Bloody Business

Chapter 6: Think before you act, or...

As the loudness of the shower drowned out every other sound, the two of them relaxed and stopped trying to unbutton their clothes. Noemie leaned against the wall, careful to not let her head slide into the shower curtain and unleash the falling water, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around herself. Gavin sat leaned against the door, one knee pulled up to rest his arm on, he took off his glasses and folded up the arms of the glasses that would perch onto the ears."So, you want to quit, and you want to help me quit this bloody job too?" He asked, saying every word in this slow rhythm as he looked the tired woman up and down, and then shifting his eyes away to look at something else.

She had her eyes on the ceiling, head barely tilted back.

"Yes, I have photos of all the corpses in the freezer, and information on the manager, but I know those aren't enough. More or less, I'll likely end up in prison with her."

She pinched the top of the nose area between her eyes, exhaling deeply. Her hands shuffled behind her neck to unstick her long hair from the back of her sweaty neck, holding it all in one hand as she had no band to tie it with. The man moved over to sit beside her, offering a hand to help deal with her hair, to which she didn't think much and tilted her head to him as he brushed his fingers through her brown hair.

"Are you sure you want to quit?" He asked her slowly. "I mean, I understand why you'd want to, it's grotesque, working for a serial killer, but you'd likely die sooner if you try."

"Are you sure you want to stay?" She retorted, looking at him point blank.

He looked her in the eyes as he picked his words carefully, his eyes wandering away and staring down at the floor, unsure.

"The good thing is, we are given money through a non-suspicious channel, so we don't have to worry about getting in trouble with the IRS."

"But that only means that the one paying us knows about our information through that channel." Noemie told him.

"Yeah, that's bad. So, if we want to quit, we'd have to figure out a way to make them lose our information, so they don't use it against us." He held his chin as he looked down as he stopped combing through her hair.

".... But then again, I have to admit, money is good. I wouldn't have left my shower on for so long if I didn't have this night job."

"Then, let's discuss the rest inside the shower."

He stroked the side of her face with the back of his hand, slowly messing with the top buttons of his shirt again as he gave her a look, the kind with the smirk on the face.

She gave him a side-eyed look, raising one eyebrow and staring silently, her mouth cracked a smile, and she suddenly whipped her head away, covering her hand with her face as they both broke out in light laughter.

The tall man stood up, putting his glasses back on and walking to the door with a grin he couldn't wipe away.

"Joking, joking. You take your shower; we'll figure out what to do after."

"Alright, and," The woman said with a grin as she stood up, reaching for a large towel from a hook on the bathroom wall she leaned against. "If you hear a knock on the door, don't open it please, I rarely have visitors."

"Of course." He nodded his head, turning the doorknob. "I'll only open it for someone asking for me then."

"Don't." She firmly said, unable to hide her grin as she rolled her eyes at him, who was returning her smile as he went out.

She was still grinning, slowly bringing up her hand to touch the tips of hair that he brushed his fingers against, it's been a while since she allowed herself to be this close to anyone, in years. The lady fully unbuttoned her top and slipped out of her pants, ripping off her uncomfortable under garments as she slipped into the shower at last. She then proceeded to give a light and short shriek as she forgot the water was cold, her high note was followed by footsteps and urgent knocks to the door from the outside.

"Everything ok?" Gavin's muffled voice asked from behind the door.

"Yes, just need to adjust the water."

His sigh could be heard even through the water, as his footsteps slowly left.

After the woman had finished her shower, her skin scrubbed red and marks barely touched the center of her back as she washed all the sweat away, she opened the door wrapped in a towel and walked out into the living room. Her clothes were carried in one arm.

Gavin was standing casually and staring at all the picture frames on the wall, he had his arms folded.

Unlike other people's homes, Noemie really didn't have much for someone to entertain themselves with, no signs with pleasant words, no posters to tell guests more about her likes, no large screen to watch sports on, not even books. When he wasn't staring at his phone, the pictures on the wall were the only other thing he looked at to pass the time until she got out.

"This your family?" He asked as he pointed at one photo.

It was of a group of seven people, the mother who looked a little bit like the lady, holding a baby dressed in green and red, holding a tiny bell, next to her stood a man who shared Noemie's hair color, his arms were around the mother and an elderly looking man, next to the elderly man stood an equally aged lady, she had the same eye color as Noemie, and held a small child by her side. The child was dressed in a red dress with white fur lining the bottom rim of it, and to the right of the child was a boy who was taller than her, he looked like a child dressed as a miniature adult with his suit.

Noemie made a little smile at the photo as she walked over.

"That was the first and only Christmas photo we ever took."

"Why's that?"

"It wasn't as magical as my parents expected and they thought it wasn't worth the money. It took hours to get my brother into his outfit."

Gavin breathed out a laugh and smirked at her reply.

Noemie went to sit over on the couch, carefully putting her folded clothes on the armrest, and opening up the laptop on the low table, lifting it up to her lap, Gavin moved to sit beside her. She did some clicking before showing him an array of photos that she had taken from inside the restaurant and more.

"I've been doing research on the motel, and I've always found nothing aside from photos of the building in the same location as ours, only dilapidated and the photos old."

"So, basically there's no new records of the place?"

"No, on the maps and everything else, it's depicted as abandoned, which is possible, and someone took the motel and secretly brought it back to life again."

Gavin clicked his tongue as he moved an arm to rest on the top edge of the couch behind her head. "That definitely sounds like something a serial killer would do."

She sifted through her computer to show him the photos of an older version of the motel, abandoned like an old ruin, and comparing it to a more recent photo of the motel as it was now; hidden in plain sight through the trees, lights shining through the glass doors as the building was refreshed and looked new, except all the windows were still black and blocked from view as before.

"How did you manage to take that photo?"

"This photo is a piece from a video I took actually. The glasses were made more for recording, not pictures." She answered, making him look at her in surprise, waiting for more information.

The lady put the laptop on his lap as she got up and went to retrieve something from her bedroom, coming back with a pair of glasses that had a very thick rim around the eyes, something shiny could be seem on the corner of the frames. She gave it to him to observe as she took back her computer while he was distracted by them.

"Once, I was working and bumped into one of the journalists for my company, he was in a hurry to leave work, so I didn't say anything to him, but he dropped these."

Gavin unfolded the arms and rotated the thickly rimmed glasses in his hands, until he noticed the very small camera lens on the corner of the frame and looked closer at it.

"I never saw that journalist at work again, I'm guessing he must've been in trouble. The glasses are a clever way to sneak videos, so I brought it with me on my first night, but they were such a hassle to use, I only took one and never used it again."

"You mean you only brought it once, and then never used it again."

"Oui, of course."

He hummed as he set them down on the low table, and looked at the screen as she showed him the only video she took with the glasses. It was edited with the screen rotated as the glasses were hanging vertically at the time.

"It's only a video of her giving me a tour of the place, I deleted the parts where she said my name, so,,," She whispered back as she quickly clicked out of the screen to the default background and closed the laptop.

"I know it's not enough, so I was wondering if you could help me." She hesitantly looked up at him from her computer.

Gavin's arm which was around her shoulder slipped down, rubbing against her as he recoiled, interlocking his hands together as he sat, pondering with brows knitted together.

"I mean, if I had a choice of course I would want to leave that place and never go back, but, I also don't want to get tortured if we're caught."

"I won't let you get caught." She put both of her hands onto his forearm, making him look up to meet her eyes. He had been avoiding trying to look at her ever since she left the shower.

"I know her, it may sound hard to believe but I do. She won't feel the need to torture you unless you have information she wants. which none of us do."

Her hands moved up to plant on both sides of his shoulders. "I promise I won't let her hurt you. I just need you to help me with some small things, that's it. She won't even notice."

The tall man didn't respond, but he nodded and let out a sigh as he leaned his head back, one hand following up to pinch underneath the rim of the glasses.

"I really, really do want to leave. If I don't get killed, I might end up arrested and that's kind of worse." He muffled the last part as both his hands went up to rub his whole face, leaning his head all the way to the headspace of the couch.

"I studied for far too long to go to jail."

Noemie stayed silent for a bit as she retracted her hands, putting the laptop back down on the table.

"So how should we go about this?"

"We need to explore more of the motel if we want better blackmail, or evidence to get her arrested, find her office, her files and computer, that's all I've got." He massaged his temple as his eyes were closed.

Noemie hummed, probably feeling overwhelmed at the idea, her hand gripped at the edge of the towel area by her legs like it was the hem of a shirt skirt. Mind you, it was quite nostalgic to see that, she hadn't worn a short skirt or dress in a long time, not like she enjoyed wearing them anyway.

"You can stay here for the night, if you'd like."

Gavin snickered to himself as he lazily crossed a leg over the other, leaning his elbow the side of the knew as he held his head in his hand.

"You're getting too comfortable with me." He smiled as he observed her better.

"I get letting me come to your place so we could talk in private," He leaned closer to her ear and laid a hand on her shoulder. "But letting me stay the night? Weren't you being so cautious earlier of anyone following us?"

"You were the one who trusted me with coming over and listening to my baseless plan, so I thought I should return it." Noemie shrugged; her eyes stared back at his without wavering. "I could've been one of the manager's closer underlings, spying on anyone who might betray her." She leaned her face closer to his.

Gavin gave her a playful look, his other hand reaching down to brush against the part of her towel that was tucked in and keeping it wrapped around her, essentially very close to her breasts.

"And if you are? Would you be trying to distract me with your naked body before killing me?"

"I'd still want to quit and leave, no matter my relationship with her." The unamused woman replied, a blank face unwavering underneath his gaze.

Noemie was not intimidated by this, she was numb to a lot of intimidation tactics over time, and simply placed her hand on his cheek, gently holding his face up, and lightly smacked him, the back of her hand hitting the middle front of his face in a thump.

His face scrunched up, she grabbed him by his arms and pinned them down to either side of his body by climbing up and straddling his lap, both of her knees pinned his hand in place. I haven't seen that move in a while.

"I know you won't hurt me; you don't feel that way about me."

"And if I hurt you anyway?"

"You won't." She stated as her hands moved to firmly grip the sides of his face.

He didn't say anything, just giving her a surprised expression, then as his eyes quickly shifted down, he smirked.

"Well, look at you, getting on top of me. Practically naked."

"I wouldn't be like this if you didn't feel the need to lecture me, unless you also want to wear nothing but a towel, so we're both even?" She bumped her nose onto his, staring him dead in the eyes.

His eyes widened in surprise, before looking her up and down, her unamused, tired face and her towel that was slipping but she didn't seem to care.

"I can't tell if you're joking or not."

"I'm not, I have loose clothing for men that you can sleep in. I don't usually have guests, but I like being prepared for them."

He clamped his mouth shut as she got off of him, hand holding up the edges of the towel to keep her breasts covered as her free hand gestured over to her washroom, offering it for him to use. She then walked to her room, carelessly turning her back to him, slowly slipping the towel down her back as soon as she closed the door to her room, giving the quickest glimpse ever of her back, it was as straight as it always was. The man could only chuckle to himself as he put a hand up to his face, hiding a blush dusting his cheeks as he stared down at the floor with wide eyes. His hand covered his mouth and nose like he was trying to stop himself from smelling anymore of an aphrodisiac from her presence.

The man gave in and went over to use her washroom.

"Where do you keep the towels?" He asked in a loud voice, not daring to enter her bedroom.

"The upper cabinet of the shelf next to the shower." Her voice said, muffled from behind her door.

Her bedroom was small, the bed being large was what gave that illusion, just enough foot space to walk around or sit on the floor beside the bed, and a room for a large piece of wood furniture with drawers and a mirror head piece. She always kept it neat, just one corner path, walking around the bed to her closet, which itself had enough space to walk in and sit if she needed. It was split down the middle too.

First was her day's clothing. Her tops looked almost identical, save for the different shades of colors on each of them, she was the type to buy copies of the outfits she liked, and what this woman liked was blouses and button ups for the spring and fall, black turtlenecks in the winter, and drapey shirts in the summer. Her bottom clothes weren't any different, it's all either dress pants, jeans or high waisted long skirts.

Next, her nighttime clothing, or pajamas, same thing. The only baggy clothing you'd find in her closet, large t-shirts with the most random pictures on them, and some pants made out of soft materials. She put on a random set, then grabbed another larger looking set before leaving her room, about her brother's size, but it would fit her guest too.

The blankets were stacked on the top shelves, and she loved having lots of pillows, the only decoration on her couch really.

By the time she had come back, now dressed in something more comfortable looking to sleep in, Gavin had just finished taking a quick shower and no longer smelled of blood, he still had some droplets of water on his body but none that would fall on the couch as he sat still. It was easier at the time to notice his toned arms, working with dead bodies was heavy and yet morticians need steady hands.

His arms were crossed as he was thinking pensively, simply staring at the low table as a daydreaming point. The woman placed some of the wide but soft clothing for the night beside him, and he zoned back into reality, turning his head and thanking her with a nod.

"So, I was thinking..." He said as he stared back down at the low table.

"Yes?" Noemie sat next to him again.

"The best excuse I can think of to try and explore the motel more, is staying overnight to get some sleep. Too tired to go home or something." Gavin said with a shrug.

The woman hummed in response, a finger on her chin in considering the idea.

"We already know that she has eyes in a lot of places, so if we were to try that, we'd need an excuse for everything; staying overnight, exploring the halls, much less being together, or we should split up and search, or-."

"How about we start by exchanging numbers?" Gavin asked as he brought his phone up to her attention, shaking it in his hand.

The woman stared at it, almost wanting to giggle at the timing and his action.

"Considering the way you brought me to your apartment, we should keep this act up, it's the best excuse for a lot of things." Gavins said as his eyes looked toward her, filled with a slight flirtatious intent mixed with seriousness. He leaned forward as he reasoned.

"Imagine it like this, we're getting frisky together but don't want to disturb our neighbors, so like other couples we got to a motel! As for looking around the halls, we could pretend we're looking for a supply room, forgetting to buy condoms or something."

She listened intently, and then cocked her head to the side when he finished so she could ask him a question.

"What does "getting frisky" mean?"

"Oh! It means like getting sexual or excited. I mean, if you're comfortable with us being depicted like that together?"

"I'm more than comfortable with you." She firmly told him, being surprised at her own words and almost freezing in place.

He gave her a wide-eyed look as he cleared his throat, almost smiling at her words, his hand casually resting on the couch he slowly inched closer to hers. She didn't retract, moving her hand closer to let him hold it.

"If you need a drink, there's water in the fridge, get dressed and sleep, I wake up at eight every morning." She quickly changed the subject, suddenly being bashful, or her courage battery ran out, yet she still had enough in her to give his hand a light squeeze before pulling away.

Gavin made no response as he watched her go to her bedroom, finally getting up and scooping the soft clothes she had lent him, going to change in the washroom even though she would not see him through her closed bedroom door.

The odd night would be followed by sounds of blankets shuffling, hair shifting against pillows and footsteps on the floor, like pacing but then returning to lay back down. Gavin ended up just reading something on his phone as he moved to a sitting position, blanket over his shoulders like a shawl, his day clothes were folded and on the other arm of the couch, his items in between the folds. Noemie came back out of her room, her hair ragged from tossing and turning yet still smooth. She walked over to the open kitchen, the room being conjoined with the living room, so it was easy to see her reaching for the fridge before looking up, feeling the man's gaze.

"Can't sleep either?" He asked softly, his eyes unlike what they were during the daytime, I suppose his sarcastic jokes mode was turned off during sleeping hours.

"Yes, I had never gone as far as making a plan before, quitting was always just a daydream." The woman sighed as she reached into the fridge for a water bottle, then grabbed another one before closing and walking over to the couch slowly.

She pointed by his side, and he nodded scooting more to the side for her. She sat down and passed him a water bottle. They sat in silence, rehydrating and making no physical or eye contact, and yet both wanted to say something.

"So, did you have any special plans, for if you left your night job?" He whispered without turning his head to her, eyes still stuck on his phone. Though he did awkwardly scratch his neck.

"Probably go back to what I was usually doing but with less of a burden in my shoulders." she shifted her gaze to him.

"What about you?"

"Same as you, but I'll probably use the money I got from this horrid experience to buy a house, maybe find a life partner if I'm not traumatized by the end of this." He said as he showed her these pictures of houses on his phone.

Noemie chuckled with a sad smile, her eyebrows bending into expressions of gloom as she stared down at the low table.

"I used to think I might also find a partner here in America, and together we would sometimes go to visit my hometown in Lyon. But now, I fear I don't have the heart to face my family anymore."

Gavin shifted to face her with a soft gaze, turning off his phone. "What do you think you have the heart for now?" he asked.

Noemie rubbed her forearm thinking. "Cutting my ties with the underworld before I get into an even bloodier mess."

This exchange of words was followed by another round of silence, only more comfortable as the two shared a small smile between them. The woman then jolted like she just remembered something, taking out her phone and showing her number to him, which he took a photo of, then offered a hand to the tall man, he tossed a confused glance up at her as she stood up.

"I haven't had company in a while, so while I have the choice, I'd rather not sleep alone tonight, if you'd like."

"Again, you're getting too comfortable with me, but sure, since I might not be able to fall asleep alone either." He took her hand and followed her to the bedroom.

Despite saying this, Gavin only smiled, hiding it with the back of his free hand that held his phone, pretending to wipe something off his face. When she dragged him to her bedroom, she simply lied down at one side after setting her phone down on her nightstand, making room for him as he moved closer. He got on his side of the bed, sitting up and looking at her with an expression that was hard to read, a mix between serious, tiredness, and curiosity. He put his phone on the nightstand as well.

"Do you often do this when you bring a coworker over?"

Noemie didn't react much, she just went to lying down and staring up at the ceiling as she responded, her arms sprawled over her stomach comfortably. "I've never brought a coworker over, or any person I was fond of before."

Gavin let out a low chuckle from behind his smirk and tired eyes. "So, I'm a man you're fond of? Is that the real reason you brought me here?"

Noemie smiled, a puff of air leaving her like it was a silent laugh.

"Do you think that act I did earlier was all fake?"

Gavin didn't respond, rather his face changed to a pensive one with a smile and eyes of realization. He was probably thinking back to earlier that night, when she grabbed his arm as they walked down the streets and leaned her head on his shoulder in the car ride, hopefully he also thought about the times he brushed his hands through her hair gingerly.

The tall man slowly shifted, taking his glasses off and placing them by his phone, his arm going over her body as the other helped him stay above her, one of his legs went back in between hers like earlier, but more relaxed.

"Then, should I assume you brought me to your bed for a reason then? Not just to act?" He whispered.

Noemie was still unbothered by this action; her breathing was slow as she reached a hand up to gently caress the side of his face. The man made no secret of enjoying the feeling.

"I'm more than comfortable with you, because I always took comfort in being near you when we worked together. I don't normally act on my real emotions, but for tonight, while I'm being the boldest I've ever been, I thought why not show you how you make me feel?"

Gavin lowered himself to bring his face closer to her, his smirk replaced with a soft smile, as her hand fully placed the palm on his cheek.

"Tell me more."

"I may have tried to flirt with you while discussing our plan, but all you did was lecture me."

Gavin stifled his snickering; he brushed their noses together as he closed his eyes to take in her scent, close to what she did earlier when bumping their noses together.

"Sorry for not seeing the signs earlier, guess I should make up for it then?"

"Only if you want to. You don't have to reciprocate my feelings just because I'm telling you-"

He gently shushed her with a firm peck on the lips, it was so quick and casual that she simply stared up at him in surprise as he reeled his face back to observe her reaction. His eyes squinted in bliss as he snickered.

"I like your company too, let's just forget about everything tonight." He suggested, whispering into her neck as he began to kiss her skin fervently.

The lady shuddered as her eyes shut tightly with the rush of pleasure, her hand entangled in the back of his brown hair, messing up the comb over hairstyle. She pulled him closer, he slipped his hand underneath her shirt, his warm hand brushing against her stomach.

"Let's forget everything, just for one night." Noemie said in a shaky breath as she hugged him closer.

He hummed in agreement, moving his lips up from her neck to her cheek, to her lips, a featherlight touch that added evidence to how steady and in control of his body he was.