Chapter 902 Staking Out
Michael decided to stay behind long after work had finished.
Once the final shutter gate bolted shut, and the last car had wheeled away into the night, Michael settled himself down at a spot just across the road to the shop.
He didn't particularly mind the feel of the hard ground or the arid summer night air, the odd look or two from passerby strolling through - focus and devotion kept him from deviating to those little trite gripes.
For an hour, he waited. Then, that hour became two, and Michael felt every second and minute passing him with the constant ebb and flow of traffic. He wasn't sure yet what exactly he was looking for, but as the skies grew darker and the streets quieter, he could feel his resolve for the night begin to lose to attrition.
Eventually, he concluded that even if he were to find anything of note, it certainly would not be tonight, and after an eternity spent lounging about in mild discomfort, Michael walked off, wishing he had at least prepared a book in hindsight, or even some music… or hell… even a smoke would do.
Upon stepping off the dingy, creaking elevator ride into the landing of his apartment, Michael was surprised to hear noises seeping through the crack he made in his front door.
The TV was on in the living room, and he had arrived just in time to witness the climatic kiss between the two star-crossed lovers in the pouring rain, as a choir of violins ushered on a bitter melody as sweet as it was tragic.
Entering deeper, Michael dropped his gaze at an angle.
"You're still awake?"
Wine glass in one hand, a bowl of snacks nearby, and with legs tucked high up to her knees, Lilith looked back at him, her hair in braided knots tossed loosely over her shoulder, and promptly shushed him, veering her eyes right back to her show.
Michael stood over her, giving the characters on screen a few more seconds' worth of consideration before the corny acting and sappy delivery of lines had him tuning out quickly.
As the credits started to roll, Lilith released the breath she had been holding, wearing a smile, visibly satisfied.
"In the end, Rose decided to spend the rest of her life with Charlie. Abandoning a life of riches, of splendor, for the simple pleasures of true love," she switched the TV off, staring back up at Michael, a mistiness glimmering in her dark eyes. "I just love happy endings. Don't you?"
"What's wrong?" Michael asked. "Couldn't sleep?"
"No, not a chance," Lilith said, yawning, stretching, finally greeting him with a smile. "Not without you anyway."
"Hasn't stopped you before."
"I'm allowed to feel lonely every once in a while, aren't I?" She asked, clearing her mess and making for the kitchen.
Through the clatter of plates and running water, he heard her voice over both, sounding just almost, genuinely, worried.
"Besides, what if you've gotten into an accident at work? Or run over by a drunk driver? Mugged in an alley somewhere? It's a dangerous world out there, you know?" then she paused, completely breaking, her cause for concern overtaken by soft laughter. "What if you got hurt?"
A minute later, she returned to him back in the living room, drying her hands with the silky hems of her nightgown. Except her expression had changed; wide awake with the glow of intrigue.
"So," she said, cocking her head and pacing much closer. "What kept you?"
Michael proceeded to tell her of the recent string of thefts happening at work, the reason he had been out long past the stroke of midnight, and as his tale gradually spun from simple thieveries to schemes, Lilith stopped him, finding it all much too amusing.
"Stuff is going missing, you believe Rudy is the culprit," she summarized, unable to suppress a small chuckle. "And you're out here playing hero again."
Michael stared at her, her perspective on matters failing to mesh with his own.
"It's a company matter," he said. "As an employee, I'm simply helping my company."
"It is a criminal matter," Lilith said with heavy embellishment. "And as such, it should really be up to the proper authorities to handle such matters, don't you think?"
"Jamie's already made a report, but - "
"But nothing, dear," she interrupted him, her smile as wide as can be. "As far as you're concerned, that should be the end of it. It's not that sound like something you would do?"
There was a pause of long, anticipating silence before Michael your business anymore. But instead, you're out there hiding in the dark for hours keeping watch for mystery culprits, potentially dangerous culprits, taking matters into your own hands - again. Does that sound like something anyone normal would do? Or does that sound like something you would do?"
There was a pause of long, anticipating silence before Michael eventually answered, saying slowly, under heavy, impish scrutiny, "Rudy's a good person. I do not think he would do something like this unless he has no other choice but to. I want to help him, so I - "
But once again, Lilith refused to let him finish, turning away from him towards the crumpled sheets of the bedroom, seemingly having heard all she needed to.
"Go have your fun, dear," she said to him tenderly, leaving him standing alone with but a knowing leer. "Seems you're much more bored than I thought you were."
For the next few days, Michael repeated this newfound routine of his, returning home only much, much later than most, and as of late, with a ready-made meal in the fridge always waiting for him when he does.
Night after night, just waiting for something, anything, before ultimately leaving with nothing. Even as a person of his temperament, Michael could not deny the tedious nature of the whole affair.
Meanwhile, the afternoons were only a marginal improvement. Rudy often avoided him now, speaking to him only a handful of sentences a day at best, and all day long festered this palpable tension in the air that only grew more potent.
"Maybe you oughta apologize?" Matt suggested during one unusually silent lunch break. "Just food for thought. Yeah, I know how guys like you are like - always one to speak their mind, the brutal honest type, take no shit - but A: we don't know that he did it, and B: you don't know that he did it - put yourself in his shoes. Doesn't feel too good when someone you thought was a friend hurts you like that."
Michael just silently stared ahead, over Matt's shoulder, over Matt's lecture, noticing a faint smile forming across Rudy's face at the other end of the room, presumably over a joke that Charles beside him had told.
Seeing that, Michael felt doubt creeping at him again. A doubt he carried with him once more late into the night, under the cover of rolling thunder and the looming threat of rain.
It was true. Michael had no grounds to accuse Rudy of anything. All he had on offer were conjecture and assumptions, nothing concrete and certainly nothing worth spending many long nights on.
But even so, he just couldn't shake off the feeling of certainty within him. Yet does that justify his actions - to so boldly accuse Rudy of something far below him?
Even if he only wanted to help him, having only the best of intentions… the question still persists… what if he was mistaken?
The first few drops began to pour from the skies, invisible splatters gradually growing heavier; Michael felt his clothes starting to dampen as a nimble breeze momentarily blinded him with a light sprinkle of rain.
He blinked hard, clearing his vision, and already one foot forward ready to cut the night short - that was when he saw it.
Something.
Finally, something.
Somebody…
A figure across the street, emerging from a corner… a blurred silhouette steadily moving along under the cover of rain and darkness. With each heavier drop, each louder clap of thunder, the figure inched closer to the entrance of the shop, a strong gust of wind rattling the lock on the gate in place.
There was no doubt about it. This was it.
This was him.
Whoever he turns out to be…
Michael took a deep breath, breathing in the smell of wet asphalt and building trepidation. For some inexplicable reason, a question sprung at him… one he had never before considered… yet had always been on his mind.
And as it echoed with the many swirling thoughts in his head, he could vaguely hear Lilith's voice playfully reciting it for him word-for-word, still giggling, still asking…
Are you really wanting to help, or are you just bored after all?
He didn't pause to ponder it. Either way, he was about to find out.
Read 𝓁atest chapters at fr(e)ewebnov𝒆l.com Only