Sweet and Sour

Chapter 5 - No witnesses

You were having trouble sleeping that night. No particular reason, you weren't worrying about anything as far as you knew. Well, apart from potentially being stalked of course. You had laid in bed for hours tossing and turning, occasionally dropping off for a few minutes before your eyes creaked open again.

After a sigh of frustration you got up and poured yourself a drink from your kitchen before padding back to your bedroom. Your apartment was your fortress. Cosy, comforting. It was small, and the landlord hadn't fixed the draught so it was often freezing – but it was yours. Here and the bakery were the two places in the world you felt the safest.

It was nearly 3am. You groaned heavily, already knowing tomorrow you'd be dead on your feet. You wondered if you should just stay awake now and cut your losses, maybe bake something to keep your mind occupied.

You decided to wander to your bedroom window for a distraction. You had a good view of the street from there, and sometimes you'd look out and watch partygoers stumble home from bars in the early hours, giggling and dancing and having the time of their lives as the night faded into morning. You liked watching the world move around you, occasionally fantasising about what your life might look like if you were one of the people you saw.

Sometimes if you looked up you could see the stars, but it could be tricky with all the city's light pollution, so you always had better luck when your lamp was off. You flicked the switch and plunged yourself into darkness as you made your way to the window. The stars always made you feel calmer.

As you glanced out tonight, your mission to see soothing stars was instantly forgotten when your eyes spotted a familiar car across the street from your building.

The SUV.

It was parked up directly opposite your apartment, no other cars around. You felt that same pang of dread again as you reached for your phone and checked the note you'd made on the last three license plate numbers.

It was a match.

It was the same car.

Maybe it was just a coincidence. You had already assumed the owner worked locally...maybe they lived nearby too. Maybe that's where they always parked for the night and you just never noticed because you were always asleep at that time. Maybe it was a frequency illusion where you hear about something for the first time and suddenly see it everywhere – like learning a new word.

Besides, what was the other explanation? That it was following you?

At 3am?

And why would it be? You didn't have any enemies. Your exes were mostly assholes, but not creepy stalker assholes – and none of them had the attention span for stalking. You didn't owe anyone money or anything like that. You weren't in possession of any government secrets as far as you knew.

You moved in the dark and slipped on some shoes and a sweater over your pyjamas. You decided to leave your lamp off just in case it drew attention to your movements. You scoffed out loud at your paranoia. How ridiculous! Nobody was looking into your apartment. Get it together.

But it was hard to ignore you gut.

You decided you'd just go down and have a quick look. If it was empty - you'd go back to sleep. Then you'd know you were right, that it belonged to someone who lived nearby who must drive into work every day.

But if it had a person or people in it?

Well, at least you'd find out who they were.

You grabbed your keys and locked your door before dragging yourself down the building's stairs. You felt queasy. Scared. But you knew you wouldn't be able to sleep until you'd done this.