Despite expecting the manager to ring, she did not expect him this soon. So, with proper wariness, she looked at the doorbell camera. It was the same manager she had seen earlier, so she felt safe enough to open the door.

  She opened the door to let him inside. He was wearing the apartment’s Navy blue uniform denoting a manager. He had some thinning and graying hair that instead of making him look old, he looked distinguished. They had some pleasant small talk while he came in. When he asked about Suki, she stuck her nose into the living room to see who it was, then she ignored them both and went back to lying in the sunshine. They both smiled at her antics.

  The moment came when Seulgi started talking about why she asked to speak to him. He thought it was because his guard was going to need to be reprimanded. That was not the case at all.

  She offered the manager some tea, and he accepted.

  She began by telling him what had been happening. Nothing in detail, no names. But, that she and her friends have been having issues with some unknown person. One of her friends had been hospitalized, another had been disappeared, and a third had saved her life and been subsequently hurt. A fourth has not been confirmed, but she cannot be gotten a hold of. All of this was justifiably worrying.

  She then expined how she had addressed this with the rest of her friends. How they established the buddy rule and how they were not to be alone.

  Through this, the guard had been nodding. He went from an attentive look to a frowning look that was pure concentration. Then, he pulled out a notepad and started taking notes. She knew that he would take her seriously and not treat her as some flighty female who was hyperventiting in the shadows. Although she didn’t name names, he remembered seeing something mentioned in a local newspaper about someone who had been pushed off a bridge, so he was able to put one and one together to come up with two.

  After getting all of the information that she could give on the background, he asked, “What is it that you will need from us?”

  She began to ask for a bit heavier security. She asked if she could have a guard take her to her car on the way to work and back when work was over. That was not a problem. She asked if it would be acceptable to call down to get an escort to the car at other times. Like getting groceries or going to the gym. Again, no problem, but with caveats. There might be times they have to say ‘No’ like if there are not enough people. Or if they were all dealing with other things. If there was no one there to help, then they could not help. Could not, not would not. Guarding residents was their job, after all. They both smiled at that.

  There were a few other points that needed crification. Were there any descriptions of who or what to look for? Any known vehicle? Was it just one person or were there any colborators? The questions kept coming and she answered to the best of her ability.

  The part that impressed the guard manager was that there were very few ‘I don’t know’ answers. Still, there were a few. After all, if they knew everything, the person would be in jail and they would have Jackson back already.

  Speaking of Jackson, Seulgi made a mental note to call Gillian as soon as this interview was over.

  They wrapped the details up as the manager finished his tea. He thanked her for the tea as she walked him to the door. She saw him out and thanked him for his time.

  Her neighbor across the hall, she noticed, was actually a fairly rge guy. She also noted that he was wearing a dark hoodie and khaki pants with white sneakers. She stopped that thought stillborn as it struck her as the beginning of becoming paranoid. It was an excusable mindset, but her neighbor had been friendly with her for the st five years. She smiled and nodded at him as she slowly closed the door. He smiled back and waved a little to her.

  She wondered if he would still be her ‘fan’ if he knew her guilty thought of accusing him unjustly. She sighed and leaned her back against the warm door, her head sinking to her chest. She needed to be aware of things, but not to the point of being suspicious of everyone.

  She began to miss Bhuwakul’s comforting presence. The only person that was more comforting than he was, of all people, Jeong-Hui. She was not coming back any time soon, so she might as well forget that notion. Bhuwakul could one hundred percent be counted on, but she did not want to cut into his personal time. He might not mind, but she would feel guilty.

  The only other person in town that made her feel secure was Jackson and he was missing.

  She was almost tempted to call her family for backup, but she was nowhere near that desperate yet!

  Speaking of these people, she called Gillian. She was disheartened to know that there was still no progress. But, there was nothing else going on as well – no news was good news, right? She asked Gillian about her security, then her baby. Seulgi asked if it would be OK if she could stop by after work this week sometime. Gillian said of course. She’d like it. So, if nothing came up to change the pn, Seulgi would head over on Wednesday. On that happy note, they hung up.

  Seulgi noticed that Suki was still on the balcony, sunbathing. She went out to sit next to her furry friend who opened an eye at her. When the cat closed her eyes, Seulgi pulled up some carpet next to her. She also enjoyed the sunshine for a bit, stroking Suki’s silky spine. They had some companionable silence for a bit. The only noise to be heard was Suki’s rhythmic purring. This sted nearly an hour, but it had to end because the warmth of the sun was working its magic and Seulgi was finally, truly rexed enough to fall asleep, unaided.

  The downside to this was that her butt was going numb.

  So, instead of falling asleep, that was a very attractive thing at the moment, but she had other pns. She had put off calling her mother back long enough. She went back inside and looked at the clock. Maybe, she thought, she would get lucky and her mother would be out. It would be nice to talk to her father for a change.

  She lightly stamped her feet to get blood flowing again and went back inside to find her cell phone.