Amber

Modern city street. Street Lamps bathing the darkness in amber. The rain cleared away, but the air is full of wonder and that smell that intoxicates your senses. You pull the trench coat tighter as a chill runs down your spine. The night breeze has just enough of a bite that you curse your decision not to wear a beanie. You have been staking out the building for over an hour. No one has gone in or out. The only movement is from an open window. A single lamp lights the curtain. It gently moves against the night breeze. Your legs are starting to tighten. You remind yourself to relax and let your knees bend. You need to be ready for anything. The light in the window goes out. Your hands form a fist as if anticipating an attack. From behind a footstep. It was close. How did someone sneak up on you. You close your other fist and listen for the next step. It doesn’t come. A hand touches your back, you let loose a round house punch behind you. Nobody sneaks up on you and who ever did is getting it straight to the face. But your fist swings into nothing but air. The street lamp above you flickers as if ready to go out, but instead of going out it dims to almost nothing. The chill down your spine shatters your composure. You glance up once more at the darkened window and take off quickly down the street. This was supposed to be a simple job. You can't shake the feeling that someone is still close to you, following your every step. You glance behind you again again and still nothing. You keep telling yourself that you are spooked and nothing more. Its been seven days since your last sip of coffee and hours since your last smoke. You quicken your pace. You just need to get back to the office and grab the gin from the office desk drawer, and fight the night off on the couch. The rumble of a car and the flash of headlights draw your attention to the far end of the street. Your feet ache as your mind hopes that its a taxi. You squint your eyes enough to make out the familiar yellow paint. Relief. You push your lips together to whistle for the cab. Just as the noise escapes your lips you freeze. An icy hand rests on the small of your back. The feeling of him resonates in your mind. It has been so long since you felt his touch, so long since he rested beside you. You turn quickly to meet his gaze, but their is nothing, except a darkened alleyway. Steam rising from the sewer grates creating shapes in the darkness. For a moment you believe you see a man walking down the alleyway. For a moment you let yourself believe its possible he is alive. You take a step closer towards the steam, trying to peer through its veil. The cab's horn hits you like a ton of bricks. You pivot around ready to slam him with every insult imaginable. You catch yourself enough to realize that you want off this damn street as fast as possible and this cabbie is the fastest way back to your office. You hop into the cab and with a fairly reserved amount of sarcasm you thank the cabbie for stopping. 24th and Lexington you blurt out. You watch the street disappear as the lights speed by. Your eyes close and your thoughts go back to 4 days ago.
Your office 4 days ago. Three days into your coffee withdraws. The pounding in your head matched the rhythm of the construction work outside the 15 floor high rise your office resided in. You light up another smoke and watch the clock tick slowly by. A rapping on your glass window shakes you from your stupor. The door opens and a tall red headed man enters the door.
"I am looking for a Miss Wynne, I have a job for her."
You kick the chair from underneath your desk. It slides across the floor a few feet and you motion for the big guy to sit down. He sits down reluctantly as he sizes you up. "I imagined someone a little more, er well as to say someone with your reputation I pictured, I thought you would be taller." The scorn across your face would have said it all had the man been looking. But his gaze raced around the room. He wasn't trying to be insulting, he was afraid, he was terrified. You glanced around to see if you could understand what had uneased such a massive man. But other than the unkempt state of your office, nothing was out of the ordinary.