Page 26 of Callan

It’s impossible to stay still when my apartment is imbued with his smell.

My brain is still sorting through the snippets putting him at my place. Sexy, and an annoying contradiction.

Throwing cash at me for information.

I happen to like that part of our story a lot.

My fingers move over the light switch, and my place turns dark.

He’d be a fool not to know what I am up to if he happened to look up and catch sight of my dark windows.

Who cares about what he thinks?

I move closer to the window and look down. The angle is not great, so I can’t see the entire area and, most importantly, the entrance.

Shivering, I step out on the balcony.

The snow still bears the outline of his body and marks of his boots and my bare feet.

Watch me catch a cold.

I pull my slippers on, hug myself, and move closer to the railing.

Lampposts dot the sides of the road, while Christmas lights adorn most of the windows.

The snow keeps falling, thickening the marshmallow layer lining the cars.

My neighbor’s ride hasn’t moved an inch, and there is no ticket on the windshield.

“Where the fuck is he?” I murmur, my teeth chattering from the cold.

Long moments pass.

No sign of the man wearing red pants.

Was he so crazy to go upstairs?Maybe pretending to knock on the wrong door? Perhaps trying to get inside under a pretext to collect his jacket?

I wonder where his jacket is and whether the scorned husband has noticed it in the apartment.

I wonder too many things that are honestly not my business.

Five minutes pass, and I give up on the idea of him.

Shit. I didn’t even ask his name. I doubt he would’ve given me his real name even if I did, so no regrets there.

Shivering, I spin around to enter my place when the door to the building opens, and a man rocking acompleteSanta suit walks out.

Wow.

He even has a Santa sack.

Huh?

He did go upstairs.What a crafty villain he is.

He wears the entire costume. The beard, hat, jacket, pants, and boots. Everything. You can’t even tell it’s him. But I know it’s him.

Something about his presence makes my entire body quiver. It’s like electric currents swoop through my blood.

---