Homebound

Chapter Thirty

It didn't take me long to walk around and have a look at the rest of the apartment. Nothing has been moved and nothing is missing. It's a relief but it does little to ease my nerves. I still can't shake the bad feeling of knowing someone was in my personal space.

Harley had spent the entire time internally panicking while we waited for whoever she had asked for help to show up. She thought she had been sly but the obsessive walking back and forth and constant checking of her phone didn't go past me like she thought it would.

Her head snaps to the window every time a car drives past and then she looks away when the car continues driving and doesn't pull into the apartment car park. It makes my eyebrows squint together in suspicion but I don't voice my thoughts.

"I'm going to the bathroom" Harley says as she gives the window one last look before walking down the hallway and into the bathroom.

Now I'm curious, really curious. Who is this guy? She hadn't mentioned talking to anyone but from the way she's acting, this guy is different. She's never once acted like this over Stevie.

A dark coloured car pulls into the car park; it's engine is loud and makes my ears ring until it shuts off. Harley obviously hears it too because something drops in the bathroom and then the door unlocks. She looks flustered and combs back her hair with her hands as she looks at her reflection in the glass of a hanging photo frame on the hallway wall.

She catches me watching her in the reflection "what?" she asks.

"Nothing" I sing. My attention swings back to the car as the car door swings open and a young man steps out. I recognise the blonde hair instantly as he goes to the backseat doors of his car and pulls out a wooden board. I gasp and cover my mouth making Harley's head swing my way.

"Not a word!" she hisses before walking out the front door as I stay where I am in the kitchen. I watch in amusement as she wrings her hands to stop the shaking and then wipes them on the back of her thighs.

I can't hear what they're saying but I don't miss the look he sends her way when she walks up to him. It's heated and I'm sure hers mirror his, even if she doesn't want to admit it. I don't know what I expected but from the way Harley was acting I definitely didn't expect her to snatch the board out of his hands and then storm back inside without a word.

The man leans on his car with his hands in his pockets and his ankles crossed. There's a smug look to his face as he watches her hips sway while she walks away.

"Got the board" Harley announces and slams the door behind her, her attitude directed at the man outside. I watch as she struggles to hold the board up to the window before realising she has no tools available to keep it in place.

The door opens unexpectedly and the young man walks in. He's even more attractive up close but slightly on the skinny side, truly showing his age.

Harley throws her head back and groans when she lays eyes on him. He says nothing as he walks up behind her and starts to hammer the nails through the board and into the window frame while Harley stands in front of him and holds the board in place.

She appears frozen in place and shivers when his chest skims her back. I think they had both forgotten I was stood in the kitchen and had a front row seat.

Once all four nails were hammered into the window frame Harley let go of the board. The guy doesn't step back but lowers his left hand to her waist and gives it a sqeeze while the right hand holds the hammer. It makes Harley jump.

He steps back and then heads out the front door without a word.

"Thank you!" I shout after him. He doesn't turn around, only lifts his hand as if to say 'you're welcome' over his shoulder before walking out the door and closing it behind him.