Black or White

Chapter 30 )( It'll be okay... it'll be okay

   Dan would have wheezed if he could but, as aforementioned, his throat was tied up. Instead a dry cough forced its way past his lips, not the best way to greet a guest. An uninvited guest but where would they be if he ever  had to invite her to his home?

   He half expected her to turn to greet him but she kept faced forward when she spoke.

 “You coming to sit or do you expect me to get up and greet you at the door?” Her tone made his mind paint a picture of the ensuing scene, it looked like déjà vu.

   She expected him to answer, the pause said as much. After a few minutes of nothing but silence, she huffed and got up.

   Dan's shoulders became incredibly tight, against his mind's wish to relax in the prescence of a friend. Loosely speaking. Still, his encounter with the officer coupled with the anxiety which had built it's way around everything in his life the past few weeks left him tense for foreseeable future.

   Mara stopped infront of him, hands crossed over her chest, stance confident but not comfortable. Her lips pursed before she opened them again.

 "Dan. Take a seat, you look stiff," she said and motioned to the couch behind her. Her jaw set the more time passed with Dan not moving, which wasn't long but long enough to annoy her. "Alright, let's get sore feet and talk. We're going to get some more people on board, giving you a heads up."

   While Dan was still statuesque his eyes blinked at faster bpm with the new information. He loosened his throat by clearing it and then responded.

 "Um, why?"

 "I'm getting to that, the poorly timed questions aren't necessary, it's because we'll be expanding our operation soon and, you know, more people makes more sense."

 "Ah," came Dan's helpful reply. It didn't take a detective to figure that something was off - Mara noticed something was off.

 "Dan, why are you hard of speaking all of a sudden?" She glanced to the door. "Were you at the police station? What happened?" She took a step closer to him, her eyebrows raised in suspicion at the bob of his Adam's apple.

   Dan knew he needed to relax, something in the back of his mind hissed telling him to do so, but he remained. He looked into Mara's shining tar eyes and he knew he needed to keep his discrepancy with the officer to himself. He was not in a position to let his incapability come to light.

   He swallowed.

 "Nothing. I'm still working on getting someone on board but no one seems to show anything that makes them good enough to talk to." Dan could see Mara's expression turn a little bristly so he added. "I'll have someone soon though. I can do that."

   Mara pushed her tongue against her cheek.

 "End of the month. I'm still considering putting you into to the heist crew once we're back to it. So, for your squeamish sake, do your job and do it well or I'll find someone to do it for me."

   Dan felt his stomach trench at the mention of heisting again. One time gave him his fill. His task became that much more urgent, or else Mara might think he was still hungry.

   He gulped and Mara's eyes followed the movement. She glanced to his no doubt sweaty brows then to his fidgety fingers. Her eyes moved back up to his own and she stepped forward. 

   His already shallow breaths whoosed out fainter as he gazed at her, into her eyes, dark like the night sky after his mother had died.

 "Dan, calm down." He closed his eyes and pushed the memory back where it belonged; instead he appreciated the softer tone of Mara's voice. "You being stressed is really uncomfortable and unnecessary. Calm down. Whatever is stressing you out - not task related - will pass." Funny then that what was stressing him out was work related.