Anna screamed, the night light in her hand flying towards the balcony but Sullivan swiftly caught it before it hit him. Eyes unmoving from where she laid.
He glanced at the lamp in his hand and back at Anna who was now scrambling around for the light switch.
How had he come to be a person who watched a woman that wasn't of his kind day and night? How did he come to be so into her, she became all he thought of?
Sullivan always knew his attraction to Anna was spontaneous. A force he could ony describe as the work of nature. Even when she had been married to another and clearly despised his presence, it didn't stop him from wishing upon her.
Or noting her every move and achievement in a subtle manner he termed as current interest. Except that his interest had grown into something sacred. A routine. Tough and unrelenting.
It still baffled him how fast the fixation stuck with him. He knew he had seen her with Fary at the party. A glimpse of her and his first thought was 'typical efficient barbie doll' because she looked exactly like it. He had not taken any particular interest in her or perhaps he had since he kept glancing in her direction and watching her. At first Sullivan thought it was his predator instincts but even that knew to stay quiet in society. Anna wasn't suitable food material for him.
She had powerful parents. Was a public figure herself and the lady wasn't his type of go to meal. Plus the fact that their social circle would have never clashed in a thousand years if she hadn't seen him that night.
Admittedly, Sullivan's social circle was non-existence and his assistants handled the socializing while she was into social circles and made sure everyone liked her. It was fake, annoying and he had wondered if she never got tired of it.
But the accident three months ago has shaped her now. He could feel it. He could see it. Just yesterday, he was scrolling through her page to see if she made any post regarding the SD Foundation when he noticed that she had deleted all the pictures of her with the fake ladies association.
The light finally came on and she clearly had a view of him. Anna put a hand to her chest and got out of bed barefoot, walking towards the balcony but still staying in her room.
"Jesus Mr Sullivan, why were you standing there like a creep?"
He glanced at his own balcony and back at hers. Was that creepy? He had no idea. He hands the night light back to her and she hesitantly takes it, the tips of their fingers brushing gently. A cold breeze was enough to make Anna rub her other arm, unsure gaze flashing into the darkness behind him.
"Sorry, did I hurt you?"
She stared him up and down as if to make sure all was well with him. "No."
She returned the night light and sat on the bed, the distance between them, a good twelve feet. "The night is cold." She said to him. After a short pause and Sullivan's erect posture remained unchanging, Anna questioned. "Why are you standing there?"
Sullivan asked himself the same. Why was he here? To watch her again? To free his mind off the thought that she might vanish and her presence was all but a figment of his imagination?
He switched his tone to a lighter one. "I wanted to tell you something." He replied, keeping his hands behind his back again.
"In the middle of the night?" She looked at the clock on the night stand. "It's two in the morning, do you not sleep? And why are you still out in the cold?"
The man finally stepped into the room, his movements a bit slower than usual as he closed the adjoined sliding glass doors. The coldness reduced, the air seeming to freeze for a while before warmth crept back into the room.
For some reason, he was feeling a bit too emotional tonight. Was it about being in her space at his office or did he just think about her and him so much that it was weighing down on him?
Or was it the bothering question of his past? If he would find happiness? Or was ever worthy of it again.
He moved closer, but maintained a space between them. Anna stared up at him and blinked severally, possibly to keep the sleep from her eyes. "I was afraid of being too close." He said and she furrowed her brows. Confusion lining the folds. "What you saw that night…" he heard her heart skip beats, the pulsing of it now faster than usual. "...I cannot fully explain because I still wish to keep you close."
Anna stared down at her legs that were bare and his that was covered in socks and slippers. Her voice was too soft when she spoke. "Why?"
"It's an explanation that will have you run and never glance back." He sincerely answered.
Anna didn't think she had ever heard him sound so honest yet scared at the same time. She looked at him, this man who had been nice to her, this man whom she had seen kill three people was telling her she might run from him. Anna wondered if he knew he sounded a bit conceited.
Sullivan expected a reaction from her but never would he have thought Anna would smile or even chuckle at that.
"And the fact that I know you killed three people isn't enough for me to run?"
She was right. But why wasn't she running? Evidently, she had. But why wasn't she running again? Why had he been the one she came to in her last moments?
He saw the lady tap the space next to her and his body tensed. He couldn't sit in her bed. Next to her. If his instincts took over and he let his mind wander, if she notices his crotch, it would make things more awkward.
Anna has to feel safe in his house. The last thing he wanted was the lady avoiding him because she didn't feel safe. He didn't want to be that man to her.
So he shook his head and refused but Anna patted the space next to her again, a little too stubbornly. "This position is looking a bit sexual so it will be better if you sit."
He looked down at her and squeezed his face. "Sexual?"
He watched her roll her eyes with a light smile. "You wouldn't know. The older generation are a little clueless." She joked before dragging him by his pinky and he let her. Taking a seat next to her.
How was she to tell this man that standing there like that, hands behind his back and her sitting looked like she was about to take his cock in her mouth? The fact that he didn't know in itself told her how much of a corruption she was compared to him.
He put some space between them but Anna turned around, placing a leg on the bed and talking to him. They were making contact, with her knee pressing softly against his thigh.
"I used to not like you. In fact, it was hatred." That much he knew. "I think it was that night. I just wanted to be where you are not." She chuckled, realising how ironic it sounded now that he had saved her. "I felt that if we were in the same space, the chances of me ending up like them will be high and obviously you might want to eliminate the one witness." He began to shake his head and she quickly nodded. "I know. I know you wouldn't hurt me." How had she been so sure even though she knew he was capable of killing. "I knew later. Because that one time…" she paused, letting the weight of unfinished words sink in. That one time they had been in the same space. "...I…I just knew."
She couldn't tell him that one time was the safest she had ever felt. With her father dying, the wedding, her mother being out of the picture and her brother falling sick every now and then and her having to step into a role she didn't think she would have to take on in the next ten years, his presence was the most comforting.
"You are not worried about living with me?"
She shakes her head. "Nope. Mr Sullivan when I crashed into your building, it was because I hoped…I somehow knew that it was only you who could save me. I like that you are real. I like that I know what you are capable of."
Except that she didn't really know what he was capable of and it made Sullivan feel like a fraud. He glanced at her as he let his hands rest by his sides on the soft bed. His left hand touched something. He felt it and realized it must have been one of her head bands.
Tucking it in his hand, Sullivan felt like a thief as he watched Anna's lips move with words he wasn't really attentive to.