C11

When Daniel picked up his cell phone shortly after returning home from work, he saw Maya's name appear on the screen along with the incoming call icon indicating that it was from someone in his contacts list. Since she'd called him earlier today while he was driving to the airport, he assumed that her message hadn't been important enough to warrant calling him again so soon, especially since he wasn't expecting to receive any further messages from her until later in the evening when they were scheduled to meet up.

"Hey... Yeah, hi," he replied casually, rubbing his neck nervously as his mind raced back through recent events during their last conversation a couple of hours ago. "I'm fine thanks... Everything is good here and you?"

A brief pause followed before Maya responded: "Uh... Good... How are you?"

Daniel paused momentarily before replying: "Well..." After taking a sip of water from a glass that lay nearby on the countertop, he spoke slowly as he continued scanning his surroundings for hidden cameras: "My flight landed safely but I'll probably arrive late tonight instead of tomorrow due to traffic delays."

He heard her breathing heavily on the other side of the line after pausing to catch her breath, causing him to wonder whether she might have been crying while talking with him. "I hope it's not too bad," she said cautiously.

"I'll try to find an alternate route," he explained. "It shouldn't take long."

"Okay."

Daniel exhaled deeply and hung up the phone, placing it down onto the kitchen counter and looking around with nervous eyes. There was no indication whatsoever that he should have been worried about surveillance or security cameras watching him while using the phone but he still checked everywhere anyway. After washing his hands and face with cold water and drying himself off with a towel, he decided that he needed to relax and took a seat at the breakfast bar located adjacent to the counter to eat dinner after checking the news online for updates regarding the current situation at his company.

While sipping on a beer, he browsed through his email inbox and read a few personal messages before glancing at the clock and realizing that he was going to be getting in much later than planned. It wasn't ideal since Maya would likely wait for him to pick her up in the morning but she seemed to understand why it happened; explaining that she would stay overnight at a friend's place to avoid unnecessary attention from anyone who may recognize her in the city. He also reassured her that he wouldn't be staying at the office for long before leaving in order to make the necessary arrangements to secure an extra day off; which would allow them plenty of time to spend together and go out together while enjoying time away from his work responsibilities and commitments.

As Maya prepared herself for bed, Daniel got ready to leave the house and drove to a local convenience store to buy a few things including snacks and bottled drinks before stopping by the bank and withdrawing a large amount of cash so that Maya could use his car without having to worry about paying for parking. By this point, all of his coworkers were aware of what had transpired and had sent him emails asking if everything was alright. Most of them simply thought it was a prank and assumed that Daniel had pulled one on them as part of some elaborate practical joke. They weren't particularly surprised about his absence and figured that he must have gone out for something to drink with his buddies after work before heading home. But after finding out about what actually occurred between him and Maya, many of his colleagues asked if she had mentioned anything about applying for employment at their office; assuming that it was a ploy to gain access to sensitive information about their business dealings as well as their clients' private financial data as she tried to blackmail them into giving her money.

When he returned home with groceries and alcohol, he went straight into the bathroom to take a shower and brush his teeth before grabbing two beers from the fridge and sitting down at the dining room table while relaxing on the couch; putting on a television show in the background while he drank the first can of beer and nibbled on a bag of potato chips while waiting for Maya's arrival. His cell phone rang twice in quick succession shortly after midnight after he finished eating half of his dinner; prompting him to answer the second call after seeing her number flash on the screen.

"Are you okay?" she inquired anxiously, sounding very frightened. "Do they know where I am yet? Is that why you called me?"

Daniel shook his head as he swallowed another mouthful of salty food. "No, I just wanted to make sure that you're safe..."

Her response made him feel warm inside: "Thank God! You don't think they will hurt me do you? Did they say anything else to you while we talked?"

He considered telling her about the threats that he received from the kidnappers while speaking to the police but decided against it because it sounded too crazy and unbelievable to believe. "Not really. The guy with the gun only said that they had taken you hostage and that I should keep my distance and give them the space they wanted."

Maya let out an audible sigh of relief before saying: "That's good... I'm glad you told the cops. If there isn't any kind of evidence left behind then they won't be able to prove anything and it will look like nothing more than a wild goose chase for them."

"They are working on it but they haven't found anything yet..." Daniel sighed as he rubbed his forehead in frustration, thinking back to the previous incident involving the man who attacked him near the park and the woman who tried to stab him in the neck on Friday evening. "This has turned into quite the nightmare..."

The conversation lasted longer than usual as they chatted idly, discussing their lives in detail as well as other unrelated topics such as the weather, movies, music, sports, books, video games, technology, travel destinations, politics and current events; making small talk about everything from their jobs to their families; occasionally sharing stories from their childhoods while exchanging ideas and opinions about controversial issues. When their voices grew quiet and the topic changed abruptly, Daniel became uncomfortable and glanced at the digital alarm clock above the TV, realizing that he needed to wrap things up quickly before Maya's curiosity caused her to start poking around through his belongings.

"I guess it's time for me to get going now," Maya whispered, causing him to nod silently and finish the remaining bites from his plate of leftover fried chicken while wiping his fingers clean with a paper napkin. While standing up and stretching out her legs while sitting down with a loud thump on the hardwood floor, she noticed that he was staring at her with a slightly perplexed expression on his face. "What?"

"You seem to be... Different today..."

After taking a deep breath, she began stammering nervously: "I'm sorry... Uh, I didn't mean to sound weird or anything. It's just that you seem different from yesterday when you came over to pick me up at the apartment and we spent the whole weekend together. You were acting a little strange..."

"What do you mean?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow as he waited for her to respond. "Different how? In what way? Do you notice any changes besides your hair? Are you feeling any pain? Any unusual symptoms? Anything at all? Or maybe you've suddenly developed the ability to speak English after all these years..."

He chuckled awkwardly for several seconds before shaking his head, chuckling again as she blushed red-faced with embarrassment. "Nah... Nothing like that..." she replied quietly as she looked away from him while avoiding eye contact. "But yeah, you seem a lot calmer now... A lot less stressed out and anxious about things."

"Well... Maybe it's the new job I've been doing for the past week?"

She nodded hesitantly as she chewed on her lower lip before responding: "Maybe... Have you started dating someone? Someone serious... Or did your girlfriend dump you? Because... Uhm... Well..." Her voice trailed off for several moments before she finally added: "Have you slept with anyone... Since being back here?"

His mouth gaped open momentarily before closing tightly as his cheeks flushed dark pink and his eyes widened in surprise. As he stood up from the chair to walk over to the sink to rinse the dishes off, he muttered: "I don't know..."

Maya sat upright, placing both hands over her face and groaning quietly. She was shocked that he'd never even thought to tell her. Why wouldn't he have ever mentioned that he'd been cheating on his wife throughout the entire marriage, sleeping around with dozens of different women while keeping it secret from everyone? And why did he decide to sleep with her in the first place if he had absolutely no intention of pursuing anything further with her and instead kept it from her completely? It made no sense. He knew that she would have told him exactly what she thought about him sleeping around and lying to her.

As Daniel rinsed off the plates, cups and cutlery, he wondered briefly about the possibility that Maya was simply trying to figure out whether or not he was still married so that she could decide whether or not they should continue their relationship. He didn't want her to end up hating him for something that wasn't entirely his fault; although he understood that she might still blame him for the choices that he ultimately made after his affair was exposed. But despite his thoughts, he remained calm on the outside while struggling internally with guilt and shame, feeling guilty that he hadn't told Maya that he was divorced; knowing full well that he could have prevented his ex-wife from getting suspicious and confronting Maya. Although he doubted Maya would hate him based solely on his actions, it was something that he wished that he had done differently and apologized for. It bothered him that he would have to live with that regret for the rest of his life but at least he had managed to keep his infidelity hidden until Maya discovered his secrets last Saturday afternoon.