Chapter 3: Mysterious Found the Man with Questions

Sakura's POV

What does he want to know, her life story? Why does he want to know? Questions swirled in her head as she stood to understand what this man wanted from her. Was she caught in some sort of trouble? Did Sai put him up to it? Did he hire him to track her down and rid her from exposing the truth?

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'll be asking the questions." He said, stoic faced and undeterred.

"Like hell you are! This goes both ways!" She narrowed her eyes and shouted at him, hearing her voice echo off the silent wall. Her deranged reflection mirrored off the elevator's wall, seeming smaller than the man, whose broad shoulders loomed over hers. "Look, we both want answers. If we're to do this, we've got to have a civil talk like normal adults."

He seemed to contemplate her reasoning and disappointedly, backed off. "Fine. But you have to be completely honest with me."

Sakura felt her chest compress, heat rising in her cheeks as she studied the detective. He kind of resembled Sai: tall, quiet, apathetic at times, and if she looked closely, even handsome. Did Sai have a brother he didn't tell her about? This man bore an Adonis presence, unlike Sai; his aura was tinged with peril and she could tell how serious he was becoming by the way he lowered his voice to a baritone. It was husky and it made her knees buckle a bit by how much he was affecting her.

Why was she feeling conflicted now? She bit her lip, holding back from sharing her inner thoughts aloud.

"Fine."

The elevator started moving again, this time ascended to the top floor. After getting off, Sasuke led her to the end of the hall and around the corner was a conference room. Entering the room, Sasuke clapped his hands and the lights came on. Instead of seeing a long table with rolling chairs and a whiteboard, it was a contemporary sunroom with couches and accented chairs lining the center and walls, lamps and plants adorning the big window facing the city's bridge, and a small bar off to the side. "Sit anywhere."

She planted herself on a tufted armchair, legs crossed, and arms folded on top of knees, while Sasuke sat across from her on the couch, his arms crossed as he studied her back. Now, if she wanted to be taken seriously, she needed to present herself professionally. "First off, I'm not a minor. I just turned twenty four."

"Then why do you have a fake ID in your purse? Where's your real ID?"

"My boyfriend has it…well, ex-boyfriend, now." Sakura started to explain. "Our town's security only allows citizens to check in and out of our gates as long as we have our IDs. But Sai took mine so I wouldn't follow him."

"Why would he do that?"

"I suspected he was cheating on me with some bimbo. And I was right."

"So, you followed him here. How'd you get out of your strictly secured town?"

Sakura bit her lip, hesitating to tell him how she got through the gates without anyone noticing her. She couldn't quite come right out with the truth, so she lied. "I try not to be conspicuous, but I figured since Sai had my ID, that meant the guards knew I was with him…or so they thought. It wasn't that hard getting out."

"You bribed them, huh." It was a statement rather than a question. Sakura's lips parted as she stared openly at him. This guy was good. If he knew she lied, then she'd rather not go into details of what the bribe consisted in.

"How did you manage to get inside Ricolette with a fake ID? It's poorly done, by the way. Even I could see right through it with one glance."

"Well, duh, that's what fake IDs are meant to look like." She rolled her eyes. "Sai made it for me as a joke when I was twenty one, so I'd be mistaken as a minor when I got carded. It wasn't really funny now that I think back on it. That ID has been in my purse ever since."

Memories of happy times three years prior before everything started going downhill hit Sakura hard. She felt her eyes start to water, heart ache in the bearing. Twisting her bottom lip, she wasn't too keen on telling him how she seduced the bouncer to let her in. She may not be as attractive as other girls, but even looks didn't mean nothing to a man who was horny- as long as they got a piece of the pie, right? "I just slipped through when the bouncer wasn't looking."

He didn't seem convinced at her short response, but he momentarily went along with her charade. She grabbed her phone and opened it to her album.

"Long story short, I found him. Took evidential photos of the two of them together when he took noticed of me. Business my foot!" She scoffed and tossed the phone at Sasuke who caught it in one hand. "He lied to me for three damn years! Said it was a one time fling…never happen again…but once a cheater, always a cheater. I just needed to catch him in the act. That's how I truly felt I'd be justified in our relationship."

Her voice cracked and Sasuke's nonchalant expression had soften or at least that's what she thought she saw in his face before he became the Starry Night painting, refracted by the light and blurry as her eyes welled with tears. She sniffled; what a total mess she has become.

Sasuke's POV

She doesn't seem to be lying, unless she's really good at acting. He was so close to the final question that had been bugging him since he found her on the side of the road. How did she end up alone on Hwy-41? Sasuke reached over the coffee table, pulled out a tissue box and extended her two sheets of tissue. "Here, wipe your tears. That man doesn't deserve you crying over him."

She sniffled again, nodding, and patting her eyes dry. "Self-pity sucks."

"Which doesn't suit you," Sasuke began, knowing the right words on how to soothe a broken heart. He wasn't trying to woo her, but seeing her feel miserable about her self-worth, the value she sought in herself for her ex did not settle well with him. "You should get over him quickly and move on."

She laughed in mockery as if he had made a joke and rolled her eyes to the ceiling, "Easier said than done."

"You said it yourself. You'd feel justified if you caught him with evidence. You have that. Did you confront him with it?"

"Yes…no." Her attention flitted back to him, her brows furrowed as she contemplated, realization dawning on her. "I didn't have the chance to show him the pictures. He wouldn't hear of it before he kicked me out of his car."

So, he kicked her out of his car…? "On highway 41?"

"Oh highway 41! Abandoned me in the dark, cold, middle of nowhere." She bellowed, jumping to her feet, and knocking her purse to the ground. The pinkette paced herself, letting out her inner frustrations in words and curses, flinging them to the air in tyrant.

Sasuke's shoulders hunched forward, his gaze following the dragoness in front him, venting out steam. Despite his earlier assumptions of her- and though he didn't let down his guard just yet- she was not what he was thinking at all. She was a bullet train, quick-witted, stubborn, annoying, and gullible. But she was anything but a broken girl in love. That was the impression she gave him.

When she was all out of helium, she plopped down beside him; her head in her hands, angry tears streaming down her face, lips trembling. "What did I do wrong?"

"You're asking me?"

Sakura stilled and sniffled again. Of course, she wasn't, but she didn't want to hear it from herself. She needed to hear an answer, whether it was comforting or not.

"Whether you decide to find out that answer for yourself is up to you." He said. "Do you want to?"

"I tried."

"Do you want to find out?"

"I…I don't know."

"Then, you'll be forever stuck in mud until you do. You can't move on because he's got his little finger wrapped around you."

"That's not-" She shouted, whipping her head back. She could feel her stare on him, but he didn't budge, nor did he stare back at her.

"It is. You just don't want to hear the truth. You say you want justice, but you waver in doubt."

"That's…"

"Here's some advice, Sakura. Be honest with yourself." Getting up, Sasuke stood tall and firm, his back to the pinkette, "What do you want to do?"