Toxic Lips [l.h]

t h i r t y t w o

As I unlock the door to my apartment, Luke steps out of his. He is wearing a black leather jacket, a cigarette hanging from his mouth.

"Hi," I greet him, setting down my groceries in my apartment before turning to face him.

He nods at me absentmindedly, looking down at his phone. "Hey."

"Where are you off to?"

He locks his phone and looks up at me. "Just running some errands."

He's a good liar.

"Sounds fun," I say. I peek at my phone, the time being 2:36. "Thanks for organizing my apartment, by the way," I say, smiling. "You didn't have to do that."

"It was no problem, " he says, shrugging as though it was nothing.

"Well... thanks, I guess."

Luke's eyes dart around and he bites his lip. I've never seen Luke looking so anxious.

"So how's accounting going?" I ask, trying to stall him.

"Same as always," he says. "It's math, it never changes."

"Right," I nod. "Doesn't it get boring though? Doing maths all the time? I mean, I know I'd get bored."

"I don't know, I like it."

"Yeah, I guess. I've always been better at literature, myself--"

"Hmmm," Luke mumbles, looking at me impatiently.

"Ever since high school, you know? No, scratch that, since middle school--"

"Yeah, listen, Alaska, I really have to go--"

"Right! Sorry, have fun!" I internally curse as he nods at me and walks to the elevator. I check te time. 2:42. Well, at least I kept him for eight minutes.

I wait another two minutes before hurrying down the stairs into the lobby. I look through a crack in the wall of the stairwell and watch as Luke steps out of the elevator, eyes cast down at his phone. He exits the building and I quietly follow after him.

I expect him to get into his car, but he walks right past the parking lot and out into the street. I fall back into a crowd of people, keeping my eyes on his blonde quiff.

I know I'm risking alot by following Luke again, but I consider myself part of whatever this is. I've had two run-ins with these people, and I want to know what the hell it is they do.

Luke turns a corner, and I follow him down three more blocks until he slips into an alley.

I watch him from behind a dumpster as he walks up to a grey door in the side of a tall, brick building. He takes a yellow piece of paper out of his pocket, and I have to squint my eyes to see what he's doing.

He reaches to a keypad next to the door and punches in a number, and I memorize the sequence he punches in. I watch carefully as he puts the yellow slip of paper back in his pocket and steps inside.

I know I have to act fast.

As soon as the door shuts, I hurry to the keypad.

I reach out and hit the five numbers I saw Luke press in earlier..

8-3-1-6-4

There is a hiss, and the door clicks open. Relief floods through me and I slip inside, the door falling shut behind me.

A long corridor stretches in front of me. A number of doors cover each side of the hall, but I get a glimpse of Luke's jacket at the end.

I make my way down the hall, trying to make my footsteps as quiet as possible. Adrenaline pumps through my veins as I round the corner, instantly duck behind a nearby wall.

The hallway opens into a large room, a circular table sits in the middle with chairs all around it. I recognise quite a few of the people sitting around the table, and I swallow the lump in my throat.

Drew, the scarred man, sits at the head of the table, a mean frown set on his lips. Next to him is Michael and Ashton, my two attackers who still spook me. Maddii and Jamie, the two from when Luke took me to play poker, sits next to Michael.

I have to hold in a loud gasp when I see who else is here.

Calum sits across from Maddii, picking at his fingernails. He looks quite bored as he waits for whatever is supposed to be happening.

I move into the room, ducking behind multiple tall potted plants in the corner. I have a perfect view of the whole room from where I am hidden.

I peer through the foliage and watch as Luke seats himself next to Calum.

"What took you so long?" Drew snaps at him.

"Traffic," Luke lies.

"Right," Drew says. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"

Everyone sits up straighter in their seats.

"Hood, I believe you have some information?" Drew asks, looking at Calulm.

Calum clears his throat. "Nothing was found in the unit," he states. "No evidence, at least. And trust me, we wen't through everything pretty well," he chuckles.

Unit? Does he mean....?

"Of course nothing was found," Luke says. "There was nothing to be found!"

"Piss off, Hemmings," Drew snaps. "We'll get to you in a minute." Luke frowns, but doesn't say anything.

Drew looks back at Calum. "You found no documents of any kind?"

Calum shakes his head. "If there were any documents or written information, it's not in her apartment."

I shove my fist in my mouth to stop myself rom gasping. Calum was the one who broke in to my apartment?

"Interesting," Drew says. "Very interesting."

There's a short silence. Luke looks at his lap, chewing on his lip so hard I think he might chew through it. I feel so nosy and out of place, but my desire to know what is going on overpowers my conscience.

"Anyone else have any information to share before we discuss with Hemmings?" Drew asks.

No one says anything.

"All right then," Drew continues. "Hemmings," he says in a voice so low it sends chills down my spine. "Anything you'd like to add?"

"Hell yeah, there is!" Luke says, raising his voice slightly. "What the fuck was that!? Ransacking her fucking apartment!?"

My heart pounds. He's standing up for me.

"You do not understand the great threat that girl poses to this cooperation," Drew says.

"She poses no threat," Luke defends. "The only reason she knows shit about this cooperation is because you send idiot one and idiot two after her while she was walking home!" He shouts, pointing at Ashton and Michael.

"This is a very confidential... enterprise," Drew says, choosing his words carefully. "And we do not need your love interest learning any vital information."

Everyone laughs and hoots, and Luke's cheeks turn red with a mixture of embarrasment and anger.

"She's anything but a love interest," Luke snaps.

"Oh?" Drew asks, clearly amused. "Describe your relationship, then. Why do you drive her home from work? Why do you always seem to be around her?"

Luke's jaw clenches tightly again, my heart beating loudly as everyone awaits his reply.

"She's not a love interest," Luke spits.

Drew smirks, "Then why should we leave her alone?"

"Because she has nothing to do with any of this!"

Drew laughs dryly "Amusing. Quite amusing," he says.

He leans forward on his elbows, giving Luke a death glare. "You don't know where she is, do you, Hemmings?"