony. They offered to take me out to eat in celebration of me joining the company.

We headed to a local cafe not far from work. It was very low-key, different from the places Marissa would normally choose to hang out but I did not mind. If anything I really liked the place.

Anthony held us a table whilst Marissa and I headed into the cafe. We decided to put in our orders ourselves instead of waiting on the staff since we did not plan to stay very long.

I was busy flipping through the pages of the menu when all of a sudden an unfamiliar voice called out my name. Both, Marissa and I turned around. She seemed confused as to how the person knew me, meanwhile I was dismayed to see him.

He stood with his hands behind his back, sporting a friendly smile on his face. This time he was more casually dressed in a fitted T-shirt and jeans.

"Rafael." I whispered, his name was the only thing that came to my mind.

"It's really great to see you again, how are you?" He asked as though we knew each other on a personal level.

I was thoroughly perplexed by his acting skills.

I gulped. "I'm doing well. How are you?"

"I'm doing great." He nodded. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." He turned towards Marissa and held out his hand to her.

"Hi, I'm Marissa. Nuelle's sister." She announced in such a sweet voice that almost seemed flirty as she shook his hand.

"Really? You're Marissa?" He acted surprised. "Rafael. Very nice to meet you. Nuelle has told me a lot of good things about you." He lied.

"Oh, okay. Well, that's great. But, how—" She looked back and forth at us, stopping when her eyes found me again.

"We're old friends. We met in uni and well– we lost contact after she moved back here." He said.

Meanwhile I could feel my heart sink to my stomach. I could see Anthony from where we were standing, but there was no way to alert him about the situation.

"And now you're here in Seattle. Hhmm." Marissa pressed her lips together as she playfully bumped her shoulder against mine.

Rafael chuckled. "No, no," He held up his hands in front of his chest. "I know what you're thinking. I'm not stalking your sister. I'm actually here to visit my mum and well perhaps," he darted his tongue against his lower lip as his eyes found me. "Perhaps I did hope to run into you again." He looked down as a smile spread among his lips.

"Aww. Well no need to be shy about it." She reacted.

He was doing a very good job at incorporating himself into my life and due to her naiveness, Marissa was believing every word that came out of his lying mouth.

"Okay, anyway. I'm sure that I've used up more than enough of your time. So, I'll let you ladies go. But, I hope that we run into each other again and uhh, hopefully then we'll have more time to spend together." He looked at me when he finished his sentence, making clear that it was me who he wanted to spend more time with.