"You can't just leave me at your house while you go play hero," Mia objects. "I need to figure out what the Malice wants from me."
"First off," Night Watch says, "I'm not playing hero, I am a hero. Secondly, I prefer to fly solo. It's better if you stay safe at my house. I'll get you all of the answers that you need when I come back."
Mia isn't pleased with that answer. Though she isn't someone who tends to be adventurous in any way (unless it comes to the number of cookies she dares to eat in one sitting), she doesn't feel inclined to just sit around. She has never experienced such an exciting adventure like this. She's able to partake in a lifetime opportunity and Night Watch just wants her to wait?
Night Watch's house is far out of town. It takes an hour before they arrive at a large and luxurious-looking house. She looks at the house, surprised. She didn't realize that they got paid so much.
He leads her to his large, front double-doors. She walks behind the man, seemingly intimidated by the size of his home. They walk into a spacious room with a large kitchen and an open dining room. It feels like she's walking into a model home. All of the furniture follows a pleasant pastel palette. Either Night Watch has a great taste in home decor or he had a professional do it for him.
"Would you like some coffee?" he asks Mia. She nods. She was deprived of her coffee earlier, so Mia is happy to have been given the offer.
Night Watch gives her an overwhelming amount of coffee options, showing off his Keurig and the boxes of different-flavored coffee pods he has. She finally picks an option, her head spinning. Mia has only been in Night Watch's house for five minutes and she's already overwhelmed.
The coffee is finally made and the two sit down at a tall table. They're sitting on high swivel chairs. Mia sips her coffee, twisting back and forth. It admittedly tastes better than what she ordered at Serene Caffeine could have ever tasted. Not just the coffee pod; he must have added something sweet in it, too. Night Watch sits in a chair across from Mia. Though the table is tall, it's not long. It's only meant for two, yet he seems to live alone in the house.
"What are we going to do about the Malice?" Mia asks.
Night Watch raises a brow. "You mean what I'm going to do?"
"Oh, come on!" Mia whines. The hero groans. "This isn't fair. Don't you think this will be so much better if we work together?"
"I've taken on the Malice plenty of times, I think I can do it again."
Mia thinks frantically for some excuse to help. Now that she has seen a little bit of the house, she knows for sure that she doesn't want to stay there alone. It's so big and quiet that she'd surely go crazy. She would much rather face a dangerous villain than sit there by herself.
Suddenly, an idea pops in her head. "He's surely going to be checking Serene Caffeine tomorrow. What if I go there and get another coffee? We can see where he takes me and I can figure out what he wants."
"I know wh—" Night Watch rubs his temples and sighs. He looks down at the table. Then he looks up, his eyes bright. He smiles. "Hey, that could be a good idea, actually. Okay, let's plan this out."
They spend a few hours sitting at the table and figuring out how they could get Mia in and out of this ploy safely. They both decide that the best thing they can do is have Night Watch follow from afar to see where they go. Mia's hands shake throughout the entire conversation, though she doesn't know if it's from fear or excitement. This isn't something that she ever imagined to experience. She's helping a hero and fighting off an evil villain. How cool is this?
How scary is this? If the Malice wanted to, he could easily hurt her. No, she thinks. Night Watch won't let that happen.
They finish plotting around noon. Night Watch goes back into the kitchen to make them lunch. Mia takes this time to admire the living room again. She can't seem to get over how big and beautiful Night Watch's house is. His life must be amazing. Not only does he get love and approval from everyone, but he also lives in an amazing home. Mia would do anything to have such a life.
From the corner of her eye, she can see a frame hung in the hallway. She gets out of her chair to investigate it. It's a large picture of a girl sitting in tall grass. The wind is blowing her blonde hair behind her. Her eyes are squeezed shut and her head is thrown back in a burst of nearly audible laughter. Mia stares at it, confused. She has never seen this girl before. Surely anyone that Night Watch knows would be interviewed or shared with online. Who is she?
Mia hears someone clear their throat from behind her. She turns, almost bumping right into Night Watch. He's not looking at her but instead at the large photo.
Mia finds the courage to speak. "Who is that?"
Night Watch doesn't respond. Instead, he leaves the hallway and sits down at the table. Two plates of a fancy-looking chicken caesar sandwich sit in front of the chairs. Mia hasn't seen such an appetizing sandwich...ever.
They eat in silence. Mia's eyes keep darting at the image, confused as to why Night Watch never answered her. What about the picture makes it a sensitive topic? Well, if he really doesn't want to tell me then he doesn't have to, she thinks.
"Can you stop looking over there?" Night Watch snaps. Mia tears her attention away from the hallway, her eyes wide. A surge of guilt overwhelms her. She doesn't want to make him uncomfortable. He has been really kind to let her in his house and to be a kind host. Not to mention that she is also there so that he can keep her safe. She doesn't have a right to go snooping around his house after all of that.
She silently eats her food. Night Watch sighs and slides his fingers through his dark hair. "I'm sorry, I'm just...not used to having people in my house, I guess." He chuckles softly. "That's Andrea. She's my...better half, I'd say. We've been seeing each other for a few years now."
"Congratulations." Mia smiles. There's a softness in Night Watch's voice when he talks about Andrea. It's very sweet to hear. "Why haven't I read about her?"
Night Watch's eyes flicker with emotions. He switches from anger to sadness. "The Malice can't know about her. She can't know about me being a hero or anything about my world. It's for her safety."
There it is. The hole within Night Watch's seemingly perfect life. Though he has fame, a large house, and gourmet food, he's missing what he wants—a normal love life. He probably wants to be open to Andrea about everything, for keeping such a large secret is a huge risk. For the first time, Mia doesn't see Night Watch as a man with a perfect life but as someone who is struggling to balance what he wants and his duties.
"You know," Carson smiles, "you kind of remind me of her. I don't know what it is...but you do."
Mia looks at the picture of Andrea. She can see it, too, actually. There is something about the image that reminds her of herself...
Weird.
They drop the topic after that. Instead, they talk about a variety of random things. He shares with Mia some of his best accomplishments as a hero ("Do you remember that time I saved the mayor from getting kidnapped? Between me and you, it was a total accident, but I stumbled across Mayhem and stopped him before he could. It was great!"). Though he is admittedly pretty arrogant and can clearly talk about himself for hours, Mia enjoys the passion and excitement when he talks. It makes her feel good knowing that her town is safe with a hero that loves what he does.
Night falls before Mia realizes. Night Watch drives her home. They discuss their plan for the morning in the car. Mia's hands are shaking with excitement. She can't believe it. She's actually going to apart of a plan to stop the Malice—hopefully once and for all.
Night Watch parks in front of Mia's house. Her car is sitting in the driveway, just as promised. She gets out of the passenger seat.
"Remember the plan," Night Watch tells her. He hands her a small device. She clutches it tightly in her palm. "Make sure to be at the coffee shop exactly at the same time that you were yesterday."
Mia nods. She goes inside her house. She gets ready for bed and goes under her covers, though she's far too excited to sleep. She goes over their plan over and over again in her head.
Benjamin hops on the bed and licks Mia's face. She laughs and lifts up her covers, allowing the small dog to nestle next to her.
"Get some sleep, Benjamin," Mia whispers. "Tomorrow's a big, big day."
~~~
Mia wakes up far earlier than her alarm clock. She jolts out of bed and throws her work clothes on. Benjamin runs around her ankles, excited and confused as to why his owner is in such a rush.
Mia pets her dog and feeds him. She grabs the device that she placed on her nightstand last night. She then puts her shoes on and leaves the house. Mia quickly gets in the car, her stomach fluttering with excitement and anticipation. She checks the time. She still has half an hour until she's supposed to go to Serene Caffeine. She drives around the neighborhoods to kill time. The plan that Night Watch told her replays in her head on loop. Though excited, she remembers what Night Watch had told her the first time they went over this plan.
"This is going to be risky," he had explained to her. "Who knows what'll happen once you encounter the Malice."
She remembers telling him that she could handle it. Now she's starting to have doubts. Can she handle it? Mia has never been the best under pressure. Something makes her feel like she can, though. That this is her moment to prove herself.
The time finally comes around for her to go to the coffee shop. She parks close to the same area that she had parked yesterday and leaves the car. Mia looks around the parking lot to see if the Malice is lingering around somewhere. He is nowhere to be seen.
Mia wipes her sweaty hands on her jeans and goes inside Serene Caffeine. She tries to plaster on a casual smile. She can feel the corners waver.
She orders a black coffee and goes back outside. Her fingers clutch tightly around the warm cup. She looks around the parking lot again, but only finds a few strangers walking to and from their cars. Mia looks for Night Watch, too. She can't find him, either.
After looking around for another minute, Mia goes back into her car. She sits there, not knowing what to do. Her idea didn't work. Not only is the Malice not there, but neither is Night Watch. Did he realize that her plan wouldn't work and left? Did he just go along with this plan to humor her?
A knock on the window causes her to jump and nearly spill her coffee. She turns to see a man with blonde hair and shades standing outside of her car. His hands are shoved deep into his pockets. Mia's heart pounds frantically. It's him.
After a moment of staring, she rolls down the window. The Malice takes his glasses off and leans into the car. Mia leans back. He notices her slight movement and smiles.
"It isn't very smart to come back after what happened yesterday," he tells her. Mia nods, her words caught in her throat. She has been waiting for this moment all morning, but now that it's here, she wishes that he could just walk away. She tries to swallow the lump in her throat. Be brave, she tells herself. Think of the plan.
"So how do you want to do this?" he asks. Mia stares at him, confused.
"How do I want to do this?"
"Sure. Either you come with me now or I stay here until you do."
It doesn't seem like he's giving her much of a choice. She assumes he doesn't really intend there to be.
The Malice takes a step back as Mia opens her car door. He turns and starts walking. Mia follows closely behind him. She feels around her pockets for the little device. She clutches it tightly in her palm.
The villain leads her to a green truck. Her brows raise. It's not what she had expected. Though, she isn't sure what she had expected. Maybe something a little more dark and foreboding.
He opens the passenger door for Mia. She looks around once more for Night Watch. He's nowhere to be found. Mia takes a deep breath before sitting in the Malice's car.
The villain gets into the car. He starts it and drives away. Mia looks out the window and at the coffee shop, watching it as it disappears. Her stomach twists with excitement and fear. Where are they going? What's going to happen when they reach their location?
The silence makes Mia nervous. She looks at the villain, wondering what he's thinking. His face is expressionless.
"Are you going to hurt me?" Mia asks. She doesn't know what else to say, but any conversation will make her feel better.
The Malice shakes his head. "Just getting a little bit of revenge."
"And why do you need me for that?"
"Well, this is the first time I've ever heard of Night Watch having a love interest," he looks over at Mia, "Andrea."
The name drop is clearly supposed to surprise Mia. Instead, it helps Mia to finally piece together what's going on. She did see the resemblance between herself and Andrea when she had seen her photo at Night Watch's house. The Malice had hoped to make Night Watch pay, but instead just took a random stranger.
Maybe I should tell him that he has the wrong person, Mia thinks. Maybe he'll just drop me off somewhere and we can forget about all of this. She doesn't find this to be a bad idea. The plan that she's supposed to execute is too serious for just a little misunderstanding. Surely the Malice and Night Watch can agree on that.
If she does that, though, he'll probably just continue searching for Andrea. Maybe it's better if Mia keeps her name a secret and continues with the plan. The Malice needs to be stopped as soon as possible, no matter what.
I don't know...what should I do?
I can't detect which is the better option. You have somehow gotten Mia through the biggest conflict she has ever experienced. If I were to give you some advice, though, getting her out of this as quickly as possible is the best option.
"My name is Mia!" ... Chapter 16
"I'm Andrea." ... Chapter 17