The Drifter

C H A P T E R 3 6

C H A P T E R  T H I R T Y - S I X
Midnight Secrets

We were barely inside Aidan's house when someone was calling him.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the number. Something flickered over his expression but it was undecipherable to me. He held up a finger. "I need to take this and I might be a while. It's work-related. Are you okay to go up on your own? My room is up the stairs, go right, then left, and it's the second room on the right. Yours will be the third room on the right." He crumpled his face slightly. "I'm really sorry about this."

Waving my hand dismissively, I said, "It's okay. Take it. I'll be fine," and even offered what I hoped to be a reassuring smile. Whether or not I successfully attained that objective was undetermined as Aidan emulated my mismatched smile and made his way down the corridor to what I could only presume was a study.

Once I'd found my room, I realised my original theories on how decorated – or lack thereof – Aidan's house would be were not misconceptions. It was the bare minimum it could be. The walls were not adorned with any photographs or paintings, and even after sneaking a glance into Aidan's room – his door was open marginally – I could confirm his room matched the rest of the house. Even his duvet was navy with white stripes and he only possessed a laptop, pile of papers and a collection of ill-assorted pens. The spare room which was mine for the night followed a similar layout to Aidan's, and knowing we would only be sharing a wall tonight tantalised me to no end.

Like I said: I was turning into a high school girl and fostering a crush again. You'd think I was over those days. But it was difficult to determine whether Aidan reciprocated those feelings or even liked to flirt with me. I'd like to say he was enjoying flirting with me, but anything more was uncharted territory for me as I was so utterly clueless.

"Shit," I breathed, startling myself as I lingered in the threshold of the spare room.

The view that I had just realised – and what Aidan must share – was of my house. Directly opposite me was my house. With all the twists and turns in this house due to the magnitude of it, it was easy to get lost with your bearings, and that was what had happened to me. Now I was conflicted with my emotions knowing that Aidan's bedroom looked out to my house and more specifically: my room. My bedroom. How often did he look out his window and gaze straight at my bedroom, hoping for a peek?

My phone plinked from my pocket and to distract myself from my thoughts that were whizzing with slightly erotic connotations, I realised Arianna had messaged me. Flustered, I viewed the message.

Arianna: How is everything?

Addison: I'm staying at Aidan's overnight

Arianna: WHAT

Arianna: ADDY

Arianna: WHAT

Addison: Aunt Mia didn't want me on my own considering everything, and Aidan took me to the funeral and he offered to basically look after me for the night. So here I am. And get this, his bedroom overlooks mine

Arianna: I bet all your fantasies are coming true right now

Arianna: I'm right, aren't I?

Addison: How was work?

Arianna: Nice deflection. I'm on my way home now so I'll speak to you tomorrow. Enjoy the night with lover boy

Addison: He's not "lover boy". What happened to Tall, Dark and Handsome?

To waste time while Aidan was engaged in a work call, I found myself reclining on the bed with my laptop on my lap, scouring the Internet for anything I had potentially missed with the four murders. Shamefully, I realised just how addicting it was – how inquisitive I was and desperate to know every single piece of detail. There was a lot the police would be concealing from the public, and it occurred to me then that it would be in the database that I find myself working on most days during my internship. But I would jeopardise my future at West Creek Files if I were to analyse the private details of each crime. If there was something Mr Havens would want me to acknowledge, he would have informed me of it. I trusted him.