69 When are you coming back?

Sarah woke up late in the afternoon. She lazily opened her eyes and realized that she is alone in the bed. After few minutes she looked around and saw a note on the side table next to the bed.

"I don't want to wake you up.

I'm going to my place to gets some stuff, will be back soon.

p.s. I'm taking your car"

Sarah was disappointed that Aiden is not around.

'It's OK. He should be back any minute.' She comforted herself.

Sarah went to take a shower and got dressed after checking the marks Aiden left on her body. Only one hickey is high on her neck, but she was confident that she can cover her up with a turtleneck.

He still didn't come back. Sarah was hungry and prepared instant noodles that she found in the pantry. She finished them. Aiden still didn't come back. She wanted to call him, but then she didn't want to appear clingy.

'He will be back any minute now.' She comforted herself for who knows how many times already.

She unpacked boxes that arrived earlier that day. He still didn't come back. She struggled with herself for some time, should she call him or not. She wanted to know why he is not back already. 'It's more than two hours how I woke up, and even if he left just one minute before I woke up, he should be back by now.' She looked at her phone, and after a lot of internal struggle, she texted him.

[Sara]: "I miss you. When are you coming back?"

She stared at her phone for what seemed to be an eternity. Her anxiety was rising every passing moment until she got a response.

[Aiden]: "I will come back soon. I miss you too."

Sarah checked and saw that he responded within 30 seconds after she sent her first message. 'Why did it seem much longer?'

Sarah decided to keep busy and not just stare into space waiting for him to come back. She took electronic lock for the front door and started programming codes. This lock does not have key, it's easy to lock it by pressing a button, and to unlock it you need a code. Lock can also be accessed wirelessly through the app, and Eve can operate it. Sarah added three codes: one for herself, one for Aiden, and third one as a backup, in case someone else needs to enter, like Ben the doorman or Mr. Alvarez the building manager. She was not able to think of anyone else who would let themselves in to her apartment.

After setting up codes, Sarah worked with Eve to make sure Eve can control this lock. Once all was set, Sarah got her tools and started removing existing lock to replace it with an electronic one.

---

In Aiden's apartment, he was working on his laptop with a silver case and black sign for omega. He selected and organized large number of files, then compressed them into an encrypted archive, which he copied to his secure cloud storage.

He checked his phone. 'She should be awake by now. But just to make sure, I will wait for her to call. I'm confident that she will call me once she finds out that I'm not there.'

He waited for some time before deciding to do some work while waiting.

Quite some time passed, and few times he was on the verge of calling Sarah but stopped himself. 'If I call her, she will figure out that it's me. She does not believe in coincidences. I need to be patient.' Finally, he got a message from her "I miss you. When are you coming back?". His lips curved into a smile as he breathed sigh of relief. He typed his response "I will come back soon. I miss you too."

He decided to wait at least ten more minutes before sending her an email... he waited. When he decided that enough time passed, he sent an untraceable email to Sarah:

"A gift for you: <link to encrypted archive on his cloud storage>

File will disappear in five minutes.

~Omega"

---

Sarah's phone buzzed. She was busy with removing current lock on the front door. She removed one screw before checking her phone. Sarah read the email she received and after a second rushed to the bedroom and pulled out her laptop. 'I have only three minutes left!' She quickly logged in and opened link from the email. She could see that it is a large archive file. She started copying it to her laptop and hoped that it will be done in time. While file was copied, she checked the email and confirmed that it's untraceable. She was wondering what kind of gift Omega is giving her, and why... But she could not figure it out, she could only wait for file to finish copying so that she can check it out.

"Excuse me, neighbor..." Sarah froze when she heard voice coming from the front door.

"Oh, no!" Sarah remembered that front door is open. Door can't even be closed in this state because she is in the middle of replacing locks!

Sarah glanced at the progress of file copying and then headed out in the hallway to address the nosy neighbor.

Just as she feared, it was King. He is standing few steps inside her hallway, behind him was a half-open front door.

Sarah took a second to compose herself before speaking. "Can I help you?" When she saw that he is not moving, but only staring at her, Sarah walked to the door and continued removing existing lock without giving King much attention. 'I already removed most of the screws. Once I put new lock in, I can close the doors. The sooner the better. And if he does not come out by himself, I will kick him out… literally.'

King watched her, and creepily giggled. "I noticed your front door is open, so wanted to check if everything is OK."

"Yes, everything is fine. I'm replacing locks. Thank you for your concern." Sarah mumbled as she forced her hands to work as fast as they could.

"You can replace locks by yourself? It's nice to see a lady who can be handy."

Sarah didn't respond.

He turned toward the apartment. "Is your boyfriend here?"

Sarah's hands froze for a second before she continued. "He stepped out for a bit. He will be back any minute." Her mind buzzed. 'How does he know about Aiden? Whenever I met him, Aiden was not with me.'

Sarah removed old lock and started putting new one in. 'Only four screws and it will be done!'

She heard King mumble. "Stepped out for a bit?"

Sarah's hair stood on ends. 'Why is he repeating that? Does he know that Aiden is out for few hours already?' She was already on second screw out of four.

King turned back toward Sarah and continued to stare at her.

"Is there anything else?" She was hoping that he will go away.

"Nothing really. I'm just watching you work on installing the lock." King stated the obvious.

'Well, I figured that part! How about I just beat him up? But he is neighbor, if he is just a creepy man without malicious intentions then I'm overreacting. But what if he is someone dangerous? Aren't I just sitting pretty here and waiting for him to make a move?' Sarah was thinking about different possibilities while putting the screws in place.

One by one, Sarah tightened all four screws under the watchful gaze of King. She straightened up and faced him. "Well, I'm done with the lock. So, if you will excuse me, I have other things to work on now." She gestured him to leave.

King looked at her for few seconds without any change in his expression, before slowly walking out of her apartment. She heard his voice from the hallway. "It's always nice to see you, Miss Sarah."

Sarah swiftly closed the door and locked it behind her. She froze. 'How does he know my name? I never told him my name...' Sarah exhaled. 'Don't panic! Probably Ben told him. I will ask Ben if he talked with King recently.'

"Eve!", Sarah called.

"Yes, master", Eve's voice was heard.

"Make sure front door is always locked unless someone is using it to get in or out. Do you understand?"

"Yes, master", Eve responded.

Sarah usually does not ask Eve to confirm, but this time she felt the need to hear confirmation.