The muscles in my jaw thickened, and I clasped the small device in my hand, crushing it before opening one of the toilet stalls to throw the crumbled parts of the small device away in the toilet, flushing it down to the drain. Storming out of the restroom, I took long strides towards the table where mom was sitting at. My heels were clacking loudly on the ground and people turned their heads around to look at me as they saw my peeved expression, wondering what caused the shift in my mood.

Mom, with her eyes which were doe from the previous shed tears, drunk her coffee with a small smile to be soon startled by hands slamming down on the table.

“Mom!” I exclaimed through labored breaths.

She gasped, almost spilling her coffee, but was quick to recover, keeping the cup steady. She exhaled, relieved that she could prevent a disaster from happening before placing her cup back down on the table- furrowing her brows at me for giving her a slight heart attack; but her face soon took one of worry when she saw the anxiety etched on my face.

“What’s wrong April?” She asked, her soft voice freighted with worry.

“You said that an anonymous letter told you where I was, right?”

She nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

“Did you see anyone suspicious when you had received the letter?”

She hummed thoughtfully. “Not that I can remember, ah!” she exclaimed suddenly. “But I remember seeing a handsome man who I had never seen before walking around the neighborhood. He was such a looker.” She said dreamingly at her memories of the dashing man.

“Can you describe his appearance?” I pressed, wanting to confirm my suspicions.

“He… wore a suit that accommodated his brown hair and eyes. Hmm… his hair was held in a low ponytail and he wore rimless glasses.” Her eyes were darted heavenward and her speech came out drawled and slow, struggling to recall her memories from a few years ago.

Snake. “Mom, I have to go now, but we will speak soon again and maybe you can bring your man with you.” I offered with a small smile, earning a tearful smile from mom who answered me in an inaudible whisper, her eyes closed as she nodded, “Yes, yes that would be nice April.” After exchanging phone numbers with mother I hastily waltzed out of the café.

The small rocks on the pavement reverberated at the thunderous shock that was unleashed by my heavy footsteps hitting the ground, emitting the anger that was running through my body as I stomped away. Ignoring Mark’s command to call him after I was done with meeting mom I strode with heavy steps down the road that would lead me home as he was the last person whose face I wanted to lay my eyes on.

Anger didn’t even cover the parameter of what I was feeling right now. He had given me his word that he wouldn’t listen in to the conversation between me and mom, but that lying son of a goon broke it the moment he handed me my handbag where he had slipped his listening device in. I knew Mark wasn’t a man that was keen on keeping promises especially when it involved my privacy, so I was quick to switch of my phone as a prevention, but to think that he resorted to such a method, tarnishing the bit of trust that I had for him.

I groaned internally. It would certainly explain why he had kissed me in the car after handing me the handbag. At first, I thought he was being his flirtatious self, but that wasn’t the case. He knew I would shut off my phone and thus did that- trying to distract me so that I wouldn’t notice the bug-like device that was slithered into my bag.

But my mind couldn’t wrap around to why he did that. Granted, his trust in me is microscopic if we speak of me trying to run away whenever I see the chance, but I am wise enough to not enclose the truth to my mom as I don’t want to receive a present from Mark that contains the head of my mother or my loved ones and Mark knows that too. Nevertheless, he still went ahead and did that.

I just couldn’t understand it until I reached to a conclusion that he wasn’t worried about me blabbering something confidential to my mom. He was worried about her saying something to me. When I thought even more profoundly about what that something could have been, I realized it must have had something to do with how my mom could locate me, hence me questioning her if she had caught on to any suspicious movements back at her place.

And I guess my hunch was right. Using Snake to send her a letter, he led her right to me on purpose. He calculated every step meticulously; manipulating and pushing me so that I would willingly dance straight in to his palms. And I did exactly that, making me want to slap myself over the head at how stupid I have been- not being able to see the devious plan that Mark had been plotting all along.

Simultaneously with the feeling of defeat that had anchored down my body, anxiety was expanding in the depths of my stomach, causing my heart to fluctuate every so often. Every time I took an extra step in making an escape route, Mark would be there with a hammer in hand to pulverize it. Whenever I thought to have an upper hand, Mark was there to prove me wrong as he was always ten steps ahead of me, as if he could read my every movement.

But what now if it was not because he was able to read me like a book that he somehow always prevailed, but because he had planned everything, anticipating my every move. How much of the stuff that had happened in my life was coincidence and how much of it was staged?

The pace in my walking slowly decreased, and I came to a stop next to an alleyway in the middle of the street. People walked around me, throwing me an annoyed look as I blocked their way.

Now that I think about it. Mark is the Co-CEO of the company that I am working for. He had been stalking me for four years and I have been working there for what- three years…?

I felt the bile of breakfast raising up in my stomach as nauseas washed over me, bringing my hand up to cover my mouth to keep everything inside as I lurched over. Memories of the time of when I applied for the job flooded my mind. The job interview was easy, like a smooth drive. I got accepted on the spot and the job came with nice perks, as if it was too good to be true. But the stories of the people who went for the interview on the same day had a totally different experience. Their interviewers were strict. Not even a smile could be found on their faces. Their questions were brute and their critic were harsh, leaving the contestants with tears. At that time I thought I was lucky as I was one of the first group of people to undergo the interview, so I assumed they weren’t cranky as they weren’t tired yet.

But now it was stark as day and night to see that it was decided from the get go that I would work there. I didn’t even get in to the company with my own strength as Mark was the puppeteer pulling every string that was attached to my life.

Half in a daze as the truth hit me hard, I removed my hand and muttered absentmindedly, “I have to get away.” before moving my feet again. I have to get away from him. I just have to.