"Where the hell have you been, Allie?" The male voice boomed from the back of the house. She swore she could feel him storming down the hall towards her. "You were supposed to get off work at six. What the hell are you doing getting in after ten?"
"Chill, Gabe," Alenka called in response, casually tossing her keys down on the table beside the door. "I had to work late. Would you believe Macy was a no-show again? Ugh! I don't know why they haven't fired her yet! She never does her job. She's always calling out. What's the sense in having her on payroll if I'm just going to end up doing her job?"
Surprisingly there weren't footsteps in the hall, nor was Gabe up in her face, accusing her of heaven only knows what this time. The last two times Allie was met with accusations of being with some other guy, to which she had to remind Gabe they were just room mates. The time before that he said he'd thought someone had mugged her and left her for dead. She didn't want to tell him that strangely there was some truth to the matter, but the would-be mugger was deterred pretty easily when a cop just happened to pull up asking about teenagers in the area. By the time she finished answering his questions, the man was gone.
Hanging her coat and purse on the coat rack, she continued, "Then I ran into some friends at the food court in the mall. We haven't talked in years! We decided to grab some coffee and got completely sidetracked. I'm sorry. I never would have run into them if I didn't get a call about that book I ordered. They got it in today."
There was a metallic sound of mini-blinds, probably meaning Gabe had just moved away from peering out the window. She started down the hall to their shared office space, wondering just what he was at. "You're supposed to call. I was expecting you home from work hours ago. I'm sure you could have at least taken thirty seconds out of your conversation to text me, give me some warning."
Just as she had suspected, there he was, still standing in front of the window, leaning on it's sill as though someone had just informed him a family member had died. He was always this kind of melodramatic. His long dark hair cascaded down around his face so nothing but a dark mop could be seen from behind. He had the classic look of a industrial club kid, black band shirt, Tripp pants, and boots. While he wasn't tall, but he was lean and strong, not someone she'd want to pick a fight with, but knew that his sense of honor was too strong to ever worry about it.
"Gabe," she said, trying not to sound irritated, "I'm sorry I didn't let you know, but we're just room mates. It's rather endearing that you're looking out for me, but if you think it will get you somewhere, you already know where that one's going to go."
"You don't understand, Allie! There are people out there who would love to hurt you!"
"Please, stop being so paranoid."
"I'm not being paranoid! While you're out gallivanting with your friends, I'm at home getting things done! I'm starting to think you don't appreciate me!"
"What is this really about?" She couldn't stop annoyance from creeping into her voice. "You're being absolutely ridiculous! What could you possibly be getting done that's so incredibly important that you couldn't manage without me?"
Gabe shifted awkwardly, then he turned to face her, "I was doing research. Look, Allie, it's not important. They found a body in the elevator on the subway near the office, brown hair, blond highlights, green eyes. She didn't have any ID so she's listed as a Jane Doe. Allie, I could have sworn that woman was you."
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