Khan collapsed in Mr. Griggs old bedroom that evening, feeling considerably less positive about owning The Rosario than he had that morning.  He had managed to collect zero rent today.  John had become a squatter.  202 was filled with Ms. Flannery’s things and the city said he had to leave it for the time being while they looked for the next of kin.  No one had responded to his vacancy announcement.  And the person he wanted around the most was under the impression she could stay here for free.

He took a few breaths to try and calm himself.  What needed to happen next?  He decided to first focus on the one area he wasn’t going to get pushback: getting the empty units filled with tenants.  Khan posted another ad online and put a vacancy sign out front.  Next he considered what to do with John.  Mr. Griggs computer was old but was good enough to print out an official looking past due notice.  Getting the rent out of John would be good, but Khan would really like to be rid of him.  This wasn’t just warning John, it was creating a paper trail.  He would follow up with the city about Ms. Flannery’s things next week, with there being empty units in the building it wasn’t a priority.

The hardest to deal with was 102.  Khan didn’t want to be rid of Mila, but she couldn’t stay for free either.  Ideally she would simply pay him the rent.  Maybe he could move her up to one of the less valuable studio apartments on the third floor.  Or maybe she could stay in my room, as my girlfriend.  The thought ran across the back of his mind.  He hated himself for thinking it, it felt predatory.

Perhaps he would just have to sell The Rosario.  It was currently so far from being profitable, it might be better to just not even try.  Most of the sale would go to paying off the mortgage but Khan would still have some cash in the end.  Of course that assumed the old building had value.  If it needed to be knocked down then the property had less value than a vacant lot.

Khan sat up and looked at the tall, narrow painting on the wall.  It depicted several men in medieval attire on horseback, with cliffs and then forest and then castles in the background.  Khan had asked Mr. Griggs about it before, the old man had responded “Oh, they’re just judges.”  What was that supposed to mean?  He had mentioned the painting in his letter as the one personal item he hoped Khan would appreciate.  Mila had mentioned that she could stay because of the just judges.  Khan didn’t get it, he wasn’t impressed by the painting.  What did it have to do with anything?  

Khan got up and ran his hand along the picture’s frame.  It wasn’t an action done with intent, he was just trying to process this piece’s significance in the day he’d had.  Yet he felt a click, and the painting swung out to reveal a narrow secret passageway.

“Tarim’s Blood!” Khan exclaimed.  One always hopes to find a secret passageway, but you never think it’s actually going to happen.  His mind raced with possibilities.  Perhaps the answer to all his troubles was within.

Khan had to walk sideways to go through the slender passageway.  He squeezed around a corner and came to a dead end.  There was nothing in there.  It didn’t go anywhere.  Khan groaned.  He felt foolish for getting his hopes up.  He started going back out when a light suddenly showed through.  Khan went back to investigate.  He found himself looking through a window into a bathroom, Mila’s bathroom.  Khan sheepishly waved at her, not knowing what else to do.  Mila didn’t wave back, she didn’t seem to notice him.  Which meant he must be looking through a one-way mirror.  Which meant…

THAT DIRTY OLD MAN.  This is why Mr. Griggs had let Mila stay even though she couldn’t pay the rent.  He was spying on her when she was in the bathroom.  As Khan processed this information Mila turned on the shower and took her top off.  Her breasts were framed by a lacy light blue bra.  Khan shook his head, he couldn’t stay here and watch this, it was wrong.  And yet as his eyes beheld Mila’s alabaster skin he felt his feet turn to lead.  He would have never installed a secret one-way mirror.  If someone had invited him to look through a secret one-way mirror he would have refused.  Yet the universe had placed him behind a secret one-way mirror and placed his crush on the other side.

Next Mila’s jeans came away, showing him her simple beige panties.  It struck Khan that her bra and panties didn’t match, in movies girls always wore matching bras and panties.  He supposed girls didn’t worry about matching normally, especially if they weren’t expecting to show their underwear to anyone.  This realization reminded Khan that he wasn’t supposed to be seeing this.  The thought was fleeting as her bra fell away.  The small pink nipples on Mila’s pert breasts were the first ones Khan had ever seen in real life.  He accepted his place in hell as he had no hope of moving away now.  Her panties subsequently came away, revealing a trimmed bush.  Khan bit down on his hand.  Mila stepped into the shower.  She was fearfully and wonderfully made.

OK, time to go.  Khan thought again and again.  But he just couldn’t move away.  It took Mila a while to wash her hair.  She used a face wash.  As she washed her body Khan bit down harder on his hand.  She seemed to spend a while washing her private area… was she?  Oh she was… enjoying some alone time.  And then she said the worst thing possible.  “Oh Khan…” Mila moaned as she rubbed herself.

Startled, Khan hit his head on the wall behind him.  That made a noise, and Mila clearly heard the noise as she stopped to look around.  “Hello?” Mila asked.  “Is someone there?”

Khan fought the urge to run out of the secret passage.  That would end up making more noise, particularly since the building’s floors were prone to squeaks.  For now he had to hold perfectly still as his head throbbed.  The pain felt deserved.  Mila got out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel.  As she left the bathroom Khan also left the hidden corridor and shut the painting door behind him.