[ Valentine ]
I had dropped down in Houston about an hour ago. I needed to move quickly. I texted Anaela, asking where she was. She wouldn't think anything of it. She would assume that I was still in Wisconsin just checking up on the progress of her trip so far.
No response.
"Crap," I mumbled, pulling into a Citi Trend's parking lot. How am I going to move forward from here? If I don't know Anaela's whereabouts I'm about as useless as I was staying in Wisconsin. I called Teece for some of her advice but it went straight to an automated voicemail. She hadn't even set it up.
"C'mon Tino. You can't keep relying on other people. Use your brains," I said out loud.
If I kept bothering Anaela, she'll think something is wrong and I don't need any suspicion associated with me right now. I looked at my Find My iPhone. Our phones were connected but would she turn it off for the deal?
Apparently not.
"Score for Tino," I whispered, turning on my GPS and putting in the address for a Panera Bread. As I happily cruised along I happened to glance at the map and see her moving away from the food spot.
"Shit. Where are you going Anaela?" I asked out loud. Okay, the sensible thing to do would to at least go to the Panera Bread then follow her trail from there to wherever she was going next. Teece suddenly called as I stopped at a red light.
"What's up? Is something wrong?"
"I was just a little bit stuck. I got everything under control now. Just tryna stay on Anaela's tail. My only thing is- what am I gonna do? Do I just watch her or what?"
"You're just there in case something bad happens. Whatever you do, don't let her know you're there and don't interfere with the deal," Teece said seriously. "How are you doing?"
"Doing some stretches the doctor suggested and hoping I don't need to install Life Alert while you guys are gone in case I hurt myself," she told me sarcastically.
"Teece," I laughed.
A car honked behind me. "Focus on the road. Call me when you're in a more stable location," my friend told me.
"Okay bet, Mom," I said jokingly, hanging up.
I pulled out my phone and saw that Anaela was near the Galleria. It was a safe bet to think she would be stopping there. The people she was meeting were probably fancy. There's restaurants in there and all types of fancy stuff. I set my location to the Galleria and hauled ass.
Once I pulled up, I debated whether I should park underground or circle around until my phone tells me I'm close to her. GPS can only take you so far. I text her for the second time, just something innocent.
"I hope ur safe 😘".
My phone dinged back, as I sat in mall traffic. Anaela sent me her location and told me she was shopping with her mother because apparently she didn't look "presentable enough" for the representative in her mother's eyes. I guess this wasn't the spot for the meeting then.
I put away my phone and mentally prepared myself to pay the parking fee. After circling around for a spot, I caved in to impatience and did valet. I got out, looking at the directory to find my way to the side of the mall Anaela was on. I walked quickly, trying to hide myself amongst the crowd.
I immediately spotted her through the window, laughing with her mother about some top she held up that said "F*ck Dis Pussy Boy". I passed the window so I didn't look too creepy or like I was going to steal something. I spotted some restrooms and headed towards them to go relieve myself.
After I was done in the bathroom, I was running my hands through my locs when the bathroom door bust opened. A group of people shoved their way in, the scent of alcohol hitting me. I squirmed my way past them and decided I should keep a fair distance from Anaela. I can't have her see me. That had felt like a close call even if it wasn't.
I saw her walking into an Aeropostale store, a bag of clothes in hand. I guess her mother was taking her on a full shopping trip. I couldn't help myself as I eased up closer and watched her through the murky windows.
I text Anaela and told her "I loved you".
I saw her look down at her phone and smile softly before texting me back the same thing with a heart emoji. I wiped my sweaty hands on the legs of pants and turned away from the entrance. A mall cop stopped me.
"Excuse me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at the woman indignantly.
"I need to check your pockets."
Either it was because I was black or because of how suspicious I had been walking around the Galleria. I glanced back inside then asked if we could step away from Aeropostale. The woman patted me down then asked me to empty my pockets. After I was cleared, I saw her write a note down but I ignored it. It could be somebody undercover working for Anaela's mother as well.
Or maybe even that representative.
Did somebody recognize me? Would this get back to Anaela? I ducked into a store and text Teece. I groaned when I saw her text about taking a nap. She needed her alone time, I need to quit solely relying on her. I've cost her so much anyways.
I stepped out the store and almost ran into my girlfriend. Luckily she was turned the other way, and looking at the little mall scooters a vendor had set up. I moved slowly out of the store and distanced myself.
I tailed them their entire time at the mall. Anaela had four bags of clothes and other things, and a half finished cold latte she kept mentioning. I checked the time. It had been two hours.
"...yeah, somewhere near here for the meeting," I heard her mom say. I stepped closer to hear the rest. "Makes sense for us to have it in such an uppity area of town. You calling in backup?"
"In case they pull anything but I doubt it. One of the largest families like ours in our same line of...business," her mother said.
"I'll change in the bathroom and just bring the bags with me to the meeting," Anaela said.
"Nonsense. I'll drop your bags off at the hotel I arranged for you, on my back home."
"Where do you even stay?" Anaela asked.
I realized we were nearing the bathrooms and I couldn't follow them any further without going inside with them.
"Well..." the bathroom door shut.
I stationed myself at an eatery and waited for them to leave again. Anaela went her separate ways from her mother. I heard her mentioning something about an Uber. I got a text from her as soon as her mother was out of sight.
"Wish u were here daddy 😏".
I blushed hard, sliding my phone into my back pocket. I trailed behind Anaela as we got back out to the parking lot, after about five minutes. I didn't bother to follow her anymore. I'd just ask her location after I got to my car. I heard her mom say the meeting area was somewhere nearby anyways.
I left the sight of my girlfriend in a tight red blouse with tight black dress pants and a tight bun at the back of her head.
After retrieving my car, I started it and left the mall. No sense in Anaela accidentally seeing me around here when I had been doing good thus far.
I text her maybe a couple minutes after arriving at a gas station for a snack. In fact, I was so busy texting her that I bumped straight into her.
"Excuse me," she said softly, then looked up.
"Valentine," she hissed. "Again? Really? What the fuck are you doing here? In Houston?"
I offered her a weak smile, not saying anything. "I- I wanted to make sure you was safe."
"And you can't trust me to take care of myself? Is that why you kept asking me about my locations?" she demanded. "Anaela, don't be mad. Let's just go to the meeting," I sighed. She glared at me and slipped the roll of gum she had picked up into her pocket. "C'mon, let's go."
"You're not gonna pay?" I asked, following behind her. "Wouldn't be the worst charge I'd get," she rolled her eyes. We got into a black Dodge. The Uber driver eyeballed me but stayed quiet. He was short and white. Looked like a college kid, and his car smelled like a combination of vaping flavors and ass. Maybe Anaela should have stolen some perfume for her meeting.
We arrived at a simple business building with hella windows and flashy cars. The guy driving us whistled as he slowly pulled up next to a Lambo to drop us off. "Have a nice day," he called out, revealing a slightly yellow smile.
I nodded to him and helped Anaela out. I noticed she had a brief case, and I offered to carry it for her. "Valentine. Why are you here?" she stopped and looked at me, shoving the case at me.
"Why else would I be here? I told you why."
"Hmph, I assumed you wouldn't wanna step foot back in Houston after everything."
My mind blanked, then I realized what she meant. "I feel guilty about the Keris thing but that won't keep me from loving my city. I haven't even had time to mourn Keris, if you've considered that," I said quietly. Anaela was at a loss of words, so I turned and headed for a main door.
"But she was an asshole. Why would you even wanna mourn her?" she asked quietly as we entered a lobby. I think she genuinely didn't understand. "I did care for her at some points. And I took care of her," I spoke with double meanings. "That does something to a person."
I smoothed out my shirt. I looked fancy enough. White dress shirt with some all black cargo pants and chains in my belt loops. I kind of look like a non binary e person. "I needa go to the bathroom. Just text me whatever floor or room you end up at," I gestured to the public bathrooms to my right.
"Ugh," she rolled her eyes, stomping ahead and following some directions she had on a piece of paper.