Think of the Devil

Nine

Two days passed. After their heart-to-heart, Jane had managed to get back into a rhythm that somewhat resembled the one she'd had before she met Matt. She had to put in extra hours after rescheduling her Monday clients, not to mention she had loads of notes to organize and files to update, but it felt different than it had the last two months. It felt better. Having spent so much time burdened by her melancholia, the last two days had felt weightless, brighter even. One could almost describe her as upbeat.

The days had never been her problem, though. The hours in the sunshine always offered a distraction, helping her mind not to stray too far. There were appointments to book, clients to meet, there was paperwork to do, research to be done. When the moon changed guard with the sun, though, she found herself restless and fighting the urge to wonder through the night.

That first evening she had plenty of files to catch up on; she couldn't have picked a better time to fall behind. She poured over her notes for hours until exhaustion made the words blur on the page. The second night she had much less work to keep her busy, having overexerted herself the night prior. By eleven o'clock she found herself pacing with nothing to do, wondering about how often she should expect "check in"s. She tried to get some sleep, but she could only toss and turn all night. Around two a.m., she went to the window and unlocked it. Just in case, she thought. It didn't help her insomnia.

On the third day, she started her morning like any other. She made some coffee, cleaned herself up, got dressed, and straightened up the main space. Her first client was at ten, a woman named Margot who was reinventing herself after a messy divorce. The two had been making some good progress in the last few weeks, and Jane was looking forward to the session. She made her way downstairs to meet her client.

Alberto was a bit tired that morning. He hadn't slept well either, another party downstairs keeping him up through the night. Still, he put on a happy face and kissed her cheek in greeting.

"Buen dia, mija. How many people today?" he asked as he sat by the register.

She leaned back against the wall. "Four. I'll be done working by six or so," she answered. Thursdays were her busiest days. She figured if she stayed on top of her notes, she might get a couple extra hours of work that night. It was the next three days she was worried about. What did I used to do on the weekends? she thought.

"Oh, okay. Good." He shot a tired smile her way. "I wanted to ask if you'd come to dinner tonight. Angélica is going to be at a friend's house working on a project, and I figured I'd close up around eight and maybe stop at that diner down the street."

She smiled at him, and it seemed to lift his spirits. Alberto had noticed her improved demeanor in the last few days. He wrongfully attributed it to his intervention, but it wasn't like Jane was going to dispel that idea. She was feeling a bit better, and she was making efforts to patch the distance between them. It quelled the worry he'd been feeling for the last few weeks, and that's what mattered.

"Yeah, sure. I'd love that," she replied.

His smile matched hers as he nodded. "Great. But no walking me home afterwards. There's all kinds of crazy people out there right now. I want you to get home safe." (And I don't want to worry about you like last time.)

Jane rolled her eyes, almost laughing. "It's New York. It wouldn't be a normal day here without a few crazy people," she joked.

"No, I mean crazy people like, ah... like bad guys. Haven't you seen the news?" He grimaced.

Her brows furrowed, erasing the easy grin. "No," she said. "What was on the news?"

Alberto turned around, grabbing a remote from under the counter. At the end of the fixture sat an older television, one that was rarely turned on in favor of the radio. It flickered to life slowly and she waited uneasily for it to start. She couldn't get any information from his memories; he was too busy wishing he hadn't said anything to lose her smile.