Alicia

After I walked out of that meeting with Colin, I took a taxi back to my office, packed up everything I'll need for my stint at CyberSecure, and then directly went to my apartment.

I immediately stripped out of my work attire and into some yoga pants and a tank top. Grabbing some headphones, I stuffed them into my ears and searched for the loudest playlist I could find and blasted the volume. I didn't even care what the decibel level was doing to my eardrums.

As soon as I exited the apartment, I ran down the hall and into the stairwell. My feet hurriedly ran down the steps and in almost no time at all, I reached the ground floor.

Once I hit the streets, I pounded the pavement, running as fast as I could with no thought to pacing myself. I ducked and weaved past people and down streets, not wanting to stop for crosswalk signals. I could feel the intrusive thoughts pressing in, vying for attention. But I was not ready to deal with them just yet. Instead I pushed myself harder, till my vision became blurry and I barely saw where I was going.

Just when I was about to cross a street, a horn blasted at me. With a gasp I quickly stopped and a truck went speeding past where I was just about to step. My chest was heaving and not just from the run. As my heart rate began to slow, I picked back up into a slow jog and headed towards a nearby park before I became roadkill.

A narrow path laid on the edge and I followed it around and around. My thoughts once again demanded attention and I couldn't ignore them any longer.

Mr. Evans was Colin. Colin from high school. Somehow those two facts still hadn't connected in my brain. I shouldn't have been surprised really, that Colin would head some up and coming computer security company. He was a whiz at programming back at East High. It's what got me to graduate high school afterall.

I slowed to a walk as the emotions from ten years ago overwhelmed me. For those few days when Colin helped me with my coding project, it felt as if we had actually become friends.

But the Colin I was just with was a far cry from the Colin I knew. What happened to the shy funny boy who took a chance on a girl that had never looked twice at him before?

I know what happened. He had gotten hurt. And I could still see that same hurt from that dreadful night all those years ago.

Seeing an empty bench, I stopped to sit down. Placing my head between my knees, I took deep breaths as the adrenalin started to come down. As my head cleared, I realized I may have jumped the gun by claiming that I would be completing the full three months of the contract. I never was able to back down from a challenge.

My shirt clung to my body and as the noon day sun came out in full force, I began to wish I had chosen shorts instead.

Sweaty, hot and thirsty, I left the bench and made the trek back home.

Entering back into the apartment, I stumbled upon Cameron dancing around our kitchen to Taylor Swift while cooking something on the stove.

I stood for a moment watching her, a bemused expression on my face while I waited for her to notice me.

In a twirl, she caught sight of me and with a slight squeak, lost her balance and tumbled to the floor.

I rushed over to help her up. "Are you okay?" I asked with a slight laugh.

She glared up at me but took my offered hand. "What are you doing home so early?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Professional training day. The assistants weren't needed so we got to go home."

"And so you decided to have a dance off," I teased.

"A solo dance off," she said with a huff." Getting a look at my workout clothes, Cameron wrinkled her nose. "You look like-" she paused seeing my expression, "Like you've been to hell and back. It's not swearing when talking about the actual place right?"

I chuckled at her redirection. "No, I guess not. I'll tell you about it after I go for a shower."

"Yes, please do."

Refreshed and clean, I go back into the living room while towel drying my freshly washed hair. Cameron is sitting on the couch eating an omelet that is probably stuffed with tons of herbs from her mini indoor garden. It smelt amazing.

Joining her on the couch, I tossed my towel onto the armchair.

Cameron gave me an annoyed look. "Really? You couldn't leave your wet towel in the bathroom when you were in there two minutes ago?"

I let out a sound that was between a sigh and a growl and got up to put away the towel. "I'm only doing this because you averted swearing earlier."

"Hey, that took a great amount of self-control."

"I'm sure it did," I said as I rejoined her. "That better?"

"Much. Now I am able to give you my undivided attention."

I leaned back on the couch with my head angled towards the ceiling. I didn't even know where to start, so I just lay there.

"What happened today?" Cameron asked, actually sounding concerned for once. "Did you not win the contract?"

"I did, sort of."

Cameron rolled her eyes. "Well that's clear as mud. Did this Evans guy turn out to be a bigger jerk than the last one?"

"The jury is still out on that one."

"Skip the legal puns, especially since you're bad at them. Can you just spell it out for me already?"

"I know him."

"Who?"

"Evans. Or rather, Colin Evans. We went to high school together."

Cameron studied me as she sorts through my words. "Judging by your tone, this is a bad thing."

"Very bad," I clarified, "I wasn't too nice to him."

"Let me guess, hot, popular girl puts down nerdy, introverted boy."

"How do you know he was nerdy?"

"Please, you said he wears striped vests, need I say more?"

I shook my head but couldn't help smirking at her observation.

"Was he still stuck up about it?" Cameron asked.

"I wish he had been," I said, sitting up. "I think he only gave me the contract because he's out for revenge."

"All because you weren't nice to him? Talk about holding a grudge."

"It's more than that," I said softly. Already I can feel the guilt seeping in, threatening to drag me down. "I don't want to get into it," I said before Cameron could ask. "The point is, I now have to work for the guy." My voice got higher and faster as the weight of my situation became more real. "And to top it all off, I offered him a thirty day trial where if I don't deliver, he doesn't have to pay me. All so I can save my struggling business from going under."

With my rant over, Cameron just stared at me. Finally she emitted a low whistle. "And I thought my life was complicated."

Grabbing a throw pillow, I punched it a few times, venting out my frustration. "If I had known who he was I wouldn't have suggested such a thing. But I was desperate and now I'm going to pay for it."

"It might not be that bad," Cameron tried to soothe. "You just need- What is it you're always saying to me? A little faith?"

Faith. Funny how faith had been the last thing on my mind through all of this. Instead I ran away, literally, trying to forget my problems instead of running to God. And He used my very non-Christian friend to remind me. It was a humbling moment, one that I very much needed.

"You're right," I said, sitting up a little straighter.

"I usually am."

"No, I mean it. I need to have faith that God will bring me through this."

"But what if you lose the contract?" Cameron asked. "What then?"

"Then God has something better planned."

+++

Colin

It's Saturday morning, so I got up early and headed over to my one on one Muay Thai lesson. I still felt like a ball of pent up energy after the meeting with Alicia. I was hoping the martial arts would help dispel some of that.

The thing was, I knew I was being extremely petty by putting Alicia through all this. Maybe she was right that I was trying to fulfill my sense of justice. But how could I simply let it go while the other person received no consequences. That's wasn't right in my books.

I strolled into the gym that smelt like sweat and workout mats. Various exercise equipment sat to the right while a couple of boxing rings took up the left. A few people already milled about, each focused on their task at hand.

I changed into a pair of loose fitting black shorts and strapped on a pair of gloves that covered my knuckles but left my fingers free to move.

My lesson didn't start for another ten minutes, so I headed over to a punching bag to warm up. I figured out that Muay Thai was basically boxing but Thailand style. It's known as "the art of eight limbs" so more than just punching was allowed.

I stretched out my left leg and landed a high kick with a satisfying thud. It felt good so I did a combo of rapid punches in succession, followed by a roundhouse kick. I could already feel the sweat drip down my back.

"Woah, I see we're fired up today."

I stopped to catch my breath and turned to Anthony, my instructor. "I've got a bit of stress to relieve," I said between breaths.

"Well let's hope it doesn't affect your technique. C'mon, let's head into the ring."

We stepped through the ropes and took our places in opposite corners. I jumped from side to side to loosen my muscles, then went and met Anthony in the center.

Anthony was lean but pure muscle. We traded a few jabs, testing out one another. The goal of the lesson was more about landing a hit than trying to hurt or knock out each other.

As our sparring picked up in intensity, I found myself recalling the words I said to Alicia. I have never forgotten. I swung my right fist out of anger but Anthony easily blocked it. I won't fall for your tricks again. This time I opted for a switch kick, intending to catch him in the side. Anthony, anticipating my move, grabbed my foot and twisted it to the side. I lost my balance and went toppling to the floor.

I slapped the ground in frustration and jumped back onto my feet. "Again."

"You're sloppy," Anthony said. "Your moves have no thought behind them. You gotta get out of your head and focus."

Easier said than done. Still, I knew he was right. I was letting my emotions take over and it was costing me. We moved back into position and started again. I did better, being more in control of my hits.

Anthony put up a hand, signaling to stop. "Enough. That was better but it's obvious you're distracted. Let's hope next week you come less stressed."

That was unlikely. By then I would have worked with Alicia for a whole week. "Thanks Anthony," I said, shaking his hand. "I gotta run, I'm heading up to mom's for the rest of the day."

We said our goodbyes and I headed to the changeroom for a much needed shower.

Clean and dry, I exited the gym to go to my car for the three hour drive to my mom's place. I did this trip on the third Saturday of every month. I've made it a scheduled visit because I don't think I would go otherwise. I loved my mom and I wanted to see her, but I hated visiting my hometown. Maybe that's why I never forgot about Alicia. I'm reminded about her every time I drive by our old high school.

The exercise definitely helped clear my head, though it didn't fully erase the events from yesterday. Monday morning was going to be interesting to say the least.

I merged with the cottage traffic heading out of the city for the weekend. For once the slow speeds didn't bother me, as it would make my visit that much shorter.

The three hours were tortuous in the car. I went over some Muay Thai moves in my head, I blasted the radio till my eardrums hurt, but nothing could get the image of Alicia looking up at me with those big brown eyes that were on the verge of tears.

I told myself over and over that it was all a charade. She only cared about herself and what her company gained from this whole transaction.

I gripped the steering wheel till my knuckles turned white when I thought about how she took me square on and said she was going to complete the contract in full. Alicia never was one to back down from a challenge. When she wanted something, she got it. Even if it meant stepping on people along the way.

That was one of my last thoughts as I pulled into my mom's bungalow. I was tense and my Mom was going to see it. She always said I wore my heart on my sleeve.

Shoving my hands into my jean pockets, I slowly made my way to the front door. Before I could even knock, Mom was there in an apron with her hair pulled back into a messy bun.

"Colin!" she said, enveloping me into a hug.

"Hey, Mom," I said, wrapping one arm around her in return.

"Are you hungry? I have some lunch keeping warm on the stove."

"Starving." I entered the house, sitting down in my usual chair at the kitchen table. I scanned the room, seeing that not much had changed since my last visit. Same peeling yellow wallpaper and flowery curtains. Mom had never moved in my entire lifetime. Not even when Dad left. You would think she'd leave to escape the memories, but I never detected any bitterness in her. She always remained sweet and steady.

Setting down some soup in front of me, I dig in right away so she won't have time to see that anything was wrong.

"Is everything alright honey? You seem kind of quiet."

I should have known better. "I'm always quiet Mom," I replied, trying to throw her off the scent.

"No, this is different." She squinted her eyes like I was a problem to sort out. "Is it about a girl?"

I threw my hands in the air in exasperation. I'd barely been in the door for fifteen minutes and Mom seemed to have already pinpointed the problem. "It's not like that," I muttered.

"But it's something like that, am I right?" she said with a knowing look.

I blew out a puff of air. Mom would not let the matter drop lightly and she can spot a lie like a needle in a haystack. "Do you remember Alicia Hannigan?"

My mom tapped her chin as she thought. "Hannigan...Yes, I used to go to church with her family. Beautiful girl if I remember correctly."

"Yeah, well I just hired her to do some marketing for my company. Not sure how I feel about it yet."

Mom sat down in the chair beside me. "Ah, no one ever forgets about the popular girl in school. I'm sure she's a different person now."

"But how can I know that?" I asked. "How do I know I can trust her?"

Mom gave a half shrug, then got up to clean the dishes. "Get to know her."

My face fell. "What if I don't want to get to know her?"

"Then you've already made your call. Which is highly unfair."

"Nice to know your thoughts on the matter," I said dryly.

Mom put up her hands in mock surrender. "I'm just saying. 'Don't judge or you too will be judged.'"

Great, now she was quoting the bible at me. This was why I didn't share things with my mom. "Okay, Mom," I said, hoping that it ended the discussion.

"Just remember sweetie, we never know someone's story until they have a chance to tell it."

I went back to eating my soup, choosing not to respond. But even I couldn't deny the truth to her words.