HEALER

E2: First Encounter

Mia stood there without moving. In her heart, she thought the men would be watching her from somewhere. She had tried not to be obvious but they must have noticed her regardless.

To remedy the situation, Mia began to talk loudly.

“Jeez!” Mia exclaimed. “Where did he disappear to?”

Mia said this so loudly to create awareness. Like she had presumed, Julian and Gabriel were watching her truly.

“I think she has been the one following me so far…” Julian said shortly.

“But she does not look significant to me,” Gabriel replied.

“I remember teaching you to never judge people by their appearances,” Julian replied. He continued to look at Mia now. She looked really attractive and smart too. She had a worried face now and this made Julian more interested in her.

“Have you seen a guy dressed in a suit who passed by?” Mia began to ask around. She was intentionally loud with this. Since she had been caught by the men, the best she could do was to portray herself as someone who is harmless.

“Now, she is asking about you. That is so strange,” Gabriel said carefully.

“She must be after us!” Julian affirmed. “Let’s leave now. She will follow us when she sees us passing by.”

Julian was smart to some extent as well. He knew very well how to draw out his prey. He came out of his hiding spot and passed in front of Mia as if he didn’t know what just happened. Gabriel waited to see what would unfold.

The moment Mia saw Julian’s back, her brain worked fast. She ran towards him and before looking him in the eye, she hit his balls.

“You shameless man! I knew you were gay. Where was the guy with you earlier?” Mia shouted. She knew how to act so properly. She was the perfect drama queen.

Gabriel jumped out instantly and pushed Mia away. He tried to help Julian up but the latter was in severe pain. Right at the airport, he rolled around. The pain would subside soon but for now, it really hurt.

Now, Mia pretended to have seen Julian for the first time.

“Ah!” she gasped. “I am sorry… I thought you were… you were Brock, mister.”

“Who the hell is Brock?” Gabriel shouted at her angrily. Mia acted scared upon hearing Gabriel’s loud voice.

“My…” Mia stammered. Instantly, her eyes became reddish in color. She was remembering her ex-boyfriend who broke up with her six months ago. He had been her crush since college and when they finally met a year ago, they dated only for six months. “Brock is my ex-boyfriend. He broke my heart even though I am this beautiful. I think he is gay and I wanted to…”

Saying this, Mia began to cry without stopping. People began to look at them now. Julian stopped up instantly when he found out that they were garnering so much attention. People might think two men were bullying a weak woman and making her cry in the process.

“Hey, it’s fine,” Julian begged her quickly. “I am not Brock and that’s it. I will leave.”

Quickly, Julian started to leave with Gabriel but before he could take two steps, Mia began to cry around. She was on the verge of rolling around. Julian was stunned and impatient at the same time. People were looking at them and seeing if Julian was truly a bully. This was not the first impression that he wanted.

“What do you want? Just stop crying, girl…” Julian told her warmly. She didn’t stop until he helped her up. To avert future problems, Julian escorted her like a gentleman. Gabriel was not pleased by this at all but there was nothing he could do. He followed the duo with a frown visible on his face.

The car was waiting for them and there, Julian stopped.

“You should find your way now,” Julian told her coldly and proceeded to enter the car. For a moment, Mia didn’t know what to do. When the car finally drove off, she chased after them. She was quite a good runner.

“That troublesome girl is following us again. Increase your speed, mister driver,” Gabriel said quickly.

“No!” Julian stopped. “You should stop the car. It is not gentlemanly for us to speed off with a lady chasing after our car.”

Mia ran faster after the car stopped and Julian opened the car window to speak with her.

“Thank you so much for today,” Mia told him slowly. “I am a barista. I own a coffee shop and I would like to treat you if you are free. Here is my card.”

Julian collected the card and zoomed off. Seeing this, Mia smiled. In her mind, she knew exactly what she was doing. Her mission would be completed in no time.

***

After getting to the hotel room, the first thing Julian did was to lay on the bed. He was exhausted from traveling by airplane. He hated flying and he was awake throughout the period. Gabriel entered almost immediately.

“Shall I get the menu? I am sure you will like some food. I noticed you barely ate while we were on board…” Gabriel murmured.

“The airplane’s food was trash!” Julian exclaimed. “Still, I am not hungry for now. You should go to your room and have some rest.”

“Not before you’re comfortable, boss,” Gabriel replied.

“Get out!” Julian exploded, unable to take it any more. “Instead of wasting our time here, you should meet with our contacts here. I am here to find Antonio and do nothing else.”

“I will reach out to them instantly,” Gabriel replied. He turned to leave but then, he remembered something important. “What kind of lady shall I get for your company? Petite, curvy, BBW…”

“Shut up!” Julian exclaimed angrily. He had meant to control his anger but he could not hold it up any longer. He stood up and confronted Gabriel who had bowed his head by now.

“This will be my last time mentioning this. I came here for only one reason. Forget about girls and do the needful. This is your last warning…” Julian noted. He had quite a fiery temper. Gabriel left after this saga and Julian sat down to think for a moment. Usually, he liked girls in Italy. He wasn’t one who believed in love so he dealt with call girls.

Julian was suddenly bored but he knew what to do. He had to sleep and it would all be fine.

***

“So you almost got compromised…” William said over the phone.

“Yes!” Mia answered excitedly. She was so proud of herself at this moment. It felt unreal that she had been able to dodge such a bullet. She knew how risky the situation she found herself in was.

“And you found your way out truly,” William said over the phone. He doubted the authenticity of what she said but he could not say so outright. He had to remain cool headed.

“I did…” Mia replied. “I have just discovered that my talent in acting needs to be studied. I think I made quite an impression on him. He would definitely visit me soon.”

William snorted.

“I don’t think so,” William replied dryly. “If a few tricks is enough to sway a man, I should have been swayed by you.”

Mia frowned. There was a story behind this.

Truly, Mia had an ex-boyfriend. The story she told Julian at the airport was not entirely false. William was that same ex-boyfriend. Both of them went to the same high school and Mia followed his lead to become an agent in the international crimes division. Her only motivation was that her high school crush would eventually notice her.

William did at the end.

However, the relationship barely lasted six months with lots of hiccups. They had different personalities and the perfect man Mia had always seen was not the real Williams. At the end, she initiated the breakup as she had foreseen him doing it at the end.

Now, they only had a colleagues’ relationship. William happened to be Mia’s direct superior. He was higher than her by only one rank but of course, Mia was more precious. Physical strength could be seen easily but the brainstorming power and an elite hacker could not be found everywhere.

“You mean I didn’t sway you enough. Is that why…” Mia said. She had begun to get emotional but luckily, William stopped her.

“Hey!” William called. “Don’t lose it at all.”

Mia took a deep breath. Her eyes had gotten watery in that split second. She looked forward and she saw a familiar man getting off a car right outside her coffee shop. Mia was shocked beyond words. She stood up quietly with her mouth open in bewilderment.

“I think my tricks were able to sway him…” Mia said semi consciously.

“What do you mean?” William asked over the phone. He noticed that Mia’s voice had changed.

“He is here,” Mia smiled broadly.

“He?” William wondered.