Redemption of a Soul

Chapter 12

"How have the past few weeks been treating you Eli?" Asks Dr. Sanchez

"The weeks been treating like polished shit. How about you Sanchez?" Eli cracks his knuckles scanning the room

"You seem..uh fidgety... you alright? Girl trouble?" Dr. Sanchez wiggles his eyebrows

"No... well maybe. You remember when I told you about that girl and how she kissed me and left?" Eli rolled his eyes chewing on his bottom lip

"I believe you expressed that it wasn't just any girl. In fact you said she was someone close to me. And it can't be my wife... no offense you're not really her type." They both laughed

"Hah no..no but um... I kind of been... uhh how can I say this without sounding like a stalker? Oh I've been keeping tabs on her." He rubbed the back of his neck breathing deeply

"You didn't leave boiled rabbits on her doorstep did you?"Dr.sanchez wrote a note in his journal.

"Really? I just wanna make sure she's okay." Eli ran his hands through his hair

"I'm sure Claire will appreciate you looking out for her... from a distance... maybe in a bush. Have you told her how you feel about her yet?" Dr Sanchez lifted from his seat pouring himself a glass of water

"What are talking about you old man? It's not Claire pfft.... I mea- whatever We're done here." Eli jumped from his chair and stormed out the door

"See you next week.. Where is my lunch?" Sanchez closed his door

"I'll be back same time next week Brenda" Eli shouted walking through the front door

"It's Rachel." The lady behind yelled after him

Eli walked out the office lighting a cigarette, walking to his favorite bar thinking about what his therapist said. He entered the bar and sat at his usual stool silently mumbling to himself he rolled his eyes putting his cigarette.

"Care if i sit?" a familiar british voice chirped behind him

"I don't mind. Billy" Eli smiled slipping a peanut in half and eating a piece of it.

"Don't call me that. We need to talk about a certain someone." William sat next to him ordering a guiness

"And that would be... the muffin man?" Eli chuckled

"You know who I'm talking about." taking a sip of his beer and licking the froth from his top lip

"What about him? Let me guess she didn't say anything about what happened... did she." Eli took william glass of beer and drank half of it

"No she didn't. But my partner knew something was off. And she did lie about some stuff. That's mine." William yelled snatching the beer from Eli

"What about the security cameras?" Eli questioned drinking a full glass of water

"I went there asked to see the tapes because of the arsonist, apparently the cameras transmit to a server some other and is wiped clean i guess. I wasn't really paying attention, but they are copies and i asked for a warrant to seize them." William huffed chewing on a toothpick

"So there isn't anything you could do then." He said swirling his drink

"I... Not really because there isn't enough evidence. And she didn't report it or say anything about it when we visited her." William closed his eyes and took a deep breath

"Mhm so nothing. It's okay I've been keeping tabs on her since she left my house" Eli sucked air through his teeth

"That is called stalking, my friend" William patted his shoulder

"Whatever" he mumbled getting from the stool and throwing a twenty on the bar and walking out the door

Eli walked around the block a few times smoking and thinking to himself. When he checked his watch the time read a quarter past 12, Eli walked to his usual spot in an alley facing Claire's apartment. He watched as two people walked about the apartment, Claire being one of them and other he assumed a friend of hers. About two and half hours later and nearly two cigarettes left Claire's door opened and Eli stepped forward a bit and watched as a filimar man walk out adjusting his clothing and grinning from ear to ear.

Eli's blood began to boil as he held back from beating Ryan to a bloody pulp. He stood solid as saw Claire stood behind Ryan looking at her feet, her hands holding the door. Ryan said something and reached for her face but she turned quickly away from him. Ryan shrugged a walked off, Claire spit on the ground where he once stood and looked in the dark alley, but no one was there