The restaurant was warm, dimly lit, and carefully curated for comfort soft jazz humming in the background, low conversations blending into a gentle blur. It was the kind of place Jennifer used to find peace in.
Tonight, it felt like noise.
"You're late."
Ifeanyi didn't say it harshly. If anything, his tone was light, teasing but his eyes gave him away. He had been waiting.
Jennifer slipped into the seat across from him, offering a small smile. "I know. I'm sorry. Work ran over."
"That's becoming a pattern," he replied, lifting his glass but not breaking eye contact.
She reached for the menu, more for something to do than out of interest. "You know how things are right now."
"I do," he said. "I just didn't realize 'things' meant I barely get to see you anymore."
There it was.
Not anger.
Not yet.
But something close.
Jennifer exhaled softly. "It's temporary."
"Is it?"
She looked up at him then, properly. Ifeanyi wasn't unreasonable. He never had been. That was part of what made him... safe. Predictable. Grounded.
And yet, sitting here, she felt
Restless.
"I'm handling a lot right now," she said carefully. "The company"
"I know about the company," he cut in gently. "I've always known. That's not the issue."
Jennifer's fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the table.
"Then what is?" she asked.
Ifeanyi leaned back, studying her. "You've been distracted. Even when you're here... you're not really here."
The words landed heavier than she expected.
Because they were true.
Her mind flickered, uninvited to Joseph.
To his voice. His presence. The way he seemed to understand things before she said them out loud.
She pushed the thought away immediately.
"You're overthinking," she said, forcing a light tone.
"Am I?" Ifeanyi tilted his head slightly. "Then look at me and tell me I am."
Jennifer did.
And for a second too long
She couldn't answer.
Something shifted between them.
Subtle.
But real.
Dinner arrived, but neither of them paid much attention to it.
Jennifer picked at her food, her appetite gone. Ifeanyi watched her in that quiet, patient way of his the way that used to comfort her.
Now it made her feel... seen.
In a way she wasn't ready for.
"So," he said after a while, "what's really going on?"
She frowned slightly. "I told you"
"No," he interrupted softly. "You told me the surface. I'm asking about what's underneath."
Jennifer leaned back, crossing her arms. "You're making this more complicated than it needs to be."
"And you're avoiding it."
Silence.
Thick.
Uncomfortable.
"Ifeanyi-"
"Is it someone?" he asked.
The question came out calm.
Too calm.
Jennifer blinked. "What?"
"Is there someone else?" he repeated, still steady, still controlled.
Her heart skipped.
"Of course not," she said quickly.
Too quickly.
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"I didn't say there was," he said. "I asked."
Jennifer swallowed, forcing herself to slow down. "No. There isn't."
That wasn't entirely a lie.
But it wasn't the truth either.
Because whatever was happening with Joseph... it didn't have a name yet.
And that somehow made it worse.
Outside, the night air was cooler, a faint breeze cutting through the warmth of the restaurant.
They walked side by side in silence for a while.
Lagos buzzed around them cars, voices, distant music but between them, there was only tension.
"I miss you," Ifeanyi said finally.
Jennifer's chest tightened.
"I'm right here," she replied.
He stopped walking.
She took two steps before realizing, then turned back.
"That's the problem," he said quietly. "You're not."
The words hit harder this time.
Jennifer ran a hand through her hair, frustration creeping in. "I don't know what you want me to say."
"I want you to be honest."
"I am being honest."
"No," he said, shaking his head slightly. "You're being careful."
That stung.
Because he wasn't wrong.
Her phone buzzed.
The sound cut through the moment like a blade.
Jennifer glanced down instinctively.
Joseph.
Just a message.
Two words.
"Are you safe?"
Her breath caught.
Ifeanyi noticed.
Of course he did.
"Who is that?" he asked.
Jennifer locked her phone immediately. "Work."
He didn't respond right away.
Just watched her.
Then
"Work doesn't make you look like that."
Her chest tightened. "Like what?"
"Like you're somewhere else entirely."
Silence again.
This time heavier.
More dangerous.
"I have to go," Jennifer said suddenly.
The words surprised even her.
Ifeanyi blinked. "What?"
"I have an early morning tomorrow. And there's still a lot I need to review tonight."
"That can wait."
"No," she said, a bit sharper than intended. "It can't."
He stared at her.
Searching.
Trying to understand.
"Jennifer..." his voice softened, "talk to me."
For a moment
She almost did.
Almost told him about the notes.
The messages.
The feeling of being watched.
The way everything in her life was starting to blur at the edges.
But then
Joseph's message echoed again in her mind.
Are you safe?
And something about it felt...
Personal.
Too personal.
"I'm just tired," she said instead.
A lie.
A weak one.
But the only one she could manage.
Ifeanyi exhaled slowly, stepping back.
"Okay," he said.
But it didn't sound like okay.
"Call me when you get home," he added.
Jennifer nodded. "I will."
She didn't.
The drive back felt longer than usual.
Jennifer gripped the steering wheel tighter than necessary, her thoughts spiraling.
Work.
Sabotage.
Messages.
Joseph.
Ifeanyi.
Everything was colliding.
Nothing was staying in its place anymore.
Her phone buzzed again.
She ignored it.
Then again.
Still ignored it.
By the third time, she sighed and pulled over.
Unlocked the screen.
Joseph:
"You didn't answer."
"Jennifer."
"Something isn't right tonight."
Her pulse quickened.
She typed back before thinking.
Jennifer: "What do you mean?"
The reply came instantly.
Joseph: "Check your office."
Her stomach dropped.
The building was darker than usual when she arrived.
Most of the lights were off.
Security nodded as she passed, unaware of the tension coiling inside her.
Jennifer walked quickly, heels echoing down the corridor.
Her office door was closed.
Exactly how she left it.
She paused.
Hand hovering over the handle.
Then
She pushed it open.
Everything looked normal.
Too normal.
Her desk.
Her chair.
The city lights reflecting through the glass.
Jennifer stepped inside slowly.
Heart pounding.
Waiting.
Listening.
Nothing.
She exhaled slightly.
Maybe this was nothing.
Maybe
Her eyes shifted.
To the drawer.
The one she hadn't opened.
The package.
Still inside.
Untouched.
But now
The drawer was slightly open.
Just enough.
Jennifer froze.
She knew she had locked it.
She always locked it.
Slowly
She walked over.
Pulled it open.
The package was still there.
But something else wasn't.
The USB.
Gone.
Her breath caught sharply.
"No..."
She searched the drawer again.
Desk.
Table.
Everywhere.
Nothing.
Gone.
Her phone buzzed in her hand.
She didn't even remember picking it up.
Unknown Number:
"You should have looked sooner."
Jennifer's vision blurred for a second.
Her grip tightened.
Then
Another message.
"Now we're both watching."
She turned slowly.
Eyes scanning the office.
Every corner.
Every shadow.
Every reflection in the glass.
Her heart pounded louder now.
Faster.
Because this time
It wasn't just a feeling.
It wasn't just instinct.
Someone had been here.
Inside her space.
Touching her things.
Watching her.
And suddenly
Joseph's earlier message didn't feel like coincidence.
Are you safe?
Jennifer stood very still in the center of her office.
The city stretched endlessly behind her.
Lights.
Movement.
Life.
But inside
Everything had shifted.
The game wasn't just starting anymore.
It had escalated.
And she was no longer just investigating it.
She was inside it.
