Nurse Or Nanny?

Chapter Four

I leave the police station after giving my statement.  They tell me that a lawyer will be in touch with me shortly to help me navigate the legal proceedings, and prepare me as a witness.  The thought of having to sit through witness prep, get drilled with questions and then have to do it in a court room all over again makes me sick.  But I will do it, what happened to Paul should never happen to anyone else. 

I took the rest of the week off work for obvious reasons and I try to keep myself busy getting things done that I have been neglecting.  I go to the grocery store and get some things for dinner, I haven't been the best roommate recently and decide I'll make dinner for Kirsten.  She loves a roasted curry chicken with vegetables and mashed potatoes.  As I'm heading home I see a blue car in my rear view mirror and I don't think much of it, but it did catch my attention as it was driving so close to me and I thought I saw it when I left the police station but I can't be sure.  I take a round about way to my apartment and it doesn't seem to follow me.  I have that nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach again and decide not to ignore it.  I call officer Hale and she meets me at my apartment.
"Thank you so much for doing this, I feel silly calling you, I just would like you to walk up to my apartment and check it out for me."
"No worries at all, this is completely normal after what you have been through. What do you have in the bags?"
"I am making dinner for my roommate and a couple cleaners to clean up the place." Kirsten isn't much of a cleaner, sure she keeps things tidy but the apartment definitely needs a deep clean.
"That sounds nice, have you been keeping busy?"
"Sort of." I want to mention the blue car to her but I already feel stupid making her come all this way to check my apartment. 
"Doesn't look like the lock was tampered in any way, can you open it up for me and I'll take a look around and tell you when it's safe."
"Sure thing."  I open the door and it's a little colder in there than it normally is.  Officer Hale takes a look around, and there is no one in the apartment.
"All clear, you can come on in." She walks over and takes a bag and helps me bring everything to the kitchen. 
"Do you normally keep your kitchen window open like that?" Hale asks.  I look over and the window isn't completely open, but it is more open then we normally leave it, and I know for a fact I didn't leave it open this morning.  I live on the fourth floor, could someone really come up to the patio and through the window?
"We don't normally keep it open but Kirsten may have opened it to get some fresh air in here.  She tends to do that a lot, even though its freezing outside."  She can see the worry on my face and how my voice falters a little bit.
"Is this something you are worried about?"
"No, really it's fine.  I'm sure it was Kirsten and I'll ask her tonight not to leave them open when there is no one in the place." She seems concerned but doesn't want to push me, so she lets herself out and I lock the door behind her.  

I go around to all the rooms and check all the windows and make sure they are all closed and locked.  When I go into my room I notice there is a picture frame missing from my bookshelf of me and Kirsten.  I go into Kirsten's bedroom and I don't see it there.  I check the living room and I start to panic.  I go back to my room and search everywhere.  I don't remember moving it, did I put it away with some other trinkets I cleared out?  I know I didn't, its one of my favourite pictures of me and Kirsten.  Was that man in my house?  I try to put those thoughts behind me.  There is no way he could have found me.  What information did he have on me other than what I looked like?  And there is no way you can find an average Joe like me with a picture.  Again, I try to ignore that feeling in my gut that something just isn't adding up. 

I start to cook dinner, get the vegetables chopped and the chicken prepared and throw everything in the oven.  I get the potatoes ready for later, they don't take as long as the chicken will.  When I am done that, I move onto getting some laundry done.  We are so lucky we have in suite laundry in our apartment.  After sorting mine, the house laundry - kitchen towels, bathroom towels etc, and I decided I'll do Kirsten's sheets, I have four loads of laundry.  That will keep me busy.  A few hours pass, I'm on my last load of laundry, dinner is almost ready and Kirsten is home.  
"Woah, it smells so good in here! Please tell me that some of that is for me." Kirsten says as she is practically drooling.
"Yes, of course it is haha. I wanted to make a thank you dinner for being such a great roommate these past few months when I've been working crazy hours, and for being there for me the last couple days." I start to get a little emotional, we aren't really the talk about our feelings kind of friends, so when we do the tears come out. 
"Aw, Lo, you know I would do anything for you.  And don't forget, you helped me through my depression, you basically kept me alive when I was at my last job." It's true, I did, her last job sucked the life out of her and I didn't pick up any extra hours to make sure she was taking care of herself.
"Thanks K. By the way, there is a small surprise for you in your bedroom." I have a sly smile on my face, I know she loves fresh sheets.  I also know she will for sure be taking a bath tonight. 
"YOU DID MY SHEETS! Thank you so much, this gives me a good reason to pull out one of my new bath bombs." She's so excited and happy it briefly takes my mind off of what has been going on. But I still want to ask her about that picture and if she left the window open. 
"Hey K, did you happen to leave the window open in the kitchen today?"
"No, I didn't think it would be the best idea with the current situation." She gives me a sort of duh you dummy look. 
"Okay, I must have left it open. I burnt my toast this morning and then the smoke alarm was going off, I opened the window and in all the commotion must have forgot. No biggie" She rolls her eyes and goes to her room to get out of her work clothes. 

"Thanks for dinner Lo, that was delicious.  I'll clean up, why don't you go and find a movie to watch, I don't care what it is, just pick something you like." She says this because we can never agree on a movie to watch. 
"No, its okay, I'll clean up.  I'm sort of in a cleaning mode today, why don't you go have your bath and relax for the rest of the day.  I didn't work, I don't mind."
"I mean, if you say so.  I'm not going to stick around and argue about doing dishes."  She comes from a house with a dishwasher, where as in the house I grew up in, I was the dishwasher.  So it's something I am used to doing and really don't mind. 
"Also, I was cleaning up my room a bit and noticed that picture of us at the winery is gone.  You didn't happen to move it did you?"
"Nope, but I do like that picture of us. I hope it turns up." She says as she is making her way to the bathroom with a glass of red. I made sure to split the questions I needed to ask her up because I didn't want her putting two and two together and starting to needlessly worry like myself.  I am also starting to think that it might be a good idea for us to stay at a friends or our parents for a while, at least until this all cools down a bit.