ROOM 1108

The Man In my Kitchen

The voice came from behind her. It was masculine but calm. The distance was close.

"You should've left that alone."

For one terrifying second, Aria couldn't breathe properly. The note slipped from her fingers. The brass key rested near her shoe.

The envelope lay open on the coffee table, every instinct screamed at her to run. Instead, she grabbed the nearest thing she could find, a lamp.

It was a cheap lamp but at that moment, surely felt like a weapon. With her heart hammering, she spun around ready to swing or scream if need be. Or hit somebody. Then she froze.

"Are you kidding me?"

The lamp nearly slipped from her hands. Damien stood beside her kitchen counter.

Holding a mug, looking annoyingly calm.

Aria stared intently, as if she was trying to get a better look, then stared some more to be sure she wasn't hallucinating. She threw a couch pillow at him in disdain. The cushion hit his chest. Damien blinked.

"Ow."

"Ow?" Aria exploded.

"OW?"

Another cushion flew. He caught it this time.

"Aria…"

"You broke into my apartment!"

"Technically…"

"I swear if the next word out of your mouth is technically, I'll hit you with the lamp."

Damien wisely reconsidered his sentence.

For the first time since she'd met him, he looked genuinely unsure of himself. She hoped he stayed that way.

"What is wrong with you?"

"You were in danger."

"Normal people use doors, Mr."

"You weren't answering your phone."

"Because it's midnight!"

Then came a momentary pause of realization. Then Damien glanced at the phone lying forgotten on the coffee table.

"…Fair."

Aria closed her eyes. Counted to five. Opened them again, unfortunately, he was still there. Standing in her kitchen, drinking her coffee, like it was completely normal.

"That's my mug."

Damien looked down.

"Oh." Damien exclaimed, looking at the cup. His facial expression spelled indifference

"The coffee is terrible."

Aria stared at him with disgust in her eyes.

Because somehow, in the middle of a possible conspiracy, a hidden envelope, and an illegal break-in…he'd insulted her coffee.

"You drank all of it."

"It was already terrible before I drank it."

She pointed toward the door.

"Get out."

"I'm trying to keep you alive."

"Get out."

"You found the envelope."

"GET OUT."

Damien sighed. Then did something unexpected, he set the mug down. And became serious. The shift was so sudden it made Aria uneasy. His eyes moved toward the envelope. Then the key and note.

His expression darkened.

"When did you find it?"

The anger slowly drained from her.

"About twenty minutes ago."

Damien nodded once. As if confirming something.

"Was anybody here?"

"No."

"Think carefully."

Aria frowned in confusion as she looked at him.

"There was a knock."

"What kind of knock?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"A useful one."

She rolled her eyes.

"A normal knock."

"One knock?"

"Yes."

His jaw hardened immediately as his face swung left to right. Like someone who was conducting a mental analysis.

"Damien."

Aria called out to him but she got no reply.

"Damien."

But still no response from him. A familiar irritation flared inside her.

"Stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"The thing where you hear something important and suddenly become mysterious."

That actually earned a faint smile, but it was gone almost immediately. Then he looked at the paper she'd picked up from outside her door. The threat written on it. His expression vanished completely.

STOP LOOKING BEFORE SOMEONE GETS HURT.

The room grew quiet.

"That wasn't there when I arrived."

Aria felt her stomach sink.

"You were here before me?"

"Forty-three minutes."

"What?"

"I entered your apartment forty-three minutes before you came home."

She stared in disbelief,

"You timed it?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Damien looked genuinely confused by the question.

"As part of the breaking and entering."

Aria groaned

"This conversation feels illegal."

"That's because part of it is."

"You're not helping."

"No."

At least he was honest.

Ten minutes later, they sat across from each other at her small kitchen table. The envelope lay between them. The photograph. The note. The key…all were pieces of a puzzle neither fully understood. For the first time, Aria got a proper look at Damien. Not the mysterious man in Room 1108. Just Damien. And honestly? He looked awful. Dark circles beneath his eyes, unshaven jaw, wrinkled shirt and exhaustion hiding beneath every movement.

He looked like someone who hadn't slept properly in weeks, maybe longer. The realization surprised her. She hadn't been very attentive to his appearance.

Because somehow she'd assumed mysterious people rested mysteriously. Apparently they just looked tired.

"You need sleep."

The words escaped before she could stop them. Damien looked up.

"What?"

"You look terrible."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

To her surprise, he laughed, a rough sound.

For a second the apartment felt normal, but it vanished just as quickly. Aria pushed the photograph toward him.

"Say something."

Damien looked at it, then at her.

"Depends on the question."

"Did you know my mother?"

Damien wasn't expecting it, but he replied anyway,

"Yes."

She was surprised at how quickly he responded, no mystery or long silences this time. She was impressed, pressing even forward.

"Were you friends?"

He paused again, but for a second

"Yes."

Aria leaned back watching him carefully. Then asked the important question.

"Did you love her?"

Everywhere fell silent. There it was…the first wall. Damien looked away into the dark apartment window, toward the city lights beyond. A muscle tightened in his jaw.

And suddenly Aria knew, Not the answer, but the fact that there was indeed one. Whatever existed between Damien and her mother wasn't simple, neither was it over. Not even after death. Eventually Damien spoke. Very quietly…

"Some questions don't have good answers."

The key sat between them. It looked ordinary, small but it was important. Damien picked it up, turning it beneath the kitchen light.

Examining the engraved numbers.

1108.

His expression remained neutral till he frowned, Aria noticed instantly.

"What?"

He rotated the key, brought it closer. His eyes narrowed.

"What is it?"

Damien went mute.

Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small flashlight. Shined it against the metal, A second engraving appeared. It was tiny, almost invisible, hidden inside the original numbers. Aria leaned forward.

"What does it say?"

Damien stared intently for several seconds, long enough to make her nervous.

Then he whispered…

"1108-B."

Aria frowned.

"What's that mean?"

Damien said nothing but continued staring at the key. His face had lost all color.

"What does it mean?"

There was no response from damien. Slowly he lowered the key and looked at her. He seemed shaken. Like he'd seen a ghost. When he finally spoke, his voice barely rose above a whisper.

"I destroyed that room six years ago."

The key slipped from his fingers and landed on the table with a sharp metallic click.