FATAL SEDUCTION: The Boy In A Cheap Suit | 18+

Apartment

Still Pedro's POV

"You've arrived at your destination"

"You've got to be kidding me" I said to myself in the car as I looked out on the street. The street was narrow and the buildings, old and in poor state. They looked like they would fall at anytime. My car had drawn a lot of attention on the way in and a few people were hanging from their verandahs and windows watching. There were a handful of kids playing on the road and they had stopped immediately I drove past.

I drove into the parking lot and killed the engine. I got down from the car and glanced at the building that was number twenty-five. It was a three storey apartment building with atleast twenty flats on each floor.

I groaned.

How was I going to find him?

I was still standing when I caught sight of someone vaguely familiar walk down from the opposite side of road and enter the building. I was still trying to know where I had seen him before when it clicked. It was the guy that came to pick Marco from the office the last time I saw him. I felt my stomach knot in anger and the wave of jealousy hit again.

What if he had something to do with Marco's disappearance? I will most definitely kill him.

But first I have to find out where he would enter.

I entered the building and was relieved to still hear his footsteps on the stairs. He had a couple plastic bags in his hands which rustled as he walked. The sound was enough to mask my own footsteps. I could see his back but I kept a safe distance.

He might have a gun.

The guy got to the second floor and started walking down the long corridor. I stopped at the last stair, out of his sight but I could still see him. He pulled out a key from his pocket, opened the door and stepped into the room. I waited till I heard the sound of the door locking before I stepped out.

I walked to the door carefully without a sound. I stood in front of it undecided.

What if Marco actually quit?

Was I invading his privacy?

Of course it wasn't stated in any company rules that the employer had to privately visit his employee if he didn't show up at work. So what exactly was I doing here?

Even I didn't know the answer to that. I must have stood for a while when a door opened on the opposite side of the corridor and a huge woman stepped out. She was dressed in an old fashioned dirty summer frock that hung tightly to her huge body. Her hair was a dirty brown mass that didn't look like a comb had passed through it in ages. Her face was heavily and ridiculously made-up like she hadn't used a mirror. Huge dangly mismatched earrings hung from the huge hole in her earlobes and her hands were covered in a ridiculous amount of bead bangles. Her feet were in two mismatched socks in equally mismatched flip-flops. She had a stick of cigarette in between her oddly huge black lips. I swear I had never seen someone who spooked me so much. I must have been staring because she turned and our eyes met.

"Whatchu' lookin' at pweety boy?" She said, a deep scowl on her face adding to her scary form.

I didn't reply and faced the door I was standing in front of, praying that it would end there and she would continue going on where she was first headed. But that prayer wasn't answered because her footsteps drew nearer and I turned to see her just within arm length from me.

"You not from aroun' here" she said looking me over with her beady eyes, "you look wich an' hansom'"

The smoke from her cigarette was begining to sting my eyes. I shifted a few steps back to put a comfortable gap between us. I still didn't say a word. The headache was returning and my fatigue was begining to soil my mood. The last thing I needed was this.... woman to add to my misery.

"Wanna com' in for som' coffee? I make the bes' kind aroun' here" the creepy woman continued now smiling, exposing decayed brown teeth. I could perceive alcohol from her breathe and from the way she sway as she spoke, it was obvious she was drunk.

"No thank you. I'm good" I said trying to sound as polite as I could.

"It's ya' loss then" she said and began to walk away towards the stairs muttering about 'what a girl could do to make a living around here'

My encounter with the woman startled me and at the same time gave me the energy to finally knock at the door.

"I'm already here" I said to reassure myself and rapped on the door.

I heard a shuffle inside and then silence again. I knocked again and then a voice said

"Who is it?"

The voice wasn't Marco's, so it probably was the guy I had seen earlier.

I didn't know how to respond so I opted to say what I came for.

"I'm here to see Marco"

The voice paused for a while before speaking again.

"Marco's not in"

I clenched my fist.

"When will he be back?" I asked in a calm enough voice.

"Don't know" was the curt response.

"Who should I say came by?" The voice asked again but I was already on my way to the stairs.

I was pissed and weary. I stormed to the parking lot and got into my car.

For fucks sake!!!!

I knew the voice was lying. I didn't have any proof but I knew it was. I felt it in my gut.

But why would he lie if he wasn't holding Marco hostage or any other bad scenerio like that?

I pulled out my phone to call the cops and then stopped.

What if I am just overreacting and there's nothing bad going on?

What if Marco wasn't actually home?

I threw the phone on the passenger seat and groan in frustration.

Whatever it is, I will have to take care of it myself.

I decided to wait the guy out. Maybe he might run out of something and leave the building to get it. That would be an opportunity for my to break into the flat and see things for myself. I glanced at my wristwatch. It was way past mid noon. My head was banging and I looked like hell.

A few hours, if he doesn't leave, I will call the cops.

I reversed the car and left it facing the street with a clear view of the building entrance. My stomach growled from hunger. I had only had coffee before the flight and nothing else. But I was determined.

I must make sure he is safe before I go home.

I must have sat watching for hours because the sun was already coming down. I had watched a dozen people enter and leave the building, mostly middle aged men and women, some obvious hookers, a few young people who couldn't afford a better place and then the fat drunk woman. She had fallen at the entrance twice before making it into the stairway.

My head was now pounding in my skull and my eyes were dull and clouded. My bones ached and my back felt like I had lost my spinal cord. I was already giving up and the earlier enthusiasm and zeal was gone. Even calling the cops wasn't a good idea anymore.

Maybe I will go home and then tomorrow I will figure things out.

I was about to fire up the car when I saw a figure step out of the building. If not for the brown locks that I had gotten  used to staring at and wanting to run my arms through from the first day I saw them, I wouldn't have recognized him. He was so lean I had to remind myself it's only been a week I had seen him last. His milky skin was pale and almost translucent. His eyes were dull and puffy. He was dressed in a simple gray shirt and black shorts.

Marco looked so vulnerable, my heart ached.

Before I could think of what to say or do, I was already out of the car and walking towards him.

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