Chapter Ten

 Adira was walking down the corridors to Ms. Darian’s office, when she heard her name being called.

“Hey, hi!” Ruby ran up to her, grinning. Her dark hair was curled and she had a bow on top of her head to match the polka dot red dress she was wearing. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Behind her, Neil was dragging his feet, sulking and holding in his hands, two folders and a notebook.

“Oh, why?” Adira asked.

Ruby reached into her bag and brought out two tickets. “These are for you?”

Adira read what was written on them and felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. “I wasn’t going to the party,” she said.

“Come on,” Ruby pleaded and took her hand. “It will be fun. I bought your tickets, now you have to come.”

Adira glanced at Neil who looked annoyed with Ruby. “I can’t. I’m doing something that day. But I’ll pay you for the tickets.” She started to take out her wallet, but Ruby stopped her.

“Nonsense,” she said with a tinkling laugh. “You are coming. You’re the only friend I have here. This is for you and your friend.” Much to Adira’s irritation. Ruby stuck the two tickets into her bag without asking. “It’s my treat.”

She turned to Neil and pouted. “You better make sure she comes. It is for charity, after all.” Then she got on her toes and kissed Neil on his cheek. “I have to go now. I’ll meet you guys after you’re done with your meeting.”

Adira watched Ruby leave and then turned to Neil. “She’s…nice.”

“Yes. A little too kind. Now, come on.” Neil knocked on Ms. Darian’s door and then opened it. “Can we come in?”

Adira heard her teacher say yes and followed Neil inside. “Good afternoon,”

“Have a seat.’ Ms. Darian said, removing her glasses and closing the lid of her laptop. “How is your project coming along?”

“Fine.” Neil gave his confident smile and sat down while Adira realized to her horror that she had come in, unprepared for this. She hadn’t worked on the project at all and now she would have to make up stuff to save herself.

“You’ve met the marketing representative of HiYou?” Ms. Darian asked.

“Yes,” Adira replied, sitting down.

“We got to learn a lot,” Neil said. “At the moment, we are preparing a report on our findings. Our target age group is college goers, the new adults and the factors that affect their decision to opt for HiYou over the other telecom services.”

“Good, but what will you be doing that will make your project stand out?” Ms. Darian asked. “i have other students from previous semesters picking the same topic, the same company. Find something to make your project stand out. And how are you doing with the presentation?”

Adira just stared at her, frozen. Again, she had no idea how to reply and Ms. Darian was looking right at her.

“We’ve begun on the slides,” Neil answered. “The rest of it will be completed once we have our thesis ready.”

“And can I see what you have so far?” Ms. Darian reached out her hand.

Adira thought she was going to throw up. She didn’t even have her notebook with her.

Neil handed the professor his notebook and opened the pages for her. “It’s all rough right now. Adira will be typing it all and preparing the thesis while I’m collecting data. Then together we will work on the presentation.”

Ms. Darian looked satisfied as she went through the notes. “You’ve divided the work? Good. I want both of you to work equally on this. So far, you’ve done okay. Now, be ready by next week for the presentation.”

She handed the book back to Neil and turned to her desktop computer, a clear indication that she wanted them to leave.

Adira got up and walked sheepishly outside. “Thanks,” she told Neil when he closed the door to the office.

Neil gave her a small frown. “Unlike you, I’m actually concerned about my studies. I want to graduate.”

“I’m sorry. It’s not an excuse, but the truth is, something came up and...” She stopped herself. The day when Neil was the one she could be open with, was gone.

“Whatever,” Neil started to pass by her, then stopped. “I should be the one to say sorry. I badly reacted to our relationship. Now that I am with Ruby, I can understand the mistakes I made.”

Adira looked at him wide-eyed, certain that she was dreaming. Never had she thought that Neil would ever apologize for what he did.

“It’s time we forgive each other and move on,” Neil said.

“I forgive you,” Adira said, still finding it unbelievable that Neil was saying what he did. The words had just left her mouth without a thought whether she did want to forgive him or not. After all, he had caused her so much distress and turned everyone against her.

Neil glowered at her. “No, I forgive you.” He shook his head in disappointment. “Here I am, apologizing for being a bad boyfriend when we were together. The least you can do is apologize for cheating on me.”

“Are you insane?” Adira felt a burst of anger. Again, she had completely misunderstood Neil’s intentions. “I never really cheated on you. That’s a rumor you spread about me.”

“You’re never going to admit it, are you?” Neil glared at her. “I can’t believe what a liar you are. You’re the one who sent me pictures of yourself with the other guys. Wearing skimpy clothes and falling all over them. And all because I got a little angry with you, you decided to taunt me with those pictures.”

“First of all, you didn’t get just a little angry with me,” Adira said. “Remember?  You got crazy jealous because I was talking to the delivery man and handing him change. You thought I was flirting with him.”

“I had every right to be suspicious. And I was right, you were cheating on me.” Neil clenched his hands. “And to show off, you sent me such disgusting pictures.”

“What pictures are you talking about?” Adira almost screamed. “I didn’t cheat on you! I didn’t send you pictures! I didn’t do any of those things!”

Neil turned on his phone and after a few swipes, turned the screen to her. “These pictures. I thought I had deleted them, but they apparently got synced to my drive.”

Adira felt her heart stop when she saw pictures of her wearing a tiny fishnet red dress and leaning against men she had never seen before. In one hand, she had a bottle of vodka. In the other pictures, she was doing a lot more than just putting a hand on the guys at the bar.

“This isn’t me.” Her voice was a horrified gasp.

“I sent these pics to everyone so that they could see what you’re really like,” Neil said, putting away his phone. “You disgust me. Trying to act all sweet and innocent and then throwing yourself on every guy like a cheap whore.”

“Neil, that is not me,” She said with tears in her eyes. “I don’t wear clothes like that. I don’t behave like that. How could you even believe that stuff about me?”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Neil asked. “I don’t really know you, do I? Why would I trust you?”

“I never gave you any reason not to,” Adira said, holding back a sob. Seeing her reputation being desecrated like that made her sick. If her parents ever saw those photos, they would not only call her back, but punish her and never let her see the light of day.

“You never gave me any reason to trust you.” Neil pushed past her, pushed his notebook and folders into his bag and walked out the glass doors.

Adira looked after him until he had disappeared out of sight, then wiped away a tear. Taking a deep breath, she reminded herself that Neil didn’t matter to her anymore.

He’s not a part of my life anymore. Therefore, he means nothing to me.

Outside, the sun had started to come down and she had to shield her eyes from it. The breeze was fragrant with new flowers that were growing on vines and bushes. She took a whiff of yellow jasmine and felt her mood uplift.

Clearing her mind, she taught herself to think reasonably. The photos were doctored, someone had photoshopped them. Although she couldn’t imagine anyone hating her to that extent that they would go to such lengths to tarnish her image.

It must be Neil. He must have done it and now he’s acting all innocent.

She turned on her phone and scrolled through the messages in her folder. She couldn’t find any record of those photos ever being sent from her phone.

“That liar!”

Then she remembered what he had said, that he had deleted the photos but they had been saved in his online drive.

Adira paused, almost falling over the wild jasmine bush. “Sibyl may have also...”

She took out her sister’s phone and started to click on her online drive, when she caught a movement outside the fence. Looking up, she saw Ramon walking outside the college gates, with his phone in hand.

He looked engrossed in whatever was on his screen, but Adira knew it was probably a ruse he was using to spy on her.

Why won’t he leave me alone?

She walked briskly out, clutching the phone tight in her hand. “What are you doing here? Again!” She said out loud.

Ramon looked startled to see her, then blinked and his composure was regained.  “I was taking a walk.” He was putting away his phone as he spoke and Adira wondered what he was trying to hide.

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” She asked. “Or have you left your job to spy on me full time?”

“I’m not spying on you.” Ramon sighed.

“So, you just happen to be wherever I am? Too much of a coincidence, I think.” Adira gritted her teeth and looked daggers at him.

Ramon relented and removed his phone from his pocket. “Fine. I wasn’t going to tell you, until I was sure. But I want you to know that you can trust me.”

Adira got ready to tell him she never would, then kept her mouth shut when she grew curious about what he was going to show her.

“Your phone wasn’t the only one I was tracking,” He said. “I’ve been waiting for Sibyl’s phone to come on. A few days ago, her phone was switched on. Before I could ask my friend at HiYou to track it, the signal disappeared. Now, it came back on again.” He showed her the screen and she saw a pulsating red dot on a white map. “It came on in the morning, near the garden. Then went off and came back. The signal has been steady so far.”

Adira swallowed and slowly, used her fingers to press on the buttons on the side of Sibyl’s phone. The phone vibrated once, signaling that it was switching off and then made a small soft beep.

“I thought you should know,” Ramon said.

Adira kept her gaze steady on him, hoping that he wouldn’t notice what she was doing.

He’s trusting me. Why can’t I do the same? Because a stranger told me not to?

She remembered how she had dropped the phone when she had kicked the bag in the afternoon.

Did I accidentally do something that turned on the signal for Ramon to trace it?

“It’s getting weak again,” Ramon said with a frown. “That means Sibyl is here. I thought she may have left the city. But why is she hiding?”

Adira did open her mouth to tell him everything. She wanted to tell him that she had Sibyl’s phone and that he had been tracking her all this time. But again, she couldn’t bring herself to.

“I’ll let you know if I find anything,” Ramon said, with a forced smile. He looked behind her. “Are you done with your classes for the day?”

“I have a project I need to work on,’ She replied, her eyes on his phone, trying to see if he was still able to trace her.

I have to get away from him.

Ramon looked behind her, his face twisting into irritation. “With Neil?”

Adira turned around to see Neil and Ruby coming toward her. “Yes.”

“I wouldn’t trust him. You shouldn’t be hanging around him too much. Seems like a creep,” Ramon said, with piercing eyes.

When Neil came to her, he looked nonplussed at first, then glared right back at Ramon. “Adira, Ruby thinks we should start working on our project. She thinks the cafe down the street would be an ideal place to do it rather than the boring library.”

Adira was still furious with Neil, but Ruby’s chirpy attitude, got her smiling.

“It is such a boring place, isn’t it?” Ruby giggled. “Sorry, but I was in the mood for a mocha and told Neil that he needed to get serious with the project. You’re not busy are you?” Then she looked at Ramon. “Oh, is this your friend? You can come if you want.”

“No, he’s busy,” Adira and Neil said in unison.

They both looked at each other and then Neil stared at Ramon, daring him.

“I have work,” Ramon said to Ruby, ignoring Neil.

“Some other time, then.” Ruby smiled at him.

“Yes. Bye, Adira.” Ramon turned and walked away while she squirmed under Neil’s watchful gaze.

“Why is he here?” He asked.

“Do you know him?” Ruby asked.

“Never mind,” Neil said, rolling his eyes. “Let’s just go.”

*****

When she returned home, Adira was at least relieved to have done some work on her assignment at least. Ruby had been a cheerful distraction but Neil had been sincere and Adira found herself being surprised.

The person before had completely transformed and she believed it to be most of Ruby’s doing. She was a good addition to his life and Adira, for just a brief moment, found herself wishing she had what Ruby and Neil did.

Then the moment was artfully ruined when Ruby had gone to the washroom and Neil had presented her with more taunts, then told her that she would have to get better at making excuses to his girlfriend, since he had no interest in hanging out with her.

Feeling a blue bolt of loneliness, Adira had sulked, made a lame excuse about studying for a test tomorrow and walked back home in the chilly night.

Her empty apartment did nothing to uplift her mood and she settled herself in front of the laptop again, planning to do more studying and forgoing her dinner. After two hours of typing her assignment and researching the information Neil had revealed to her, she sat back and rubbed her eyes.

He had been right, HiYou had been facing tough competition from its rival On Connect. The latter had been present longer in the market and was providing better customer service than HiYou, going by the customer reviews.

There was also an article on how HiYou was going to be the first in the country to provide faster internet service, only to have On Connect release their data package with faster internet earlier, and cheaper.

Adira closed the laptop and removed Sibyl’s phone from her pocket. In spite of everything, Neil did manage to help her today: he gave her the idea that some of Sibyl’s personal data may have synced online to a drive.

She turned on the phone and looked at the time. It was past eleven now and she hoped Ramon wouldn’t be tracking her. The offices were close and hopefully the staff helping him would have gone home as well.

She found the app for the cloud storage in Sibyl’s phone and clicked on it. She saw numerous thumbnails of photos and was about to lick on the first one, when she received a text message.

“Hi Adira,” It said. “I’ve been waiting to text you.”

She blew out a breath and swiped away the message. She clicked on the first picture and saw Sibyl wearing a lab coat and seated on a desk. She had her hair tied and was wearing thick black frame glasses. In the next picture, she saw her sister posing with people she didn’t recognize. The third was a picture taken in The Lion’s Den. Sibyl was standing with all of her staff members and Adira noted how Keith had his arm around her sister.

The fourth was of Sibyl and Ramon seated at a cafe. While her sister was grinning, Ramon had a sour expression on his face. In the next he was smiling, but it looked forced.

Another text message popped up.

“When we meet, I want you to bring the flash drive. Don’t forget.”

“When are we meeting?” Adira asked, growing irritated with the constant messages that weren’t yielding Sibyl’s whereabouts.

“Tomorrow. Just bring the flash drive with you.”

Adira sat up straight in her chair, staring at the words on the screen. “What is in it?”

“Something important.” Came the reply.

“Why can’t I see it? It’s asking for a password.” Adira found herself typing automatically, without listening for her own advice.

“Nothing that concerns you, Adira.”

“If you won’t tell me, then I don’t want to meet you.” Adira took a few seconds after pressing send, to realize she had acted hastily. She had a tiring day, had been accused by Neil of being a slut and of being careless by Ramon. She wasn't going to be ordered around by a random stranger now.

“Don’t play games with me. Just do as I say.”

Adira felt ticked off by the rude message. “Or else, what?”

“Or you won’t ever get to see Sibyl alive again.”

Adira sucked in a breath and stared at the bold letters. The phone slipped from her fingers and she stood up, feeling like she had been punched in the gut. She didn’t see the whole message, only her sister’s name.

Sibyl. It says Sibyl. He never thought I was Sibyl. He knew exactly who I was!

The screen went out and Adira felt her mind being thrown into a turmoil of hurried and frightful thoughts. She had really thought that the stranger had thought that she was Sibyl just using her sister’s name.

He knew I was Adira all along. Not the fake one, the real one. Why? What would this person want with me?

There was a sudden rampant knocking on her front door and Adira covered her mouth to subdue her shriek. Her heart started to beat rapidly and she back into a corner, gasping for breath.

The knocking grew louder and after a few seconds, the doorbell was rung hastily.

Adira crouched in the corner, blinking back tears of fright.  

Whoever had been sending her those messages, had now come to get her.