Chapter Two
Someone had left the AC blasting. The cold air hit her skin, causing her to instantly start to shiver. She wished for a jacket, a roaring fire, a cup of coffee – anything at this point. What an end to a work day.
I’ll spend just a few minutes here making sure the place is alright and get the hell home, Sarah thought as she walked into the living room. The house was empty, in need of some minor repairs, and her eyes glazed over as she walked through each room. Just another house, nothing special about it, Mary Ann would sell it and turn a profit since it was a foreclosure.
She walked up the stairs to the second floor, which creaked under her steps. Coming into the bathroom, she caught sight of herself in the mirror and sighed. Her makeup was smudged, eyeliner smeared around her eyes, her hair soaked through and dripping onto the floor. Her clothes stuck to her in the most unflattering way. With a critical eye, Sarah looked at her body, disliking the way she looked huge in her wet clothes, as if they were determined to make her look as hideous as possible. Her body felt ungainly, awkward, large –
A sudden noise got her attention. Something clattered. She went stock still for a moment, her breath leaving her. Once in a blue moon, squatters would take residence in their house. They normally had Tom deal with them. Should she just go, call Mary Ann, let her know?
But if it turned out to be nothing, then she knew her boss would just take it as another stupid reason to be irritated with her. She poked her head out of the bathroom, knowing the noise came from the master bedroom. Having left her purse in the car, she felt exposed. Even so, Sarah pushed forward, walking slowly into the master bedroom.
The room was dim. There were no lights in here and the storm blocked out most of the sun. Even so, instantly, she could see signs of life, even if no one was in her sight. There was a sleeping bag in the corner with a flashlight, some candles, and a pillow. A stack of paperbacks was next to it, as well as a phone charger plugged in, and a tablet with a broken screen. Clothes were in the corner, neatly folded.
“Is someone here?” She called out, feeling as though she was in a horror film.
No response. Sarah knew they were probably hiding in the master bathroom. She stopped by the sleeping bag and looked down at it with a pang of pity.
“Listen, whoever you are, I’m not angry you’re here. I just need to at least see you because you hiding is freaking me out.” She opted for total honesty.
It worked. There was a shuffling noise and someone appeared in the doorway of the bathroom. Sarah blinked in surprise, having expected a man who looked like a hobo. This man was tall, wearing a large t-shirt that showed off his muscles, his broad shoulders, and the fact he was perfectly tanned. His eyes were a deep brown with messy black hair. He wore sweatpants and looked completely at ease at being discovered in the house.
Sarah was pulled up short by the man’s appearance. He was so handsome that for a second all the thoughts in her head emptied out. She became acutely aware of how she looked. Her clothes sticking to her stomach, feeling overweight and gross in front of such a man.
“Who are you?” She blurted out when it was obvious he wasn’t going to speak.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“You’re trespassing,” Sarah said curtly, “Do you realize that?”
The man ran his fingers through his hair, looking slightly abashed, “Yeah, sorry. The place was empty. I didn’t think it mattered. I’m not hurting anyone, am I?”
Even though the man was incredibly good looking, Sarah was put off by the way he spoke about being somewhere he shouldn’t be. Entitled. It rubbed her the wrong way. Already irritated with Mary Ann, the rain, almost crashing her car, and getting soaked coming here, she tried to keep her cool but could feel her edges cracking.
“No, you’re not hurting anyone but we are going to have this house up for sale soon. People are going to come through here and we can’t sell the house if we have a squatter hanging out in it.”
The man held up his hands in an innocent gesture, “Listen, when is the house going up for sale?”
“Sir, it doesn’t matter. I need you to leave today. Right now, really.”
“Right now? In this weather?”
Sarah glanced out the window, inwardly wincing at the downpour and the thought of shoving someone out in it. It was true that he hadn’t caused harm to anything. Even so, she couldn’t help but feel as though he was finessing her somehow.
“When the storm has cleared.” She clarified.
He nodded, “I get it. Selling the houses comes first, right? Above anything else.” He moved past her towards his stack of items.
His words struck her. Annoyance surged. Was this guy serious? It felt as though he was attacking her for just trying to do her fucking job. Her hands clenched and she turned to look at him. He was slouched over, shoving his clothes into a large bag.
“What are you expecting? Me to let you stay here? I’d get fired. My boss is already on my ass and now I have someone squatting in our foreclosure, trying to guilt me into staying?” Her words tumbled from her mouth without much thinking; it was as though a balloon popped inside her. “I can easily call the police on you for trespassing, squatting, whatever. I’m sorry for whatever led you to this situation. Truly. But don’t pin it on me as though I am supposed to just let you stay here without thinking of my own situation. If you don’t leave, I will have to call the police.”
The man had looked over at her when the rant began. His expression never changed. He looked as though he was studying an animal in the zoo. It just enraged her further. Who was this guy to come along, break the law and then try to make her feel bad for it?
“I’m Logan,” The man suddenly said, holding out his hand, “The sign said the realtor was Mary Ann. That you?”
Thrown off by the introduction, she shook his hand out of instinct, realizing belatedly that he must have been watching her from the window the moment the car showed up. Even so, she couldn’t understand how he saw that well through the rain on the second floor.
“No. I’m her assistant. Sarah.”
“Well, Sarah, I would really appreciate it if you didn’t call the police. I really don’t want to deal with them. Just give me until tonight. I’ll be gone. I promise. You can come by tomorrow and check it out for yourself. Mary Ann doesn’t have to know, right?” He smiled, a bright, dashing smile that struck Sarah as one thing: trouble.
But she also didn’t want to deal with the police or Mary Ann. Logan didn’t seem to be doing anything bad. The house wasn’t ruined and there were no signs of damage. He was clearly just here to sleep and use the running water.
“Fine. I’ll be back tomorrow to make sure you’re gone.” The words sounded hollow, like a teacher trying to scold a kid who just didn’t care.
He smiled again, lop-sided grin, and Sarah tried to ignore just how handsome this strange man was, “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
She relaxed slightly, taking a step back, “I’ll be going now. Try not to burn the place down until you leave.”
Logan nodded, resuming his packing, “Sure thing. Maybe I’ll see you again sometime. In another home.”
She didn’t know how to reply to this so she merely waved, as if they were friends saying bye. Then, Sarah turned around, about to leave before stopping.
“Oh, with this storm…I almost hit this huge animal on the way over.” She thought of this suddenly and it felt like something important enough to warn him about, if he was going to be out walking around.
She turned around as she said it, seeing the way he stiffened as soon as she spoke. He lowered his bag to the floor, glancing outside the window.
“Animals?”
“Yeah. It was difficult to see much of it in this weather. But it was really large. I have no idea what it was. Remember recently with that fog and everyone brought up wolves? I mean, it probably wasn’t. But I felt like I should bring it up anyway. Just so you were aware.”
“Thank you,” He said, oddly serious, “Really.”
Sarah was taken aback to how strongly he thanked her and shrugged, “Don’t mention it.” She decided this was the best time to go, “I’m heading out now. Please be gone by nightfall.”
Logan nodded but his earlier charm vanished, swallowed up by whatever was now on his mind. Was he worried about being maimed by wolves? Guilt began to eat away at Sarah. She had been very hard on him and rude, spurned on by her bad day and thoughts of Mary Ann.
When Logan didn’t say anything, she decided to duck out of the room. Quickly, she walked down the hallway and paused at the stairs, glancing at him one final time. He was still staring out the window, his shoulders hunched together. She tried to ignore the guilt she felt, telling herself that this was how things needed to be.
As Sarah went to the front door, she made a mental note to come by tomorrow after work and see if Logan was still around. Then she turned her attention to the pouring rain awaiting her outside.