Eve looked at me wide-eyed as she absorbed my words.

— I still can't believe your crush spent the night at your place. Granted, there was nothing sexual about it, but for someone who's never had a big crush in her life, well!

I held my head in my hands.

— I can't believe it either. The fact that it happened so quickly scares me a bit, to tell you the truth. Since Friday we've been seeing each other a thousand times. He really seems like a good person, so I'm not too worried either. Besides, I feel all these emotions when I'm with him, Eve, I can't describe them...
— You don't have to, I understand.
— You too with Guillaume?

She blushed so violently that I didn't need her to answer me.

— Yes...
— Well, we're in a bit of a pickle here.
— True, but don't worry, I think that once you're at ease, you'll understand the emotions that come over you when the man you're interested in is simply in front of you, talking about the weather or the dog he's thinking of adopting.

I stared at her, my eyes round. So she was going through exactly the same thing as me.

— Eve! Isn't this harmony wonderful? What was the probability of me falling in love at first sight? What was the likelihood of you falling in love with a boy so quickly? But then what was the probability of these two things happening to us at the same time? It was almost certainly zero!

I expected her to answer, but she smiled at me, quite emotional, before noticing the bandage on my foot. She pointed at it.

— What happened?
— Oh, I stepped on a piece of glass.
— Ah, right. So you think this Trevor guy followed you home?

She looked worried and I didn't want her to worry, but I couldn't lie to her about Trevor either.

— I don't know how far he'd got to my house, but according to Simon he'd followed me.
— Er, who's Simon?
— The homeless man I help from time to time.

She smiled at me, then continued with a serious expression.

— I'm not surprised about you, but I wonder how Trevor found out where you live.
— He told me it was in my file from the cooking course... But wait! That can't be the case, because I never gave them my address! And in that case, I don't see how he could have known... unless he'd been following me.
— Or that he's hacked into your computer or phone and geolocated you.

I sat down, too shocked to speak. Eve was right, this was a huge invasion of my privacy and I didn't know how to stop this nightmare. It was so frightening that someone like Trevor had developed such an obsession with me.

— My goodness!
— Don't worry, Liz, you'll be fine.
— Yes, but what if he comes back? It's very disturbing that he found my phone number, called me and then came to my house because I hadn't answered him.
— You're right, it sounds like you're talking about a psychopath...

She sat down.

— Psychopathic, I don't know, but in any case, he's a very unstable person. And if you'd seen the look on his face... he scared me, Eve. I jump every time I hear the slightest noise, even when Daniel's with me.
— Don't you want to talk to the police?
— No, I mean... I'm afraid it'll make things worse if I press charges.
— I understand that. But if he comes back, you're going to have to do something. So here, I got you this.

She reached into her bag and pulled out a small spray.

— It's to neutralise the attacker, just in case you need it.
— That's very kind of you, Eve, thank you very much.

I was touched. After an hour, our conversation turned to the stranger. I still didn't know if I could talk freely with Daniel about my feelings for this man. I didn't want him to think I was playing him, but he still deserved to know the truth. I hoped that a good night's sleep would help me to see things more clearly.

Unfortunately, this was not the case. The next day I lazily got up and prepared for the video conference with the magazine team.

— Hello, Liz, how are you? asked Sibylline.
— Fine, thanks, and you?
— Good too, thank you. Now all we need is Pascale and we'll be complete.

While we were waiting for the latter, I received a message from Eve asking me if I'd come to any conclusions about the situation with the stranger in the notes.

No, not really. I want to give it time but I don't want Daniel to think I'm not taking us seriously.

She immediately looked at her mobile and typed a reply.

Don't worry about it. Just do what you feel like doing. However, I've been thinking a lot about Trevor and please take care of yourself.

I smiled at her through the screen while the others seemed preoccupied with the weather. It only took a few seconds for Pascale to join the call.

After an hour and a half's discussion about improvements to be made within the team, we hung up, and I continued writing my new article.

Despite the anxiety of running into Trevor, I couldn't resist going for a late afternoon run. When I got to the front of the park, I hesitated to take the new path around it, but eventually decided to go in to reduce the likelihood of running into him.

After about forty minutes, as I was watching a child play with his dog, I heard someone calling in a low voice behind me. I froze at the thought that it might be Trevor but was more than happy to realise that it was Daniel.

Instantly forgetting my anxiety, I smiled at him with all my teeth before greeting him. I couldn't believe I'd bumped into him in the park near my house. He was wearing a long-sleeved black top and jogging trousers. With his mouth open to catch his breath, he stared at me. From the sound of his breathing, his pace must have been fast and steady. As a drop of sweat slid past his right eye, he blinked and frowned.

— What's wrong?

I didn't understand his question.

— I... Sorry?
— You had such a scared look on your face when you turned round, I... Oh! Did you think I was Trevor?

I raised my eyebrows and stared at the bench behind him, shaking my head. He looked at me sadly.

— Has he contacted you since Friday?
— No, he hasn't.
— Good, he says, before suggesting that we finish our jog together. So, do you jog often?
— I go on jogs every Monday evening and Thursday and Friday lunchtimes.
— Oh wow, you've got a great routine.
— What about you?
— I run every other day.
— But do you often come here to run?
— Yes, but I'd already seen you running several times before I ran into you at the publishing house.

I thought I'd heard wrong.

— Wait, what?
— Yes, but I think you were wearing red trainers.
— What... But Daniel, it's been over a year since I threw away those trainers, I said, stopping. That means we could have met a year ago, but more importantly... Did you remember me?

He looked at me, clearly uncomfortable.

— Er, yes?
— But how many times have you seen me?
— I don't know, maybe twenty times?
— Twenty? I exclaimed. But then I must have seen you too.

Digging deep into my memory, I couldn't remember noticing his face before the moment he opened the door to the publishing house. I thought back to my jogging sessions. I remembered a boy wearing a cap. He had an absolutely beautiful body and eyes...

— Oh my God, it was you! I exclaimed.

People nearby turned towards us. I apologised, but that didn't stop him from laughing.

— You were wearing a black cap so I couldn't make out your face properly, but I remember seeing your eyes one day. But hell, it must have been a year since I noticed you too.

He laughs.

— Yes, I used to wear a cap when I ran.

Was it possible that we had missed a chance to meet the year before? And what were the chances of us bumping into each other in a publishing house? I looked at him as he did the same. We blushed violently, then continued our jog. Everything was getting mixed up in my head. Was he really the one for me? It all seemed to be happening so quickly and strangely slowly too. I had the impression that my life had taken a turn that would have seemed impossible not so long ago.

Once we'd arrived back in front of my building, he was visibly uncomfortable.

— Um, would you like to come and have dinner at my place tomorrow?

I'm blushing again.

— Er... I... Yes! Well, yes, I'd like that.
— Fine, I'll send you the time and address then.
— All right, have a good evening!
— And you.

He then slowly approached me and gave me a kiss on the cheek before pulling away. My heart missed a beat and my cheeks flushed.