The Cafe
Alex almost didn’t come.
The flight had been hell, and all she wanted was a shower and sleep. But Ellie had submitted her thesis that morning—and more importantly, she had ended things with Will. They needed to talk. The part Alex would replay later wasn’t the flight. It was the hesitation.
Be there at six.
The message had felt… off. Not wrong. Just too direct. Too intentional. Why the café? They were always more themselves at the apartment. Unless…Alex’s jaw tightened. Unless Will was back. That better not be it.
6:02 p.m.
Alex pushed open the café door, scanning automatically.
No Ellie.
Annoyance flared.
“Ellie, I swear if you made me walk over here just to—”
Her phone buzzed.
I’m at the table by the window.
Alex turned.
The woman sitting there was composed. Dark hair. Familiar. It took half a second.
“Maya?”
Maya nodded once.
“Hi, Alex.”
Something in Alex’s chest dropped.
“Where’s Ellie?” she asked, already sitting, already tense.
Maya didn’t answer immediately.
“She’s safe.”
Alex went still.
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the most important one.”
“Safe from what?”
The question came sharper now.
“Maya, what is going on?”
Maya held her gaze. Steady. Unmoved. “She’s gone.” No buildup. No softening. Just that.
Alex let out a short breath.
“Gone where?”
“She left today.”
“No,”
Alex said immediately.
“She texted me. Before I left. After I landed. She told me to meet her here.”
“Yes,” Maya said.
Alex’s stomach dropped.
“That wasn’t her.”
“It was,” Maya replied. “It was part of the plan.”
Silence snapped tight between them.
“Okay,”
Alex said, pushing a hand through her hair.
“Okay. Then explain the plan.”
“I’m going to tell you enough so you understand what to do,”
Maya said.
“Not everything.”
“I don’t want ‘enough.’ I want the truth.”
“You’re getting part of it.”
Alex stared at her. Then, quieter—
“This is about Will.”
“Yes.”
Alex exhaled slowly.
“She told me she ended it. Said he was getting… pushy. I thought that was it.”
Maya didn’t move. And that stillness said everything. Alex’s expression shifted.
“It’s not over, is it?”
“No.”
“What did he do?”
Maya didn’t answer.
“What did he do?”
Alex pressed, sharper now.
Maya hesitated. That was enough. Alex’s throat went dry.
“Are you telling me he—” She couldn’t finish it. “And she didn’t tell me?”
she said instead, anger breaking through.
“She couldn’t,” Maya said.
Alex looked away, jaw clenched.
“I lived with her,” she muttered. “I should’ve seen it.”
“I know.”
That didn’t help.
“Okay,” A
lex said finally, pulling herself back together. “
So she left. Where is she?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Maya—”
“I can’t,” she repeated, firmer. “And you don’t want me to.”
Alex let out a humorless laugh. “
You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
“Does he know?” Alex asked.
“Not yet.”
“He will.”
“Yes.”
“And when he does,” Alex said, more grounded now, “he comes to me first.”
“Probably.”
Alex nodded once. “
Okay. What do you need me to do?”
Maya didn’t hesitate.
“You go back to Leiden.”
Alex blinked.
“I just got here.”
“I know.”
“Graduation is on Thursday.”
“I know.”
“And you want me to just leave?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not suspicious at all.”
“It’s safer,”
Maya said.
“Distance matters.”
Alex didn’t argue. She knew Maya was right.—
“Second,”
Maya continued, nodding toward the counter. Ellie’s phone sat there. Alex hadn’t even noticed it before.
“You text the group,” Maya said. “Macy. Caroline. Kristen. Get them to the apartment tonight.”
Alex stared at the phone.
“That’s… not mine to use.”
“It’s not hers either. Not anymore.”
Alex let out a breath
. “What do I tell them?”
“That she left.”
“They’re going to lose it.”
“Yes.”
“They’re going to ask questions.”
“Yes.”
“And I just—what? Shut them down?”
“You tell them she’s safe,” Maya said. “That’s all.”
Alex hesitated.
“Her parents?”
“They’ll get a letter. Probably on graduation day.”
“That’s going to go badly.”
“Yes,” Maya said calmly. “Which is why you shouldn’t be there.”
That landed. Alex stepped forward and picked up the phone. It felt wrong in her hand. Too final.
“She planned all of this,” she said quietly.
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
Maya didn’t answer.
Alex nodded once.
“Yeah. That tracks.”
She unlocked the phone. Opened the group chat. Typed:
Hey—change of plans. Come to the apartment. 7:30. Need to talk.
Send.
The responses came instantly.
What?
Is everything okay?
Did you pass out from stress?
Alex swallowed.
“She’s really gone,” she said.
“Yes.”
Silence settled between them. Then—
“Did she say anything about me?”
Maya’s voice softened, just slightly.
“She knew you’d show up.”
Maya reached into her bag and placed a letter on the table. Alex’s name. Ellie’s handwriting. Alex stared at it. Didn’t touch it.
“And Alex—” Maya said. Alex looked up “Be careful what you say. To anyone.”
“Especially Will.”
“Yes.”
“And if he asks?”
“You don’t know where she is,” Maya said. “Because you don’t.”
Alex nodded.
“He’s not going to like that.”
“No,” Maya said. “He won’t.”
They stood. The moment felt unfinished.
“Where are you going?” Alex asked.
Maya gave a faint, unreadable smile.
“Somewhere useful. I have a new job at a new university.”
“That’s vague.”
“It needs to be.”
“I have the things she wanted to keep,” Maya added. “I’ll store them. The rest—she didn’t want.”
Alex let out a quiet breath.
“Yeah. That sounds like her.”
Maya paused at the door.
“You mattered more than you realize,” she said.
Alex shook her head.
“I should’ve seen it.”
Maya didn’t argue.
“Just be ready.”
Then she left.
Alex sat alone in the cafe for a bit. She had time before the others would arrive at the apartment. She put Ellie’s letters for her, Kristen, Caroline, and Macy in her back and carried. Ellie’s phone in her hand. The messages kept coming. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Then— A call. Unknown number. Alex stared at the screen. She didn’t answer. But she got up and headed over to the apartment, grateful she’d never given Ellie the key back when she moved to Leiden.