a step closer

****

"ARE YOU SURE it's one of your Mom's associates?" I ask Mila as I hand her a cup of freshly brewed coffee. "Not an old friend?"

"All my friends were Julian's too," she says as she takes a slow sip. "After we broke up, they never talked to me."

"Still," I ponder over her words. "I don't think you should rule him out just yet."

"If anything," she paused, and then proceeds to look through her phone. "I think you're onto something. Take a look."

She holds out her phone and I see an article that talks about the possible merging between his family's company and Mila's magazine.

"Do you think this is related?" I hand her phone back to her.

"Mom said that we haven't had good sales lately. She was thinking of laying off some employees too." Mila ties her hair up and rolls her pencil between her fingers.

"All right," my eyes lock with hers. "That's a lead, Mila."

"Yeah," she furrows her eyebrows. "I'm just not sure that could've been him at the club. We saw him at my party and the man who grabbed me didn't have the same physique as him."

"Are you sure?" 

"Not entirely, but I need to make sure these other people aren't a threat before I ask other people about Julian."

"It's been a few hours," I sigh, starting to feel a little overwhelmed. "I think at this point we're hitting dead ends. I get that you don't want to go to the police, but we need other resources. We're not qualified to figure this out ourselves."

"What do you suggest we do?" Mila agrees and groans.

I go over to her and sit beside her. "It's fine, we just need another approach, but we do need help. Do you know any private investigators?"

"No, but I can ask Ellie." She replies.

"Are you ready to tell her though?" 

"I have to eventually, I can't keep this from her if I want the P.I.'s number." She exhaled as the tension in her shoulders seemed to dissipate. "I know I can trust her."

"Just be careful, okay?" I place her hand on my palm, pulling it to my lips. "We still don't know the level of threat this person imposes."

"I know," she looks disheartened. "I don't know if this is a personal vendetta against me or some business tactic to lure my mom."

"Can it not be both? That also seems like a plausible scenario."

"But I'm not acquainted with any of my mom's associates that way," Mila answers. "The only interactions I've had with most of them mainly consisted of them talking about how I'm the successor."

"Julian is still a prime suspect in my opinion. I think if we pay the right people we can uncover more details."

"I just can't figure out a reason that Julian is behind this. I didn't tell anyone about Kennedy's suicide either. Julian walked away from that situation with his hands clean, he's also about to take over his family's company too. I don't see why a person who has everything would go after his ex-girlfriend." Mila got up and started pacing back and forth.

"You don't think he wants you back does he?" I'm suspecting Julian does want her back, but she doesn't realize it or there's another scenario.

"No, after the party Vivian told me in class he was seeing someone. However, point is, we need to find out who the culprit is before graduation. This could jeopardize the company."

Still suspicious of Julian, I choose to stay quiet and let Mila sort out her thoughts. 

She looks at me expectantly and at that moment her phone rings. She visibly tenses, but loosens up when she sees it's Ellie.

"Hey," she seemed shaky, but she quickly composes herself and carries on. "What's wrong? You literally never call me."

I pause for a few moments and see Mila's face morph into one of confusion.

"What do you mean?" Her voice trembles. "You know that's not true."

My eyes make contact with hers and she puts the call on speaker as she sets her phone down on the coffee table. I then hear Ellie's voice fill the living room.

"Mila, you need to do something about those rumours. You need to prove them wrong." 

"What rumours?" I whisper to her. Mila shakes her head and I see tears well up in her eyes. 

"Enzo?" Ellie calls out. "You need to tell Mila to do something about the girl slut-shaming her on social media."

"What?" My mind doesn't process what she said, but when it does I look over at Mila. "Do you know who's doing this?"

"She claims that Mila stole you from her, so you tell me Enzo. Do you know who's doing this?" Ellie snides, the disdain evident in her tone. 

"I didn't have many girlfriends before Mila," I respond honestly. "I was involved with this one girl. Leila, but this was months before Mila and I even started talking."

"Your previous girlfriend can't seem to understand that they shouldn't talk about others this way," Ellie rebukes. "Based on her username and the picture she still has of you guys on her feed, Leila's the one doing this. Should I talk to her or you, Enzo?"

I'm about to respond with 'yes', but Mila intervenes.

"I'll go," Mila steels herself. "I need to face this myself."

"Are you sure?" Ellie asks. "I can come with you if you want."

"I can too," I interject. "She's my ex-girlfriend, so this is my fault. We broke up on good terms too, so I don't know why she's doing this."

"Enzo you've hurt her enough," Ellie tells me. "I get that you guys are back together, but do you seriously think it's a good idea for you to go with your current girlfriend to see your ex? Are you out of your mind?"

I stay quiet, but I know that she's right. Mila tries to come to my defense, however, I shake my head and give her a sad smile. "She's right. I'll stay behind." 

"All right," Mila nods. "I'll go by myself. Thanks for telling me Ellie, do you know where I can find her on campus?"

"Yeah," her voice loud and clear on the receiver. "She's usually at the bistro around this time. I asked some people and they told me that's where she goes after the gym. Take her by surprise Mila, she probably thinks you're some weak bitch who can't face her."

Mila laughs, but agrees. She then hangs up the phone and lets out a long breath. "Just when things couldn't get more complicated, this happens." 

"I'm here with you every step of the way. I just wish Leila didn't go after you like this, you're not what she says you are. You're the person I love and nothing can change that." I lean in to kiss her. "We'll figure out who's after you and stop these rumours."

"I believe you," she closes her eyes. "I just need to face this on my own because I need to that I'm in control of my life again. I've gone far too long without saying anything."

"It's okay," I push a strand of her hair away from her face. "In the meantime, I'll go and ask some of the computer science guys if they can find anything on these people. I'm pretty close with Gabe."

"Okay, I'll call you when I'm done," Mila gets up and puts her phone in her bag. I follow behind her, taking my things. Just as she's about to leave, she turns around. "I love you."

"We got this," I grin and say it back to her. We go our separate ways, but I feel a newfound surge of energy and optimism on my way.