Chapter 5

• Narrator
• Beep beep beep, an alarm clock was sounding insistent.
• " Damn damn damn! It's already late. Damn, it's Wednesday! " the girl jumped out of bed like a flash, dressed in a pair of black jeans, a basic t" shirt of the same color, black high-top Converse sneakers, and a red and black checkered shirt. She ran towards the car that was already waiting for her.
• " Good morning! " She shouted to the nanny who was in the kitchen. The woman didn't even have time to scold her for not having breakfast.
• " 2 minutes left until 7. Do you think you can make it, Mr. Jaime? " Melissa said to the driver who already had the car running.
• " It's better that you don't oversleep tomorrow, miss " the driver warned, half smiling.
• " True," she said, and the car fell silent for a moment. " Mr. Jaime, how is Marina? I haven't heard from her in a long time. Marina was the driver's daughter, a very intelligent and kind girl the same age as Melissa. They were best friends when they were little, but Marina moved with her mother to Yucatán just before starting high school. They used to message each other all the time until about a month ago when Marina stopped replying."
• " She's fine, miss, at least that's what I've been told. I think she had some problems with her phone, maybe that's why she's not replying."
• "What? How does he know she's not replying? That's strange," Melissa thought without saying anything this time.
• " And won't she come for the holidays? " She really wanted to see her, she felt like she was part of the beauty of her past.
• " I don't know, miss " Jaime didn't say much, it seemed like he was hiding something but he had no reason to do so. " We've arrived " the driver finished, relieved to be done with the questioning.
• " Okay, see you at 2 " and she got out of the car straight to the entrance where the prefect pointed at the clock.
• " I'm sorry " Melissa whispered.
• " You can't go to your class anyway, it's been 15 minutes," the woman said, letting her enter the school. " Wait there on the stairs, I don't want to be called because you're wandering around the school " She pointed to the stairs to the second floor where she could supposedly keep an eye on her.
• She was sitting on the stairs looking at her watch, she still had to wait half an hour. She remembered that it was almost 3 o'clock when...
• " I was waiting for your answer about whether we would do the project together, Mel " It was Andrés looking at her from a few steps above, leaning on the railing.
• " Excuse me? I didn't think you were serious " Andrés fell silent as if waiting for something more, and she couldn't believe what she had just said. " I mean, surely there are other people who would work with you " She tried to fix what she had said, making it worse.
• Andrés chuckled a bit " Come on, Mel, don't be so shy. I promise I'm not playing with you, and you know that no one in the class will team up with you after what happened in anatomy. Melissa wanted to disappear, she couldn't stand everyone's gaze on her for so long."
• " Alright, I'll work with you, but not because I can't work alone. I don't need the people from the class " a smile appeared on Andrés' face.
• " This afternoon? " Melissa blushed a little.
• " I can't this afternoon, but there are no classes tomorrow, we can finish it then " he looked at her smiling.
• " Sure. But I won't accept excuses tomorrow, okay?"
• " Sure," Melissa said with a fake attempt at a smile.
• " You can now go to your second class " the prefect interrupted them. Just in time for the bell to ring.
• " Come on, we have your favorite teacher next " Andrés teased Melissa. She simply walked behind him, cursing under her breath.
• Melissa
• The day flew by with boring classes and hints from the anatomy teacher. My classmates kept cursing me for the project, and I still didn't care. I have Daniel stuck in my head, not letting me realize what's happening around me. I'm delirious, I don't even know why I keep thinking about it.
• I went into the bathroom to freshen up a bit and looking at myself in the mirror, I said to myself " Enough, he's just being nice lending you the book, he's older, obviously, there's nothing more on his mind about you " And I walked out of there with the firm intention of not getting distracted by that.
• "Damn, it's almost 2 o'clock" I couldn't stop thinking during my last class, yes, I know I told myself in the bathroom not long ago, but those blue eyes are out of this world, his gaze is so intense.
• " Mel, hey Mel " I heard someone next to me.
• " What's up? " It was Andrés. What the hell gave him the right to call me that?
• " If you don't pay attention, the biochemistry teacher will also send you to the principal's office, " He said as if I cared.
• " Thanks," I said and ignored him, looking at the teacher who was explaining amino acids.
• "Riiiin" the bell startled me.
• " Shit," I said to myself upon hearing the noise.
• I took a deep breath and gathered my things to attend the last hour of the day.
• At the end of the school day, Jaime was already waiting for me, as punctual as always, if I said 2 o'clock, he was already waiting for me at 1:30, he's a good man.
• "Hello, today we're going to the usual café," I said, trying to sound normal.
• " I see you're nervous, miss. Is everything okay? " Jaime asked, looking in the rearview mirror.
• " Yes, everything's fine, it's just that I haven't been there in a long time " I smiled and we remained silent for the rest of the journey.
• Daniel
• At 2:30, I took the book from my desk and went straight to the parking lot for my car. Throughout the weekend, I didn't remember that I had plans with her until yesterday when I ran into Diana and she coincidentally mentioned Melissa.
• " You give her the book and move on with your life," I told myself, completely sure of what I had to do. I started walking at a fairly high speed, listening to Guns and Roses. I already knew what I was going to do and I was sure of myself.
• I arrived at the café, it was 10 minutes to 3, so I decided to choose the usual table.
• " Can I get you the usual? " The waitress approached.
• " I'm waiting for someone," I said, I don't know how I looked at her or what I did, but she blushed. I checked some emails and immediately heard behind me that the door was opening, I thought it was her so I let her walk a bit and turned around, but I wasn't wrong.
• She was standing right at the door, all dressed in black with a square shirt on top, I can't deny she's pretty. I guessed she hesitated to continue until she had no choice since I was watching her.
• Narrator
• Melissa took a deep breath a couple of times before entering the café, she opened the door and there he was, the unknown man she could now call Daniel, she observed him as he had his back turned, he was a little less dressed up than at the party, khaki pants, a gray long" sleeved shirt not completely buttoned up and with the sleeves slightly rolled up, he still seemed excessively perfect to her, she walked towards the table and upon hearing footsteps, he turned around."
• "Hello," he exclaimed, drawing a damn seductive smile on his face, locking his blue eyes on her.
• "Hi... Hello," Melissa replied very nervously.
• "I didn't know if you wanted to sit here or at the table where you always sit, " the man said kindly.
• "Oh my god! He remembers me! Damn, it's time to run, Melissa, run" she thought as she blushed and replied "Here is perfect"
• He chuckled at seeing her blush "You thought I didn't recognize you at the party, right? " Daniel said.
• "In fact" she replied, too surprised.
• "But a woman! Those black eyes are hard to forget" he said with a seductive smile, hearing those words, the blood rushed to her cheeks, coloring them once again "Come on, I'm not flirting with you" Daniel tried to backpedal, not even he knew why he was doing it, his subconscious warned him not to get involved with a girl.
• "I can imagine," she said a little hurt "Did you bring the book? " she decided to change the subject.
• "Of course, it would have been a lame excuse if I forgot it," he said under his breath, confusing her even more.
• "Well, I'll take it, I have to go, I'll make sure to send it back with my aunt when I finish it, okay? " the girl announced, getting up from the table.
• " Hey! Are you going to leave me like this? Without even accepting a coffee? Remember that you owe me, you ruined my suit " Melissa returned to her seat upon hearing this.
• " I better go, I have a complicated task to do " Melissa lied.
• " I have time. Don't you want me to help you?"
• " I have plans with someone, thanks anyway."
• " It seems like you're running away from me."
• " Maybe I am," she said softly and almost ran out.
• " What? " he said, grabbing her arm just after the door.
• " Maybe I am, maybe I am running away from you... " He fixed his imposing gaze on hers, Melissa hesitated " I mean I'm running away from you in the same way I would with anyone who intimidates me " he let go of her arm and relaxed his gaze as if confused.
• " Do I seem that bad? " he looked at her again but this time differently.
• " No, well, yes... There's my car, goodbye " Jaime had saved her from more conversation with Daniel, and she hurried out to the car without looking back.
• "Something's wrong with me with this girl," Daniel thought as he got into his car. "She's very pretty but doesn't seem like the type to go to bed one night and that's it, she seems younger than I thought." He drove to work, remembering he had a business meeting.
• Melissa arrived home, already in her room she hugged the book to her chest, it smelled like him, like Daniel with his 3"day beard and his perfume that was already running through her veins."
• "You're crazy, he would never see you as anything more than his friend's niece, even though you wish otherwise. He's so handsome, such a perfect smile. His blue eyes? God! They make my legs tremble... You shouldn't have run away, coward. He's not for you anyway. He probably has a girlfriend or is married."
• While she scolded herself for all these things, she sent a message to Andres and another to her aunt.
• "We should start the investigation and finish it tomorrow " Melissa."
• "Do you have time? We should meet " Andres."
• "I would feel more comfortable that way " Melissa."
• "Don't be shy, I'm not going to eat you " Andres."
• "Ugh! I'll wait for you at my house then " Melissa."
• "I'll be there in 10 " Andres."
• "Hi Didi, we have to go out tomorrow " Melissa."
• "Hi sweetness, I'm going to have dinner with Daniel tomorrow. Can you come early? " Diana."