By Day and by Night

Chapter 12- Something Old, Something New

Unaware of the passage of time, the knock she'd been expecting sounded against her door, echoing through the dark house. Adelae rose from her seat and answered the knock, opening the door and hearing the exchange of words, unaware that her lips moved.

"Mrs. Newman?" asked the police officer, nervously holding his hat in his hands.

"Yes, that's me."

"I'm officer Barden. I'm sorry to inform you that your husband was found dead several hours ago." He stated, holding his breath to hear her reaction.

"He's dead?" She asked in fake surprise.

"Yes, ma'am." He said, shifting his stance. "I'm so sorry for your loss, he was truly a good man." He stood there in silence, apparently waiting for a response.

Adelae didn't know what kind of response he expected. She didn't even know what kind she could expect from herself.

"Thank you for telling me. Would you please inform his parents as well? I can't bear to call them now." She replied at last.

The man nodded, hesitating before asking, "Ma'am? Is there someone I can call to come and be with you?"

"No. Goodbye." She said, unceremoniously closing the door on him.

The officer stood on the porch for a moment longer, before eventually turning back to his car and leaving. 

Adelae didn't leave the house for the rest of the day. She fell asleep on the couch in the evening, and when she awoke, the house was dark again.

Adelae cranked up the hot water in her bathroom, standing naked outside the curtain and watching the steam fill the space around her for several minutes. When she finally pushed the curtain back and stepped into the shower, the hot water burned her skin, but she welcomed the pain. She later tried to recall how long she'd stood in the burning water and whether or not she had used soap, to no avail.

Upon exiting the shower, Adelae blow-dried her hair, applied her usual makeup, dressed slowly, and gathered her suit in one arm, her purse over the other, and went in to work.

The clock read four in the morning, and no one was in the building. She quietly turned off the security system, taking the elevator to her floor with the lights still off. She stashed her suit, still covered in blood and torn in more than one place, on the mannequin in the hidden compartment, meticulously replacing the remaining grenades and knives to their designated places, regretting that she had left her guns in the place where... where...

Closer to seven-thirty, people began to arrive. They whispered in shock when they walked past her office, seeing her sitting there. The TV in the corner displayed the news on Mute, and the Mayor's death was all over it. By now the whole city knew. No one entered the office.

Around two, Adelae still hadn't risen from her seat, and she recognized the pang of hunger in her stomach with repulsion. How could she be hungry with all that had happened in the last twenty four hours?  Miraculously, Nik showed up with a bag of greasy food from the shop around the corner; entering unceremoniously and dropping the bag in front of her.

She didn't look up. "What's this?" She asked.

"Food. It's the crappy stuff you eat when you're grieving."

"Not hungry." She lied, but the rumble in her stomach in response to the smells gave her away.

"Okay, then eat it so that people stop staring." He argued.

She looked him over. "Fine." She agreed begrudgingly, pulling a greasy burger out of the bag and eating it slowly.

"There we go. Now. Why are you back at work?" He asked.