Switchblade

Chapter 1: Almost Fifty Grand

He gave two gentle knocks to the front door.

Then waited patiently.

He could hear footsteps behind the door as Denise approached it.

The locks clicked and soon the door opened.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Afternoon. Can I come in?"
"Um...I'm sorry...who are you?" she asked softly.
"I'm the man you owe a lot of money to." he said nonchalantly.

Denise's heart rate went up.
"Wh-What? I paid my money. I did. I promise." she stated.
"Can I come in?"
Her breathing was shaky as she slowly opened the door further to make room.
Killian stepped inside.

Denise shut the door. "Sit anywhere you like, please. W-Would you like a cup of coffee?"
"I'd love one." he replied as he took a seat.
As he thought, the house was clean and smelled of lavender. He hated for things to be messy. It's why he never helped retrieve the money...things usually...got messy.

Denise very nervously went to her cupboard to grab a mug for his coffee.
She was stalling in fear.
Hadn't paid back the money? She believed she had. She'd even had help from her daughter. Granted, Tati didn't know that was what her mother was using the money for. She thought it went towards bills.

"Would you like creamer or sugar?" Denise asked as she poured the coffee into its mug.
"Black is fine." he replied as his eyes looked around the house. Nothing fancy. Just something to live in.

"You strike me as someone who doesn't read the fine print." Killian spoke up as his hand rubbed the cheap leather on the recliner he sat in.
"I-I'm sorry?" The mug was filled and she carried it to his seat.

He took the cup. "Thank you."
She nodded sweetly then went over to the couch to sit across from him.
He took a sip.
Not terrible. Dark roast.

"F-Fine print?" she asked with a curious and nervous grin.
"That's right."
"I don't think I understa-..."
"You paid back the money you borrowed. Rather than the 10% you gained that was added to your total every time you went a month without returning all of the money. You went six months. What did you use that money for anyway?" he asked and sipped the coffee. He didn't look in her eyes. He had an ongoing rumor that his eye contact was scary. When he isn't trying to intimidate a person, he looks away from them. People do rash things when they're scared, he'd rather not have to deal with it.

"I...um..." Denise's voice shook in fear.
"Relax. I'm not here to gut you. Just answer me."
She nodded through teary eyes. "I...I used it to pay the lease on our restaurant for a few months. It was my father's. When-...When he passed...He...gave it to me. But business was slow when the market crashed last year...and...I'd feel terrible if I let it shut down after how l-long he'd worked to keep it open."
Killian listened as he stared at his coffee.
"And...then some man entered. He ordered food and said he noticed business wasn't going that great. I explained it to him. He came back the next day with a contract saying he'd help. He said it was a new government policy dedicated to helping beginning business owners. He explained it in a way that said the money we make as business owners helps the government so it was nothing sketchy, just the government trying to make more money like usual. A-And I signed it..."

They're getting better at lying. Killian thought.

"And he didn't explain interest to you?"
She shook her head.
"Well contrary to that...I still need my money." He sipped his coffee and looked in her eyes.
She flinched.

Her tears started to run down her cheeks.

"I-...I-...I can-..."

The front door opened.

I could have sworn I told them to wait outside... Killian thought.

"Tati." Denise called and stood up straight.
Killian turned his head.
"Hey...Are you okay?" Tati asked worriedly as she closed the door when she saw her mother's wet cheeks from tears.
Denise nodded and wiped her face. "I'm fine." she grinned.
"Are you su-..." Tati saw the man sitting in their recliner with a cup of coffee.

He stared at the woman that had just entered.
She was in a sundress that hugged her frame and sunglasses that were on top of her head. The man in him made sure to stare longer than was appropriate.

"Who is this?" Tati asked and looked at her mother.
"He's just a friend. How was Loren?" Denise changed the subject.
Tati nodded and began walking towards the fridge.
Killian got a perfect view of her backside that he couldn't take his eyes off of.
"She was fine. We went to the store so she could look for a dress for her mom's birthday party." She went into the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.
"Th-That's good. Can you...go to your room for just a moment...please?"
Tati looked at her mom. And then at the man who was finally looking back at his coffee.
"Please." Denise instructed.
"Okay..."
Tati began to walk off.

Denise waited until she heard the girl's bedroom door close.

"Daughter?" Killian asked.
"Yes."
"How old is she?"
"She's 21."
"Still living at home?"
"She only does it to help me. It's hard paying rent here and for the restaurant. We don't own this house." Denise explained. "I do not treat her like a child. She can come and go as she pleases. She's practically a roommate now." she snickered shyly.
"Hm." He finished the last of his coffee. Then placed the mug on the lamp table beside him.

He went into his suit jacket and leaned forward in his seat. Denise flinched until she just saw him pull out a lighter and cigarette carton.
He put one of the sticks between his lips and the carton back in his jacket. Then flicked the lighter on and burned the end.
He closed it and put that back in his suit jacket as well.

Denise didn't have the guts to say she didn't allow smoking in her home.
Killian took a deep breath of his cigarette's tobacco, letting the air sting his lungs, then removed it and blew it back out.
His eyes continued to stare at the floor in thought.

"Is she gonna help you cough up the fifty grand you owe me?" he asked.