Muse [18+] • REVISING

18 | Miles Apart

V E R A

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"What happened?" I asked.

I woke up from the sound of Damien's phone ringing, hearing someone yell on the other line. Lowering the phone from his ear, a look of concern blanketed his face before pushing the covers off of him and getting out of bed. Still remaining silent, he disappeared into the closet.

"Hello?" I called out, pushing the silk sheet off of me and making my way through the sliding door.

"Are you not going to answer me?"

"Stay here. I have to go to the museum," He ordered, grabbing some clothes from a drawer.

"What, why? What's wrong? It's five in the morning—"

"Just listen, Vera. I have some things I have to take care," He interrupted before walking out of the closet.

Still insistent on figuring out what was going on, I followed him back into the bedroom and saw that he had changed into jeans and a shirt, not his usual work attire.

"Can you please tell me what's going on? I heard someone yelling on the phone. You just expect me to follow your instructions and act like nothing's happening?" I pushed, walking up to him.

"Yes, I do," Damien paused while looking at me, narrowing his eyes for a second.

"I'll be back, please get some rest." He softly asserted, pulling a pair of keys from the nightstand and walking out of the bedroom.

Get some rest? How did he expect me to just go back to sleep after leaving me with absolutely no explanation?

Hearing what I assumed to be the front door slam, I ran down the staircase and looked through the living room curtains. Watching a dark grey car emerge from the side of the house, Damien speedily drove off.

Against Damien's orders, I grabbed all of my belongings and pulled on the sweatpants he had left out for me last night. Needing to go back home and get a change of clothes, I called a cab. Closing the front door behind me, I made my way down the long driveway where I was met with a car waiting for me at the gate. Stepping in, I told the driver my address as we drove away from the house.

Opening the door to my apartment, I set my stuff down and took a quick shower to help soothe the aching still nagging at my body. After adding some antiseptic gel to my wrists, I clipped my wet hair up and pulled on a pair of leggings and a hoodie. Slipping into some sneakers and grabbing nothing but my wallet and phone, I called another cab and made my way to the museum.

Practically running up the steps, I reached the top where I was met with broken glass scattered everywhere at the main entrance. Looking up, the french doors had been completely shattered, leaving a gaping hole into the lobby.

Slowly stepping through, careful to not walk over much of the glass, I walked into the museum. Making my way to the single security guard sitting at the main desk, I tapped on the granite counter, getting his attention.

"I'm Vera Adams, Mr. Dupont's assistant. Could you tell me what happened here?" I questioned, pulling out my ID for verification.

"Hello, Miss Adams. Yes—while one of the security guards working the graveyard shift went on break, a young man broke into the museum around, let's see...4:02am. He must've dismantled the alarm system as none of the alarms went off," The man explained, looking at his computer.

Looking around, I noticed that nothing besides the main entrance had been damaged. Confused, I turned back to the security guard.

"Did they take anything?" I asked, thinking that they must've stolen works from the exhibits or something.