Hidden Tracks | ✓

31 | make confessions

The next day, there was still no news about Isabella Hill, or that man who was with her.

It's like they'd both disappeared after the gala.

By now I was almost certain they had something to do with Caldwell and Beaumont's case. Or some ties which could link them to our mission, besides those we already knew. Isabella was a lot more complex than what we'd anticipated.

Then there was the lingering worry in my mind that time was running out. With every passing minute, every passing day, it felt like another setback. Another day gone, slipped from our hands, which could possibly cost the two people we were looking for.

Were they even alive at this point?

I shook my head. No, I had to snap out of this. It never worked for an agent to be emotional in any way. I couldn't let my fears and apprehension deter us from the work we were doing.

We wouldn't fail this mission.

I met Miranda in the kitchen. She was bent over the counter, looking at the picture of Isabella from the gala. She looked up when I entered.

"Found anything new?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "I'm trying to understand this whole thing. Trying to figure out Isabella, get inside her mind and see what kind of a person she could be. But so far, I'm not being able to come up with anything. I mean, we only met her once and who knows what secrets she's been keeping up her sleeve."

I thought hard about what Miranda said. Trying to get inside her mind, see what kind of a person she could be.

These words kept on playing in my head as I made my way over to the refridgerator to find some snacks to eat. After digging around, I found a pack of gummy bears.

I pulled it out in glee. "Since when do we possess gummy bears!"

Miranda smiled. "Since I asked Turner to get us some snacks from the supermarket this morning. You're welcome, by the way."

I shot her a grateful smile and began eating the delicious gummies. All the while, my mind was stuck at her statement.

Get inside Isabella's mind, try to see what kind of a person she could be.

Without really knowing who Isabella was, we couldn't proceed further with the case. We couldn't get to know her whereabouts without figuring her out first.

Or even if TIA somehow managed to track her down, we'd still need to understand who she really was. Because as far as we'd found out, she was a hell of a lot more involved than we'd previously thought.

Miranda's voice cut me out of my thoughts. "Kaia, can I ask you something?"

I looked at her. "Sure."

"What's going on between you and Soler?"

My eyes snapped to hers. "What?"

"You heard me." A small smile was playing at her lips.

My eyes widened as I realised her implication. "No, no, nothing is going on! Why would you even think such a thing?"

"I don't know, maybe because I saw him go into your room yesterday and heard the door open again after a long time. I live just two doors away from you, Kaia, and you're forgetting I'm an agent too. Keeping my eyes and ears open comes with the job."

I groaned. "No, ugh, he came to my room yesterday to talk about the case for some time and left. That's it."

She raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. "You're definitely hiding something."

"No," I dragged out the no. "I'm not hiding anything."

She gave me a pointed look, and something in her don't-mess-with-me expression made me cave.

I sighed. "Fine, I--I guess we were kind of nice to each other. Like no fighting. He brought me coffee, I drank it, we talked for a while and then he left. That's it."

Miranda laughed. I looked at her, puzzled. "What's so funny?"

"You're a trained special agent and spy, Kaia! I thought you were more intelligent than this!" She was still chuckling. "He clearly likes you, you know, as in romantically."

I choked on my gummy bear. "What?! Are you out of your mind? He and I can't stand each other and now you're saying he likes me romantically?"

"You two still can't stand each other? Answer me honestly, Kaia."

I hesitated. Where were we now, really? Soler and I had been bickering like we used to throughout this mission. We'd been at each other's throats more than I could count. But at the same time, I did acknowledge the fact that something had changed.

Whether it was because of the mission, us working together for the first time, or something else entirely, I didn't know. But I did know that something in our relationship had shifted. I just couldn't pinpoint what. Or maybe I didn't have the guts to pinpoint it.

Soler was acting like my friend, bringing me coffee, talking to me, cheering me up and making me smile. The transition had been so effortless I hadn't even realised when it happened.

I guess, he'd been my only constant at TIA. The other agents I trained with were either acquaintances or casual friends, but none of them knew me as well as Soler did. None of them had been there with me throughout all my years at TIA, like he had.

Did that make us friends now? I knew we'd been getting along much better of late, but did that elevate us to friends status? I guess it did, right? Or maybe frenemies was a better term. We still lost our shit at each other occasionally, I couldn't deny that.

I looked at Miranda, who was watching me expectantly. "I guess he and I are getting along much better now than we were before. We still yell at each other sometimes obviously, but I don't think I hate him that way anymore."

Miranda smiled. "You'll feel confused about it now, but trust me, you'll realise it sooner or later. And Marco, that dumbass, he'll realise it too."

"Realise what?"

She patted my shoulder as she walked past me, out of the kitchen. "I've seen the way he looks at you sometimes, Kaia. Maybe if you notice it, you'll have your answer."

a/n: miranda is literally the all knowing mom who will tease you about your middle school crush and try to go snooping into your high school life.