Secrets to Keep (Phan)

Chapter 13

Learning my way around town was proving to be easier with each passing day. Dan would head off to school each morning, and I would go for walks, taking in all the shops, tourist traps and potential job oppertunities. We had been in the same hotel room for a week now, and it seemed as though things weren't going to change for a while. Paul emailed me a couple days ago listing flats for rent, but without a job, affording any of them was nearly impossible.

The crispy winter breeze blew through my hair, patches of grey snow lining the sidewalk in slushy piles and the sky threatening to snow again. People moved around me with intention, all having places to be, I however had no destination. Walking these streets nearest the hotel had become some sort of routine. I found myself passing the same tall buildings, and through the same tunnels on the underground.

It was nearing Dan's usual time to come home, so once again I turned towards the road that I knew would take me back to the middle class hotel; so that I would be there when he got back. I was slowly getting used to being alone all day, although surrounding myself with strangers helped me not feel completely cast out from society.

I walked into the all too familiar lobby, nodding my head towards the front desk lady as I hit the button for the lift. With a ding, the doors opened, and I stepped into the box that brought me up to my floor.

The entire building seemed eerily quiet as I dug around my pocket for the key card. I eventually got the door open, walking into the nearly dark hotel room, and slipping out of my coat. I aimed to go over to the queen-sized bed, and maybe read or something until Dan got home, before another voice nearly made me jump out of my own skin.

"Hello Phil." it purred in a deep, raspy tone. My head snapped over in the direction of the voice, only to see a tall, lanky man sitting patiently in the chair in the corner. His light brown hair was brushed back neatly atop his head, and his features were gruff and a little old.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked, attempting to make my voice sound tougher as I took a step back towards the door. He was dressed in a professional looking black suit, his legs crossed and hands resting on the arms of the chair. It seemed a lot like all of those old clishé action movies and I half expected him to say he'd been waiting for me.

"You know who I am Phil, you work for me after all." he responded, his voice honeyed over his lips that were pulled into a smirk. The realisation of his words hit me and I was finding it hard to speak, or breathe.

"Y-You're him?" I stuttered out, backing into the wall. The man eyed me through piercing blue eyes that seemed to slice the air everytime they moved.

"Ah yes, what do they call me down there? The Boss? Not my first choice for a nick-name, but beggars can't be choosers I suppose." he denounced with a shrug, as he pulled a carton of cigarrettes out of his suit coat, slipping one of the thin cilendars between his papery lips before sliding the box away.

"I don't work for you anymore." I retorted, attempting to be more confident and pulling my back away from the wall. The man gazed at me with a humored expression, and it was only then that I noticed my open laptop that rested at his feet. "You read my emails?" I asked in disbelief, feeling a bit invaded.

"Well you left the tab open." he shrugged again, bringing a silver lighter from his pocket and setting the cigarrette's end ablaze.

"You can't do that in here, you'll piss off the maid." I told him, motioning to the cigarrette and watching as he took a long drag, before flicking it onto the carpet and stomping it out with his black, polished shoe. "What do you want from me? How did you even get in here?" I asked, wondering if the front desk lady had actually given a complete stranger the key to our room.