The Lone Wolf | Corpse Husband

Chapter Three: A Visit

    My day went on as normal since, you know, that bittersweet visit from Toast. I knew I'd see him again soon but I wasn't exactly sure what later meant to him. Regardless, I went about my day and went to work at the club after I finished my shift at denny's.

❀

I came home, tired as fuck. It was a Sunday night too so I didn't earn too much tonight, and my water bill was due tomorrow. I threw my keys on the table next to my front door and took off my heels. I needed sleep, I needed a hot bath. I needed peace and-

"Finally, you're home." A light turned on in my small living room. It was Toast, this time he wasn't wearing any sunglasses. It was the first time I'd seen his eyes.

I got scared, naturally. Nobody ever expects to come home to a person you met twice sitting in your living room. "Toast?!"

"I said we'll talk later, didn't I?" He said. "Later is now."

"How did you even get in?" I asked, I figured it was a better question then asking how did he know where I lived, because I already knew. The guy researched me for godsake.

"I have a key to your apartment." He took it out of his blazer pocket. "You know, putting it underneath the mat is a pretty obvious place."

"When you said later, I didn't know later meant tonight in my apartment." I said. "What if my mom was home?"

He laughed, "I know your schedule you know. I researched you weeks ago, which also meant a bit of stalking."

I was shocked but not terrified. As I partially admitted to before, I somehow felt comfortable around him. If he wanted to hurt me, he would've done it already instead of following me for a few weeks. And also his calm composure made it easy to not freak out. I walked over to my fridge and pulled out a gallon of Arizona tea and took a sip from it and handed it to him. He scowled, "I'm not an animal, a glass please."

I grabbed a glass from the cabinet, poured some tea into it and gave it to him. "So..."Toast", what exactly is going on?"

We took a seat across from each other, just like we did at work earlier this morning. I tapped my fingers on the table, waiting for him to explain it all.

He cleared his throat, "Listen, I'd heard about you through a friend — your self defense teacher, Jacob. He said you were top of your class, smart, quick, strong-"

"damn straight." I said.

He continued, "He'd told me about your lifestyle, and according to him— your skills surely deserved more. So, I went out on a whim and researched you, because I had this gut feeling about you.

Well, I found out everything about you, I know you better than you know yourself at this point. Anyway, now here's the real reason why I looked into you...but you have to promise not to freak out."

"Whatever you tell me next cannot be worse than you stalking me." I said.

He gulped down the rest of his tea, obviously anxious to tell me the reason. "Well, you see...I run this thing- this cartel. The Comfy Cartel, to be frank. We have assassins, spies, 'communication officers,' and blah blah blah." He cleared his throat again. "It's highly secretive, filled with the best artists... or criminals, I guess you could say. And I personally believe you'd be a wonderful addition."

I looked straight at him for what seemed like hours. I couldn't even blink, I couldn't feel my lungs breathe. "Angelica?"

"Sorry what?" I asked, trying to remain as calm as possible. It didn't surprise me he ran a cartel, he made it pretty obvious. But the fact he mentioned the word assassin and me in the same sentence shook me to my core. "You, you think me? a poor waitress would ever kill somebody?"

"You did beat on Ross pretty bad the other night, don't you remember?" He reminded me of the night's events. "You kicked him pretty hard in the balls, threw your purse at him, argued with him for a good 15 minutes then left like nothing, you would've left emotionless if you hadn't been weary of me. You're a strong woman."

"Doesn't mean I'd ever kill someone!" I stood up from my chair, wiping the sweat forming on my forehead.

He walked over to me, grabbing my shoulders gently to make me look at his eyes. "Listen, you wouldn't kill anyone who doesn't have it coming. I'll give you food, clothes on your back, a home, a more than generous salary." He wiped a strand of hair out of my face. "All you need to do is come work for me."

I hated him, I hated him, I hated him. A moment ago, I had no doubt in my mind I would never accept his ridiculous offer. Now, I was actually considering it. I blamed it on his damn aura. That damn 'supportive but strict dad' aura.

He took his hands off me, so he could pour himself some more tea. "Look, I'll even give you a test run. You can come down to the location with me whenever you like— just to see how you'd feel. You can talk to some members. But, if I were you, I'd take the offer in a heartbeat."

"And why is that?" I asked.

He pointed toward my heart. So cliche. "Because of what I said earlier in the restaurant. The question I asked you, the question we both know the answer to."

He put a card on the table. "My burner phone number. call within the next 3 days with your decision before I dispose of it or you'll never hear from me again and you can forget this ever happened...unless you tell someone."

"I will. I'll think about it." I said. I couldn't even lie, it sounded like a good deal. A guaranteed comfortable lifestyle in exchange for getting rid of the world's monsters? It'd be a favor to both me and mankind.

He walked out the door and I heard his footsteps disappear down the hall.

I looked to my dining room table, he had left his toast pin along with the card. It shimmered in the pale moonlight beaming through the window. Almost like a token of luck.

I sighed, I really needed to take a hot bath.

authors note:

wow toastie and angelica have a cute relationship ^_^ ...might be the beginning of a long and loyal friendship oop...foreshadowing maybe? hehe