The Closer (18+) ✓

| 9.3 | the silver jubilee

❝Throw me back in the water
Covet me like a neighbor's daughter
Hold me like a deadly secret
Don't dare keep it
Don't you dare.❞

Chapter Nine:
The Silver Jubilee
(cont'd)

This couldn't be it.

The residential establishment in front of me was...modest, to say the least. I'd started to grow skeptical the moment the taxi driver had driven out of the hustle of downtown into more tranquil neighborhoods. They were the ghost-towns of Washington, with not but a few souls ambling along the sidewalks, a direct opposite to the lively crowds of the capital. But the real shock came after arriving in front of my final destination.

I was met by the sight of a five-story, red-bricked apartment building. It was gleamed with the silence that encompassed the quiet neighborhood, and not the eerie, spooky kind of silence but rather, a peaceful one. There was a tiny lawn out front, tinged with the yellow touches of an autumn long gone. Intersecting in the middle was a short set of stairs leading to a simple, plain door. I pictured Hans stepping out of it in his power suit and tie and found myself shaking my head fervently in disbelief.

No. Way. I must have gotten the wrong address. This place wasn't the kind meant for the song of a billionaire. It wasn't bad but it wasn't the picture of the American dream either. I clicked my phone screen open with my free hand one last time, and realized the building number given matched the one I stood in front of. Logical conclusions reigned victorious over my surprise and I ended up walking forward.

Luckily for me, I didn't have to buzz my way in through Hans' mercy as at the precise moment I was about to do so, another resident came trotting up the steps behind me. The elderly woman was friendly enough to let me in without much questions and within seconds, I was in the elevator up to the fourth floor, humming silently under my breath to calm my nerves. I stared down at the small box in my hand, wondering if I'd been a little too impulsive with all this. Maybe seeing me on his birthday was the last thing Hans needed. What if he had a woman with him?

The elevator dinged, opening up to a plush, carpeted hallway - God's way of saying I couldn't back down now. I'd come this far. Gulping down the nervousness, I set one heavy step in front of the other and walked down the hall, eyes counting down the numbers till I found Hans' door. I had spent the whole drive here practicing a convincing speech for him to let me in, at least so we could talk and have a decent conversation. The very possibility of him slamming the door in my face or treating me with the hostility he'd been showing for months made me want to run away.

Taking a deep breath, I steadied the box in one hand and used my right to ring the doorbell. Footsteps shuffled on the other side of the door, drawing near. My attention hadn't been brought to the peephole in front of me. One look through, and Hans would know. Consumed by panic, my hand shot out to cover the handy peeping device but the door swung open, and instead, I ended up smacking Hans right in the nose. Out of all the worst case scenarios I'd come up with, I certainly hadn't factored in 'Tris being a klutz'. I really should have.

An audible clap reverberated through the air at the contact and Hans went stumbling back a step into his own home with a hand covering his nose while I stood at the threshold, petrified in terror with my right hand frozen in mid-air.

"What the- Tris."

I dropped my hand to my side and felt stiff as a board as I stared up at him through wide eyes. He looked equally as surprised to see me standing in front of him, but my shock was for a different reason all together. It was the first time I was seeing Hans look...normal. He had on a white tank that hugged his muscular and toned chest in the perfect way, and baggy gray sweat pants but his comfort wear wasn't the most noticeable difference. Black-rimmed glasses sat perched on the tip of his nose and framed his rainbow orbs in a geeky, yet handsome way. I blinked, my eyes narrowing slightly. They made him look somewhat familiar.