It’s been three days since Jesse left those photos for Allison to find. I ended up staying the night, this time on the couch since neither of us trusted ourselves to keep our hands off each other. On Sunday, however, Allison went shopping with Jacqui, and then we both went back to our regular lives yesterday.
As such, I took up my new hobby. Apartment watching. It’s a wonder no one has called the police on me yet, or maybe no one has noticed me skulking around the alley, glaring at the apartment as I wait for Jesse to show his face. I’m starting to wonder if maybe Allison was right about her original assessment; he really is a fucking coward.
The main problem is that he’s a desperate coward, and that makes all the difference, unfortunately. I grimace and rub my head, glancing at my phone again. Still no answer from Allison.
That’s okay, I tell myself. She doesn’t have to answer. She’ll probably answer later.
Despite the fact that I haven’t actually seen Allison since Sunday morning, when we finally parted ways, we’ve spoken over messages. Sometimes I think she knows that I’ve been staking out her apartment in the middle of the night, because she sends messages that say “Don’t stay up too late” and “You’re going to fall asleep at work if you stay up all night”. She hasn’t reprimanded me or told me to stop, though, which tells me more than I think she wanted to about how shaken up she is about this situation with Jesse.
I’ve also conversed with Jacqui. At some point during the game of poker, Jacqui got hold of my phone and put her number into it. Annoyed by the lack of privacy, I put a password lock on it, but the damage had already been done. Now she sends me messages about Allison, and I wonder if Allison’s spoken to her about her suspicions about me guarding her apartment in the evenings.
“Allison is finally considering looking for a new apartment. What did you say to her?”
“Allison tells me that you stayed until Sunday ;)”
“She seems cheerful today. You must be good for her”
That last one made me drop a heavy metal pipe on my foot at work. I’m good for Allison? I’m still not sure if I am, since I’m allowing her to ignore her problems (since we still haven’t spoken about Jesse), but I’m pleased by the comment, regardless. Old Man Brooks just rolled his eyes at me when he saw my grin and wandered away.
Suddenly, my phone vibrates in my h
and. At first, I think it’s another notification, but then I see it’s the message I’ve been waiting for from Allison.
I unlock the phone quickly and read the message.
“Tonight? No plans. Movies and popcorn?”
I grin. I had asked her what her plans for the night were. I should have asked yesterday, but I chickened out at the last minute. Today, however, I was going to send that message no matter what. Suddenly, the half hour that I’ve waited on tenterhooks are worth it. I send a reply:
“Sounds great. I’m picking the next movie. The last one sucked.”
The reply comes much quicker this time.
“Hey, asshole, that was one of my favorites!”
I laugh and then another message comes in.
“I’ll see you later ^_^”
No time, I notice, bemused. Just a “later”. She definitely knew that I was keeping an eye on her apartment, and likely expected me to just be here whenever she did turn up. Seems I’ve done a shitty job of going undercover. Maybe even Jesse knew I was here, which is why he hasn’t shown up at all.
Well, at least I’ve done a mostly good job, then. If I’m scaring Jesse off, it means he isn’t in the apartment, scaring Allison.
I lean against my bike, surveying the street. I wonder if Allison is already on her way home.
“Hey, Kyle! What are you doing here?”
I look up. It’s Grant. He’s wearing his jacket, which is unusual; normally I see him behind the bar where he wears black clothes and an apron. He smiles good-naturedly at me as he approaches, a plastic bag in one hand and waving with the other.
“Grant,” I greet. “This isn’t your usual route?”
“No, my taxi driver got lost, but I recognized the area so I told him to drop me on this street,” Grant says, rolling his eyes. “His GPS wasn’t working right. At least I got a discount.”
I laugh. “That’s good.”
“So what are you up to?” Grant asks curiously. “I haven’t seen you around much since last Thursday, and now I find you sulking around this alley.”
“Nothing,” I try to say nonchalantly.