Chapter 30

A computer terminal was located in one corner of the room, while another table held multiple video cameras, digital recording equipment, and various different forms of recording devices. There were also a few shelves full of computers and tablets scattered around the entire office.

This particular room was rather unique, because the equipment was all brand new, and it appeared that it hadn't yet been modified since the laboratory had been closed.

Mike gestured for her to sit on one of the chairs placed around the room, and he walked over to the chair next to her, sitting down in front of her. Both of them had left their shoes beside the desk and were wearing black dress shoes underneath their trench coats. Neither of them wanted to risk stepping on any stray dustbunnies and accidentally ruining any evidence. They didn't know where Dustin or Steve could possibly be, but they were confident that they wouldn't leave anything behind without them. They had already searched the whole building thoroughly, making sure that nothing had gotten out of place.

"We'll start by asking you questions that relate to recent events, okay? We want to make sure that they weren't just a coincidence when the subject of our discussion came up, which makes us want to know whether he knew anything about it."

"Okay. That should be easy." Nancy answered confidently.

Mike began writing down his questions while Nancy tried her best to answer them honestly. When she was ready to speak, Mike raised his hand to stop her. He glanced at his notes for a second before looking back at her.

"Nance... You know that Dustin is a very good friend of ours, right?" Mike asked quietly.

"Of course I do. We spend most of our free time together." Nancy replied quietly, nodding her head.

"Well then... how did you know? About Jonathan's feelings for you?"

Nancy stared at Mike for a few seconds. She had completely forgotten about the conversation that they had had earlier, mainly due to being busy getting Max and Dustin settled into a safe location in the basement. She was surprised that Mike was even aware of what she and Jonathan had talked about that morning and wondered whether they had discussed this with anyone else beforehand. As far as Nancy knew, Jonathan and her hadn't discussed anything regarding her feelings for him since that night, although she couldn't be certain.

"I uh... I suppose he told me."

"Him?"

"Uh huh..." Nancy responded quietly, scratching the back of her neck in embarrassment. "He came home late last night and we had dinner together. We talked. Nothing too weird."

"You haven't asked him about what you talked about last night, have you?"

"No... I just assumed he would mention it himself if he'd wanted to, since he usually likes talking with me about it anyways." Nancy explained, shrugging.

"Good. Now, what do you remember about what you talked about?"

She frowned slightly at this question. Nancy tried her best to remember, trying to recall bits and pieces of what she remembered. She recalled her conversations with Jonathan about how his day went, about how he felt at the time, and about how his mood had improved after that day. She had even briefly mentioned some of the things she had noticed during the week, but she quickly realised that she wasn't doing a good job, and the only thing that kept coming back to mind was the kiss. This had been a huge mistake on her part and she regretted bringing it up in the first place. She knew that Jonathan probably wouldn't have reacted like that if he had been aware of what had happened between them, but she was still afraid that she had ruined his chance at happiness. Although the situation had turned out to be better than expected, it certainly wasn't going to be easy for Jonathan to recover his relationship with Nancy again. If she ever saw him with somebody else again, maybe Nancy would just forget all about the feelings she had for him. She would try not to interfere with their relationship anymore, as she didn't want to get involved with anybody that may lead to Jonathan ending up breaking up with her. She didn't need to complicate things unnecessarily and risk losing his friendship even more.

After a few minutes, Nancy had managed to answer all of the questions and Mike had been satisfied with what she had told him. They had both left Mike's office after thanking him again for agreeing to meet with them. Once they were alone again, Nancy felt relieved and happy to have cleared the air between them and she started walking back towards the exit, ready to go home, when she heard Mike call out to her from behind.

"Hey Nancy." he called out. She stopped and turned around to look at him, curious to hear what he had to say.

"Thank you Nancy."

"What for?"

"For saving him... and everything else, I guess."

"Of course, Mike. What can I do to make up for what I did? If you need anything... Just tell me, I will do whatever I can to help."

"Yeah... Thanks for that." Mike replied quietly, smiling gratefully at her. He then walked forward until he reached the door and looked back at Nancy.

"Bye Nancy." he said as he turned the handle of the door to exit the lab.

That day, everything was almost exactly the way it had been two weeks ago, when she had come home and discovered that Mike hadn't shown up for his shift. After a short while, she had gone upstairs to Jonathan's apartment, knocking on the door twice. She had hoped that Jonathan might have been working on a case for the lab, but as usual there was no reply.