Selena

Eyes wide open, I laid on my bed. 

New droplets of sweat trickled sideways down my face each time I twisted and turned. For the whole night, heartbeat unsettled, I just couldn't sleep. So, I got ready. Putting on my black turtleneck, and long, navy-blue leather jacket, I left for the department.

When I arrived, it was midnight. At this time, the office was less busy, but still working. They said the city never sleeps; it was true.

'Kai!' At the ground reception, I caught him before he could head out the office. He looked tired.

'Selena', he uttered, 'wait, you're working today? I thought you were supposed to be taking a few days off'.

'I am. I took a day off... so far', I replied, in a whispery voice. A whole twenty-four hours away was long enough for me. 'What happened today?'

'Well, that girl you let escape, Amy...? We saw her again'. Every time I thought of Amy, that abyss of guilt opened up. She was my assignment, and I let her escape by falling asleep. The next time I saw her, I wouldn't be friendly.

'Did you get her?'

'No. It was like – her powers glitched out, then she teleported and ran away'.

'Shoot. Is Sergio inside?'

'Yeah', he patted me on the shoulder, 'good luck', then went home. Yeah. I was gonna need it. Inhale... Exhale. I walked into the elevator and stood with shaky legs all the way. At this time, each cubicle had its own lamp, but since most people were home, it left the office really dim.

'Hey', I whispered, finally at Sergio's desk. Briefly, he turned to look at me, then turned back disinterested. 'I-err got you some bento'. Immediately, the whiff of sweet chilli chicken and spring onion rice met his nose. Distracted from the Acosta records displayed on his screen, he sniffed, but went back to ignoring me. So, I waited. I walked up to his desk, sitting on the edge, waiting for a response. Eventually, he pinched his forehead and sighed.

'Why are you here?' he asked. I frowned.

'I'm sorry', I stammered, 'for-the way I... acted'. I moved from the desk to sit next to him. From the expression on his face, I could tell he didn't want to hear anything further. 'Look, you hate me. I get it. But please let me make it up to you. I know you need help'. Closing his palms together, he sat up.

'I'm having a hard time figuring you out', he finally replied.

'Huh? Figuring me out? Why?'

'First you slack off on duty, then hide my annotations from the Acosta records in your pocket, then throw a cup of water in my face', as he reminded me, listing mistake after mistake, I sank deeper into the abyss '...but then you kiss me...'

'Sergio...' To untangle every motive behind the actions I took was a whole other mission. Even worse, I was rubbish at articulation. How could I tell him my sister was a key figure in our case, and I felt drugged? 'Our lips surfaced, but it wasn't a kiss', I reproached, feeling my cheeks swell. Denial. Sergio wasn't buying it. Instead, he gazed at me as if I were mentally deluded. What mattered was intention. There was no hiding that.

'I couldn't charge Acosta', in the end he overlooked my denial, 'the very sheets you deleted from the drive, and my annotations which you stole had the information I needed to fully convict him. So, we released him'. Distraught as I was, Sergio found a way to make me feel more guilt. 'Hey', by now he noticed my tears, and scrunched brows, 'it wasn't entirely your fault.'

'Yes, it was', I whispered, 'I'm a failure'.

'Enough with the self-pity shit', wheeling his chair closer he lifted my chin up, 'besides, if it weren't for your fancy app, we wouldn't have found Amy so fast, let alone she has powers. That's way out of our control'.

'Yeah...?'

'Yes', I watched as he drew circles with his finger on top of my hand. 'I don't hate you. I'm not sure where you got that from... it's just, I've been obsessed with catching this girl for a long time, that when you finally brought me closer to my goal and then let her slip away, I got mad.'

'Are you still mad?'

'Well, at the situation, yeah'.

'So, can I get back to work?' I beamed excitedly, but from the way he leaned back and eyed me, he was hesitant, 'I promise my head is screwed on properly – I won't make any more mistakes'.

'I need you to do one thing for me'.

'What?'

'Try not to take this personally', he advised, 'if shit happens, separate your emotions from the job. You'll find working a lot easier'.

'Sure'.

'Another thing...' after a long pause, he sat up again, 'why exactly did you delete certain pages from the records, and then take those pages out of my annotations?' Dammit! He was onto me.

'Like you said-err – I was double-checking the information about the hotels, but I was a bit mad that day so I made a few mistakes and accidentally deleted some sheets, so then I tried to find the deleted sheets from your annotations –'

'Okay, okay', he stopped me, 'I was just curious. No need to waffle'. Never had I thought I could lie so seamlessly on the spot, that he would believe it. Solange Rose came up multiple times on the sheets I deleted, and in order to expunge the evidence of her activity with Tabitha, I had to do more than delete some files.

'Hey, Michael. It's me, yeah'. For calling him past midnight, I'm sure Michael thought I was crazy, 'actually about that date night, are you free tonight?'

'You mean right now? I left work an hour ago'.

'So did I. You may not catch me again anytime soon'.

'Woman, you are not easy. You would like to dine at this time?'

'We don't need to eat anything. We can go just for a drink, right? How far is the Rosewater from you?'

'It's a forty-five-minute drive'.

'Whoa-ooh. Okay, never mind. Sorry to bother you. Goodnight –'

'Selena, wait –' he interrupted, 'if you give me an hour, I'll be there. How long are you willing to wait?'

'I'll wait'. To my surprise, I had actually swayed him. An hour later, he arrived at the entrance of the Rosewater restaurant, in his usual crispy demeanour, greeting me with a smile while I waved him over to my table. Before arriving, I had the time to change into a shoulder-less, caped crop-top and high-waist, grey bootleg pants with white stripes, all borrowed from my sister. As soon as we were face to face, I was greeted with the spicy smell of his OUD cologne.

'So you're saying, I'm your excuse to get your mind off... things?' Michael reiterated, ten minutes after us delving into a trivial conversation.

'No!' When he put it that way, it sounded like I was using him, though I was, 'it's more than that. I can't explain it, but I knew if I never took the opportunity to meet you now, it would never happen'.

'Mmmn', as his eyes glistened at mine from across the table, it felt like he was reading me, 'your new job, are you finding it stressful?'

'Oh my gosh – yes', I squealed, 'I thought everything would be straightforward, like from my training'. At that point, our cocktails and sides arrived, and after the religious routine of Instagraming our luxury cocktails, I sipped straight into my blueberry tequila. 'Michael, ever since I started this job, I've made really... big mistakes. The harder I try to please the department, the more mistakes I make'.

'I've also made mistakes, Selena. Before I started working for myself, I was actually fired from my previous firm. Don't let it discourage you. The earlier you make mistakes, the quicker you learn'.

'But... if you only knew the things I've done', I murmured, 'what use am I if I can't even do a simple job properly?'

'Listen, you are worth much more than a nine-to-five job. You can't limit yourself to the value your job puts on you. Look at your sister, for example'. I rolled my eyes. The last person I wanted to talk about was my sister. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be in this stupid mess trying to cover her mistakes.

Michael was a persuasive speaker; it was his strength. No wonder he was a lawyer. After an hour of speaking to him about our favourite business quotes, and books about 'value', I felt like I could speak to him forever.

'I'm sorry guys. Our restaurant will be closing in five minutes', a waiter informed us. We talked for so long that we hadn't realised it was three in the morning.

'Let's book a hotel room!' I suggested in mode tipsy.

'Yeah... erm', Michael laughed softly, 'I like the way you think, but I think it would be best if we waited'.

'Yeah – duh, of course!' how embarrassing.