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Thirty Six

Chapter Thirty Six:

The sun was setting and Malcolm sat across from Theodora, downing another drink.

"That's enough." She said, snatching the glass away. A plate of fries looked up at her from the table, he leaned over and grabbed a handful. She said nothing, glad that he was at least eating something.

"That's my second one."

"You can't handle more than one."

"Yes I can."

She snorted, "Eat more fries."

"I'm not hungry."

Theodora frowned, "Have you been eating?"

There was no answer, making her worry more. "So you haven't been eating or sleeping. This isn't good—"

"I know."

She sighed, normally she never brought it up but lately he was getting worse. She knew he hated when they talked about his well being, yet she felt she needed to acknowledge it. He seemed to have picked up on it, eyes softening. "I don't want you worrying about me, Theo. I'm fine."

"Stop lying to me. Don't say you're fine, I know you're not." Theodora pursed her lips, eyes focused on a chip in the table. She picked at it with a finger, "I can't help it. I just... I want you to be okay."

"I am. I promise." He leaned forward, placing his hands on the table.

She stared at him, processing the words he promised were true. "You're not sleeping. You're not eating, you can't even go one day without your hand shaking—"

"Theo."

"Malcolm." She huffed, "What if something happens?"

"Nothing is going to happen to me, you know that. Don't look at me like that, I don't want you to worry about me."

Theodora bit the inside of her cheek, "If it does, I will be saying I told you so. Prepare yourself, Malcolm Whitly."

His eyes flickered to his watch, and his eyes widened. "We got to go. Rodger should be walking by here in a few minutes."

He jumped up, grabbing ahold of her as he dropped a few bills onto the table. They ran out, him dragging her by the arm across the street and through an alley. They stopped at the edge, he peaked out. "I see him. We just made it."

Malcolm leaped back, "I think he saw me."

He checked again, "We run across the street in three... two—" he dashed out, only stopping when he reached the other side. Theodora stood still staring at him from across the street, he was saying something but she couldn't make it out.

Peaking out she saw Rodger walking down the middle of the street, crossing it. Theodora held her breath as she ran towards Malcolm, following him as he lead her down the sidewalk. "I figured we were waiting for someone but Rodger, really?"

"Shush. I need quiet."

When they were close enough to the other man, Malcolm leaped out in front of him. He jumped, eyes wide as he stared at Malcolm.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Rodger yelled, "What—"

"Rodger." Malcolm stated, his eyes brighter than usually. A smile crossed his face, "Hello."

The man glanced at Theodora with a worried expression, but faced Malcolm once again. "You're following me now? C-cops can't just sneak up on people like that!"

"Yeah, um, the funny thing about that is he's actually technically a consultant, so..." Theodora popped her cheeks, "Unfortunately."

"Well, until my boss fires me which at this point seems inevitable."