The City of Two Halves

✽Chapter 3✽

On the lucky occasion that Dorian gets an afternoon shift at the cafe and Grace gets one at the bookshop, they meet up after the shift ends and go to the night market. Grace is particularly excited about it today, her favourite second-hand book stall is open. For an hour or the two friends go from stall to stall with a warm drink in hand, chatting idly. Grace listens to Dorian talk about his day and starts to pay attention to the little things. 

His navy hair has little highlights of yellow and orange from the overhead lamps, his eyes sparkle like they do when he's talking to Grace and his dimples are visible as he's smiling while talking. She wonders whether he ever looks at her hard enough to notice the small things about her as she does him. He says something and when Grace doesn't answer, he repeats himself in a low voice "What are you staring at Buttercup?" caught off guard Grace's expression changes and she says,

"What?"

"You're staring" Her eyes soften and he says, "Keep staring at me like that, see where it gets you,"

"Oh but now I'm curious."

They both look away and Dorian swallows hard. After some time they walk back to their apartment, once they reach their floor they continue bantering until they see someone outside their door. It was Cerena.

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Cerena had always seen the movies where someone goes flying across a room after being thrown, she didn't expect it to hurt so much. "Fuck," she curses trailing down the wall, the man in the black overcoat phases through her living room wall into her office, she curses again and races towards the room, pulling a knife off a decorative arrangement in the hall. 

The man has thrown everything on the floor and appears to be looking for something, Cerena quietly lunges at him with her knife and stabs him in the arm, he elbows her in the face and she falls to the floor, he picks up the knife. "Where is it?" he yells pointing the knife at her, "Where is it?" he asks again angrier,

"What the fuck do you want?" Cerena yells back, 

"The amulet you mad woman."

For a second Cerena's guard is down and she glances over at a shelf, "Bingo," the man says walking to it. With his back to her, Cerena stands up and grabs her desk lamp, hitting him over the head, hard. He flinches and turns around shoving the amulet into one of his pockets, he swings the knife at her waist and as she is falling kicks her into the floor. 

Cerena tries to get up but the man slams her head into the floor with his boot and she passes out. 

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When Cerena comes to, she's disoriented, she decided she very probably has a concussion but doesn't feel safe enough to wait it out inside her home. The slightly concussed and very disoriented Cerena decides to go to Dorian and Grace's house, she's been there once for a housewarming party when Dorian moved in but she remembers the path well. 

She makes 3 wrong turns on the way to the underworld exit closest to their home but finds it eventually, she climbs up slowly. The basement of their building looks the same as when she was last there, she thinks at least, Cerena enters the lift and is confronted with the numbers of the floors. 

She eventually decides on floor 8 and by sheer dumb luck finds herself on the right floor, the numbers seem more familiar and she recognises the 'welcome-ish (depends on who you are)' doormat and walks over to the door. After knocking for about six minutes she succumbs to fatigue and collapses in front of the door, she is just starting to doze off when a familiar voice says "Cerena? What are you doing here?"

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