Guilty Pleasure

by Justus Roux

  “Won’t he find that odd if we never invite him over?”

  “I have never invited him over here, so it will feel normal to him.”

  “Why haven’t you invited him over before?”

  “I’m a private person, Nicole. I told you that from the beginning.” Michael grabbed her legs and pulled her back down to a lying positon then he laid on top of her. He just stared into her eyes. She looked so happy. He just smiled then lowered down and kissed her.

  ***

  “Nicole called. She will be stopping by and getting her stuff. She is moving in with Michael now. She had other exciting news too.”

  “Yeah, what is it?” Adam said.

  “It seems Michael and she will be moving to London at some point. He just asked her to go with him.”

  “He never mentioned that before.”

  “Exactly. Adam, I’m going over to Michael’s tonight and see if I can find that key. Nicole asked me to bring her some clothes. And you know her, she will want to make me some dinner or something. I’m going to suggest she take a nice long bubble bath with music blaring while I cook dinner for her. She sound stressed so it will be easy to convince her. The main thing is Michael won’t be there. He has to go talk to his partner at the law firm about this impending move or something. She was also gushing about how Michael was taking her on a romantic picnic at Millennium Park tomorrow night or something. To be honest when she said Michael wasn’t going to be there my mind started spinning.”

  “I think you are wasting your time.”

  “Maybe, but I’m not going to sit here and let him frame you for all of this. I really believe this is what is going to happen if we just sit back and let him handle all of this. If this means I lose yours and Nicole’s friendship then so be it.”

  “What if you are right and he is the killer. What do you think will happen to you if he finds out you have been snooping around his apartment.”

  “He won’t find out. As long as the music is blaring from the bathroom then I will know Nicole is still in the bath. The moment the music stops I will hustle my ass back into the kitchen.”

  “And if you are wrong about Michael.”

  “Then I will drop all of this and wish them a bon voyage as they set sail to London.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Stay here just in case Michael shows up to update you about something.”

  “Why do you care so much about what happens to me?”

  “Why wouldn’t I care? My friends are my family. I hope you feel the same about me.”

  Adam smiled brightly. “I do.”

  “Well, there you go. Family helps each other. So sit back and just look pretty. I got this.” Monica went into Nicole’s room to pack a suitcase of her clothes. She was scared as hell to go snooping around Michael’s apartment. God, what if he did come home and find her…Monica grabbed Nicole’s large suitcase. She stuffed as many clothes as she could in it. She left the room and looked at Adam sitting on the sofa reading a book. He was the nicest person she has ever met. She remembered seeing him in that bar and listening to him sing. Hell, it was love at first sight. Then for whatever reason he came over and talked to her. He was so sweet and instantly made her feel at ease.

  “You look like a cute little pixie, I just had to come over and say hi. You look kind of loss.”

  “I’m new to this area. I just got a job at the bakery a couple of blocks down the road. My boss said the food was good here. I love your music. I’m Monica by the way.”

  “Adam. You and I are going to be friends. Can you feel it?” He smiled so warmly it about melted her heart.

  She was so scared being out on her own. Her parents had died in a car accident just before she started college. Getting her degree became even more important. She was so happy that she decided to take her bosses recommendation and go to Tears and Beers. Though, she was a bit disappointed that nothing romantic ever developed between her and Adam, she was grateful for their friendship.

  “Are you alright? I can come with you if you want?” Adam said when he noticed her standing there in the hallway just staring at him.

  “No, you have to stay here just in case Michael stops by.” Monica lingered just looking at him. “You know I love you in a friend kind of way right?”

  “Yes, I love you too. Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you. Even better, why not just stay here with me. We can give Nicole her clothes tomorrow.”

  She couldn’t afford to wait. If Michael was planning on moving to London, he would have to set things in motion to frame Adam. “I told Nicole I was coming. Don’t worry I won’t get caught. Nicole would be so pissed if she found me going through Michael’s things.” She went over and gave Adam a kiss on the cheek. “If Michael shows up here send me a text.”

  “Okay.”

  Monica walked back over to the suitcase and grabbed the handle then she wheeled it out the apartment.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Nicole greeted Monica at the door to Michael’s apartment. Monica dragged in the large suitcase that had Nicole’s clothes in it.

  “I didn’t know what clothes you wanted so I just brought them all.”

  “Here I got this.” Nicole grabbed the suitcase and took it to Michael’s bedroom.

  “Whoa, this is a fancy apartment,” Monica said as she followed her to the bedroom. Nicole said the apartment was big, but damn, Monica wasn’t expecting it to be this big. How in the fuck was she going to find a small freaking key in here. But, he would have to hide it from Nicole too.

  “Which one is your dresser?” Monica asked.

  “Both of them are Michael’s. He said he will buy me my own dresser.”

  “So where your clothes going?”

  “In the closet I guess for now.”

  Monica let Nicole give her the grand tour. The view from the balcony was breathtaking. Then they headed back to the kitchen.

  “Girl, let me cook you something in this fancy ass kitchen. You can take a nice long bubble bath while you listen to some music. I’m assuming Michael has sound wired into that fancy bathroom.”

  “I couldn’t let you do that.”

  “Sure you could. You need a little down time. Oh come on, I want to play with the snazzy stove.”

  Nicole chuckled. “Okay, but don’t let me stay in there too long. I love taking long bubble baths, you have found my weakness.”

  “Take as long as you want. I want to check out that big ass T.V. too. Then after dinner we can go online and check out apartments in London. You can make a short list for Michael.”

  “Oh, that is a good idea. It will save him the hassle.”

  “Yeah, but we have to make sure those apartments are as fancy as this one. Now shoo.”

  Monica quickly grabbed some steak and lightly seasoned it then popped it into the oven. She made a salad and put it in the refrigerator. By time she was done she heard the music coming from the bathroom. She quickly and quietly went to Michael’s bedroom.

  “Alright, you creepy fucker, where would you hide shit.” She looked into the closet and found a small safe. “Shit, I hope it isn’t in there.” She went through the couple of smaller boxes in the closet but didn’t find anything. She looked at his suits, ties, coats and shoes that were all neatly in the closet. She closed the closet doors then went over to his smaller dresser. All that was in there was clothes, socks and underwear.

  “Damn it.” She could still hear the music coming from the bathroom so she went to the larger dresser.

  There was nothing but clothes in all the drawers but the top drawer. He had a ton of cuff links laid out in a wooden display case. “Damn this guy is anal.” She saw a couple of smaller boxes. In one was a small picture of an older couple. The man looked a lot like Michael. She assumed this had to be his parents. As she carefully put the picture back she accidently bumped the display that held the cufflinks. She noticed a small drawer under the display she carefully opened it up. There was a key in there.
She grabbed the key then reached into her pocket to take out the scan of Adam’s apartment key. She compared the two keys they were a perfect match.

  Fear raced through her. She was right…oh my god, she was right. She had to get Nicole out of this fucking apartment and…

  “What are you doing in my bedroom?”

  Her blood ran cold hearing Michael’s voice. She could still hear the music coming from the bathroom. Her heart banged in her chest and her palms began to sweat as the fear mounted. What the fuck was she going to do? She couldn’t just run and leave Nicole with this asshole. She had to try to act naturally.

  “I’m sorry, I’m a bit of a snoop.” Her voice shook.

  “What is in your hand?”

  She could hear his footsteps getting closer. She quickly turned around. She looked up into his dark eyes. She was too afraid to move.

  “I will scream if you touch me.”

  “No you won’t.”

  Michael’s gaze went to the key and piece of paper in her hand. How in the fuck did she find that key? It didn’t matter, he was going to have to kill her.

  “You know what has to happen now don’t you,” Michael said.

  Monica went to scream but he grabbed her and covered her mouth.

  “You stupid little bitch.” He pushed her down on the bed and climbed on top of her as he kept her mouth covered. “Now what are you going to do?” He wrapped his hands around her neck and squeezed. She struggled under him trying to break free. She tried to scream but only a slight breathy sound came out. Michael squeezed harder. “You couldn’t just leave it alone, could you? I wanted to kill you from the moment I saw you. I wanted to torture you and watch the sweet agony wash over your face. The only reason I contained myself is because of Nicole.”

  She grabbed his hands and tried to pry them off her neck. She began to pound on his arms and tried to move her body out from under him.

  “You are a fighter, you are not so easy to admit your fate.” Michael squeezed harder. He wanted to linger make her suffer more but he couldn’t chance Nicole coming out of the bathroom and seeing this. He smiled seeing the fear in her eyes. She frantically hit his arms and then she tried grabbing his hands again. It took everything he had to keep her pinned under him. Oh, she would have lasted a long time before begging him to kill her, how disappointing he had to kill her so quickly.

  “The only thing you accomplished here is speeding up my timeline. Adam will be labeled a serial killer and go to prison. And now, I might have to kill Nicole. She will no doubt try to find you. Hurry up and die.” He squeezed harder. She stopped moving as he watched the light fade from her eyes.

  He climbed off of the bed and lifted her body off the bed. He took her body and laid it on the floor. He checked her pockets to find her cellphone. He quickly turned the phone off then shoved her body under the bed. He remade the bed then headed into the kitchen. He briefly turned on Monica’s phone and sent Nicole a text explaining that Adam needed to talk and he sounded really upset so she had to make sure he was alright. Michael smiled as he turned off the cellphone again and put it back into his pocket.

  He heard the music shut off then after a moment Nicole’s hurried footsteps.

  “Holy shit, you scared me,” she said seeing Michael in the kitchen.

  “I just got home. Dinner smells wonderful.”

  “Monica was cooking me dinner, but she had to leave to talk to Adam. Should we go make sure everything is okay?”

  “No, I don’t want to spook him. If he is the killer he probably is starting to feel the walls closing in around him. I almost hope he just leaves town. I know that sounds awful, if he is guilty then I should go to the police, but I guess I don’t want to believe it, you know what I mean.”

  “Yes. But what if Monica is in danger?”

  “I doubt it. He wouldn’t want to chance killing her. Let’s leave well enough alone. Besides, I haven’t totally proven Adam is a killer, so let’s enjoy not knowing for a little while.”

  “Okay.” Nicole went over to him and hugged him tightly.

  ***

  Michael waited for Nicole to go into the office. He asked her to pick up some files for him so they could go over them at home. He had to hand his case load over to his partner and wanted to make things easier for him. His partner was okay with him going to London for a little while and even thought it would help to expand their reputation in the legal circles. This is why Michael picked Jerry to start this law firm. He was easy to sway.

  Michael took Nicole’s clothes out of her large suitcase and put them on the bed. He took his clothes out of the small dresser and put them into a box in the closet. He could easily tell her that he wanted her to feel like this was her house too, blah, blah, blah. He pulled Monica’s body out from under the bed and stuffed it into the large suitcase. He grabbed the key to Adam’s apartment then headed out to his car. After he put the suitcase into the car he headed to Adam’s apartment. He knew Adam was at Nicole’s apartment, so Adam’s apartment would be empty. Once there he let himself in then took Monica’s body out of the suitcase. He laid her out on the bed then he left the apartment. He deliberately left Nicole’s suitcase in the apartment.

  He stopped at a stoplight and gripped the steering wheel hard. He started to chuckle he couldn’t stop himself. He knew what he had to do, but by God he was having a hard time working himself up to do it. He has killed so many people, not really caring at all what he had done to them. Even the three he had a little remorse for didn’t feel like this. He truly didn’t want to kill Nicole. He actually fucking loved her. Yet, he knew Nicole wouldn’t accept that Adam had killed Monica. They were all friends. She would start trying to convince herself that Adam was set up. He knew his Nicole, she always looked for the good in someone.

  “Damn it,” Michael shouted as he pounded the steering wheel. Tears filled his eyes as he tried to think of any other scenario that would keep her alive. Why the fuck did she have to be so damn good-natured?

  He heard a horn honking behind him. He put his foot on the gas and moved forward. Tears fell down his cheeks as he thought about having to see the light fade from Nicole’s eyes.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Nicole was busy packing the picnic basket as Michael stood out on the balcony and looked at the fading light over the city. He pulled Monica’s cellphone out of his pocket and turned it on. There were a ton of messages from Adam and a couple from Nicole. He texted Adam telling him to go to his apartment in an hour. There was something she needed to discuss with him.

  Adam quickly texted back asking her if she was okay.

  Michael texted that she had proof and to just meet her in an hour, then he shut the phone off again and put it back in his pocket. He would have to find somewhere to get rid of it. His gaze lingered on the view.

  “Are you alright?” Nicole said as she came out onto the balcony.

  “Yeah, I’m just thinking about what I have to do later.”

  “Let’s not think about anything right now. Are you ready to go?”

  Michael turned to her. “I do love you, woman.”

  Nicole smiled. “I love you.”

  She grabbed his hand and led him back inside. “Let’s go. Maybe we can reenact our first time at the Monument.”

  He just smiled and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her with such passion it made her body tremble. He let her go and grabbed her hand leading her out of the apartment.

  ***

  Adam looked at the text message. He was so worried about Monica all night. He tried to go to Michael’s apartment last night to check on her, but the damn doorman wouldn’t let him. Adam tried calling Michael or Nicole, but they weren’t answering their phones.

  Adam couldn’t take waiting around in this apartment. He decided to head over to his apartment and just wait for Monica there. When he entered the lobby there was still police tape across the landlord’s office. Everything Monica was telling him about Michael ran through his mind. He wondered if the
proof she had was the key and what would they do with that knowledge.

  He opened the door to his apartment and went inside. He remembered getting this crappy apartment. Hell that was four years ago. It was a step up from crashing with one of his bandmates. He grabbed a glass and filled it with water. He remember getting the call from Michael letting him know he was the winner of that grant from Michael’s foundation and the relief he felt knowing he could solely focus on his music.

  “Fuck, hurry up, Monica.” Adam put the glass down and headed to the bedroom. He froze in the doorway seeing Monica lying lifeless on the bed. He quickly pulled his crap together and hurried to the bed. He checked her pulse, she was cold to the touch. She must have been dead since yesterday.

  “Monica…” Adam gently stroked her hair. He was numb…she was dead…oh my God, she was dead. He couldn’t think, couldn’t feel, hell he couldn’t barely breathed. He stood and grabbed the extra blanket from the closet. He put the blanket over Monica’s body. He grabbed his phone to call the police.

  “Wait…” If he called the police they would think he did this. Someone planned this and wanted the cops to find her here. “Little Nicole.” He quickly dialed her number but it went straight to voice mail. “Shit, shit, shit.” He got out of the bedroom and paced in the living room. “Monica, shit…” He held back his tears. He had to think straight.

  “Michael…the last thing Monica went to do was to find proof that Michael was the killer.” He couldn’t go to Michael’s apartment to drag Nicole out of there. “Wait, the Millennium Monument. Monica said something about Nicole going on about Michael taking her to that Monument tonight.” Adam went back into the room and went into the closet. He grabbed the shoebox on the top shelf. He took the small pistol out. He checked to make sure it was loaded then put it in his jacket pocket as he rushed out of the apartment. He will deal with calling the cops as soon as he knew Nicole was alright.