Brandon instantly got on the phone. He called Stella, asking her to go to Flora and Helia's place. He didn't explain much, only that Flora didn't need to be alone. Brandon asked her to bring Bloom as well, to which Stella agreed.
Together, the three men sat in Helia's office, shocked and slightly afraid. Helia didn't want to alert Flora and upset her. He had already done that enough this morning. Instead, he looked to his friends.
"We'll take these to Timmy," he suggested, scooping up all of the pictures and stuffing them back in the envelope. "Maybe he can find something."
An hour later, Timmy had scanned each of the pictures and was carefully examining them one at a time. Helia stood over his shoulder, nervously chewing his lip and pacing every now and again.
Finally, at around three o'clock, Timmy came up with something.
"There! In the reflection of the store window!" He pointed, showing Helia and the others what he was talking about.
On the computer screen, Timmy had zoomed in on a picture and clarified it. Flora and Helia were eating lunch at their usual coffee shop, but with the enhanced reflection, everyone in the room could clearly see a man with a camera aimed straight at them. Although they couldn't see his face, they could see his shaggy brown hair, tanned skin, and, from the way he was holding the camera, a tattoo on the side of his hand.
"I'll call a friend at the police station," Sky said, pulling out his phone. "We need to alert the police anyway, and maybe he can run a criminal record search on the tattoo?"
Meanwhile
Flora sat in the apartment with Bloom and Stella. The three girls were talking about their relationships, exchanging funny stories. However, it was mostly the other two talking. Flora sat quietly, lost in her thoughts about this morning.
"You okay, Flora?"
The question came from Bloom, and the redhead rested a hand on Flora's shoulder. Nodding, Flora sighed deeply, wondering if she should explain. She wanted to tell someone, anyone except Helia, about how guilty she felt.
However, as she opened her mouth, a loud knock came from the front door. The girls looked at Flora curiously, but Flora didn't know who it was either.
Cautiously, Flora looked through the peephole, but all she saw was the hallway.
Opening the door, Flora looked into the hall. Seeing nothing at first, she glanced down, noticing a beautiful bouquet of a dozen red roses. Bringing them inside with a smile on her face, Flora looked up to see Bloom and Stella smiling at her.
Flora set them on the table in the kitchen, looking at her friends. "It must be an apology from Helia," she assumed, looking back at the flowers. "He kind of blew me off this morning."
Finding the card, Flora opened it, expecting maybe an apology note, but what she got instead had ice run down her spine.
I'll see you soon.
-S
"Oh, what does the card say?" Stella questioned, smiling and looking over Flora's shoulder. "Wait, S? Who is S?"
Flora shook her head. Her heart felt as though it had stopped. Her hand began shaking, but her eyes still focused on the little card.
"Flora? Flora, who is S?" Bloom questioned, setting a hand on Flora's shoulder again. At first, she was afraid that her friends would judge her. She was scared that they wouldn't want to be friends with her anymore.
"Flora, if there's something going on, we're here to listen," Stella said, standing on the other side of Flora.
Taking a deep, calming breath, the brunette nodded. "Let's sit down in the living room. This is a bit of a long story."
Sitting on the black leather couch, Flora told her friends everything. She told them about how she had met Santiago online, how she'd fallen in love (or at least thought that she had), and about their breakup when she had met Helia.
"So that's why you apologized when you met him," Stella whispered thoughtfully, gazing at her friend. Flora was relieved to see no hate or malice in her eyes.
Nodding, Flora looked at her hands in her lap. "As soon as I met Helia, I felt guilty. I feel like I've betrayed him. I was so sure that Santiago was my soulmate, but I was a fool."
"Flora," Bloom called hesitantly, "how did you figure Santiago might be your soulmate?"
Flora looked over at her friend. "It was about a month after we met. He asked how much longer I had left on my timer, and I told him. He told me he had the same. Even sent a picture as evidence."
"So you said it first. Is it possible that Santiago was lying the whole time?" Bloom's question seemed harsh, but Flora took it in stride.
At first, she wanted to answer 'no' immediately, but then she began to think. Their fights had started soon after they got together. He had somehow had a hold over her, claiming that she was his. He had always wanted to know where she was, who she was with.
Nodding slowly, Flora's eyes got wide with realization. "He probably was," she admitted quietly. "I thought he was just scared I wouldn't wait for him, but this all makes so much more sense."
Stella sighed, leaning back against the couch and folding her arms across her chest. "It seems to me," she began, "that this Santiago person might have been admiring you from afar, and then tried to trap you in a relationship with him."
"What, like some kind of stalker?" Flora asked, her eyebrows drawn together in confusion.
Stella nodded solemnly. "Flora, he knows where you live. You said he lives across the country, but this is evidence that he's here in Magix City."
Flora's eyes got round as it finally dawned on her. Bloom pulled her friend into a hug while Stella went to the windows.
"This is really serious," Stella said, eyeing every other building she could see. "We need to tell the authorities."
Stella turned in time to see Flora nod and pull away from Bloom, wiping away a tear that had fallen. "I know, but I also need to tell Helia everything first. I'll tell him tonight, after the party at Red Fountain, and then we'll go to the police station first thing in the morning. I'll call and have someone fill in for me at work."
Stella's amber eyes got big. "Oh my goodness! The party! I forgot!"
