If Angel had a puppy she would kick it. That's a lie. She would not kick it, but she would want to. That Austin Post is a real dick. Who the hell does he think he is? She is full of shit? Well, that's just bullshit. He is as superficial as all the assholes in the world that judge her. She has no one to blame but herself though - she looks and acts like a right mess. She kicks the piles of clothing out of her way as she walks to her kitchen. She should get a housekeeper - just has not been a priority.
"Shit! Fuck!"
"Hello, Charlie. I have had a shit day, how about you?"
"Shit! Fuck!"
"That bad, huh?" Angel asks opening her macaw's cage and taking him out. He hops off her hand and walks around her kitchen counter. "Don't shit on my counter," she warns him as she opens her fridge looking for food. There's nothing but a selection of soda. She really needs to get that housekeeper.
"Shit! Fuck!"
"Yeah, buddy a hot shower and bed sounds good to me too," she says closing her fridge and picking Charlie up. She trudges up to her room and places him on her bed then takes a shower, washing the shit off her face and getting rid of the shit a night at a club brings. She had gone to Jona's office straight from the club and was still a little drunk when she encountered that big ass asshole. His words in the car sobered her up pretty quickly. She changes into sweats and climbs into bed, it's only mid-day but she will wallow in self-pity till Lia comes banging on her door tomorrow for whatever appearance she has. She thinks it's a talk show. She watches a couple of movies and orders food from three different places but when it starts getting dark outside her house suddenly feels a little too big and she can hear weird sounds coming from different rooms. She turns up her TV and with Charlie shouting, "Shit! Fuck!" you would think she would not be able to hear the noises but she hears them still.
By 4 am she is losing her mind and has barricaded herself in her room. She is going to go insane. She hears the sound of tires crunching up her driveway. How she hears it with her TV turned up to full - she has no fucking idea but she is so wired. Should she call the police? What the fuck would she say to them? I heard a car - no. She has hidden all this from her parents so she can't call them. She gets out of bed but then jumps back in and ducks under the covers when she sees a man in her back garden through her bedroom window. A beam of light coming through her window from the garden. This is it, she's going to die. She waits for him to launch himself through the window but nothing happens. She can't do this she needs to leave. She will dash to her garage and lock herself in her car and zoom off. She will save her own life - Charlies too.
She pushes the cabinet away from the door and grabs Charlie. "Shit! Fuck!" Charlie screeches. "I know, I don't feel like being crazy now either, but shut your fucking trap. I am saving your life. If I was a stalker I would kill your annoying bitch ass first," she says then opens her door carefully and peeps out, listening carefully. It's quiet so she tiptoes downstairs and scans her entryway. Nothing. So good, so far. She creeps into the kitchen, opens her key cabinet quietly and slowly making sure to scan the kitchen really carefully then chooses a set of keys and lifts them off their hook just as slowly, making sure to keep her eyes and ears open for any murderous stalkers. She turns and steps out of the kitchen toward the garage door. She has gotten this far - she is doing great.
"What are you doing?"
Angel screams, spinning around and throwing her car keys as hard as she can at the owner of the voice. Charlie flaps his wings like the insane bird he is and she loses her grip on him as he flies around the kitchen eventually landing on the kitchen counter. "Austin! You scared me nearly half to fucking death!" Angel shouts clutching her chest and flopping into a kitchen chair. Austin watches her with that stupid judgmental face of his.
"What are you doing here?!"
"My job."
"Your job! What? So your job is to break into people's houses and scare them half to fucking death?!"
"Your door would need to be locked and closed for me to break in. It was neither. And you looked straight at me when you scanned your kitchen, are you blind?"
Angles blood turns to sludge in her veins. She looks behind her then stands and moves to the chair next to Austin. He is a dick but she feels safer closer to him. "I closed my door, you saw me slam it," she whispers. "Did you lock it?" Austin asks shifting away from her a little. "I...I can't remember," she says feeling a little sick. "Tell me everything," he says taking out a little black book from his suit pocket and clicking his pen as he holds it ready to write. "It's 4 am. What are you in a suit?" she asks. Austin snaps his eyes to her and gives her a pointed look. The guy is all fucking work. "Well," she starts picking up the takeaway coffee cup in front of him and taking a sip, "where do you want me to start?" she asks placing the coffee cup down in front of him. "The beginning," he says pushing the coffee cup in front of her.
"Oh, no thanks, I just wanted a sip," she says pushing it back in front of him. "You drank out of it," he says as he looks down at his book writing the date in the corner of the page in the neatest handwriting she has ever seen. "Uh, ok let me just lock my door," she says standing. "I already have. I checked all your other doors and your property," he says. Angel sits back down and takes another so of his coffee.
"That was you outside my window?"
"What time?"
"I don't know. Fourish..."
"There is no such time as ish, miss Knite. Exact time, please," he says turning a page in his book and running his finger down a very neat list of locations in her house and property with times next to them. "I was outside your bedroom window at 4:07 am. Was that the time you saw a figure out your window?" he asks.
"Yes?"
"Are you asking me or telling me?"
"Yes...I think."
Austin rakes his eyes over her face then hums and makes a little star next to miss knite's bedroom window.
"Continue," he says turning the page and looking at her. "Oh! Me! Ok well, there is not much to tell. I got four letters-"
"Three."
"What?"
"You received three letters."
Angel frowns then sighs and stands walking over to her bag she reaches in and pulls out the fourth letter then walks back and hands it to Austin. He opens it and reads it then looks up at her.
"When and where did you get this?"
"A few days before I met you at-"
"Try again, miss Knite. Days are named for a reason."
"Uhh...today is Tuesday...I met you Monday...so...Thursday?"
"Asking or telling?"
"Telling. It was Thursday after my show. I was coming off stage and just as I was about to climb into my car someone walked past me, bumping me into my car. When I turned around I saw a hooded man walking off into the shadows and that letter had been dropped at my feet. I had seen the same hooded guy earlier. He was on the bleachers before my show while I was doing sound check and then again midway through my show on the same bleachers, but I could not see his face."
"Have you seen him before and/or after again?"
"No."
"What color was his hoody?"
"Dark, black...maybe blue."
Austin sighs as he writes neatly in his book. He is not impressed by her vague answers.
"If I see him again, I will know it's him."
"How? You did not see his face."
Angle swallows thickly and leans closer for a little comfort. He does not lean away and she appreciates that. "He scares me. Just his presence, the way he stands frozen with his hands in his pockets and stares at me...never looking away. It feels like he is hunting me," she says, her voice growing small as she talks. Austin rakes his eyes over her face again then turns and writes in his book again.
"Who knows about this stalker?"
"Just you and Jona."
"Keep it that way. In future, you will not keep any information from me. You tell me straight away. Do you understand?" he says. "Yes," Angel says. Austin closes his book and puts it back in his pocket then stands. Angel stands too. "Don't leave me alone," she blurts out. She has been awake all night so she has no filter. She never has any filter but this is the excuse she is using. "I am not leaving. Go to bed," he says walking out of the kitchen. He is not fluffy at all. Angel takes another sip of his coffee and yawns.
"Shit! Fuck!"
"Yeah, I agree. He is a bag of sunshine," she says resting her head on her kitchen counter. Charlie is hardly ever quiet, strange that he kept very quiet while Austin was in the kitchen.
She wakes to someone tapping her shoulder and sits up with a start. "What?" she says yawning and stretching. "Hey, we have to get you ready for your radio interview. Why are you sleeping here? Did you lock your door? Your curtains are open by the way," Lia says from behind her. "Lia, we have spoken about this - too my words hurt my head," Angel groans. "Everyone is here and ready to make you ready," she says. Angel yawns again and stands. Charlie is back in his cage fast asleep so Angel closes his cage door carefully and follows Lia into her front lounge. They both stop short in the doorway. Everyone is sitting very quietly as Austin writes in his book.
"Austin, may I speak to you?"
"When I am finished," he says then stands in front of someone with a pointed look. He stands to attention and gives Austin his whole life story, his knees shaking as he speaks while Austin writes in his book. It's ridiculous. He is more intense than any of the bodyguards her parents had. Come to think of it, where are Jake and Paul? "Do you know where Jake and Paul are?" she asks Lia. "He fired them, you should fire him," she says. Angel's blood boils. They were shit at their job but he had no right to do so. "Austin! Kitchen, now!" she shouts. Everyone looks at her with big eyes, except Austin who is completely ignoring her. What the fuck? He moves on to the next person giving them a pointed look and again they give him their whole life story. He does it to three more people then scans the room and nods. "Does this team change?" he asks turning to Lia.
"N-no, it's the same people for everything."
"You will inform me if anyone other than this team arrives on the premises."
"Yes, s-sir."
He has scared the girl half to death. Austin nods and then turns to the rest of the team. "You enter and exit from the front door only. You use this room and the bathroom in the hallway only. The rest of the house is off-limits. Am I clear?" he says. Everyone nods, "Yes, sir," they add quickly. Austin turns and walks out of the lounge. "Where are you going?!" Angle says after him. "Kitchen, you wanted a word," he says as he walks. "Oh! Right! Yes!" Angle says running after him, she has a bone to pick with him and intends to put him in his place.
"How dare you!" she shouts as she walks into the kitchen. Austin is leaning on the kitchen counter with his arms and legs crossed in front of him. "Who do you think you are just firing Jake and Paul?! You had no right to do so! And then interrogate my hair and makeup team?! And veto them from my house! This is my fucking house! You can't make the rules here! You work for me and you need to start listening to me!"
"You done?"
"Yes I am fucking done, I am not happy!"
"Your happiness is not my concern. Your safety is."
"Oh, thank you so fucking much! You are a real gem!"
"I am head of your security. Jake and Paul were idiots and placed you in danger. I will choose your security team."
"No! You will hire-"
"We will not discuss this any further," Austin says sternly. Angel frowns at him. Who the fuck does he think he is? She wants to fight him on this but the way he is looking at her with those pricing blue eyes makes her think better of it so she keeps quiet. That is not her normal response.
"Those people are my friends in there and you-"
"They are not your friends. They are your employees."
"They are my friends!"
"Mhmm, so you can say with certainty that none of them are connected to your stalker?"
"What?! Are you mad!"
"You said your stalker managed to get onto your closed set and wandered around backstage - yes?"
"Yes, so?"
"Was this team backstage? Did they have access to the stadium entrances?"
"Yes."
"Well then..."
Angel's head is spinning and she leans on the kitchen counter. "You think my stalker has access to me via someone who works for me?" she asks moving a little closer to Austin looking for that comfort feeling again. She can't trust anyone. "It's possible, yes," he says. "But do you think it is?" she pushes. "It's too early to say for sure...but I do," he says. Angel's heart stops. "I don't want to be alone with any of them," she blurts out taking two steps closer to him. She feels safe with him. "You won't be alone, miss Knite," Austin says. He doesn't have to say it, his eyes are promise enough - he won't leave her side.