Chapter 36

I parked my car in the garage and looked over at Hana. She was sleeping peacefully and I hesitated to wake her. I stepped out of the car and collected her bags. I gently opened the door of the passenger’s seat and made sure she didn’t fall out. With a little shuffling of the bags I managed to lean over her to unbuckle the seatbelt and pick her up. She weighed next to nothing and I got a rush of emotions from having her in my arms. Hana didn’t wake, but she snuggled closer, leaning her head on my shoulder. Her breaths tickled my neck and I smiled. As the elevator arrived I tried to juggle the two bags and Hana to get the keycard out of my pocket. Hana stirred and looked up at me.

“Hunter?” she asked. She looked adorable as she tried to take in her surroundings.

“I’m sorry, I tried not to wake you,” I told her.

“Are we at your place?” she asked, looking around the elevator. I chuckled and gently placed her feet on the floor.

“We are in the elevator, I had some trouble getting my key card out,” I explained and took it out now that I had a free hand.

“You should have just woken me up. You don’t need to lug me around.” I frowned at the word she used, like she was some unwelcome burden.

“It looked like you needed to sleep, and you weigh next to nothing, sweetness,” I told her and scanned my card and entered my security code. As I did, the button to the pent house lit up. I hit it and the elevator started moving. “I will get you your own card and pin code tomorrow,” I said.

“What?” she asked.

“You need a key if you are going to stay.”

“B-but it’s only overnight,” she objected as the elevator opened up to the first hallway.

“Hana, you will be staying until we know that you are safe,” I told her. “This is the first hallway. That door leads into the apartment, it always stays closed and locked. The door man has access to the floor, but only to this point. They don’t have access to the apartment. If I get any deliveries, they will leave them here. There is a camera in each of those two corners that connects to the security system inside,” I explained.

“Like a modern peephole,” she said. I smiled and nodded.

“Yes. To get inside you will use the same card and code as in the elevator,” I said and opened the door into my apartment. “Welcome to my place,” I told her and felt a sudden wave of nervousness wash over me. I didn’t spend much time at home and it never felt homely. Not like Hana’s apartment. Would she hate it? Hana walked into the open space that to the left held the kitchen and to the right the living room. The space was two stories high and beyond the couch the floor to ceiling window showed the city.

“Wow,” she said as she took everything in.

“You are more than welcome to use the kitchen whenever you like. But I don’t think I have that much food at home. We’ll fix that tomorrow. If you want you are welcome to watch TV, I have a PlayStation as well if you need something to do. Through that door,” I said and pointed to a door across the room. “There is a gym. The door next to it is the bathroom and the door next to that is my office. We can set up your computer if you want to work from there,” I offered. “On the top floor,” I continued and gestured to the stairs that lead to the walkway looking out over the open plan room. “Is my bedroom and the guest room. Both have their own bathrooms.”

“Wow,” she said again. “This place is amazing. Thank you for letting me stay and I can’t steal your office. I can work from the guest room,” she said.

“You won’t steal it. I rarely use it, and if I do it’s often if I need to work in the evenings or during the night. We can share it,” I insisted.

“Okay. But just so you know, you shouldn’t work like that. You work all day, you need to allow yourself to relax,” she told me. I smiled and felt the warmth in my chest that came from someone caring for you.

“I will remember that. Are you tired?” I asked.

“Me? No, I had a nap. How about you?” she asked.

“Not really. I want to show you something. Come with me,” I told her and placed her bags by the couch. I took her hand and walked into my office. My desk faced the door and had it’s back to the window overlooking the city. Both side walls were covered in bookshelves. I walked to the one on the left. “This is important that you remember,” I told her and pressed the nose of a bust on one of the shelves. The face of the bust glided up and revealed a number pad. Hana let out a surprised sound. “This is the panel to the panic room. The code is 169248, we can teach it to you tomorrow,” I said and punched the numbers into the pad. One of the bookshelves made a clicking sound and then swung open to reveal a small room.

“Wow,” Hana said as she peaked inside.

“I know this makes me look a little paranoid. But it’s a good way to showcase what a full setup of our security system looks like. And you never know. The room has its own electrical system as well as ventilation and phone line. There is food and water to last for three days for two people. If something happens when I’m not home, you will go inside this room and shut the door and call me and the police. You will be safe inside until I can get to you,” I told her. She looked at me with big eyes. “Not that something will happen. This place is more secure than most banks. But I don’t want you to try and crawl around the outside of this place. We are on the twenty fifth floor.”

“I will remember it,” she said.

“Good. I will show you how the security system works in the morning. I don’t think you will remember much if we go through it now,” I told her as I closed the door to the panic room.

“You are probably right,” she admitted. “I feel like a wrung rag, but I’m not sleepy.”

“How about I show you your room and then we can watch some TV to try and wind down?” I suggested.

“I would like that, and I would like to change to a new pair of pyjamas,” she told me. She had been wearing her pink pyjama pants and the oversized cardigan since she had opened the door to me.

“You do that and if you want to use the shower that is fine as well. Are you hungry?” I asked. She considered it as we walked out into the livingroom and I picked up her bags and guided her up the stairs.

“A little, but I will live if we need to wait until tomorrow,” she told me. I could kick myself for my comment about not having food at home.

“Don’t worry. I will fix something for us to eat. Is there something you don’t eat?” I asked.

“Sun Dried tomatoes,” she told me and scrunched her nose as if the thought of them repulsed her.

“That’s easy enough to avoid. This is your room,” I said as we reached the first door on the upstairs landing. I opened the door to a good sized room with a queen size bed, two armchairs, a dresser and a door that led into the bathroom. “Why don’t you take a shower and change and come downstairs when you are ready?” I suggested.

“It does sound nice, thank you Hunter,” she said.

“You need to stop thanking me, sweetness. I’ll see you in a bit.” I placed her bags in the bed and went downstairs. I opened the kitchen draw that held all the take out menus. If there was one thing my kitchen was stocked full of, it was menus. I didn’t know what to order so I ordered from the Spanish restaurant. I may have gone a bit overboard on the tapas menu. But I wanted to make sure Hana would have something she liked. I also placed an order to a convenience store that had round the clock delivery. I didn’t have a clue what to order. But went with some basic foods that would allow us to have something to eat for breakfast. Lastly I called down to the doorman, telling him I was expecting two deliveries and to just place them in the first hallway. Too late I thought about taking my own shower. But I grabbed a clean t-shirt from the gym and washed it off in the sink in the downstairs bathroom. I was done by the time the home security system let me know someone was moving in the first hallway. I checked the camera and saw the doorman place my orders down and return to the elevator. I took the food inside. The fragrance from the Spanish restaurant had me drooling. But I started unloading the groceries. For the first time since moving into this place five years ago, the refrigerator and pantry held actual food that needed to be cooked. Just the knowledge made it feel more like a home. I was taking out plates and cutlery when Hana came walking down the stairs. Her black hair was damp and she was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. Her curves were on display and I forced my mind to focus on the food.

“I ordered from the Spanish place, there is a little of everything,” I told her.

“The smell is heavenly,” she said.

“Lets eat on the couch and watch some TV,” I suggested and took the bag of food and the big pitcher with sweet tea I had prepared. From powder, but still. I was planning on going back for the rest once I placed the first load down. But Hana took the plates and glasses and followed me. We made ourselves comfortable on the couch and opened all the containers with food. I put on a nature show and asked Hana if it was okay with her to watch. She was more than happy and more focused on the food. As we ate we talked and joked. Hana fell in love with the stuffed dates wrapped in bacon and I tried to steal them from her plate. My attempts weren’t serious, but the way Hana laughed when she tried to avoid my attacks had me addicted. When both of us were stuffed, there was still food left. We put it away and went back to the couch. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have any blankets,” I said. I hadn’t thought about it before then. “Do you want me to bring down a comforter from the bed?” Hana laughed.

“No need. I’m fine as it is,” she told me. Somehow we ended up with Hana leaning against me as we watched a documentary on groundhogs. It didn’t take long for me to hear Hana’s breathing change. She had fallen asleep against me. I sat there for another fifteen minutes, just enjoying the moment. Then I gently lifted her up and carried her upstairs. I wanted to place her in my bed and crawl into bed next to her. But that would just scream predator. Instead I tucked her into her own bed before going into my room.