Creature Of The Night

|3|: In Which She Cannot Forget

"Are you sure you want to come in for work today?" Tom apprehensively voiced over the phone to Adeline, who was up and ready for get out of her apartment.

"I'm fine," Adeline replied with a hint of a smile in her face. "It's been two days Tom, I going crazy from doing nothing!"

Tom sighed heavily over the line and Adeline couldn't help but feel flattered that her supervisor was so worried about her. If he weren't married with three kids, she would have thought it was because he had a little crush on her. But his wife was the most amazing woman in the planet, so the thought quickly disappeared before it even began questioning Adeline's thoughts.

"Fine," Tom gave in. "But you're only staying until the lunch hour."

Adeline wasn't going to argue with that. "Until the lunch hour," she repeated in confirmation. "I promise."

An hour later, she found herself in her temporary office with her desk filled with enough folders to cover a whole month of work. The office was much smaller than her original one, and only contained a large wooden computer desk and a chair. Since it was originally set up as a traveller's working area, it was also at the end of the hallway, away from all the other paralegals in Tom's firm.

As crazy as it sounded, she missed work terribly. It was the only order and discipline in her life, compared to anything she was currently experiencing.

"That's not the best way to start your day," Linda's voice interrupted her thoughts as she popped her head from the doorway.

Linda stared sourly at the amount of paperwork on Adeline's desk and shook her head. "I can't believe they just dumped all of this on you, despite everything that's happened."

"Are you kidding?" Adeline gushed excitedly. "I'm so happy to be back, my hands are already itching to get started."

Linda shot her a worried look that Adeline dismissed with a wave of her hand. "I'm fine, Linda. I really am. If I need any help I promise, she said, crossing her hand over chest, "than I will call you over."

"I am kicking you out of here by 12," Linda added in a warning before finally leaving Adeline alone in her room.

She stood up swiftly and began to organize her desk before her eyes fell upon a freshly delivered bouquet of flowers.

The familiar lavender colour of the tulips made Adeline's blood run cold. Her eyes flickered towards the hall but everyone was so busy with their work no one had bothered to pay attention.

Her hands trembled as she grasped onto the note that lay next to the bundle and with shaky breaths, she opened it.

"Good things never last, luck always ends, and time always runs out."

Her breath caught in her throat as colour drained from her cheeks, the note slowly falling face down on the desk.

She turned to the window of her office, once again to looking so see for any suspicious signals, a hint of who was leaving these cryptic notes and flowers.

"Linda?" Adeline called out from her room, starting to feel suffocated between the four walls.

"Don't tell me you're actually giving in—Adeline?" Linda frowned staring down at Adeline's pale face. "Is everything all right?"

"T-the flowers," Adeline stammered quietly, pointing to the horrid bundle on her desk. "Do you know who sent them?"

Realization sank in Linda's expression as her eyes gazed worriedly at Adeline's trembling form. She took a step forward and shook her head regretfully.