I woke up to the amazing smell of bacon and eggs from the kitchen. I smiled before I spotted something on the bed beside me. My mother's jewellery and my watch. I walked out of the room and leaned against the kitchen frame.
"Thought you said you sold it?" I raised my eyebrows at him.
"I'm sorry I lied about that. I couldn't sell it because it would have been too suspicious if I sold it so quickly."
"I'm taking the watch back, but you can have the jewellery." I said as I strapped my watch back on.
"You should return the jewellery to your mother too."
"I can't care less about her jewellery."
He pursed his lips.
"I lied about something too. There weren't any hidden cameras or whatever in my car that day."
"I know." Keenan nodded as he placed the food on two separate plates.
"Huh?"
"Holland, I'm a thief. I'm great at stealing things and even better at actually noticing everything that goes on."
"Then why'd you come back?"
"I was curious. I just wanted to know why your terms were so odd. I wanted to know why you needed a thief along for your adventures. Trust me, your terms were the most absurd I've ever heard. A free trip with all expenses covered? Completely unheard of. I was curious as to why you would offer such terms."
"Oh. Well, now you know." I forked the bacon into my mouth. "You have a lot of money, so why couldn't you have just bought another apartment? You didn't have to waste your one and only other condition."
"Well...my mother fell in love with this apartment the first time we walked past. So I won it with a bet with someone a little later but she never got to see it. Hurry eat up, I want to complete watching the series before dinnertime."
"You planned something later?"
"Yeah, for dinner. I'll bring you to my favourite place in the whole city."
++++++
We ordered delivery for lunch and before we knew it, it was dinnertime. Keenan prepared some ham and cheese sandwiches and packaged them up in plastic boxes. He grabbed a bottle of light wine and placed everything in a carrier bag.
"Let's go." He smiled. "Oh, bring your jacket along, it's going to get chilly tonight." I nodded, I too could sense the season changing. It already felt like the start of winter. I had assumed we were leaving the apartment complex, but to my surprise, Keenan pressed the button for the top floor.
"Huh?"
"You'll see."
We finally reached the top floor and got out. Keenan took a left and started proficiently climbing up the firemen's access ladder. Plucking a bobby pin from my hair, he twisted it and manoeuvred the thin piece of metal in the thick lock. His eyebrows pinched in concentration until he heard a click and the lock popped open. He lifted the overhead door and climbed the rest of the way up the ladder.
I watched him in awe, amazed by his skills at lock picking.
"Come on up." He whispered as he reached down to grab my hand. Using one arm, I grabbed the rung and the other, his hand. Finally, after struggling for a good solid three minutes, I finally managed to hoist myself up on the platform.
"For someone so small..." He grumbled as he panted, landing on the floor beside me with a thump.
I ignored him, more stunned by the beauty of the sight before me. The sky was completely dark but the lights from the skyscrapers in the city was blinding. It was so much more than beautiful. I instinctly reached around my neck to pull my jacket tighter around me before I realised I'd forgotten to take it up with me.
Before I even got the chance to ask for Keenan's keys to retrieve my jacket, he'd already pulled his across my shoulders.
"What are we going to do with you?" He sighed, shaking his head. "To think I still reminded you."
"Opps,"
My attention went back to the city skyline. I think I understood why he enjoyed being here at the rooftop. It was peaceful and calming, almost like nothing could bring you down. I closed my eyes, allowing a smile to stretch across my face. I felt free and genuinely happy. I felt as though time had slowed down, allowing me to make sure this moment stayed with me for what little time I had left.
I laid down on the floor and looked up at the night sky. It was littered with stars that were twinkling brightly for all the world to see. Keenan followed suit.
Thank you.
"Tell me about your family." I said softly, turning to facing him.
"What do you want to know about them?" His voice turned stony and harsh. I was taken aback by his sudden coldness.
"I'm sorry, we don't have to talk about it."
"It's fine. It's just not everyday that someone asks about them." He sighed.
"I'm sorry."
"My father left my mother when he found out she was pregnant with me. Said he didn't want to be tied down yet or some shit like that. He was the son of a wealthy businessman and because he couldn't afford to lose his position in the family by being affiliated to someone of lower status, he told her to get out of his life."
"Oh, your father was rich?"
"No, but his family was. So he just made use of my mother and tossed her aside afterward, he didn't even compensate her."
So this was why he targeted the rich?
"My mother, she got depressed a few years after having me. She told me I looked like my father once. I realised that that was what always made her upset. As I grew up, I spent more and more time out of the house and she spent more and more time in it. She got fired from her low wage job and never bothered to look for another. That left me to take care of her. I was still underage at that time, so I couldn't get a job. I started off as a pick pocketeer. I was pretty skilled since day one. I managed to feed both her and I through my picking of wallets and cash off business men rushing through crowded streets."
I imagined young Keenan sneakily pulling wallets out of suit pockets and realised it wasn't all that difficult to picture.
"My mother committed suicide after I got my first job. I was devastated. Sure she was not the best mother in the world, but at least she kept me and raised me the best she could before her depression got the better of her. I went to find my father, see if he would take me in. He threw me out of his house, told me that he wanted nothing to do with the product of their mistake that one night. He told me to get rid of myself because I wasn't wanted in his life. He threw me a bag of cash and told me never to appear in his sight ever again. From then on, I hated rich people. They were snobby and stuck up and think that money can solve anything."
I looked down, suddenly ashamed to be rich.
"So I turned from a regular pick pocketeer to a house thief. The first item I stole was his. I stole his precious watch right off his display shelf while he was sleeping. From what I heard, that watch could fetch near a million dollars. I recently sold it for 1.3 million. It didn't draw suspicion since it's been a long time. That's so far the only item I'd sold. That's where I got the money for the designing of the house."
My jaw dropped.
"Soon after, I started to steal from my father's associates. His best friends, his extended family. I steal from them just because I can. I lost so much, a chance at a family, a chance of having a loving mother and a protective father. I decided that this was the best and nicest way I could get them to pay."
"Okay, but then why my family?"
"Your father defended mine when he got charged with the failure to provide alimony for me. Given his wealth, it was clear he could if he wanted to, but no, he didn't just because. It was one of your father's first few cases. That's why I stole from your family. I know it's not justifiable, I'm really sorry."
"But you're not, though."
"I just wished we could have been friends some other way."
"It doesn't matter anymore though." I smiled kindly at Keenan. His eyes didn't hold any contempt toward me.
"I promise you that your family was supposed to be the last I stole from. But that day at the clinic, I realized I forgot one more person. The lady whose purse I took? She was my mother's best friend. Also known as Mrs Drew."
I gasped.
"Your mother's best friend married the man who abandoned the both of you."
"Yeah, so I couldn't resist it. I just had to steal that stupid purse from her. I really hate her, so fucking much." His eyes hardened and I put my hand on top of his.
"Do you feel the guilt from all the thieving around that you do?"
"No. I donate half of the money I got from the watch to families who live in poverty. I'll take it as my father's apology to me."
"I'm sorry to hear all about that." I grimaced.
"It's alright. I'm fine."
"Are you really?"
He does not answer me. I looked back up at all the stars and the moon.
"I wish he'd stayed." He said softly, his voice breaking the same time my heart did.
I hope with all of my heart that he will be, eventually.