Page 46 of Callan

Should I follow her inside?

Or should I look up to see whether someone is waiting in her apartment for her to get home?

I hope her place doesn’t become a crime scene, and I don’t turned into the only witness. As if I can tell what’s going on just by staring up from here.

I should go inside.

Unexpectedly, the lights come on in her apartment, and I linger a little longer to see if anything happens.

Is she stumbling upon her secret visitor?

Has she expected him to be there?

I have no doubt it’s a man.

So far, nothing happens.

There is no shouting in anger or screaming with surprise.

No one is calling the police.

Her silhouette slowly glides past the window as she takes her jacket off and bends over, probably reaching for the remote control.

That’s what I’d do.

The blue light of a TV illuminates the room, replacing the ceiling lights she just turned off.

Soon after, she enters the bathroom, and a light glows in that space.

There’s no one else in her apartment.

That’s good.

My eyes go to the entrance of the building.

The back exit is rarely used by the tenants or the occasional visitors.

It’smainly for deliveries and the cleaning crew.

Maybe I was wrong, and there was no flashlight.

Unless someone from inside the building had accessed her apartment.

Someone who owns a copy of her key.

Like the superintendent?

That would be gross, and perhaps illegal if he’s getting in without a notice.

Or maybe some weirdo has gotten obsessed with the sultry woman and searched for her underwear to snatch it away.

Like a trophy.

Eww.

I don’t need this in my life.

Gesturing in disappointment, I set myself in motion and enter the building.

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