LIAR
920 Words
I didn't look at him the next morning. Not once.
If he wanted distance, I would give him distance so wide it would choke him.
Yes I know it was pretty and I wasn't stopping.
He stood by the car as usual, dressed in black with an unreadable expression on his face. He glanced at me and then behind me like I wasn't there.The same man who said he liked me too much or so I thought.
Now he was just my bodyguard.
“Ready” he asked.
Professional.
I didn't respond and just slid into the car.
He got into the drivers seat.
I sat down only to be met with Sam staring at us.
He looked like he wanted to ask me something but refrained from asking.
The drive to school was silent. Not the silenceike before but rather a tension like silence.
It was deliberate.
Halfway there, I noticed something behind us.
It was the blue car I had seen earlier.
I didn't turn around fully. I just adjusted the side mirror slightly. The reflection confirmed it. Same tint. Same steady distance.
It was definitely following us or headed the same direction.
I glanced at Feddrico hoping he’d notice the car as well.
I finally decided to break the silence.
“Federico,” I said, still staring ahead.
“Yes.”
“I think we're being followed.”
He didn’t react dramatically. Didn’t curse. Didn’t tense.
He just checked his mirror.
“I know,” he said calmly.
“You know?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me?”
“You wanted the truth,” he replied. “This is it.”
My stomach dropped.
He changed lanes instead. The blue car followed.
“Who are they?”
“People who are testing boundaries,” he said finally.
“Whose boundaries?”
“Your father’s”
Of course it had to be something related to him.
“Why?”
Before he could respond Sam spoke up instead.
“Its nothing serious for you to bebothered about”
“Why won't you tell me what it is then?” I asked
“We aren't supposed to” he responded.
I ignored Sam and asked Feddrici instead hopeful he would be truthful.
“Feddrico?”
No response.
“Fine then why watch me?”
Silence.
That silence was worse than any answer.
“Federico.”
“You’re leverage,” he said quietly.
The word sliced through me.
Leverage.
Not daughter. Not teacher. Not Maria.
Just leverage.
What was going on?!
The light turned green. He accelerated smoothly. The blue car followed for another block
Then turned off.
Just like that.
Gone.
But not really.
They were still there.
Waiting.
We arrived at the school gates with no sight of the blue car nearby.
I was relieved at least for now.
Feddrico led me out of the car and walked me to the front it my class.
He turned to me.
“Listen carefully, you need to be careful and stop trying to investigate anything”he said “stay in your lane Maria” .
“Because?”
“Because if you don't you'll be in trouble and I don't want that”
“You weren’t distancing yourself because of feelings,” I said slowly.
He didn’t look away this time.
“No.”
“You were distancing yourself because I’ve been noticed.”
“Yes.”
The honesty between us felt heavier than any lie ever had.
“Am I actually in danger?”
He held my gaze.
Not as my bodyguard or my fathers minion but somethibg else.
“You’re closer to it than I wanted you to be.”
The bell rang in the distance. Children laughing.
My heart stopped for a minute.
I couldn't believe it. I tried to walk away but I felt his fingers graze my hands.
“Maria”
I paused.
“If anything feels wrong,” he said, voice low, controlled but threaded with something raw, “you call me immediately. Not your father. Me.”
In all honesty I wanted nothing more than that.
That wasn’t professional.
That wasn’t distant.
That wasn’t “nothing more.”
I met his eyes.
“You don’t get to push me away and then ask me to trust you,” I said softly.
“That wasn't my intention, I'm just trying to protect you” he replied.
I knew his intentions but hearing him say it made something click in me.
For the first time since this started, I saw it clearly.
We were fighting the same war.
Just from different sides of the glass.
“Okay I'll be careful”
“Good” he replied.
We started at each other in silence. He couldn't take his eyes of my lips and I noticed.
The thought of him kissing me flashed through my head.
Then I realized where I was and straightened up.
“ I have a class to teach now but I'll let you know if I feel unsafe”I said.
He nodded and walked back towards the car.
I watched him till he entered the car and drove out of the school gates.
I began my classes with my mind lingering with thoughts of him.
It was going to be a long day.
I felt that weird feeling again when school had ended.
That awareness.
Not just from the street.
From inside the building.
Someone was watching.
And this time…
It wasn’t from a blue car.
- Writer
