THE DEVIL'S AFFECTION

7. OFF DAY

I WOKE UP ALONE AGAIN. To my surprise, Hanes is still in the hotel room as he paces back and forth, looking through his phone. I sit up slowly, remembering that his anger could turn into a dangerous situation for me. Last night proved that he was able to cope with it to a certain degree but I fear what might be his breaking point.

He notices me sitting up and glares at me, not angry with me but rather carrying his anger from whatever caused it.

"Good morning..." I say quietly, still unsure of what situation I'm in.

"Morning." He says bluntly before looking back down at his phone and pacing across the room again.

I slide out of the bed and begin to make my way over to the bathroom.

"For fucksake, okay, fuck it..." he sighs, causing me to freeze. "We're going out in a half-an-hour. We'll go for brunch or something." He jams his phone into his pocket and heads across the hotel room, searching for something in his bag.

I'm not sure why we're going out but that will be more comforting than staying here. Being in private with him while he's angry strikes a fear in me that I worry I'll never get rid of around angry men.

I GOT READY and we hit the town exactly a half-an-hour later. Hanes and I now walk down the street as he looks for the brunch place he had look up earlier on his phone while we took the taxi into the main part of the city.

I struggle to keep up with his large strides as he walks with propose. I slowly find myself falling behind while I wrap my jacket around myself tightly to shield from the cold dry air that slightly stings my cheeks.

"Here," Hanes stops, extending his elbow to me as he keeps his hand in his pocket. "Take my arm so you can keep up."

I wrap my arm around his and he squeezes it tight to his body as we walk together. I feel like a child holding onto its mother. He doesn't wait for much but I could sense a bit of empathy in the gesture. If he truly didn't care, he would have left it up to me to keep up and carried on himself.

"I can't believe we're going to... brunch." He says "brunch" as if it's sour on his tongue.

"I think it will be good for you."

He stops abruptly, finding the place he had picked out, cussing under his breath a bit about how difficult it was to find. In reality, it took us maybe five minutes to find but I guess, to him, that's enough time to complain about. He acts as if all time is money, and maybe to him it is.

We stand inside and he wastes no time waving someone down anxiously to seat us. I get secondhand embarrassment from his inability to wait and act appropriately in this setting but a hostess quickly seats us and we take a seat.

I watch as he bites at the inside of his cheek as he looks over the small menu.

"You don't take many off days, do you?"

He looks up at me with only his eyes in an intimidating glare.

"I'm far too busy for this shit. I can't believe I decided this was a good idea..."

"It's okay to take time off sometimes."

"Not in this game." He says quickly.

"And what is this "game"?" I use air quotes. "You're very vague about what you do."

"It's for good reason. Besides, what good would it do you to know?" He looks back down at his menu.

"Well, I am one of your employees, am I not?"