The Lady Next Door - A Sequel to "The Man Next Door"

Chapter 16: Anonymous

Vera was among the first few passengers to sit in the vacant aircraft. She sat near the aisle in the business class section, patiently waiting as she watched as the rest of the passengers trickled in, her heart pounding as the last few passengers stepped into the area and settled down into the now crowded plane.

She began to take a look around frantically, until Patrick finally met her worried gaze from his exhausted stance at the very front of the plane, holding two paper bags and a jacket in one hand and his boarding pass in the other, "I almost didn't make it," he says in disbelief, kissing Vera on the head with a half-smile once he made it to their assigned aisle. He watches as Vera gets up and grants him access to his own seat next to the window, " it was the line at the sandwich shop that held me back."

He hands her the cup of pink lemonade and the veggie sandwich she asked for, while he purchased himself a cup of chili and a regular lemonade.

Once she responds to him with nothing but a quiet thank you, he looks up at her, watching as she unravels her sandwich and takes a bite, closing her eyes because of how ravishing it tasted after not eating all morning.

"Is everything okay?" He says, smirking a little at how much she seemed to enjoy the first bite of her meal, "is that good?"

Vera nods as she looks over at him, offering him a bite of her sandwich which he happily takes, "you just had me worried, that's all." She smiles, "you know... I really hated flying alone in order to come and surprise you."

"Yeah," he takes a bite out of his cup of chili, following it with a cracker, "sorry it didn't work as planned. Maria was horrible for taking my phone like that."

Vera rolls her eyes, "don't even remind me." She tells him, taking a sip out of her cup, "so what the hell are we going to do about her?"

"We can't really do anything," Patrick shrugs, "unless things start to get really bad, we can file a restraining order."

Vera chuckles, "now that sounds appropriate."

Patrick smiles, "I doubt she'll do anything else, I mean, she managed to break us up for a day over a misunderstanding. What other damage could she possibly do?"

"I don't know... she seems like a really clever woman," Vera says in a puzzled tone, finishing her sandwich and tiredly leaning her head on Patrick's shoulder, "let's not jinx it."

-

Vera spends the majority of the flight typing away on her laptop that she brought along with her in her carry-on bag, finishing up some of her work early so that she could have some time off once she and her boyfriend made it back home.

Once the flight attendant had offered her snacks, that was the first time she ripped her eyes away from the screen in a full hour. She looks up at the tall man with wide eyes before gladly helping herself to a small pouch of peanuts.

As she glances over at Patrick, she finds him dead asleep, leaning his head against her shoulder, sitting slouched with his legs spread out wide. She giggles at the sight and jumps at the opportunity to go on his phone and take a couple of photos of him sleeping up against her this way.

She snaps two photos of them together before she suddenly feels his cell vibrate up against her palm, this frightens her a bit as she was on edge about being caught messing around on his phone.

Frantically, she looks closer at the notification to see that it was a text message, and before she could stop herself from reading any further, the text popped up in a way that was hard to avoid.

Hey, can we talk? It read. The name above the text displaying as the single letter M.

Vera quickly places the phone down, leaving it upright in case the mysterious person decides to shoot Patrick a second text.

Not even a minute later, the phone flashes again.

M: This is urgent. 

Vera scoffs, who the hell is this? Then she remembers that the display name was an M, and the contact numbers that Patrick had saved on his phone had these certain display names for a reason. 

A single letter always meant that Patrick either didn't know the person well, or they were distant.

But, what the hell? Why wouldn't he have Maria blocked? After everything that happened? 

Oh right... 

He's working on the same project as her, he has to be in contact with her.

P: What could be so urgent?  Vera confidently replies, placing the phone back down and staring down at it in anticipation.

The phone lights up only a few moments later. M: I'm out of here by tomorrow.

Vera stares down at the text in confusion, ultimately deciding on deleting the messages for now before shutting the phone off and putting it back in its rightful place.