Shadows of the past

Alex sits alone on the lower floor of Bistro Bliss, scanning the crowded room and wondering whether Caleb's mystery woman is Melanie because he knows that Melanie has a twin sister and they look too alike.

His thoughts return to their stormy history, and Melanie's unexpected exit from Pearl Coast is still fascinating to him because nobody could find her, and all leads failed. He had done everything to find her because their previous debate was inconclusive, and the last time she caught him cheating, she slipped off the grid for a bit and crept back to him when she wanted to end the radio silence. He was confident that this time would be no different.

“Could Melanie be in Orion? Her sister lives here, after all,” He wonders as he orders food and starts eating, but his hunger is gone, and his thoughts continue going back to Melanie as these two weeks without her have been misery.

He sets his food aside and plunges himself into a 45-minute internal debate about whether to investigate