The air in the high school hallways had become heavy for Anna and Louie, an atmosphere charged with a tension barely concealed beneath the facade of a newly in-love couple. Anna, with an almost possessive determination, strove to keep Louie by her side, her arm firmly linked to his as they moved through the teenage bustle. Her laughter, once spontaneous, now resonated with a calculated artificiality, a hollow echo that was beginning to wear on Louie's patience, who felt increasingly imprisoned in this forced display of affection. He, for his part, although he tried to reciprocate Anna's gestures with a smile and some distracted caress, couldn't prevent his mind from constantly wandering. The image of Josephine, her unexpected return to the city after so long, loomed like a persistent shadow over each of his interactions with Anna, tingeing his attempts at normalcy with guilt and confusion.
In the cafeteria, a hubbub of voices and laughter where they shared a table with their circle of friends, Louie finally glimpsed an opportunity to speak with Anna privately. With a trivial excuse, feigning the need to show her a message on his phone, he pulled her slightly away from the group, distancing her from the constant murmur and curious glances.
"Anna, I need to talk to you for a second," Louie said in a tone that denoted a contained urgency, a pressing need to address the issue that tormented him. His serious gaze contrasted with the lightheartedness he tried to maintain in front of their friends.
Anna frowned slightly, a shadow of annoyance briefly crossing her features, although she quickly replaced it with a studied smile for their tablemates. "What's wrong, honey? Can't it wait? We were having a nice time with everyone else." Her tone was sweet and slightly saccharine, but there was a subtext of control, a subtle resistance to being pulled away.
"It's about Josephine," Louie replied, his gaze fixed on Anna's eyes, searching for a sincerity that seemed to elude her. "I saw her today. She was alone with Brianna." The image of Josephine's loneliness, the sadness he had managed to glimpse in her eyes, had deeply impacted him, rekindling the guilt over the abrupt way things had ended between them.
Anna's smile tightened imperceptibly, her fingers squeezing Louie's arm slightly. "Of course she was alone, Louie. Did you expect her to arrive with a mariachi band and fireworks? What's so special about her being alone with Brianna?" Her tone was casual, almost dismissive, but there was a slight hint of warning, an insinuation that she didn't want to delve deeper into that topic.
"You don't understand, Anna," Louie insisted, feeling a sharper pang of guilt at perceiving his girlfriend's evasiveness. "I want to talk to her. I need to know why she left without saying anything. I need to understand what really happened." The need to hear Josephine's side of the story, to fill the void of unanswered questions, gnawed at him from within.
Anna let out a forced chuckle, placing a hand on her chest with exaggerated theatricality, as if Louie's concern was absurd. "And why do you want to stir up the past, honey? You already have a wonderful girlfriend who adores you, who is here with you. Josephine made her decision, she left for the entire vacation, without giving any explanations for her absence. Just let her get on with her life, without you tormenting her with old stories." Her tone was light, but her eyes shone with an intensity that Louie couldn't quite decipher.
"But..." Louie tried to reply, feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the way Anna deflected the subject, with her insistence on minimizing his feelings and his need for answers.
"Oh, Louie!" Anna interrupted with a honeyed and condescending tone, pulling him back towards her with a possessive gesture and caressing his cheek in front of their friends, reinforcing the image of a united couple. "Don't worry about that, my love. Remember I told you about Josep and Josephine's recent relationship in France? Well, I spoke to Josep yesterday, and he told me they had a small unexpected delay on their trip, but he'll be back sooner than you think." Her smile was wide, but her eyes conveyed a silent message to Louie: forget about Josephine.
Louie frowned, completely confused by the sudden mention of Josep.
Anna looked at him with feigned patience, as if dealing with a small child who didn't understand something obvious. "When he arrives, they'll surely be as lovey-dovey as ever. Do you really want to witness that spectacle? Believe me, it's best to leave things as they are, not to stir up a past that is clearly continuing elsewhere."
"But Josephine was alone," Louie repeated with a quiet stubbornness, the image of the lonely sadness in Josephine's eyes indelibly etched in his mind, contradicting the idyllic picture Anna was trying to paint.
Anna sighed with exaggerated exasperation, as if making a huge sacrifice for her boyfriend's incomprehension. "Honey, trust me, please. Josep will arrive sooner than we expect. His parents had a problem with their flight, you understand? A delay, things that happen. When he's here, you'll see with your own eyes how close Josephine and he are, the strong relationship they have. I assure you, my love. It's not worth it for you to torment yourself now over something that already happened and that is obviously continuing happily elsewhere."
Throughout the rest of the school day, every time Louie tried to return to the subject of Josephine, seeking an opportunity to express his need to speak with her, Anna skillfully interrupted him with some carefully orchestrated distraction. She would remind him of their exciting plans for the weekend, diverting his attention to the immediate future, or insist on seemingly trivial details about Josep's supposed arrival next week, repeating ad nauseam the story of his friend's parents' flight delay and how, once he was present, Louie would understand the strength of the bond between Josephine and him.
By the end of the school day, Louie felt increasingly frustrated and confused. Anna's insistence and her seemingly unwavering certainty about Josephine's relationship with Josep planted a seed of doubt in his mind, making him question his own perceptions. However, his intuition persisted, telling him that something didn't fit in the carefully constructed narrative by Anna. The image of Josephine alone and the pressing need to hear her own version of events remained latent within him, but Anna's web of words began to entangle him, postponing the inevitable confrontation with the truth and sowing a growing uncertainty in his heart. Anna, for her part, smiled with a silent and calculated satisfaction, believing she had diverted Louie's attention enough so that, when Josephine and Josep didn't appear hand in hand and radiant with love the following Monday, she would have another elaborate excuse ready to deploy in her twisted strategy of manipulation.
As the bell rang signaling the end of classes, Anna took Louie's hand with an almost territorial possessiveness, guiding him out of the bustling school building. As was their custom, they headed to Louie's house. For Anna, Louie's house represented a convenient refuge, a space where they could enjoy almost complete privacy, since his parents, immersed in their long workdays, were rarely there in the afternoon. She took full advantage of these hours alone with him, weaving a web of physical intimacy that, in her mind, would solidify their relationship and erase any trace of Louie's past with Josephine.
Upon arriving at Louie's house, he collapsed with a sigh onto the plush sofas in the living room, the weight of the day and the persistent confusion about Josephine still weighing heavily on his mood. Anna followed closely, with feline agility, sitting directly on his lap, clinging to his neck with a smile that sought to be seductive but that felt increasingly forced, almost an obligation, to Louie. Her physical closeness, which had once been comforting, now felt slightly suffocating, as if Anna was trying to keep him prisoner in a constant embrace, preventing him from wandering in his thoughts or considering the possibility of contacting Josephine. The image of his ex-girlfriend's sad eyes lingered, contrasting sharply with Anna's insistent artificial cheerfulness.
Louie felt Anna's weight on his legs, her cloying perfume filling the air around him. He tried to relax, to put his arms around her waist as he used to, but an internal resistance held him back. The unresolved conversation about Josephine continued to resonate in his mind, Anna's insistence and the mention of Josep creating an invisible barrier between them.
Anna, sensing the slight tension in Louie's body, began to gently kiss his neck, her hands sliding beneath his shirt. "I was thinking..." she whispered against his skin, her warm breath raising the small hairs on his nape, "...we could watch that movie you really wanted to see... or maybe you'd prefer me to distract you in another way?" Her tone was suggestive, seeking to divert his attention towards physical intimacy.
Louie closed his eyes for a moment, torn between the need for answers and the familiar comfort of Anna's advances. Part of him longed for the physical connection, the momentary distraction from his troubling thoughts. But another part, the one that still felt guilty about the way he had ended things with Josephine and the one that was intrigued by her sudden return, resisted letting himself go so easily.
"Anna..." Louie began, his voice slightly strained as he gently moved her face away from his neck, "...I need to know something. Why do you insist so much that Josephine is with Josep? Did you see them in France? Are you sure about what you're saying?" The question came out with a contained urgency, the need for clarity outweighing his desire to avoid conflict.
Anna smiled with forced confidence, her eyes briefly avoiding Louie's before returning to fix on him with a studied intensity. "Of course I didn't see them personally, my love. But Josep told me everything. They were vacationing on the French Riviera, remember I mentioned it? He said it was something... unexpected, but very beautiful. They fell in love there, under the French sun. Doesn't it sound romantic?" Her tone was light, almost carefree, as if she were narrating a trivial anecdote.
However, Louie perceived a slight inflection in her voice, a slightly rehearsed quality in her enthusiasm. The image of Josephine alone and seemingly sad on campus contradicted the story of a blossoming romance under the French sun. Doubt began to grow within him, fueled by Anna's insistence and the lack of concrete evidence.
"But..." Louie replied, feeling the need to confront the inconsistency, "...Josephine didn't exactly look happy today. She was alone, and... she seemed sad."
Anna sighed, as if dealing with a child's naiveté. "Oh, Louie, you're so sensitive. Maybe she was just having a bad day. We all have them, don't you think? Besides, Paris can be a bit overwhelming at first. I'm sure she misses her home, her friends... but that doesn't mean she isn't happy with Josep. Trust me, my love. He told me. They're together. Very together." Her hand returned to caress his cheek, seeking to reaffirm their physical closeness and divert his attention from the persistent doubts.
Louie narrowed his eyes, feeling a pang of confusion and a growing distrust towards Anna's narrative. Something didn't add up. The image of sadness in Josephine's eyes felt much more real and palpable than the sugarcoated story of a French romance told secondhand by Josep.
"And when exactly did Josep tell you that?" Louie asked, his tone now more inquisitive, seeking a clear timeline that supported Anna's version. "Before or after Josephine came back?"
Anna hesitated for an instant, her smile losing some of its brightness. "Well... it was... it was while she was still in France. Yes, before she came back. He told me excitedly, you know? He was very happy for the two of them." Her answer came a little faster than necessary, without the naturalness she had tried to project before.
Anna's hesitation did not go unnoticed by Louie. The seed of doubt that had already germinated in his mind began to take deeper root. Why did Anna seem so determined to convince him of Josephine's happiness with Josep? What did she gain from it? The image of Josephine alone on campus, the sadness he had glimpsed, resonated more strongly than Anna's seemingly rehearsed words.
"I understand..." Louie said slowly, although in reality he understood nothing. He felt trapped in a web of words, a net woven by Anna that seemed designed to keep him away from the truth. The need to speak directly with Josephine, to hear her own version of events, intensified. He could no longer ignore the nagging feeling that Anna was hiding something from him, manipulating the situation to keep him by her side. The comfort of the sofa and Anna's physical closeness had transformed into a prison of uncertainty.
Anna noticed the growing distrust in Louie's gaze, the way his eyes scrutinized her with an intensity she didn't like. Her smile faded slightly, replaced by an expression of slight irritation.
"Well, honey," she said, rising from his lap with sudden agility. "It's getting late, and I promised my mother I'd be home before dinner. You know how she gets if I'm late." Her tone was now more distant, as if the conversation had made her uncomfortable.
Louie watched her get up, feeling a mixture of relief and frustration. Relief because the tension in the air had momentarily dissipated, frustration because once again, the subject of Josephine had been left unresolved, shrouded in Anna's evasiveness.
"Okay," Louie replied in a neutral tone, without trying to stop her. Part of him needed space to process his growing suspicions.
Anna approached and gave him a quick, superficial kiss on the lips. "I'll call you later, okay? Don't spend too much time thinking about Josephine. Remember what I told you. Everything's fine." With a last look that tried to be reassuring but that struck Louie as forced, she said goodbye and left the house.
As soon as the door closed behind Anna, Louie got up from the sofa with renewed determination. He could no longer ignore his gut feeling. He needed to talk to Josephine, directly, without filters or third-party interpretations. He picked up his phone, ready to look for her number, the need for the truth outweighing any doubt or fear.
Meanwhile, Anna walked quickly towards her house, her face now tight with worry. As soon as she closed her bedroom door, she took out her own phone and searched for a contact in her list. She dialed the number with quick, nervous fingers, impatiently bringing the phone to her ear.
Back at his house, Louie held his phone with growing frustration. He had searched all his contacts, old messages, even the depths of his social media, but Josephine's number seemed to have vanished from his digital life. Distance and time had erased that phone link, leaving him without a direct way to communicate with her.
A name shone on his contact list: Brianna. She was a mutual friend of both of them, someone he was sure still kept in touch with Josephine. With a pang of hope, he swiped his finger over Brianna's name and waited for the connection.
On the other end of the line, Brianna's voice sounded surprised. "Louie? Is that you? What's wrong?"
"Friend..." Louie began in a voice laden with regret, "...I think you were right. I think I made a mistake letting myself be swayed by Anna. I'd like to talk to Josephine, to have her explain things to me and help me clear up the doubts I have in my head."
A sigh of relief could be heard from Brianna. "It's good that you realized the mistake you were making in time, Louie! I understand that you want to talk to her, and I also know that Anna won't let you do it at school, she's always stuck to you like glue. So tell me, how are you going to manage?"
"That's precisely why I'm calling you, Brianna," Louie replied with a thread of hope in his voice. "You have Josephine's phone number, right? I know that you're the only one who has her personal number, and similarly, you were the only one who had the mansion's number before she left. I need to talk to her. I've seen her with you at school these days, and I couldn't help but notice her sadness."
Brianna confirmed with a sympathetic tone. "She hasn't been the same since she returned. Something's wrong with her, and I'm sure it has a lot to do with how things ended between you two."
Louie let out a heavy sigh, guilt tightening his chest. "I need to talk to her, Brianna. I need to hear her side of the story, to know why she left without saying anything. Would you give me her number, please?"
Brianna didn't hesitate for another second. "Of course, Louie. I'll read it to you right now. I really hope you two can clear everything up. You both deserve an honest conversation." She began to spell out the number slowly, making sure Louie wrote it down correctly. "Please, Louie, be honest with her. Really listen to her. And tell her I miss her very much."
"I will, Brianna. Thank you, really," Louie replied, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders. He finally had the opportunity to talk to Josephine.