"Yeah, we met a few minutes ago... and I don't want to go into details. I don't have the energy to explain."
Maldo finally said after regaining some composure. He sat on the chair opposite and raised the coffee cup to his lips as if searching for a moment of temporary silence in its bitterness.
But his mind was not as calm as he appeared. There was a faint curiosity nagging at him, questions crowding his head about how Daniel knew Oliva and what brought them together in the first place. Still, he remained silent, realizing that asking now would only add new weight to what was already stirring inside him.
"It's okay, I don't think you need to explain. Oliva's appearance already tells me what happened."
Daniel said in a light tone as he pointed at her, then winked with a deliberate smile. "You still have a knack for getting into trouble, I see."
"It's their fault, they got in my way," Oliva said defiantly, then added after a moment, a slight smile playing on her lips. "But... I'll admit I survived thanks to this conceited guy." She pointed at Maldo, raising her eyebrow with a gentle mockery.
"Oh, Maldo, you arrogant savior!"
Luca said with a laugh, but his laughter quickly died away when his eyes met Maldo's sharp gaze, which silenced him without a word.
Daniel interrupted them with a calm smile as he leaned back in his chair. "Actually, it's good that you two met. After all, my choice of this café was no coincidence... I wanted to introduce you to her, Maldo."
Maldo froze briefly and stared at Daniel as if he hadn't heard him. His gaze shifted to Oliva, searching her features for the meaning behind that sentence. "What? This girl?" His voice came out faintly, then he added the question lingering in his mind from the beginning. "And what's your relationship with her?"
"Right, Daniel, where do you know this beautiful girl from?"
Luca said immediately, in a voice that sounded to Maldo like a welcome intervention for the first time.
Oliva's curiosity showed on her face, and she said,
"Is this the person you told me you would introduce me to one day?"
Daniel replied calmly. "Yes, it's him." Then he added, addressing Maldo directly. "As you can see, my acquaintance with Oliva is not as superficial as you think. I've known her for about five years, from a mission, and I can't explain everything to you in a place like this."
Just as he had expected, this girl was no ordinary girl... yet he saw no black or gray around her... strange.
Maldo glanced at her calmly, then suddenly stood up, surprising everyone, and held out his hand to her. "Maldo."
Oliva smiled enthusiastically as she took his hand. "Finally, you told me your name yourself... I'm Oliva, you fool!"
No sooner had he pulled his hand away than she reached out hers, driven by childish curiosity, intending to touch the burn mark on his face.
But as soon as he saw her palm approaching him, his breath froze in a fleeting moment. He did not see her face, but saw Enzo's hand reaching out to him in the suffocating darkness.
He didn't realize what he had done until after it happened: he grabbed her wrist violently, turned her hand downward, and pushed her toward the table with a force that shook the room.
A heavy silence fell. Luca froze in place, and Daniel's eyes widened.
Maldo remained stiff, breathing heavily, beads of sweat forming on his forehead despite the cool air.
He couldn't really see what was in front of him... only the old shadows that were suffocating him again.
"Maldo!" Daniel's voice pierced the void in his head, his body trembled, and his awareness slowly returned. He looked at his hand, then at Oliva, then took two steps back.
His breathing was rapid, and sweat dampened his neck despite the cold air.
All eyes were on him now... their gazes heavy, digging into his skin. He raised his eyes to Oliva, whose features appeared tense, filled with fear and hesitation. The word slipped from his mouth in a barely audible voice: "I'm... I'm sorry..."
He didn't wait for a response, he just moved. He walked out quickly, barely seeing the path in front of him. Everything seemed to be falling apart in silence.
Luca moved immediately, but stopped when he felt a hand grab his wrist. Daniel said calmly, "Leave him... He needs time alone. It seems that the past is still haunting him."
Outside... Maldo ran. He didn't know where to, he just wanted to get away, away from the stares, away from the silence, away from himself.
He saw the shoes of passersby glistening in the sunset light, passing him quickly, and cars driving by close to him, feeling the air vibrate whenever one sped by.
His breath burned his chest, and each step dragged him further down, until he found himself at the bottom of the bridge overlooking the lake.
He finally stops, leaning against the rough rocks, breathing heavily, and the faint sound of water in front of him does nothing to ease his turmoil. The sky is ablaze with orange, but inside him, there is only turbulent darkness.
"Damn it..." he growled between breaths. "Why now? Why do I remember that despicable face?!"
He struck the stone with his hand, again and again, until the fine skin on his palm cracked and blood seeped out.
"Damn these hands... this face... this life!"
He remained like that for a few moments, then his voice gradually softened until the words were barely audible. I was about to hurt an innocent person...
He sat on the ground, resting his arms on his knees, trying to catch his scattered breath.
Everything around him was still, except for the roar of the water and the sound of the wind rubbing against the bridge pillars.
Then... a faint sound, not far away, but not close either.
He raised his head and listened more closely. It was the voice of a girl, familiar in a way that disturbed his calm.
He hesitated for a moment before stepping out of the shadow of the bridge. He looked up and saw Oliva searching for him anxiously, turning her head from side to side. When her eyes met his below, a tremulous smile spread across her face, and she cried out in relief:
"Maldo! I found you!"
That girl again... What is she doing?
His thoughts stopped for a moment when he noticed a strange movement from her. She was climbing the railing.
"Maldo... I'm coming!" Oliva shouted, and she was about to throw herself off in a crazy, unreasonable way.
Her brown hair was flying wildly, and the wind grew harsher, carrying with it the echo of her trembling voice.
That fool... Maldo whispered, and in the next moment, he rushed forward, his body moving before he fully realized what he was doing. He saw her throw herself, so he stretched out his arms without hesitation and caught her with lightning speed, almost losing his balance.
Her weight in his arms was not what preoccupied him. What preoccupied him was the laugh that came out of her, a light, bright laugh, as if she had not been about to fall. She clung to his neck, laughing, laughing sincerely, as if what she had just done was merely a game, not a risk.
He lowered her slowly, moved her away from him a little, then his voice came out louder than he intended.
"What in heaven's name are you doing?! What if I hadn't gotten there in time? What if you had fallen?!"
He wasn't shouting out of anger, but to cover up something else, something he didn't yet know the name of.
She stopped laughing, but her eyes weren't dimmed by the word. They still sparkled with playfulness.
She looked at him, a small smile playing on her lips, and said with an almost naive calmness:
"Because I was sure you would catch me."
Her words settled in his ears, but they did not enter his mind.
How could she trust him? They had only met a few hours ago. That kind of trust is not given, it is forbidden... Yet her eyes said she meant what she said.
"You're the biggest fool I've ever met." Those were the only words that came out of his mouth to describe what he saw. No other description would suffice.
He turned slowly to look at the last rays of the sun, then whispered to her in a muffled voice. "Why did you look for me? I hurt you just now."
Her voice was unexpectedly calm, carrying a sense of tranquility. "Actually, you scared me at first... I didn't know you hated being touched."
"Who told you that?" He knew the answer, feeling it echo in his chest before she spoke.
"My teacher Daniel told me after I left."
There it was, the certainty he had been waiting for. His expression didn't change, only a slight sigh escaped him unconsciously.
"Okay... but I don't understand why you followed me."
She looked up at him and said simply, confusing him even more than he had imagined. "To apologize to you." Then she added after a short silence. "I apologize for my rudeness earlier, Maldo."
He took a deep breath and said in a calm tone, but one that still carried traces of tension that had not completely disappeared.
"No need to apologize... I'm the one who should apologize. I should have controlled my temper better. I'm sorry I scared you."
It seemed as if he had ended the conversation, but her voice came back after a short pause, filled with a joy he hadn't expected.
"So, are we reconciled?"
She was smiling, and that smile confused him more than he wanted to admit. He hesitated, then looked away for a moment, trying to find an answer that didn't sound too harsh or too sincere.
"I guess so..." he finally said, his voice wavering between sincerity and politeness.
He wasn't sure if he really meant it, but he said it anyway.
Before he could think any further, Oliva shouted with sudden glee
"Hellooo!"
Then she pointed to the horizon, smiling spontaneously, unlike the stillness around her. "Look, the sun is disappearing... Oh, how I love the sunset!"
He followed her gaze for a moment. There was something childlike about her, pure to the point of confusion. He turned toward the horizon, watching the last rays of light slowly fade, as if defeated by the night.
A long silence passed between them before she said softly, "Well, shall we go to the others now? Everyone is waiting for us at headquarters."
The word "headquarters" stuck in his mind, confusing him more than anything she had said before. "Headquarters? I don't understand..." He rubbed his head in wonder.
She looked at him with slight surprise, as if she had discovered something obvious. "Impossible! Didn't Daniel tell you he was taking you to our headquarters?"