“It’s probably best we both get some rest. It seems like we had quite the day,” she replied, and I couldn’t agree more.
I curled up on the bed in her guest room, trying to fall asleep, but I couldn’t help but feel like there was some truth to what she was saying. I wondered if the guy she was seeing was actually trouble, and that she was getting involved with someone that was going to hurt her. I was worried about her, but I knew that no one was ever going to sway her perspective until she decided for herself that it wasn’t worth fighting for. I laid there with my eyes wide open, trying to figure out if the person I’d seen outside my office building had truly been one of my clients, or if it was somehow connected to the person Larissa had seen following her as well. I began to feel my stomach turn, like we were both getting involved with something we couldn’t control, but I knew that we just had to watch our backs. I could’ve only hoped that Larissa didn’t get too swept up in the romance that she allowed herself to look past the warnings that were being thrown her way.
Larissa has never backed down from a challenge before, and if she’s having doubts about this guy then it’s quite possible that he truly is the kind of person you’d want to stay away from.I have to keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn’t get into any more trouble. I thought, making sure I’d check in with her the next time she decided to see him, just to make sure that she came out of it okay. I could tell that there was something about this guy that was drawing her to him, but I wondered if that was ever enough to quiet the fears that were welling up inside of her. I knew I had to shake it off, because I still had a lot to figure out, especially when it came to tracking down my birth parents.
I wondered for a moment if there were any truth to the rumors I’d seen, that they were involved with the mafia, and had the kind of power that would make any normal person tremble. The very thought of that scared me, but I wasn’t going to allow it to keep me from searching for the truth, and making sure that I had the answers to all of my questions one way or another.The Andreyevs seem to be a family that has a lot of secrets, but I have to find out what the rest of those secrets are, because I am truly one of them. I need to know what kind of people would give up their newborn child, and I won’t be able to let it go until I have those answers. For now, I just need to focus on getting close enough to start figuring out who they truly are, and once I have their attention, I’m sure they will tell me what I need to know.
The next morning,I woke up to find that Larissa had already laid out an outfit for me from her closet, and she had taken off to work before I even had the chance to see her. I could already tell that the conversation we had the night prior had only made her more afraid, and she wasn’t ready to face the possibility that something truly could’ve been wrong. I promised myself that I was going to reach out to her again the first chance I got, and that meant that I had to get through all of my meetings for the day so I could end up right back here to grill her on whether she’d spoken to the mysterious man she’d been seeing. I got ready, making myself a quick cup of coffee which I gulped down, feeling it sear my throat, just as I made my way out the door to head straight to my office.
Once I got there, everything truly did seem normal. The building was bustling with life, people walking in and out, offices filled with people just trying to get through their workday, and I was starting to think that maybe I was just being paranoid after all. I was just about to head upstairs when the receptionist at the front desk stopped me, and I could see the package in her hand that had my name on the label.
“Is that for me?” I asked, politely.
“Yes it is. Would you like me to leave it on your desk upstairs for you, Ms. Marianna?” she asked, but I shook my head.
“That’s quite alright, I’ll take it up with me,” I said, taking the package from her while I got into the elevator, heading up to my office. It was strange to see just my first name on the label, as I never took my adopted parents’ last name officially, partially because I always felt like it was a part of my identity that truly didn’t belong to me. I wondered if there would ever be the day where I’d be referred to as an Andreyeva, if my biological parents would even want anything to do to me, but I knew that was simply wishful thinking. You need to get out of your head and focus, because you have yet to even meet them in person. You have no idea what they’re really going to be like, but you’re never going to know until you make it your mission to find out.
I sat at my desk, taking the package in between my fingers, while I ripped the seal open to see what was hiding deep inside.What is this? I usually never get mail here.
