Seeking Relief

Headache vs. Benefit

In a bout of frustration, the man with artificially dyed salt and pepper hair, dumped a drawer of clothes on the bed.

He stood for several moments staring at the ceiling gaining control of his temper.

He had returned to the apartment complex to see if he could see her anymore. But after more days passed with no sign of her, he was quicker to lose his patience. He saw a different woman appear at the apartment. When this woman made an appearance and spent a whole afternoon in the apartment, he decided to make a move. He knows that this woman is friends with his girl, because he’s seen her here and them together before. This woman has children that she brings over regularly, then leaves them with his girl.

When he first saw this particular development, he became excited. It meant that she was gaining confidence and experience with children. This meant she would be all that more ready and ready earlier for children when she came back to him.

But then she’s gone and disappeared and upset the routine they’ve had lately.

Which has just set his temper off. It’s just like her to do this to him.

There are droves of women that would do anything to be with him.

But he wants this woman. He loves this woman.

God help him, he loves her.

She’s under his skin.

Another reason she can be so infuriating.

He had decided to let himself in to the apartment and see if he could reveal any clues to answers he’s seeking.

The first thing amiss was that his key didn’t work. So, he had to pick it open the old way like he did in his youth.

The second thing was how clean the apartment was. The scent of ammonia had hit his nose the moment he swung the door open. It’s usually kept decently clean, but there was always some amount of clutter and dishes in the sink. Now, there was absolutely nothing left out. But her personal items were still present in the apartment, so he knew she hadn’t vacated it.

Changing his train of thought, he walked away from the bed and threw open the closet doors.

He wasn’t really looking for anything in particular, but to see what was missing.

Everything seemed to be in order. Her coat, sweatshirts, and even her suitcase was still there.

With quick angry strides, he ate up the small distance to the kitchen. He threw the cupboards open, again not looking for anything in particular, but seeing what looks out of place. With a quick glance, he got an answer and with a frustrated huff, he strode to the bathroom and repeated his actions.

After several minutes of looking in cupboards and opening closed doors, with no answers, he grew nervous. He usually came to the apartment under the cloak of night and took all the time he felt like taking. But being here in the middle of the day under the sun made him nervous.

He quickly retraced his steps through the property, righting what he had upset in his pursuit of answers. He especially took care with the drawer that he had dumped. He did keep a small piece of clothing for himself. He buried his nose in it, then stuffed it in his pocket.

He usually took the towels off the racks and refolded them before placing them on the racks, to let her know that she was still under his care, but he didn’t want to leave evidence that he was there during the day. He liked leaving those little reminders for his girl, and only his girl.

When he was satisfied with the state of the apartment after he was finished, he checked his watch. After realizing what time it is, he made quick work of relocking the door then hurrying home.

He showered and changed with little time necessary,

He was a vain man, but he had his routine down to its most efficient steps. He also mastered looking top notch with very little time required.

He drove his other, flashier car to a small house in a decent part of town.

He parked in front of the house, got out and walked to the door.

He knocked and straightened his sleeves of his jacket.

He made a mental note of how short amount of time had passed between when he knocked and when she answered the door.

He put on his best smile for when he’s trying to make a good impression.

“Hi! You’re right on time.” she said breathlessly.

“You look stunning, Alisha.” He said. She smiled demurely and thanked him. He held out his arm for her.

“You ready?” He asked.

“You bet!” She said. She closed and locked her door. Then turned and took his arm, and he walked her to the car. When he opened her door for her she stared at his car open mouthed.

“Wooooow. This is a cool car.” She breathed. He smiled and thanked her and shut her door for her.

As he walked around the back of the car to his side, he allowed himself a smirk. Of course he knew it was a “nice” car. He got this car specifically to make an impression on people. Even people who didn’t know cars, knew this was a nice one. People also assumed a positive impression about him because of the car even though what kind of car he had, had absolutely no weight in whether or not he was a bad man.

By the time he got to his door, opened it, and eased himself into his seat, he had his “genuine” smile back on.

As the woman in the car with him droned on needlessly about pop culture and what she deemed to be current events, he struggled to keep a headache at bay. The last thing he really wanted to do was waste his money and time on a date, but he had to maintain appearances. And “normal, healthy” single men go on dates, instead of spending night after night, even weekends, at home apparently doing nothing.

He didn’t want to raise any red flags about himself and his behavior, so he endured dates and normal outings that he would otherwise avoid. Sometimes, he did benefit from his efforts, but not enough to outweigh the headache. And this woman like many others, would be unsatisfactory in bed if he were to go by his instincts.

They sat at a table and he went through all the polite motions a gentleman does during a date. He held out her chair for her, asked her what wine she’d like, let her choose what she wanted to order while expecting to pay for it. He listened to the vapid woman gush on about the dinner and how polite he was being. He was finishing his main course, debating on another glass of wine is worth listening to her drabble any longer, when something perked his ears.

“I’m sorry, what was that you said?”

“Oh. I was just complaining about work.”

“No, go on, it’s okay. I just didn’t hear the last part.”

“Oh. Well, usually, I’m able to do what I want for the most part, but one of the officers demanded I help him put together a list of lawyers and resources for another officer. And today they wanted me to look up more information on that list. Like, I guess, this girl was found this past weekend unconscious in her apartment down by the junction and they’ve all become smitten with her. I guess a handful of officers and this doctor have fallen for her or something and are falling over themselves to help her.  Like, why can’t she help herself? There is such thing as google instead of me wasting my day.”

“That is pretty inconsiderate of them to ask you to do that.”

“Right? I mean my job is administrative tasks, but not to help with them with their personal shit.”

“I totally understand. It’s a shame to see officers taking advantage of the system for personal gain.”

“Well, its this chickie that’s gaining anything personal. The guys at the station are wasting their time. And mine!”

“Do you remember her name?”

“Uhh, I think it’s Judith or something. I could double check tomorrow.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. It was just basic curiosity. How did you like your chicken?”

He changed the subject to give her the impression that the topic held no importance to him to avoid raising any red flags.

He couldn’t believe his luck. He wasn’t 100% sure, but he was confident that it was Jade that Alisha was talking about. It was her apartment complex and the time frame Jade “vanished” that Alisha had named.

This woman could be a wealth of information and willing to divulge it with minimal effort on his part. He seemed to have a knack for finding these kind of people that benefited him one way or another. And he never wasted an opportunity whenever it fell in his lap.

This would be one of those opportunities, where the benefit of dating would in fact outweigh his headache. Alisha may f**k like a dead fish, but he’ll keep her around. At least he’ll be able to relieve his balls.

He smiled at Alisha as he sipped on his wine.