13 WINDOWS

Chapter 9 Part 1: ACROSS the STREET

Unbeknownst to Serena, Rupert had gone downtown. He was standing on Bloor Street across from Dr. Clayborne's office. He was looking straight up at the condominium he had been looking into the night before - the building across the street from her office.

In the light of day Rupert felt more confident he could face his fear of what had happened the night before. After all, it didn't make any sense. It could not have been real. The man looked like he hadn't aged at all. How could twenty-four years go by and the bald man still look exactly the same?

He knew himself well enough to know that he had an overactive imagination, fuelled by an anxiety disorder. Not to mention he was pretty wasted when he saw the figure. Sometimes he wondered if that LSD trip he had experienced when he was an art student had permanently damaged his brain. He was always seeing things. This was good for his job as a graphic designer but it was terrible for everything else in life.

He looked up to the fourteenth floor. Then he entered the building, walking by the coffee shop where he would stop sometimes before his sessions with Doctor Clayborne. The condos above the twelfth floor were for sale. He took the elevator up to the twelfth floor, where the sales office was. His plan was to pretend he wanted to buy one of the vacant properties.

A well-dressed South Asian woman in her thirties approached Rupert.

"Hello. Can I help you today?" she asked.

"Yes, some of these condos are for sale, I heard?" Rupert said looking at a brochure.

"Yes we have a few suites that are for sale. Would you like to see one right now?"

Rupert agreed. He signed the guestbook and quickly glanced at the other names in the book. "How late do you do showings?" he asked innocently. "My fiancée might want to come look - if I like it."

The woman smiled. "It all depends on the agent. But usually not later than ten."

"Are there any units on the fourteenth floor that have a view looking north towards St. Clair and Yonge perhaps? Do you have anything like that?"

The agent clicked on the computer at the front desk. "Yes we have some rooms facing towards St. Clair. Let's see. 16th floor. Fifteenth floor. Fourteenth floor."

"I'd like to see the one on the fourteenth floor," he said evenly.

The agent, Suzanne, took Rupert up through a staircase to the fourteenth floor. "Has anyone seen this condo we're going to look at?"

Suzanne opened the stairwell door and they walked along the hallway. "There was a young couple in here yesterday afternoon," she answered.

"No one last night?" he asked.

She looked at him curiously. "Why?"

Rupert couldn't think of anything to say. "No I just...just was wondering..." he said awkwardly. "...if there's any other interest."

The elevator bell sounded as they walked towards the suite. Suzanne opened the door. Rupert hesitated before going in. He wanted to see who was getting off the elevator. But no one walked off and the doors closed again. "This unit will go quickly I'm sure. Quite a spectacular view," she said.

Rupert looked inside cautiously. There were no curtains on the windows. He walked over to the spot where he thought he had seen the man. He looked out the window and he could see Serena's new condo in the distance.

He looked at the rug and saw a small piece of black material. He picked it up. It was black velvet. It was the kind of material you would use to wipe clean a telescope or binocular lens. There was also two slightly dirty imprints from shoes indented on the rug.