The annoying thing about having David in the apartment was that he literally said nothing. He wasn't even like a person. It was like Lisa had a man shaped lamp beside her door. That followed her to work. Or wherever else she wanted to go. If she ever saw Achilles again she was going to kill him for being so goddamn infamous.
Lisa couldn't even go over to Alison's because she didn't want to have him shadowing her constantly. She would have to call her in secret or something because this was getting annoying.
When she was definitely sure he was out of earshot one evening, she took her mobile phone and rang Alison.
'Hey Ali, are you busy this weekend?'
'Not really, I was just planning on heading out with Thom Saturday night, do you wanna come?'
Lisa paused for a second. Who was Thom?
'Yeah sure I'd like that, pick me up at nine?'
'Yeah, sure!' Alison had said cheerily.
At least now she had something to look forward to at the end of the week.
Work passed the same as it normally did, but Lisa couldn't help but felt strange every time she stood at the counter. Like there was some energy or something left over. She was so afraid that someone was going to come in and look her in the eye like I know what you did here. But it never happened. She tried not to think about Achilles. He was probably off murdering more people who wanted to protect her.
Walking home from work it wasn't so cold. It was getting brighter now that winter was over and Lisa was thankful for each little bit of brightness the day gained with each passing day. Passing one of the small shops beside the bookshops, she stopped.
It was like a religious shop of some kind. It was only as she stood outside it a thought crossed her mind.
I should get a cross. She had remembered what Damian had said. It couldn't hurt, right?
The store was even more musty than the bookshop Lisa worked at. It was even more cramped as well. Lisa tread carefully, trying not to knock anything as she walked up to the cashier, who was an elderly woman.
'How can I help you?' She asked softly, a small smile on her face.
'I'd like to buy a blessed cross, please.' Lisa said awkwardly.
'Oh, I have plenty of those' the woman said, and lowering her voice, as if what she was going to say next was something incriminating she whispered; 'You would be surprised how many people want extra protection with all the supernaturals walking around these days.'
'Oh, this isn't for protection.' Lisa laughed. Just to kill an incubus.
'I'm just quite religious.' She lied through her teeth to the woman.
'Oh...Well..Here you go anyway.' She said, still trying to be polite.
Lisa left the shop hastily.
On Saturday, Lisa finally found out who Thom was.
Thom was an incubus. He stood at the door with Alison hanging on to him like a new bag. He was incredibly tall and blond and if Lisa wasn't so currently frustrated at one man in particular, she probably would have found him undeniably attractive. David didn't stop her going out without him since there was Thom with them. Which was ironic
'So, what do you think of Thom?' Alison said to Lisa while she was putting things in her bag in Lisa's room.
'He seems nice...' Lisa said absent minded, while fishing about in her handbag for her purse.
Alison gave her a curious look and then said softly. 'What about you? What's going on with you on the guy front?'
Lisa gave out a sparse laugh. 'Well...Nothing, I haven't seen Achilles and I'm honestly not really looking for any kind of relationship now.'
'I see...That's understandable given what's going on.' She paused and a small but sure grin returned to her face 'Who knows, you might meet someone tonight gal!'
'Maybe' she smiled at her friend. That wasn't actually likely at all.
Stepping into the nightclub after coming from the bar, Lisa was starting to get sick of watching Thom and Alison mash faces and feeling like a third wheel extraordinaire. It was getting tiresome.
The club was one of the smaller ones that Lisa had never been in. It was somewhere Thom had recommended which was crawling with incubi and succubi. Lisa could see them, gracefully dancing and walking around, like they owned the place. Lisa felt almost intimidated. Her eyes scanned the room wistfully. This didn't seem like the type of place she was going to see Achilles. She had come to a stark realisation after watching Alison and Thom that she actually was kind of lonely. She wanted him around and he wasn't there because she'd told him to go and he had. She internally groaned and leaned against a wall, trying to blend into her surroundings. Why had she decided that going out was a good idea? She was having a terrible time.
'Lisa!' She heard a voice call but before she had time to connect it to a face they were right on top of her.
It was Adam.
He smiled cheerily 'Hi Lisa, what are you doing here?'
'Oh, hi Adam, I'm just out with friends.' Lisa said softly, turning around to try and place where Alison was.
'Where are they, are you alright?' He asked, his expression changing slightly.
'I'm just looking for Alison.' She said, peering over his shoulder, still she couldn't place her anywhere among the crowds of people. She was tactfully trying to distract herself from any serious conversation but Adam seemed to have other ideas.
'Lisa, you're not looking for him, are you?'
Lisa gave him a look. 'No, why would I be doing that?'
After seeing her expression, he didn't pursue the line of questioning any further and just awkwardly coughed and said 'Let's get a drink.'
A few drinks later, Lisa really wanted to go, Alison had literally disappeared and Lisa was mentally kicking herself for going out in the first place. She was going to kill Alison for this. The whole atmosphere of the club was starting to suffocate her and she was starting to feel slightly ill. Adam was still trailing around after her and it was really starting to grate on her nerves. It wasn't that she didn't like Adam, it was just that he was almost too enthusiastic around her and it was one of those things that became quite draining after a while.
She was really starting to miss Achilles - which was stupid in her head considering the last time she had seen him she had just found out that he was a murderer yet she still wanted to see him. She really was an idiot.
Adam kept going through bouts of asking was she alright and suggesting they look for Alison and Thom but Lisa knew by this stage that Lisa and Thom were probably busy elsewhere. This set her off thinking about how lonely she was again. Even before all this when she had first called Hire an Incubus she had been lonely. She didn't necessarily feel that she needed a boyfriend or partner of any kind, it just would've been nice, her last long term relationship hadn't exactly been recent.
She leaned against the wall, her head was pounding.
Then her emotions broke and she couldn't contain the upset that she was feeling and before she knew it, there was tears rolling down her face.
Oh gosh, was she a mess.
Adam was by her side suddenly, perceiving what she was feeling as loneliness as fear.
'Lisa?!' He called to her. 'Are you okay?' He looked sympathetically at her, hugging her and reading the situation all wrong.
'He can't hurt you here Lisa, he's not here, I won't let him hurt you.'
'I want to go home.' she spluttered, and through the tears.
'I'll take you home.' He said softly and he lead her out towards the street, out of the club.
She stared up at the streetlights and looked pointedly at Adam, who was digging around for car keys.
'Weren't you drinking?' she sniffed as he walked them towards his car.
He looked awkward and laughed softly, 'It doesn't really affect me the same way as it does you Lisa.'
'Oh yeah, how could I forget.' she said softly.
After a quiet drive home, they were back at her place.
'Are you alright? Do you want me to stay?' Adam said quietly, leaning against the wall, watching her.
'I'm sure I'll be fine. I have David.' she said gently, silently praying he'd take the hint and leave.
'Oh yeah.' He laughed. 'How could I forget?' his voice was laced with something that Lisa couldn't identify. Disappointment? Envy? She didn't care to find out.
'Thanks Adam.' She piped up.
'Ciao Lisa.' he said, a hint of an accent in his voice.
The door closed and Lisa relaxed.
That was a weird interaction.
To anyone that may be reading this, if anyone, I am soooo sorry I took so long, I have been floored by uni. Sorry this chapter is kind of boring too, I promised it's working towards something!