This had happened just once before. Three years ago in Massachusetts, Pietro had stumbled upon a girl online who'd looked right and had the right sort of background and seemed so much like Wanda that he'd gone stalking in an attempt to reunite with his sister. It had, of course, fallen through. The girl had been just another runaway. In retrospect, Pietro suspected that perhaps he'd just been desperate and made pieces fit together in just the right way, but at any rate, he'd come face to face with a girl who looked somewhat like his sister but wasn't the real thing and Pietro had found himself more than a little brokenhearted.
He'd been careful from that point on, putting in extra time, money, and effort into his search for his sister. Traveling from the east coast to southern California had drained away Pietro's money, but he'd still managed to find a former detective who seemed clean enough and specialized in missing persons. It had taken him two months of scrimping to be able to afford his services, but it may have just paid off. After a bit of searching, this man had told Pietro about Miss Ana.
When he heard the name being called, he looked up, shaken from a small reverie. Pietro had been sitting in a corner, close to the exit and far from the door that might lead him to Wanda. No matter how good a situation Pietro found himself in, he always stuck close to the exit and knew all possible escape routes. It was just smart living to do so. His face was largely obscured by a Dodgers cap that he'd pulled all the way down. The rest of his clothing was clean but unimpressive; the t-shirt he wore had a small hole near the bottom, his jeans were faded, and his sneakers were plain Converse that had seen better days.
He rose and could see a girl in a dress standing at the door. Tall and lanky, Pietro strode over and tried his best to not appear as jerky and tense as he felt. "Thanks," Pietro mumbled to the secretary. He was so nervous that he had to hide his hands in his pockets to keep them from shaking. Quickly, he entered the room, gliding just a step or two past Miss Ana.
He'd closed the door behind himself and took a large, shaky breath, realizing that if this wasn't Wanda that he'd probably come off as a freak. It took a moment for Pietro to unbow his head. When he did, he realized that the money had paid off. He'd probably be sending his former detective friend a nice bonus when money was more readily available.
"Wanda?" He spoke softly, not entirely sure how to do this. Pietro had played this scenario over in his head a million times, but when confronted with that whom he'd been searching for, the right words and actions just dried up.