Protecting Valentine

Chapter Twelve

The anticipation kept Alexis restless through the whole night and she found herself getting ready at 6am. From the past she knew Klaus liked to start early and was always in his office by at least 6:30am or earlier depending on what he was supposed to do. She had a quicker shower than usual and dressed up plainly which she rarely did if she was to meet someone. A couple of toasts for breakfast would keep her good until lunch and the coffee filled up the rest of her stomach. She was ready to go with her handbag slung across her right shoulder and picked up her keys. She was already out of the door and locking it until her visitor from the other day snuck up behind her.

She jolted with a fright when she turned to see him so close. "Oh, it's just you...you scared me." She breathed heavily trying to calm her heart rate down.

"Oh sorry I didn't mean to. Although I am known for my sneakiness."

"Wha-what are you doing here? I don't think I've done anything wrong and I'm pretty sure I haven't gotten drunk somewhere and forgot what happened. Well maybe that last part's possible."

"No, no, it's nothing like that. I just wanted to see how you were doing and I wanted to give you this." He pulled out a neatly folded paper from out of his pocket and handed it over to her.

She eyed him suspiciously, "What is it?"

"Oh it's just my number for if you know you're ever in need of me or my services." He lifted his eyebrows at the last part making Alexis laugh.

"Oh yes I'm sure you're services are...great. Hmm I don't mean to be rude but I'm in a bit of a hurry so if you'll excuse me," The man moved out of the way to let Alexis through. "Thanks. I'll see you around, and thanks for the number."

"No problem, see you around." He smiled her off and watched her walk down the hallway and get into the elevator.

Outside it was still a bit dark. The sun was never an early riser in Cynder Lake and it would be 7 o'clock before you could perfectly see a car from a distance. She began walking towards to where Klaus's building sat until she felt the bit of paper handed to her by him. She felt like humouring herself and see if it was an actual number or some kind of joke but knowing typical guys like him, she knew it was genuine. But when she had a flat piece of paper in her hand, the writing on it was much more different that what she had expected. It said, 'Meet me behind the tool shed of the Memorial Garden. Be careful Alsandair sees all.' It made her stiff with fear. Was I in trouble? What is going to happen to me? Thoughts like this flooded her mind and it made her shiver. She had to stop to take a breather and stop her legs from being jelly so that she could walk to the so-called place.

Since it was early, there was less people on the road and most places hadn't even opened yet. It would start to get busy in a few hours so Alexis decided to take this opportunity to meet up with him while she can without looking suspicious. The Memorial Garden was one of the places Alexis rarely went to, it was commonly used as a cemetery and Alexis had no relatives or friends who had passed on to the after life and she also felt that taking new shipments there on their tour was quite depressing and would make them more shaken up than they already were. The Memorial Garden was also home to some fine and professional landscaping with exotic and colourful flowers that bloomed all year around which made the cemetery more cheery and comfortable.

Alexus knew walking to the garden would take her some time as it was away from all the buildings and had its own patch where no man-made materials interfered that would hurt the plants or disturb the dead. It was a very quiet and peaceful place compared to the heart of the town. It was a place where souls rested and roamed and scared people to speak out to break such silence.

By the time she reached the place, the day was brighter and had made a start, looking around from the entrance she saw more people walking about than before and also saw a couple of them laying flowers on the graves of their loved ones. The tool shed lay right at the back of the garden and was hidden well, some people probably hadn't even noticed it was there but Alexis's keen eye did. The entrance of it had overgrown vines and it sat in front of a large tree trunk. The was just enough space at the back to fit two people. She only waited for about five minutes before he showed up.