Autumn's Affairs

6 - A Murder, a Mistress, and a Machete

I wake up wrapped in Felix's arms with the morning sun streaming in through my bedroom window. I tilt my head up and smile at how peaceful his face looks in sleep. His dark blonde hair is a little messy but it looks good and I find myself running my fingers through it.

"Mmm," he sighs out softly. "That feels nice."

I kiss his cheek and continue playing with his hair, "it felt nice waking up next to you." I almost feel happy. There's just a grim cloud of grief still hanging over my head, and I don't think even killing Henry will get rid of it. But it's a good place to start.

I let Felix make me breakfast; he disappears through one of his portals and returns a minute later with eggs, sausage links, potatoes, and a large bowl of berries.

I stare at all the food, my mouth falling open and watering as he busies himself preparing a huge meal.

I'm frozen in my kitchen just watching him. I can't believe he's doing all this for me. I'm about to ruin everything by killing Henry. Felix will never see me the same again after tonight. There's no way he won't find out about it, he's already desperate to investigate this whole ordeal.

I swallow thickly as he leads me to the table and lays a plate of food in front of me. "You're so sweet, Felix. Thank you," I say, blushing furiously.

He kisses my cheek and sits across from me, "you're welcome, baby. But you look a little distracted, is everything ok?"

I avoid his eyes, looking down at my food, "yeah, um, just sad about Este." It's not a complete lie.

"I'm going to go to Henry's work today and talk to some of his coworkers. Find out if he really was sleeping with the boss's sister. Maybe she's Stella."

I nod thoughtfully, she probably is. "You don't have to do all that, Felix."

"I want to," he says, motioning for me to eat. "If I don't get anything useful, I'll go to his house and have a look around."

"Oh, don't do that!" I snap my mouth shut, and stab my fork into a sausage.

Felix tilts his head, almost in amusement, "and why not?"

I force myself to swallow, "um, well, we don't want him to know that we are, um, that we're investigating him, right? That would probably be bad."

He chuckles at me, "yes, perhaps you're right."

"So, you'll just go to his work?" I stare at him, waiting for his confirmation.

There's almost a knowing glint in his eyes that I don't like much, and his lips curl into a smirk, "yes, baby. I'll go to his work and find out what I can."

"Good," I say," er, well, if you want to. You really don't have to do any of this."

"I know, but I do want to."

We finish eating and I run into my room to change before dragging Felix out back to meet Lucy. "She's very old," I say, coaxing her out and stroking her gently.

"She's lovely," he says, bending down to give her head a pat. "Hello Lucy." She gives him a soft 'cluck', and I check her nest, but still no eggs.

"Damn," I mutter, feeding her quickly and bringing Felix back inside.

He glances out the back door to my garden, "do you get enough to live on just from that?"

"Uh," I let out an awkward laugh. "I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"My aunt doesn't pay you much, does she?"

I shrug, "it's not nothing."

I feel myself smiling at his obvious disappointment and anger towards his aunt. She might keep this town safe from outsiders, but she doesn't do much else.