||Pretenders||☄️

(44).

"The Aftermath"

     A week later, the critics from everyone stopped. The person who stopped showing up around Alicia was Maxwell. She didn't see him and she didn't care enough to call. They had a test coming up. The fever from days ago was still lingering. She was on her way home after lectures. Kiera stopped her and frowned at her. "You were sleeping with Ross? I can't believe I was nice to you before. Didn't you know I was his girlfriend? Why did you accept his offers just to please yourself? That was very bad of you Alicia."

    "I thought you knew."

    "I would've ripped your hair off if I knew about your stupid relationship with him. How long was this going on?"

     "I can't tell you that. Excuse me." She pushed her out of her way.

    "Do you know where he is by any chance?" Her voice softened. "He hasn't been answering any of my calls. Let him know we're worried about him if you hear from him. I'm sure he'd call you."

    "He wouldn't. We're not close."

     Alicia thought Kiera sent that threat gift to her. It  wasn't her? He said he took care of it. What did he do? Who sent the box? Why was he creeping her out? She got to her hostel and low and behold, another gift box waited for her. She took it inside and opened it slowly. There was just a printed text on a paper in it.

~~ Let him go. I know you still want him. He will never tell you about us.~~

     She threw the paper away and sat down on the bed. Her phone vibrated in her bag and she rushed for it. Luna was calling. She wondered what this was about. "Hello." She answered.

    "Hey Ali. How are you doing?"

   "I'm better. Is everything okay?" Concerning your brother?

   "Yeah. Have you been with Max? We can't get in contact with him. He dropped by last week and that was it. Is he okay?"

   "You've not heard from him too?"

    "You too? Oh God, I hope everything is okay. Did he tell you where he was going to?"

   "No. Luna, we broke up last week." Luna sighed on the phone. "Will he be okay?" Sweats were forming on her head. "Luna, will he be okay?"

    "Let's hope this doesn't trigger anything."

    "What... what did I trigger?" She shivered.

    "Nothing. He just said you guys were okay. I'm so confused Ali. Didn't he talk to you on phone last week?"

    "He didn't. He didn't call after I left. What is going on Luna?"

    "I wish I knew. Maybe he'll answer your calls. Can you please try calling him? If he doesn't answer your calls, you can go to his apartment. Please Ali, this a huge favor from me. I don't want him to do anything crazy."

    "I'll go. I'm worried about him too."

    "Thank you so much Ali." She hanged up and sighed. Where the fuck has he been?

     She changed her clothes and set off to his apartment. The security at the building seemed tight. She wondered what was happening. The conceirge smiled at her and she smiled back at her. "104, Max Ross." She said.

    "You don't have to repeat yourself Miss Bell."

    "What's going on over there?"

    "Oh, there's been multiple reports of theft going on. We're doing this to keep our tenants safe."

    "Okay, thanks." She looked around. "Can I get a key? I don't think he'll open up for me. We're having some arguments."

    "I understand. I haven't seen him around for a while." She picked up a key card and handed it to Alicia. "You shouldn't fight for long Miss Bell." She smiled and walked away.

     Her knees were shaking in the elevator. She wouldn't know what to say to him if she shows up there. The elevator opened and she walked down the hallway. The place looked spooky. It felt like she was acting in a horror movie and she was scared the boogeyman will come out of nowhere and slit her throat. She hurried her steps to his door and inserted the key card. The door dinged and opened. She walked in faster and locked the door. The lights were off in the living room. she searched for the switch button and turned it on.

    "Max." She whispered. She tiptoed to the bedroom and the place was scattered up with clothes. He lay on the bed shirtless. She moved to the bed and his eyes were closed. "Maxwell," she called. She knelt by the bed and stared at him. "Ross." The sound of his name in her ear dropped a tear. She sniffed and wiped it away. "I'm here. Wake up." She stood on her toes and saw an empty bottle lying next to the bed. She picked it up and read what it was. It was a sleeping pill prescribed to him. He's been taking these to sleep.

     She wished she knew why he had to take these and keeping himself hidden from everyone. This wasn't something she did to him but it still made her feel bad, looking at him like that. She took her shoes off and snucked in the bed with him. His breathing was slow. She put her hand on his face and he sighed in his sleep. "Max," she was surprised he opened his eyes. Those were weak eyes with a sleepy face. 

    "Alia, you came." He said and closed his eyes eyes. Alia?

    "Max." He fell back asleep and she sat on the bed thinking of who the Alia was. It must've been a slip of tongue. She was Alicia, not Alia.

     She took the minutes he was using to sleep to clean up the room. She was packing his clothes to the built in wardrobe. She pulled the shirts on a hanger to the left and came across a safe behind the wardrobe. It had a pin code to it. What could he possibly hide in there? She shook her head and focused on cleaning up. Her phone rang in her pocket and she picked it up. His sister was calling again. "I'm here. He took some pills to sleep."

    "Can you not leave his side till he get his senses back? He gets strange sometimes."

    "What is going on with him? Do I need to know?"

    "I'm not the right person to tell you about him Ali. He has to let you know."

   "I agree. Do you know who Alia is?" She asked curiously.

    "Did he tell you about her?"

    "No. He mentioned her in his sleep."

    "What?" She was surprised. "What did he say? Was he okay? Did he go weird again?" She panicked.

    "He went back to sleep. He was like Alia, you came. What's happening to him Luna?Who's she?"

    "I wish I could tell you Ali. He'll let you in if he wants to." she hang up. Alicia sat down on the floor and put her head on her knees. She didn't want to be there.

    When he wakes up, she better leave. She was done hurting herself.