He Was a Friend

/10/ He wasn't ready. /

"Lou's not up yet?"

Eric chuckled when he saw Robin jumped in surprise after hearing his voice. He was about to apologize for surprising him, but then he noticed his pale face. Robin seems to have just arrived as well, seeing his bag and laptop are still in the kitchen counter.

He walked in fast strides and reached the counter in a flash.

"Problem?" he asked, while getting his phone out of his hoodie's pockets. He checked the time on its screen - it was 5:30AM then. Around that time, it's normally just Robin and Louise who are making rounds in the kitchen. The other staff usually come around 6-6:30AM.

Robin just looked at him with his mouth open.

Eric felt uneasy for some reason, and as if on instinct, looked around the cafe area to find anything unusual. But he didn't notice anything weird. He looked at Robin again.

"What is it? What happened?" he asked, with a hint of impatience. He can't seem to pinpoint what exactly's going wrong, but it didn't feel good not seeing Louise around that time. It was a Tuesday, and they're normally out for a quick jog on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

And Lou's never late. She will complain she's tired, but she's always ready in her jogging attire by the time I arrive.

Robin seemed to have forgotten how to talk – so before his quick brain can think of all the worst case possibilities, he unlocked his phone and dialed Louise' number.

There was a moment of silence before the call connected, and when he can finally hear the other end ring, he heard a familiar ringtone ringing at the same time, coming from the staff room. His forehead knotted and looked back at Robin, who instinctively crossed his arms looking all uneasy and doing his best to avoid his line of sight.

I don't like where this is going, he ended the call and walked towards the staff room as fast as he reached the counter just a while ago.

He stopped in front of the door and knocked twice.

No response.

I really don't like where this is going.

He took a deep breath as he held the door knob and turned it.

It was quite dark, and all he can see was the light coming from a phone around the area with the beds. It was Louise' phone, which was activated due to his call. He clicked on the light switch, and in a matter of seconds, regretted what he just did.