A Job With Him

I'm Gonna Dance On Broken Glass

Mildred and I were walking back to the penthouse, arms intertwined. We were joyfully licking the ice-creams in our hands as we strolled back to where I was living. Officer Zeph was coming to inspect the house today and I met Mildred in the morning to tell her everything that happened. She didn't want me to go anywhere alone and since Josh was busy with the officer, she forced me to comply with her sending me back. Although we had reached the elevator which led to the penthouse, I couldn't afford to just send Mildred away. So of course, I invited her in and she accepted my invitation with zero hesitation.

Upon reaching the penthouse, Mildred and I saw Officer Zeph and Josh looking at a small device on the table. I was about to ask what it was when the officer placed a finger on his lips to signal me to be quiet. Josh then stood up and announced, "Amber! You're finally back! Come on, I've got something to show you." I raised an eyebrow at him but just followed him to our room soon after. There, he pulled me closer to him and started whispering into my ear.

"Matthew planted a bug under the living room table. That's why we couldn't talk about it there, he would know that we found it. Just act normal for now. Officer Zeph said that we could use this to our advantage to lure him into a trap. This way, we can finally catch him." I then moved away and went to whisper into his ear.

"Ahh... I see. Don't worry, I won't speak a word of it. But... it's gonna be hard to be comfortable in this house now huh?" Josh sighed and pulled away. Out of the blue, "Amber! I've missed you so much! Let's go out on a date today, shall we?" I was taken aback when Josh asked me this. I then realised what he was trying to do and agreed to his request. When we came out of the room, Officer Zeph gave a thumbs-up and signalled for all of us to leave the penthouse.

I let out a sigh of relief once we were out of the listening device's range. However, Mildred suddenly let out a gasp while staring at Officer Zeph. Yes, she was staring at him this entire time.

"YOU! You are Zayn from One Direction, right? You have to be! You look just like him! OMG, I'm your biggest fan! I love you!" Officer Zeph's eyes widened and he just stared at her blankly. It was pin-drop silence until he started holding his stomach and laughing.

"I'm not Zayn. Many people say that I look like him and even asked for my autograph before. Hi, I'm Officer Zeph. I'm in charge of Ms Lee's case." Mildred took in what he said and after a while, her cheeks reddened. I saw her reaction and started laughing my heart out. Josh then decided to make fun of her a little by saying, "I thought you said that you loved me at the concert then? I never knew you would fangirl over me AND a police officer. Hmm..." All of us, except Mildred, started laughing like crazy and her face just got more flushed. She then apologized profusely to Officer Zeph.

"I'm really sorry! I shouldn't have mistaken you for someone else. I'm M-Mildred Heng by the way. Just forget whatever I uh said earlier yeah? Hehe..." Officer Zeph just gave her a warm smile and reached his hand out for a handshake. Mildred took it as he said, "It's fine. Really. Nice to meet you too, Mildred. I hope we can get to know each other better." Mildred's cheeks started becoming red again and she just smiled shyly. I giggled at her reaction and looked at Josh who gave me a wink. Something was telling me that sparks were gonna fly between those two soon.

Officer Zeph then explained to me the plan in which Josh and I would execute back in the penthouse to lure Matthew into meeting us.

"Okay, so Mr Byun will have to say something about leaving you alone to do something for a while. This will be the window of opportunity for Matthew to strike since you would be alone in the penthouse. He will have to say that he would be gone for around 3 days, maybe to sort out something in Korea. However, he would actually be staying in one of the guest rooms to keep an eye on you. Of course, you can't seem like you're talking to him in person. You can talk to him as though you're on a call but he won't be able to say anything either so it's best if you two don't communicate at all at home, at least until Matthew believes the story and comes to attack you. When he does, you will need to press the button here on this tracking device. This will alert the nearest patrol officers and they will come to help you. Try to scream for help if he harms you in your sleep or anything, then at least Mr Byun is still there to save you in case the officers take some time."

I understood the plan and nodded my head. I did have one question in mind though. "What if he doesn't believe our story and not come at all?"

"Oh he will believe it, and he will come. He doesn't know that we found out about the bug and thinks that we don't know that he knows you're staying with me. Don't worry, we'll get him this time for sure," Josh answered my question and reassured me. I smiled and gave him a tight hug. Mildred said "Awwww" and we giggled. Officer Zeph then wished us good luck and we went back home to execute the plan. Mildred left with Officer Zeph, talking about random things. It seemed like they were getting along really well already.

We followed the plan exactly. Josh told me that he would leave tomorrow for Korea to sort out something in his father's company and would be back 3 days later. We then pretended to pack a suitcase and discussed what he needed to bring, so that it seemed real. By the end of the day, we finished packing Josh's "suitcase" and we went to sleep.

We continued with our plan the next day with me sending Josh off at the door. We said goodbye and made the door open and close to signal that he left the house. Josh was still in the house of course. Now, we needed to be super quiet. One wrong move and Matthew would know that this was all an act.

For the next 2 days, I couldn't go out anywhere with Josh as Matthew might spot us. So I just couldn't go anywhere overall. Mildred did visit me sometimes but we had to make sure we didn't mention anything about Josh at home. When she visited, she would wave and smile at him as a greeting.

Josh and I would have little romantic moments too. Like, texting one another and intertwining our fingers without talking at all. It was really hard for me not to speak to him, to not be able to communicate with him. But I knew that it would all be worth it in the end and so, I continued sticking with the plan.

On the last day of Josh's supposed "overseas trip", nothing happened. There was no sign of Matthew coming to attack me and it bewildered me. I texted Josh who was in the guest room about it at night and he replied that he didn't know why our plan didn't work either. I sighed and just closed my eyes, hoping that we could catch Mathew soon. As I was sleeping, I heard a window crash and woke up to the sound of glass shattering. I scurried to switch on the lamp on the bedside table and saw pieces of glass on the floor in the room. My heart started thumping loudly against my chest as my gaze slowly went up to see a hooded figure where the broken window was.

"M-Matthew?" I stuttered. I acted as though I was surprised that he knew I was living in Josh's house and he just smirked at my reaction.

"Long time no see, Amber. Now, I can finally finish you off. Josh can't save you now either huh?" He started inching towards me. I wanted to get up but couldn't because of the risk of my feet getting cut by the glass shards. I remembered the tracking device on my wrist and pressed the button, hiding my hands behind my back. Matthew was still clueless about everything as he took out the syringe from his pocket. Fear began to creep into me as memories from the previous two times I've been attacked flashed across my mind. I started really becoming scared for my life and screamed instinctively.

"JOSH HELP ME!"

The door to the room I was in suddenly flew open and in a blink of an eye, Matthew had been pinned onto the ground. His face was full of puzzlement as he looked up to see Josh.

"I-I thought you went back to Korea! W-What are you doing here?!" Matthew exclaimed but Josh just pulled his hands tightly together even more, causing him to groan in pain. I then heard the sound of banging on the entrance of the penthouse. I crawled to the other side of the bed and got off at the area with less glass shards. Unfortunately, as I was running to answer the door, a piece of glass cut my right foot and I winced in pain. But I didn't let it get in my way and hurriedly let the officers in to arrest Matthew. They barged in and took him from Josh's hold. Josh then ran over to me and asked if I was alright worriedly, checking my arms and face for any signs of injury. I nodded my head but started feeling dizzy. Josh noticed it and started panicking. He then looked down to see blood coming from my feet. In the next second, I was in his arms. He brought me to the guest room he was staying at and told me that he would call his doctor. I gave him a weak smile and saw the glass shards in my foot. It looked quite horrifying indeed. At that moment, Officer Zeph came in and announced that Matthew was finally under their custody and that we were safe. Josh and I let out a sigh of relief and hugged each other.