Even if I didn’t know him, I knew that kind of gaze. Danger. A predator looking at prey. My heart pulsed faster, sending a rush through my body, but I couldn’t look away. The second I lost eye-contact with him was the second I lost whatever this was.

I didn’t know the man and he shouldn’t have any business with me, and yet, he seemed to know me.

A feeling ran through me. The kind of feeling you get when you are constantly taking the wrong way because you don’t count the turns well, or the kind you get when you are always short on money at the grocery shop, because you didn’t calculate it right. A disoriented feeling of miscalculation on my part.

Had he meant to knock on my door from the start? Was his business actually with me? The apartments looked the same from the outside. There had been numbers, once, to indicate which was which, but time and bad upkeep had erased them enough to not be able to see them, unless you knew where to look. It was entirely possible he had simply made a mistake.

An instant feeling of regret grew in me. I shouldn’t have complained about the noise. I should have stayed in bed, minding my own business, and then I should have moved. I had stayed here for too long anyway. Except, I didn’t have money to move with, and I didn’t have a job to earn money with.

Right, I had nothing to give, so whatever this man’s business with me was, I would not be able to give him anything.

A calm that I knew well settled over me. Having nothing left, meant nothing to lose.

Without breaking eye-contact, I frowned.

“What?” I asked, imitating the most confident person I knew, feeling my gut wrench as I did. But it wasn’t the time for that.

And then… The man smiled. A sort of eerie smile that made me feel like I was nothing but a rabbit that had been cornered. Not the reaction I was going for, at all.

“What?” I asked, putting everything I had into my voice, since he hadn’t answered. The full annoyance I had held back came out easily now.

And then the man laughed. He stopped staring at me in the process, but it felt less of a victory, and more like I was simply being made fun of. Fuck. This wasn’t going anywhere.

“If you don’t have any business with me, I’d like to move on with my day.” I told him, making way to try and close the door, but the moment my finger got on the handle, he stopped laughing and grabbed the door in an iron grip.

“Oh, sorry Mr. River. You were just not what I expected at all. I had been told you would have a bit of a bite, but I didn’t know it would be so…” He gestured with his hands, and clicked his tongue a few times, seemingly looking for a word. I stood still. I had hoped to end this immediately, but him knowing my name, and knowing ME made that hope flutter out and die on the spot.

“Ah! Delectable. I can see why he likes you.” The man smiled again. I was frozen on the spot. There would only ever be one ‘he’ he could have referred to. Only one ‘he’ that would like me. Only one ‘he’ that would have any connection to a man that wore such a fancy suit, that even I couldn’t help but notice the excellent quality.

“He said I was free.” The words fell out of my mouth before my brain caught up. I couldn’t take them back, which the man in front of me seemed to find highly amusing. His eerie smile grew and settled like a mask, unmoving.

“Oh no, Mr. River. Do not misunderstand. I wasn’t sent by him.” A sigh of relief washed over me, only to be replaced by another sort of dread.

“Then, why…” I started, but he interrupted me.

“Why would anyone else have a need for you? Well, I do understand why you would be a bit confused. I apologize for the late introductions. My name is Olyvar Maddison, the arms and legs of a certain individual that would very much like to meet you. As I am sure you understand, respecting his privacy is a matter of great importance, and thus I can’t swing around his name in this kind of…” Olyvar clicked his tongue around, looking like he was tasting different words, trying to find the right one, once again.

“Unrefined neighborhood.” He finished. The eerie smile had turned into something that looked very self-satisfied. I didn’t know what to respond, but my mouth apparently did. Before I could stop it, it had already spat it out.

“You didn’t seem to care much about my privacy, so why should I give a fuck about this ‘certain individual’ of yours?” I had really done it now. However, instead of a punch to the face, which I had somehow expected, Olyvar leaned his head back and laughed once again. When he was done, he looked me up and down, and gave a shrug as if to say ‘are you really someone that has any need to worry about your privacy’. Infuriatingly enough, I couldn’t say anything to that.