Crimson

Night out..

Juno had slept through all of the morning and most of the afternoon .

I had only woken up briefly when Ali had sent someone with lunch and a refill for the water jug .

It was evening now and a reddish glow had filled the room .

I watched the reddish glow carefully , noticing how the dust particles rose and fell in the light of the evening .

Ali had gone to sleep not long after my encounter with Vita , my extremely confusing encounter .

He had not asked anything and just gone away .

When I had come up to the room , he had not been in here or in his office .

I had stopped one of his men to ask for Ali .

Like every other person that was connected to both Ali and I , he had been hesitant to tell me anything until I had glared and threatened to snap his neck .

Ali had gone to sleep somewhere else .

I missed my house , my bed in particular but I was too lazy to get off Ali's bed .

Someone knocked and the door opened .

Ali came in , he was holding a food tray .

I immediately sat up , I was on thin ice as it was .

" How long did you sleep for ?"

He nodded at the ruffled sheets as he asked .

He came forward , put the tray down by the side table and sat on the bed , noticeably far from me , even though the bed was not that large .

" I woke up a couple of times and went back to sleep , I guess I was more tired than I thought " .

He nodded again , he had changed clothes .

" I brought you an early dinner since you missed lunch " .

I looked from the tray to him .

" Someone brought me lunch , I thought it was from you ".

His white lashes fluttered daintily .

I suddenly panicked , had I been poisoned ?

Death by poisoning , what an extremely embarrassing way to die .

What about all the "live by the sword and die by the sword" scriptures ?

I had planned a whole sentimental death and final words , I even acted it out in my head when I was bored and now all that was over ?My face must have shown my panic at discovering that " live by the sword and die by the " did not apply to me .

Ali chuckled , his face lighting up reminding me how ethereal he was .

" Are you thinking of your sword scripture ? "

" It's all I can think of ".

He smiled again , his eyes taking on the shape of a crescent moon .

" The first thing new servers and workers learn is your face , then your preferences and what to do about you if I'm unavailable ".

Was this how connected people felt like when they knew the people in charge of everything ?

I could not help smiling .

" They don't even act like they recognize me when they walk by , they always ignore me ".

I tried to remember all of my interactions with them , none stood out in any way .

" Of course they ignore you , they are not amateurs ".

Leave it to Ali to douse my excitement .

I pulled the tray to myself .

Hmmm, crêpes and honey and a glass of milk , I put the back of my palm to the glass , it was still warm .

Ali watched me do this .

I picked one of the crêpes and folded it before tucking it neatly into my mouth , I chewed slowly savoring the taste .

Ali was still watching me .

When I was done , I drank a little out of the glass of milk , it was better to drink a little at first and then a lot , later .

" Okay , why are you watching me ? It's rude to stare at someone that is trying to eat ".

He blinked casually .

" You are not trying to , you are actually eating ".

I glared at him .

" What do you think of the crêpes ? "

" They are absolutely beautiful " , I rolled my eyes to emphasize their beauty .

He stood .

" Okay then ".

I stopped folding the crêpe i was holding .

" Why do you want to know ?"

He stretched , he must still be tired .

" We are hiring new staff for the kitchen , I wanted to make sure you liked the new taste ".

" I am so touched , I'm the inspiration for The Haze's tastes ? "

Ali gave me a look .

" I don't have a distinctive sense of taste and you are the only glutton I can trust ".

He left the room before I could come up with a retort .

If I was someone that knew shame , I might have abandoned the tray but I had long lost my shame somewhere between living on the streets and robbing people blind .

I finished the crêpes .

I needed to go home and have a nice , long bath .

I got off the bed and stretched , something fell out of my hair as I did .

I ran my hand through my hair , my fingers came off with shimmery things .

I really needed to clean my hair .

I moved around and began to open drawers until I found a wooden hairbrush .

I began brushing my hair wondering where Ali had gone off to , he always brushed my hair when I was here .

I brushed haphazardly and tried to put my hair in a braid but there was almost no light so that was impossible , an excuse really .

Well , I still had to get home regardless of how my hair looked , I had began to hear noises a while back , The Haze was getting ready to open .

I did not want to be here by the time it was in full swing .

I walked to the door and opened it an inch , just wide enough to take a peek outside . There were no guests yet , just the workers setting up for tonight .

But , I had grown used to walking around in fresh clothes yet not only was I going to repeat my clothes the very next day , I was going to walk around it .

I could not even complain to Ali , I could just imagine his look of shock , no , even this could not shock Ali .

Even I knew I had grown materialistic , what could I say ? I was a late blooming materialistic man .

I stepped out quietly and rushed down the stairs , I kept walking not that anyone paid me special attention .

Just as I reached the exit, I spotted Ali having a conversation with one of the men that stood guard .

He glanced at me and continued his conversation , I was used to this .

Ali's story had always been if someone asked today , we just met yesterday .

And if someone asked yesterday , we met the day before and barely knew each other .

While I always forgot my role in this story , Ali was always so steadfast .

There was no corner to hide and wait , we could talk here , it would just look like a host saying farewell to his guest .

He finished his conversation and came over to stand before me , he examined me .

A mischievous glint appeared in his eye .

" You really did finish the crêpes ".

I immediately looked down at my stomach , I had worn my shirt there was no way my stomach could be protruding .

I chose to be the bigger person and ignore him .

" I'm leaving , I can't afford to stay here longer ".

" Thank the goddesses , I thought you would never leave ".

I dropped my bigger person act and raised my foot , using all of the strength my foot could muster , I sunk my foot onto his .

He was silent and remained silent , except I had seen his eyes become noticeably smaller and remain that way.

" See you later ".

Still no response , I laughed and almost skipped as I walked away .

****

The streets were almost empty unlike the usual Agrippan nights , the cold had become worse .

I hoped everything was fine with the shelter , it was too risky to go to the shelter now .

But , I trusted Adah .

She always knew the right thing to do or at least what was closest to the right thing .

I turned a street and he turned to , he was definitely following me , I was sure now .

Just after I had left The Haze , a man in a black coat had began following me , I had first discarded the thought but everyone knew this road led to the farms , no one went to the farms in this weather .

Well , except me . I picked up the pace .

When I had finally reached a corner on the road that led to the farms , I waited for him .

I snuck a peek , he was coming , I turned back into the corner to wait .

He was supposed to be here by now but he was not , I snuck another peek , he was no longer anywhere on the road .

I put my hand into my coat , reaching for a throwing blade , soft breathing stopped me .

He was behind me , I kept moving my hand slowly and finally touched the blade .

He grabbed my shoulders in an attempt to push me back against the wall , before he could do this , my blade was out and on his neck , caressing his pulsing vein .

He was bigger ,so , I used the knife to guide his back to the wall .

When his back hit the wall , the scarf he had thrown around his face and neck in an attempt to hide his identity came off .

His eyes had gold specks up close and his hair was really no longer a buzz cut .

" Your hair is longer ".

Vita put a palm up to feel his hairs new length like it had not been on his head all along .

" Why are you following me ?"

" Put your knife down and we can talk comfortably ".

I pretended to consider it .

" Blade ".

He looked confused ,so , I helped .

" Not a knife , blade ".

He understood then .

" Oh , okay , put your blade down and we can talk comfortably " .

Of course , he had not understood , did he think I was angry he had said knife ?

" No . You might decide you don't like something and arrest me ".

He sighed .

" I'm really sorry about this morning ".

His tongue swiped across his lips so fast that it seemed it has never happened , the new shine on his lips was the only evidence .

" I'm really sorry about yesterday too ".

I turned my attention away from his lips immediately , looking back at him .

The look on his face made it obvious he had remembered what had happened , I removed my blade and tucked it into my coat.

I turned around and walked out of the corner , he came after me .

" Where are you going to ?"

I did not turn back if stop .

" Home ".

He kept following me .

" You can stay for tea or whatever if you want to " .

Silence.....

" I would love to ".

I pretended not to have heard , I tried to remember if I had cleaned up my house .

It was unavoidable .

Whatever was between Vita and I ,it was unavoidable , I could just feel it .

" Great weather for a walk ".

I did not reply , there was no need to , we both knew the weather was s**t .

Instead , I laughed and ran ahead .

I head his footfalls behind me soon after .