Page 6 of Submission

“Come in,” I say quickly.

“Is everything okay?” Christian asks, studying my face.

“Yeah,” Vaughn stares at me, his eyes narrowed. “You look a little too happy to see us. We didn’t even think you’d open the door.”

“Uh, yeah.” I look over my shoulder. “There’s just a plumber here and, well, would you like to sit down?”

Christian gives me a steady look before walking past me. “No, I think I would like to talk to the plumber.”

Vaughn follows him. “Where is he?”

“He was there.“ I look over my shoulder to see that he’s no longer in the hallway. “He wanted to check my bedroom for any leaks. I told him not to go in there.”

I feel nervous yet also angry when I see him exiting my bedroom, now face-to-face with Hunter’s friends.

“Hey, man?” Vaughn steps in front of him. “Which company are you from?”

The plumber digs out a card and hands it over, not saying a word. I wonder why he’s suddenly gone so quiet.

Vaughn hands the card over to Christian, who studies it before saying, “You’re not the usual repair man. There are three assigned to this building, and I know all of them by face.”

This time, the man speaks, but his voice is more gravelly than it was a few minutes ago.

“Henry had today’s shift, but he came down with a cold, and nobody else was available, so I was asked to come in. I still have three other floors to check. Excuse me.”

The man swiftly walks past them and out the front door. Vaughn stares after him before looking at me, his voice sharp.

“Has that man ever come here before?”

I shake my head. “No, everything works fine in here. I tried checking with the front desk about why he was sent up here, but nobody answered.”

Vaughn and Christian exchange a look, and then Vaughn takes out his phone. “It’s probably nothing, but let me check it out.”

Christian walks over and puts his hands on my shoulder, guiding me to the couch.

“I’ll stay here with Megan,” he tells Vaughn. Then he turns back to me. “Do you have anything to eat?”

“Um, some leftover pasta.”

He takes out the whole container from the fridge and grabs a fork. “I missed lunch.”

“I can heat it up for you,” I offer.

“I like cold pasta,” he tells me. “Relax.”

“I was actually getting ready for work. I need to go in early today.”

“At least fix yourself another coffee before you head out. Your first one must be cold by now.”

Compared to Hunter, both Vaughn and Christian are way more relaxed and personable. I’m not even sure how the two of them are friends with someone as intense as Hunter.

“So, I heard you’re an artist.”

“I’m a student,” I reply, feeling a little shaken by the sudden presence of Hunter’s friends. “What is Vaughn doing? Where did he go?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Christian gives me an easy smile. “Just checking out the plumbing situation.”

I want to ask why when they clearly don’t live here, but then I decide it’s better if I just let them handle it.

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