>>Clio
"Hello," I greeted my colleagues who were watching the morning news in the office and I joined them.
"You have dark circles under your eyes," Imani pointed out.
"Yes," I sat down in my chair, "I didn't sleep well," The case of the Head Hunter was on and the video of the man dressed in all black was playing.
"The police suspect that the killer originally planned to put the head of Rameen in the victim's house, as you can see from the video, he is walking from the direction that leads to the victim's house, but later the Head Hunter decided to make a more public show of his kill and went to the victim's mother's office and placed it there."
My heart sank as I recalled the whole thing, and to think he wanted to place the head in Chris's house.
I shook my head.
God…
Why would he be so cruel about it?
"Okay," Bizy turned the TV off, "Time to get to work." He clapped his hands, "Open your laptops." Everyone began to settle down with their hearts heavy when I got a text.
I took out my phone and lightened up the screen.
It was a text from Lily,
'Dave and I have been called in for questioning again, please give the boss his coffee today as well."
I stared at the text
Again? Why were they called in for questioning? Did they lie about something?
But other than that, I have to make Matthew's coffee again?
I felt funny thinking about going to Matthew's office and facing him. After what happened last night, I don't think I can face him head-on.
….
I pursed my lips shyly, but still got up to make his coffee.
I wonder,
How serious was he when he said he'd protect me?
I walked into the small office kitchen and began doing the work.
One thing that's bothering me, he was confident he could handle Zhou-Lin. That means he was confident about handling the Chinese mafia.
As I worked, I pondered on the whole thing.
Nolan was confident that Matthew has dark stuff behind him too. And Detective Harou was happy to take him to jail…
I stirred in the coffee mug.
Just because the boss is nice to me, doesn't mean he isn't hiding anything bad, right? But maybe it's not the kind of bad that I'm worried about…
I chewed my lower lip as my heart felt weird.
All the things I've encountered so far points to Matthew and Azef being involved with the mafia…
I stopped stirring the coffee and stared at it.
I don't really know what to think about that…
***
I knocked on the boss's door
"Come in," Hearing his voice made my heart flip but I composed myself and opened the door.
"I brought your coffee," I said softly and looked around. He wasn't at his desk. Instead, he was standing by the shelf near the couches, looking at some book. But the moment I entered the room, he noticed and turned to look at me
!!!
It made me panic a little and I turned my head straight. I looked at the desk in front of me and speed-walked to it.
I placed the coffee on the desk softly and had plans of running away when I felt him walk towards me. He was fast, faster than I was and before I knew it, he was behind me.
"Say," My cheeks started heating up as he stood directly behind me, the contact of our bodies made my heartbeat speed up, "There's one more thing I'm curious about," He leaned over me as he placed his hand on the desk next to the coffee.
"Yes?" I whispered nervously as I watched his hand go for the coffee cup sitting on the coffee plate
"Your voice," He grabbed the cup handle and I wondered why he would choose this position to do so,
"Hmm?" I turned to look at him
!!!
But he had leaned down towards me and now our faces were dangerously close, our lips not that far apart. My eyes went wide at the realization but I couldn't move, I just went completely still, like I had frozen.
"You speak so naturally that I never questioned it, part of the reason why I failed to recognize your mask," I felt his breath on my lips and my skin stood up, "But you change it, don't you?"
My pupils shook as I looked into his eyes, then nodded softly, "Yes," I didn't even think about lying this time. There was no reason to do it.
He smiled, "Can I hear your real voice then?" His black eyes stared into mine and my heart started pounding. I can't believe I once thought these eyes were scary. And I can't believe I thought this man might be the Head Hunter.
I pursed my lips and softly nodded.
His black eyes don't have that deranged vibe I saw in the eyes of the killer.
He smiled, an excited look took over his face and I felt even more shy. I've grown used to using this voice of mine since I've been using it for the past five years… It's not manly, but it's not feminine either. I managed to bring the sound low enough so that no one would think that I sounded like a girl.
"Um," I placed my hands on his chest, "A little space," I looked away feeling shy, "Please,"
"Oh," Matthew took a step back, "If that's what you want," He didn't apologize?
…
It suddenly hit me that he hadn't made a mistake, he was standing near me on purpose!!! Because now that he's stepped back, he didn't even pick up the coffee!!!
"Go on," He folded his arms and I felt a little awkward.
What do I say? I fiddled with my fingers.
My chest felt bubbly and I thought about how this would be the first time someone new would be hearing my real voice.
I looked at him, cleared my throat, and then gulped. I still had no idea what to say but the pressure of his anticipation was making me conscious.
"Hi," I awkwardly waved at him but here's the thing, his ears twitched like how animal ears twitch.
He was so pleasantly surprised at 'my' voice, "Hi," He ended up replying.
"Your ears twitched," I couldn't help but chuckle because I was amazed at the whole thing and he paused.
"Ah.." He placed his hands on his ears and I snickered some more.
"It's like you're a puppy," A thought crossed my mind and I paused, "Wait," I looked at him again and he was staring back, "You mentioned something about scents a lot too,"
It was weird.
"Well," He wasn't fazed by it, "I'd say I'm a wolf," He shook his head, "Not a dog,"
I raised my brows at him, "Zhou-Lin said you're not normal…" The words just escaped my mouth but I didn't regret saying them.
"I wouldn't say I'm normal either." He replied rather calmly, but a wave of anxiety went through my body, "I love your voice." He added in, making the anxiety turn into butterflies, especially because I could tell he was fascinated by how much change there was in my real voice and the voice I used to talk to others.
But before I could question Matthew more, there was a knock on the door, and the door opened before Matthew could answer.
"Hello," Harou entered the premises
"Well hello detective," The boss folded his arms and looked at the other man, "What made you come here?" He turned professional within a split-second which left me amazed.
"I need some company."
"Company?" Matthew raised his eyebrows at her, "For what?"
"An inspection," He smiled and then looked at me, "Do you know where Chris lives?"
Matthew's eye twitched.
"I do," I switched back to my 'fake' voice that I'm always using,
"Come with me then," He didn't ask for a favor, "I need someone to guide me."
I looked at the boss and he began to walk as well, "I'll join you." He glanced at me, "Let's go," Why is he more than ready to go? Is it because it's about Chris?
I was confused but my feet started following them anyway. The thing that bothered me was why would Harou ask me this? He could go to Chris's house on his own. He's a detective, he can take out the address of a person whenever he wants. Why come all the way here and take me with him?
My question was answered quickly.
Because Harou took me to the police station for murders in my apartment before he went to Chris's house.
He came to take me in for questioning.
~~Author's Bullshit
I hope you all are enjoying the book! Please leave comments!! I'm sure there are questions you all have but all the questions will be answered so keep on reading!!