by David Barton
Even shutting my annoying companion out when he asked what I was doing. Listening intently as the soft breeze brought all kinds of sounds to me. Then I heard what I was looking for. A soft repetitive clicking, over and over. Behind that was soft breathing.
I was confronted by a confused face, “what are you doing?”
“Think about it. All those photos were of me. They wouldn’t just stop their surveillance?”
“I’m not following.”
“I can hear the click of a camera taking photos of us right now.”
Realisation dawned on his face. “Whereabouts?”
“Off to my left.”
His eyes darted off in that direction, “I can’t see anybody.”
“Trust me. I can hear him breathing.”
“You know it’s a guy? How?”
“I doubt a woman would wear cologne.”
“So what are you waiting for?” I didn’t bother to answer him. I just stood there until the clicking stopped. My senses tracked him as he moved positions.
I heard the roar of an engine. “He’s just gotten into a car.”
“So he’s gotten away.” I watched as he threw his arms up in frustration. I just smiled and shot off. My ears directed me and my feet carried me. It only took a second.
My ears were filled with the revving engine just as the photographer pushed down on the accelerator. I placed my hands on the front of the car. Tensing my arms I stood my ground. The wheels spun on the concrete. Smoke kicked up, engulfing the front of the car.
There was a short pause. I heard the clicking of the gears being changed, the vehicle being shoved into reverse. My fingers dug into the metal like hooks. I had to use more of my strength but the car didn’t move an inch.
Our eyes met through the windscreen. Mine full of determination. His full of fear. The engine suddenly settled, finally being cut off by the ignition. The smoke the wheels had created surrounded me making me look more menacing. The man slowly climbed out of the car. He held the camera in his shaking hands.
His bottom jaw started wagging like he was trying to find the right words to use. I walked around the car to stand in front of him. My hand reached out and plucked the camera from his weak grasp. “Why are you so shaky? Haven’t you been taking photos of me for ages now, possibly years?”
A long noise came from his mouth making him seem like an idiot. “I haven’t.”
“What? What haven’t you been doing?”
“Taking photos of you. The first one I took was the other day.”
“You didn’t take those photos in the garage?”
“What photos?”
I looked into his eyes and I could tell he had no idea what I was talking about. This peaked my interest even more. That’s when the slow poke decided to join the conversation. “A little out of breath?”
“Screw you.”
“I guess you’re just old.” He would have replied but he was too busy trying to get his breath back. I turned my attention back to the camera man. “So why are you following me now. Did the other guy get replaced?”
“What other guy?”
Now I was getting frustrated with this. “Here.” I tossed the camera to the elderly gentleman who had finally stopped puffing. “Check the photos. See what else this guy has been shooting.”
“You can’t go through my stuff.”
“Do we look like we’re the kind of people to care what you think?” He turned and looked behind him, then back at me, slowly shaking his head. “I didn’t think so.”
Donald spoke, still a little out of breath. “There’s nothing on here but shots of women.”
“Huh?” He chucked the camera back at me. I looked down at the digital screen, seeing a photo of a woman bending over. “Well, it looks like you got a great shot down her cleavage.”
“Thanks.”
My eyes shot up to him making the small smile disappear. “It wasn’t a compliment. By the looks of it, she didn’t know she was being photographed. Do you make it a hobby to take sleazy photos like this? You could get in a lot of trouble for this.” Pushing the camera back into his hands. “How about you just tell us what you know. Then we’ll just look the other way. Or we could have a chat with the police.”
“What do you want to know?”
“The photos. Why are you here? Who hired you?”
“Oh. I was hired through my agency. I don’t know who by though. All I know is that I am meant to be here at this place and to take photos of you.”
“How do you know I’m the one you’re supposed to photograph?”
He quickly dug into his jacket pocket like his life depended on it. He pulled out a folded up photo. “I was given this.”
I took it and looked down at a shot of me. “So you were just here to take photos? A decoy.”
“I guess. Look, I don’t know anything else. Can I go, my mum always worries about me when I’m out in the city.”
“Your mother?”
He nodded. “I live in her basement.”
This made me see him in a whole new light. “Get the hell out of here and make sure you tell no one about this chat.”
“Thanks.” He suddenly seemed over joyed to be getting out of this situation.
We both stood there and watched as the car left us in the night. I turned to the tall man next to me. “So what do we know from this?”
“This guy we’re chasing knew you would come here. Set up something just to play with you. Paid someone to pretend to be the photographer. Anything else?”
“Not by the looks of it. No clue where to go next either.” Then I looked down at the photo I had folded back up. On the back was something in black ink. Unfolding it allowed me to see the address written down.
“What’s that?”
“The address to my place.”
“What? The one that was blown up?”
“Yep.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well.” I started pacing back and forth as my mind tried to figure out the brainteaser. “This was left with the man. Say this guy knew we’d find him. We would be in possession of this photo. Therefore we would find the address.”
“But the place was blown up, by this guy for all we know.”
“True but there are two other paths. Either he wasn’t responsible for the explosion or he wants us to go back there now. Maybe there’s something we missed.”
“What?” He took the photo and rubbed his thumb over the letters.
“What are you hoping for? That there’s some kind of riddle.”
“I’m thinking.”
He handed it back with a disappointed look on his face. “I’m going back to my apartment to see if I can figure this out.”
“It’s most likely a trap. They could be sending you in front of a rifle scope?”
“It’s something I’m willing to risk.” I started walking off. That’s when I saw the soft glow on the horizon. The sun was coming up. I couldn’t dress like this during the day but I didn’t want to expose myself.
His voice made me jump as I stared. “Are you okay?”
He asked for a second time snapping me out of my staring contest with the rising sun. “Yeah, I just have something I need to take care of.”
“Do you need some company?”
“No, I’ll sort this out myself. Meet me at my place this night coming up if you’re interested.”
“Maybe.” His word was lost in the morning breeze as I sped off. I managed to get half way across the city, not knowing where I was headed. I couldn’t hide at my apartment anymore. There was only one other place I could think of.
As I made my way over the rooftops of the city I started to feel weaker. It was strange how the sun seemed to be sapping the energy from me. I couldn’t remember seeing the sun before. This was a new feeling and I didn’t like it.
My eyes locked onto the window I’d gone through a few times already. I couldn’t hear any movement from inside which meant the reporter was stil
l asleep during the early hours of the morning.
Luckily he hadn’t fixed the window yet so I should be able to sneak in without a sound.
05/07/2014 AM
My eyes flicked open, my dream being snatched away from me. There was noise coming from the lounge. I quickly jumped out of bed. Slowly placing my feet over the carpet I made my way to the open doorway.
As I peered around the corner I heard footsteps. My heart was pounding. My head thinking what kind of assassin has been sent and more importantly, why were they being sent to kill me.
Then my eyes made out the figure from the soft glow starting to come through the window. I saw the black leather jacket and then the mask. It wasn’t an assassin. It was the superhero that had entered my life with a thud.
As I walked out into the lounge I watched as he fell to the floor. A surge of panic shot through my limbs. Rushing forwards I wrapped my arms around him and hoisted him up onto the sofa. He was heavier than he looked. “What’s happened? Are you hurt?”
“I don’t think so. Just feeling really tired.”
I watched his eyes blink until they stayed shut. My eyes quickly scanned his body for any injuries, any reason why he would be acting like this. There was nothing, no blood. His breathing wasn’t erratic and he seemed at peace, not in pain.
I dropped back on my arse, my back leaning on the coffee table. For the next ten minutes I just sat there watching this strong person look so weak. He seemed so defenceless when he came into the apartment. Such a strange way to see someone who saves people.
Once I was happy that he was sleeping and not dying I went back to the bedroom. Looking down at my mobile phone I noticed it was only half five in the morning. I hadn’t planned on getting up for another few hours.
I would have gone back to bed but I felt wide awake. So instead I got showered and washed. As I dried myself I saw my pills sitting on the sink. I was thinking about taking one but I realised that my side didn’t really hurt anymore. I discarded the thought and went to get dressed.
Once ready I went to the kitchen and made myself some breakfast. This whole morning I didn’t hear the superhero wake up or even more. He was deep in sleep and looked like he would be out for the whole day.
As I ate my food I contemplated the fact that he could be nocturnal like an owl. Once finished I put the plate in the sink and got ready to leave. Gathering all the things I needed I checked on the sleeping strong man and then left the apartment.
I was heading to the paper. Hopefully my friend had managed to crack the encryption on the flash drive. There were no messages left on my phone during the night but maybe I would get lucky. The tram ride was uneventful and I got to the building with no problems.
When I walked into the reception area that all changed. Standing there, leaning on the reception desk was the man who had started the fight. The man who had gotten fired because of it.
Kevin was chatting up the receptionist just like he used to. I stepped out of the elevator but stayed back, near the corner. He was angry and he was shouting at the her, wanting to speak with Harvey. She was refusing. Saying he wasn’t free to meet anyone. That’s when he slammed his fist onto the desk making the receptionist jump and squeal.
That’s when I decided to step in. “Hey! Leave her alone.”
He turned around with a big smile on his face. “Well if it isn’t the local superhero. What are you going to do? Beat me up?”
He laughed at me. I balled up my fist in anger. “Maybe.”
“Don’t you remember the last time you started a fight? I remember kicking your arse and I’ll gladly do it again.”
“Stop!” The receptionist’s shout made us both jump. He turned around to stare at her and that was my opportunity. As he turned back to me I swung my fist with all my might. My fist struck him on the side of the jaw. A perfect punch.
To my surprise he dropped to the floor holding his face, moaning in pain. He didn’t get up. For a moment he stared up at me shocked at what had just happened. Probably not the fact I had punched him but the fact I had knocked him down to the ground.
I was surprised myself but I didn’t want him to know that. “Get out of here whilst you can still walk.”
“This isn’t over.” He climbed back to his feet and walked out of the office.
I turned wanting to get into the office quickly. Worried that Kevin would come back. “Thank you for doing that. He was really starting to scare me.”
“It’s okay. Never liked him anyway.”
“If there’s any way I can repay you then let me know.”
“Thanks.”
I went to walk away but her grip on me was tight. I looked at her as she stared into my eyes. “Anything at all.”
She smiled at me. “Sure.” I gave her a little smile back before she let go of me. Trying to shake the hidden meaning behind her words out of my head I entered the office. Heading straight for the desk in the corner where my friend always works. Everyone was busy despite it being the start of the weekend. Harvey had us working seven days a week. It was a surprise any of us had any kind of life.
However when I got there the desk was empty. There was no sign of him. No work on the desk. I touched his computer tower but it wasn’t even warm. He must not have come in yet which was weird. Out the two of us, I was the late one.
I decided to dig out my phone and give him a call, turning on my heal and dropping into my friend’s chair. A few rings and then the answer machine picked up. I decided against leaving a message and just hung up. Wondering where he could be.
Then my eyes saw Felicity. Not so much just her but the fact she was laughing and chatting with someone. That wouldn’t have bothered me only it was someone sitting at my desk. It was like looking back in time at us two and the way we were before.
Then I felt a hint of jealousy coming to the surface. Not only was someone sitting at my desk, he was also chatting up my girl. Although she wasn’t my girl. We weren’t even currently chatting.
Then I wondered if the masked man had had a chat with her. When I saw him like he was this morning I hadn’t even thought about Felicity and if she was okay. That’s when she looked over at me.
She made a double take, most likely thinking I was my friend at first. Then a small smile came across her face. It wasn’t because of a joke she was laughing at, it was because of me. Her eyes still looked at me as she half listened to her new co-worker.
When I smiled back she made her excuses and made her way over. Somehow she looked more beautiful now than she had ever done before. Could it be the fact she had told me we wouldn’t be able to talk or be friends? Maybe she had just done something different with her hair.
“Hey stranger.”
“Hey yourself.” My eyes moved past her. “Who’s the new guy?”
“Not jealous are you?”
“Of you two? You were the one who said we should just be co-workers and not friends or anything more.”
“Umm, I meant the fact he’s at your desk.”
“Oh.” I could feel my face burning with embarrassment. “No, not at all.”
She pulled her gorgeous smile and parked her butt on the edge of the desk. “So, you heard my message then.”
“Yeah.”
“Sorry to leave such a message on your answer phone. I messed things up between us.”
“It was more my father’s fault. But, think we should just forget about it, like you said.”
“Yeah, about that.” Her eyes dropped to the floor. I’d sat across from her long enough to know that meant she was going to say something she found hard. I don’t think I could handle any more bad news. “This is hard for me to say.”
“Okay.” I braced myself for the bad news. What could it be? Was she now dying of cancer or something?
“I think we should forget what the answer machine message said.”
I suddenly felt shocked and confused. “Excuse me?”
“Forget I left it.”
“So, what
are you saying exactly?”
This time she didn’t speak. She just leant down to me, her hands on my shoulders and planted a little kiss on my lips. The short second her peck lasted felt like one wonderful minute. She pulled away with a smile. “That’s what I mean.”
“Oh.”
“What do you think?” Her eyebrows jumped up.
Suddenly the pain I had felt all of yesterday disappeared. I smiled up at her as her own smile stretched her lips again. “I think it’s a great idea.”
“Good.” Then she kissed me again before sitting back up right. I looked around the room as everyone stared at us. Including Harvey standing in his office watching. He had a small smirk on his face.
“So, did my friend get a hold of you last night?” I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.
“Your friend? No I barely see him around the office, why would he want to chat with me?”
“No, not that friend. The one with the mask.”
“What?”
“I gave your address to him, he said he needed to chat with you about something important.”
The look on her face told me she didn’t know what I was on about. “You gave my address to some guy in a mask?” She blew out a long sigh. “Is this another superhero thing you’ve got going on in your head?” She laughed, clearly thinking it was a joke.
I didn’t feel it was very funny. “You’ve never been one of the people laughing at me. Never.”
I went to stand up but she placed a hand on my shoulder before I could move. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m still not one of those people. I stood by you when people were laughing.”
“I know.” I looked up into her eyes. They seemed worried. The kind of look you gave a puppy when it was trying to eat a bone twice the size of its body. “Do you think I’m crazy?”
“Of course I don’t. Why would you ask me that?”
“The way you’re looking at me right now.”
“I’m just worried about you. Can’t I be worried about my boyfriend?”
“Boyfriend?”
“Yeah, why do you think I kissed you?”
“I don’t know, I guess it was just you telling me that you liked me.”