Captive in Plain Sight

Noua || Dusk

It was 6:25 p.m. when Mila's electronic signals were visible on Alec's GPS. She was at Pike Place Market when her location went offline. Alec had sent Raul to look for her hours before with no luck, and he was furious. As soon as her signal had strength again, he called his driver to pick him up in a town car.

As Alec sat in the back of the car, he watched Evan waiting for her at the fountain. Mila was late. For a while, Alec got lost staring at the fountain made of stainless steel and aluminum. It was by the artist Louise Bourgeois, who titled it 'Father/Son.'

A father and his six-year-old son were depicted standing separately, reaching out to each other. Often, the fountain water would cover one of them at a time, while the other stood alone. Currently, the little boy stood by himself. I know how you feel kid, Alec thought.

Suddenly he saw her. He sighed in relief as Mila crossed the street. She had no clue the affect she had on him. When she arrived at the fountain, Evan embraced her and kissed her lovingly.

Alec's heart pumped feverishly as he bitterly watched their exchange from a far. He put his earphones in and connected to the smartwatch he'd given her. He could listen to their entire conversation from his iPhone.

"Are you breaking up with me?" Evan asked, sounding dumbfounded.

"Yes, Evan," she replied quietly.

"Is it because I missed Aida?" He asked. "I'm really sorry babe, I got really sick and there was nothing I could do."

"It's not that," she replied.

"Babe, whatever it is we can fix it," his tone sounded desperate, making Alec smile. "It's you and me against the world, remember?"

"No, we can't fix it," she said sternly. "I just don't think we are going to work, we don't even like the same things. It's better to end it now."

"Mila, what are you even talking about?" Evan interrupted, putting his hands on her shoulders. "We are perfect together."

"No," she said, turning away. "We're not."

Alec could hear in her voice she was crying. Evan grabbed her from behind and pulled her into a hug. She held onto his arms for a moment, before trying to break free.

"Mila!" He heard Evan shouting. "I'm not going to let you go like this."

Alec wanted to jump out of the car, but managed to subdue his reaction. Mila struggled against Evan for a while, until they both fell backwards into the fountain with a huge splash.

A few onlookers stared at them, but went on with their business. Alec could only hear the sound of water as he stretched his neck to see what was was happening. They were both on their hands and knees facing each other in the water, drenched.

Mila was talking, but Alec couldn't hear anything but the swishing sound of water.

She moved towards Evan, stroked his face and gave him a gentle kiss. As she began standing up, the sound came back on and Alec could hear her say "Goodbye."

She walked out of the fountain not looking back, leaving pools of water in her footsteps. Evan, stayed in the water, watching silently as she walked away, wearing the face of a shattered man.

Alec was more than satisfied.

"Zach," he said to his driver. "We can head home."

*****

Mila felt the weight of the world on her shoulders as she spent her last free moments in her apartment. The breakup with Evan happened over an hour ago, and she was home cleaning herself up and tidying things. She needed to keep busy to stop herself from breaking down. She had no idea when, or if she would be back to her apartment.