Alina didn't go home after that. She couldn't. Because going home meant sitting with uncertainty again. And she was done sitting with it. If Lucien existed in her mind, then she would prove he existed outside of it. One way or another. She stopped at a small roadside café instead. Not to eat. To think. Her fingers tapped restlessly against the table as her mind replayed everything again and again. His voice. His eyes. The way he said her name like it wasn't unfamiliar… but also like it meant nothing. That contradiction was what was destroying her. Because real people didn't feel like that. Real people were consistent. He wasn't. Or maybe She was missing something. Alina pulled out her phone again. This time, she searched differently. Not "Lucien". Too vague. She tried: Men working in glass building downtown Luxury corporate offices Port Harcourt executives Nothing useful. She frowned harder. Then another idea hit her. The person he was speaking to. She remembered the man beside him vaguely. Older. Formal. Professional. Maybe that was the link. She started digging again. Faster now. More desperate. Minutes turned into hours. Alina barely noticed. Her food went cold. Her mind stayed hot. She went from search results to company directories to business listings. Anything. Anything that would anchor him to reality. But every path ended the same way. Nothing that matched. No clear Lucien. No trace that made sense. Just fragments that didn't connect. Her breathing slowed. Not in relief. In frustration. "This is ridiculous," she whispered. But her fingers didn't stop. They kept scrolling. Kept searching. Like stopping would mean accepting the doubt. By evening, her eyes were tired again. But her determination had hardened. She stood suddenly. "I'm going back," she said firmly. This time, she didn't hesitate. She returned to the glass building. But she didn't stand outside. She went in. The lobby was quiet. Too polished. Too intimidating. A receptionist looked up immediately. "Good afternoon, how may I help you?" Alina swallowed. For a second just a second her confidence wavered. But she pushed it down. "I'm looking for someone," she said. The receptionist smiled politely. "Name?" Alina paused. Then said it. "…Lucien." A beat of silence. The receptionist's expression didn't change. "Lucien who?" she asked again. Just like before. That question again. That emptiness again. Alina's hands tightened slightly. "I don't know his full name," she admitted quietly. The receptionist blinked once. Then shook her head lightly. "I'm sorry, but I can't help you without more details." A pause. A long one. Alina stood there, feeling something shift inside her. Not panic. Not confusion. Something heavier. Embarrassment creeping in at the edges. Because now it wasn't just doubt. It was beginning to look like absence. Real absence. She stepped back slowly. "Okay," she murmured. Then turned and walked out. But this time Her pace wasn't rushed. It was slower. Heavier. Because something had changed. Not in the world. In her. Back outside, she stopped under the evening sky. Her chest rose and fell unevenly. "I saw him," she whispered. "I did see him." Her voice cracked slightly on the last word. But there was no answer. Only silence. And for the first time… A terrifying possibility slipped in fully. What if she had been chasing something that was never meant to be found? Elsewhere in the city… Lucien stood in a dim office again. A file lay open on the desk. But he wasn't reading it. His eyes were distant. Like he already knew the direction things were moving. Slow. Unavoidable. And closer than he intended. He exhaled once. Low. Controlled. Then closed the file. "Too far now," he murmured. But he didn't sound like he was talking about her. He sounded like he was talking about himself.
