6 He was watching her as if waiting for something to happen
It was bright outside when Velvet woke with a start, drenched in sweat from her restless night's sleep.
She clenched the bathroom sink as she tried to control the urge to throw up, her stomach in knots as her mind churned with anxious, repetitive thoughts.
It was a day that was meant to be magical, her first date with the man of mystery, a day full of hope for what the future could hold.
Instead, she found an intruder in her kitchen and touched her first gun.
If that were a sign of things to come, she definitely wanted a refund.
What was it that Ratman was looking for? How did he bypass the security system at the back of the deli, and how did Velvet not see him as she walked past on her way out?
She grimaced at her reflection.
I guess that means they'll be back, she thought.
To top it all off, she still didn't know the man in black's name. He seemed to show up to save her, but where had he disappeared to when Velvet followed him down the alley?
It was 8 am, Jasper and Lacey were already in the deli greeting the first customers of the scorching hot day.
Velvet turned her aircon up and slumped in her bed, staring at the bright sky outside until she fell back asleep.
It was after 2 pm when Velvet left her apartment, freshly showered, hell-bent on eating as much food as possible. Her fine-tuned body now shook uncontrollably from hunger, which at least meant she had no mental capacity for anxious musings.
The deli was dark and cold, the girls had left for the day half an hour ago.
No signs of the scuffle from the day before, unless you were to get down on hands and knees in aisle one to see the handgun lodged under the cosmetics shelf.
Velvet sat in her armchair and ate cold cashew cheese like an apple, pushing potato chips into her mouth absentmindedly as she stared at the road outside.
Crumbs fell down the front of her nightie as her eyes glazed over in thought.
Then she saw it.
Him.
The mystery man in black, skulking around the old ambulance building next door.
She could see just the side of his head as he moved back and forth, pacing, thinking.
"Ah-ha!" she jumped up, pushing the packets of food to the floor.
Wet hair falling down around her shoulders, pink cotton nightie flowing, Velvet rushed from the deli and out into the heat.
Bare feet slapping on the bitumen, she ran in the direction she saw him.
But he wasn't there.
She ran around the corner of the old brick building, looking up the street, not a soul in sight.
"God fucking damnit." she stomped her foot.
She turned back around, muttering to herself, and walked straight into him.
The mystery man in black.
He stood half a head taller than Velvet, emanating a wall of 'don't fuck with me' energy. His cap was turned backward, arms crossed over his chest.
Black tee, black shorts, runners. All brand name, all brand new.
Same as the day before, but different.
Velvet's eyes bulged out of her head as she took a step backward, trying not to stare at his glorious triceps as they screamed for attention.
He stood, blinking, lips pursed.
"Ah," Velvet looked up at the sky, "what a lovely day."
She looked down at her nightie, she forgot to put a bra on.
She yelped, crossing her arms over her chest, looking at the ground.
He continued to stare at her, waiting.
"Nice to see you again!" she stepped around the man in black and started to shuffle back to the deli.
He took two long strides, grasped the back of her arm and whipped her around to face him.
Velvet froze, staring up into his hazel eyes.
"Stop it," he said.
"S-st-stop what?" Velvet batted her eyelashes, acting coy.
He pursed his lips again.
"Do you want me to spell it out for you?"
Velvet nodded.
"That would be great!" she smiled widely, trying to extract herself from his grasp.
He pulled Velvet closer, placing his cheek next to hers.
She gulped.
"Whatever you're trying to do. Stop it. Don't look. Don't come looking." he spoke softly, grip tightening on her arm, "this has nothing to do with you. Just stop."
He stepped back to look at her directly.
"Do you understand?" he said coolly.
Velvet opened her mouth to retort, but he was already walking away.
He spun on his heel and turned up the side street.
She ran around the corner, but he had disappeared.
"Stop what?" she said aloud to the empty street.
"Helloo?" she sang out, cupping her hands around her mouth.
Strange, she thought, I wonder what he meant.
The sidewalk burned the soles of her feet as she ambled back to the deli, lost in thought.
Velvet moved boxes around in the storeroom until she found what she was looking for. Teeth grit, eyes set, stomach full, she marched up to her apartment with a large corkboard. She was going to solve this the only way she knew; using the sheer force of her mind and her inability to let go of a hunch.
She propped the corkboard up on her desk and punched on Wavves until her ears were filled with grinding surf-punk.
Velvet scribbled words down on pieces of paper, pinning them to the board until she had a series of questions floating before her. A few taps on her keyboard and a map of Nambour was printed, tiny red crosses marking where she's seen the mystery man.
The questions were simple: what was his name; what was he up to; what was his relation to Ratman; and how does it involve Velvet?
Though he told her it was nothing to do with her, she had seen him every day since Swampland. He was watching her as if waiting for something to happen.
The thought that perhaps Velvet should do as he said, and stay out of it, failed to cross her mind. Stubborn as ever, she pushed forward, a new resolve to distract her from the impending doom of meeting Ratman and his crew again.
