“Why is she lying to me?”
“Maybe she really doesn’t think it’s a problem.”
“Maybe I’m just paranoid but I feel like it came to her mind and she just chose not to share it. Something about her demeanor. It felt like she was being evasive.”
“That must hurt.”
“I don’t want to believe it.”
“Well I don’t think you have any choice now but to confront her and see what she has to say for herself.”
Viktor felt sick inside. “I think I’ll stop by her job and take her out to lunch. I’ll ask about work and see if I can get her to talk about it.”
“That sounds like a plan. I’ll probably need to rest anyway.”
“Brenda.”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
She reached out and squeezed his hand. “Oh, Viktor. I love you like a son. And I know Amanda loves you to pieces.”
He gave her a smile. “I love you too, Brenda.”
They spent the morning stocking Amanda’s kitchen with food and cleaning out the fridge. Amanda was often so tired from working and taking care of her mother on the weekends, it was easy to neglect things at home.
When they finished, Brenda retired to the bedroom and Viktor looked up restaurants around where Amanda worked. To save time, he picked up a couple sandwiches and drinks before heading to her job.
The door to the office where she worked was locked, requiring a key fob to enter. Viktor pressed the intercom button and waited.
“Yes?” a male voice came over the speaker.
“Hello. I’m here to see Amanda Pierce.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“Uhh. No. I’m here to meet her for lunch.”
“What’s your name?”
“Viktor Dostoyinsky.”
“Do you have ID?”
“Yeah.” Viktor took out his license and held it up to the camera. He heard the door buzz.
“Someone will be right with you.”
“Thank you.” He opened the door and entered a small room with a camera and another locked door, requiring a key fob. He waited a few minutes and then the door opened and Sam greeted him.
“I heard you were in town,” Sam said as he held out his hand. “Amanda didn’t tell me you were coming by.”
Viktor shook his hand. “I didn’t tell her I was coming. Wanted to surprise her.”
“Ah. Well right this way, I’ll take you to her.” Sam held the door for him.
“Congrats on the promotion, by the way,” Viktor said as Sam began leading the way through a room filled with rows of cubicles.
“Thanks. I’m still getting used to it.”
“How’s the new department working out? I forgot what it’s called.”
“Client Risk Assessment. Which is just a fancy way of saying we try to find problems before they’re a problem.”
“It’s working out though?”
“So far so good,” Sam replied as they approached a door at the end of the room. “We’ve already caught a few issues before they became a real problem. Saved a ton of man hours and made our clients very happy.”
“That’s great.”
“She’s right in here,” Sam said and then opened the door revealing a small office with three desks all arranged to face the door.
Amanda was sitting at a desk in the corner. A young man with short dark brown hair and green eyes sat mere inches from her, looking at her screen. He had one arm on the back of her chair and the other leaning on the desk next to her. They both looked up when the door opened and the expression that flashed over Amanda’s face made Viktor very nervous. She looked like he had just caught her doing something wrong.
“Viktor!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
Viktor looked at the young man and then back at her and forced a smile. He held up the bag of food. “I brought lunch.”
“Oh.” She smiled nervously and then walked over to him. “I thought you were going to stay with my mother.”
“She needed to rest and I thought I would surprise you. It’s not a problem, is it?”
“No. No, it’s not a problem. Just we’re in the middle of something right now.”
“It’s okay, Amanda,” Sam said. “Take your lunch now.”
Viktor turned his attention to the man still sitting at Amanda’s desk. “Hi, I’m Viktor.” He stepped forward and held out his hand.
The young man stood and shook his hand. “Derek.”
Viktor fought to maintain his composure at hearing his name. “Pleasure to meet you.” He then turned to Amanda. “Where do you want to eat?”
“We can eat in the lunchroom,” she suggested. “Courtyard is probably too cold.”
“I was hoping for something more private.”
“Do you want to eat in the car?”
“That can work,” he agreed.
“Okay.” She turned to Sam and Derek. “Back in a bit.”
As Viktor followed Amanda out of the building, a thousand thoughts flooded his mind. They walked to his car parked in the garage and got inside. He started it up and ran the heat as Amanda opened the bag and retrieved one of the sandwiches.
“This is a nice surprise,” she said.
“Is it?” he asked without looking at her.
“Of course it is.” She stopped, feeling nervous about the tone in his voice. “Aren’t you going to eat?” she asked, seeing that he hadn’t made a move toward the food.
He stared out the window appearing to be mulling something over in his mind. “I’m not very hungry.”
“Viktor, what’s wrong?”
“What’s going on with you and Derek?”
“Nothing,” she quickly replied. “Why?”
He looked at her, feeling devastated that she was lying to him and not understanding the reason. He feared she had developed feelings for Derek and just didn’t tell her mother. Part of him wanted to pretend it wasn’t happening. He wanted to just go along with the lie and pretend everything was fine. But he just couldn’t do it. As painful as it was, he needed to know.
“Your mother said Derek was pursuing you,” he stated bluntly. “From what I saw, you two look pretty close.”
“Viktor, it’s not what you think.”
“What do I think?” he asked angrily.
“Viktor.” Her voice broke and her hands started to shake. “It’s not like that at all.”
“What is it then?”
Amanda looked like she was about to be sick. “It’s complicated.”
“It’s not
