before the connection passed into my consciousness, Vinnie’s insistent calling brought me out of my head. I glared at him.
“Don’t look at me like that. I cooked you dinner.” He snorted, turned around and walked to the dining area. Colin and Francine were already seated at the table. I hadn’t realised I had been in my head for such a long time. I joined them at the table.
“I also got your package. I left it in your apartment,” Vinnie said as he started dishing up for each of us. The helping he put on my plate was three times as much as I could consume, but I refrained from commenting. Something else was much more pressing.
“How did you get into my apartment?” I asked.
“Oh. Um. Well.” He winced.
“We all have keys to your apartment, Jenny,” Colin said.
“How? I changed the locks after you left me.” The looks on both their faces told me everything I needed to know. “Of course, you are thieves who are experts in breaking and entering. How often do you go into my apartment?”
“Almost never,” Colin said. I believed him. “We only go in after some service people have been in. To make sure that there aren’t any bugs in your place.”
“Stop, just stop talking.” I carefully put my cutlery on my plate. I had such tight control over my movements that my hands were shaking lightly. “I’m going to my apartment. I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”
Ignoring their protests, I grabbed my handbag and computer bag from the sofa and went to my apartment. There were too many things for me to process. Personal things which included my new neighbours, my new housemate, the access they had had to my apartment and everything else. Since I had never liked agonising over emotional situations, the bits of information and that connection wanting to break through to my consciousness were much more appealing. Maybe an hour in my bathtub would help my cognitive processes. It might also relax my tense muscles.
Chapter SEVEN
The bath had not been as relaxing as I had hoped. Usually a good book would be enough to settle me for the night. Not tonight. I forced myself to go to bed by eleven, knowing that tomorrow I had to be ready for my meeting with Manny. I also wanted to be rested so that I could figure out what the meaning was of the shared looks between Colin and Vinnie. But by three in the morning, I was remaking my bed for the fourth time. I had twisted the sheets out from under the mattress.
I looked down at my bed, contemplating whether it was worth getting back in. I decided it wasn’t. There was work that could be done instead of me twisting and turning in bed all night. This break in my routine did not sit well with me and I walked into the kitchen, the corners of my mouth pulled down. First priority now was coffee. I placed my favourite mug under the coffee machine spout, flipped the switch and waited.
“Can’t sleep?” Colin’s voice right behind me startled me into a shriek. I swung around, glaring. He lifted both hands, palms up, and was trying his best to hide his laughter. “Sorry, Jenny. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
I mentally wrote five bars of Mozart’s String Quintet No. 4 in G minor while staring at Colin with narrowed eyes. He was standing two feet away from me, barefoot, dressed in sweatpants and a white undershirt. Sleepwear. When I felt calmer, I turned back to the coffee machine in time to stop it before it filled the mug too much. I took my coffee and leaned against the counter.
“When did you come in? And where?”
“About an hour after you left. Through the window. That might be why you didn’t hear me.”
I was not getting into another argument about him using the front door. I walked around him to the dining room table. My computer bag was on its usual chair, the first one from the right. “I was actually hoping that you had changed your mind.”
Colin followed me, pulled out a chair and sat down, his right leg stretched out in
“Don’t look at me like that. I cooked you dinner.” He snorted, turned around and walked to the dining area. Colin and Francine were already seated at the table. I hadn’t realised I had been in my head for such a long time. I joined them at the table.
“I also got your package. I left it in your apartment,” Vinnie said as he started dishing up for each of us. The helping he put on my plate was three times as much as I could consume, but I refrained from commenting. Something else was much more pressing.
“How did you get into my apartment?” I asked.
“Oh. Um. Well.” He winced.
“We all have keys to your apartment, Jenny,” Colin said.
“How? I changed the locks after you left me.” The looks on both their faces told me everything I needed to know. “Of course, you are thieves who are experts in breaking and entering. How often do you go into my apartment?”
“Almost never,” Colin said. I believed him. “We only go in after some service people have been in. To make sure that there aren’t any bugs in your place.”
“Stop, just stop talking.” I carefully put my cutlery on my plate. I had such tight control over my movements that my hands were shaking lightly. “I’m going to my apartment. I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”
Ignoring their protests, I grabbed my handbag and computer bag from the sofa and went to my apartment. There were too many things for me to process. Personal things which included my new neighbours, my new housemate, the access they had had to my apartment and everything else. Since I had never liked agonising over emotional situations, the bits of information and that connection wanting to break through to my consciousness were much more appealing. Maybe an hour in my bathtub would help my cognitive processes. It might also relax my tense muscles.
Chapter SEVEN
The bath had not been as relaxing as I had hoped. Usually a good book would be enough to settle me for the night. Not tonight. I forced myself to go to bed by eleven, knowing that tomorrow I had to be ready for my meeting with Manny. I also wanted to be rested so that I could figure out what the meaning was of the shared looks between Colin and Vinnie. But by three in the morning, I was remaking my bed for the fourth time. I had twisted the sheets out from under the mattress.
I looked down at my bed, contemplating whether it was worth getting back in. I decided it wasn’t. There was work that could be done instead of me twisting and turning in bed all night. This break in my routine did not sit well with me and I walked into the kitchen, the corners of my mouth pulled down. First priority now was coffee. I placed my favourite mug under the coffee machine spout, flipped the switch and waited.
“Can’t sleep?” Colin’s voice right behind me startled me into a shriek. I swung around, glaring. He lifted both hands, palms up, and was trying his best to hide his laughter. “Sorry, Jenny. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
I mentally wrote five bars of Mozart’s String Quintet No. 4 in G minor while staring at Colin with narrowed eyes. He was standing two feet away from me, barefoot, dressed in sweatpants and a white undershirt. Sleepwear. When I felt calmer, I turned back to the coffee machine in time to stop it before it filled the mug too much. I took my coffee and leaned against the counter.
“When did you come in? And where?”
“About an hour after you left. Through the window. That might be why you didn’t hear me.”
I was not getting into another argument about him using the front door. I walked around him to the dining room table. My computer bag was on its usual chair, the first one from the right. “I was actually hoping that you had changed your mind.”
Colin followed me, pulled out a chair and sat down, his right leg stretched out in
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