killer

three

nicole rushed to grab her telephone as it rang loudly.
"hello?" she answered, trying to subtly catch her breath.
"hey, princess. it's chase. i just wanted to say i saw your article and i really liked it. i actually saw a couple of them, you're a very talented author."
nicole bit her lip, toying with the phone cord. "thank you, chase. you're a very kind man."
he chuckled on the other end, and nicole crossed her legs, leaning against the wall. even his voice was attractive.
"so anyway, i was just calling to confirm we're still going out tomorrow night."
"yep! 7:30," she reminded, smiling as she looked at the circled date on her calender. "can't wait to see you."
"can't wait to see you either, lovely. i'll see you saturday," he told her, hanging up.
nicole continued to get ready for work; since it was friday, it would only be a half day. she figured she could pass time by lazily editing a few articles.
when she arrived at her job, she immediately noticed how disheveled everyone seemed.
"what's going on?" she asked harry, her coworker and roommate. she figured he'd decided to go to the gym and breakfast for work, which is why she missed him that morning.
the man shrugged, running a hand through his long curls.
"boss' missing," he told her, his deep british voice uncaring.
hamzah was highly disliked by the entire office; by the women for his sexist remarks, by the POC for his racist 'jokes', and by harry for the way he constantly called the man a 'sissy' for his long hair and painted nails. occasionally in the past, he'd call him the f word, but harry managed to get him to stop using it with a stern conversation.
"oh, he didn't come in?" maia questioned. harry shook his head. "apparently, he hasn't been seen since wednesday. his family's really worried, apparently, so the cops might stop by later."
the hair on maia's neck stood up, and harry noticed her change in behavior.
"we should both skip and get ice cream," he suggested. "i don't feel like getting insulted today, do you?"
maia thought about it for all of ten seconds before she grabbed her things, taking harry's hand. "let's go."

***

"no, no, no!" harry yelled. "what kind of an outfit is it?"
maia frowned deeply, glancing at herself in the mirror. she'd decided to pick out her outfit for the date in advance, and harry was he "i think it's cute."
he shook his head, gently pushing her away to go into her closet.
he returned a moment later, shoving clothes into her arms. "try this."

(ha fit 😩)
"this is much better," harry sighed dramatically. "there. now you can wear this for your little boyfriend."
"harry!" she squealed, cheeks red.
"i kid, i kid." the telephone rang and he stood to get it, leaving nicole to dance around the room in her outfit.
harry returned a few minutes later, face pale and eyes wide.
"boss' dead," he told her, making her gasp loudly.
"how?!" she questioned, in disbelief.
he shrugged. "they think it's from one of the serial killers. stabbed and his skull was bashed in. his family had to identify him by his clothing."
nicole let out a shaky breath, collapsing onto her bed. "y...yeah, that sounds like one of the killers."
harry dropped beside her. "if my mum hears about this, she'll be worried sick. she'll want me to move back to england."
"aunt anne's always been overprotective of you."
he nodded his head, pulling his hair into a ponytail. "i love it here, though."
"maybe they'll die down a bit soon, and she'll let you stay," nicole told him, a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
he let out a deep sigh. "i sure hope so."