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tea’s warmth spread through me. I started for my bedroom as sleep called out to me, my senses already dulling.  I paused outside my bedroom, flipping off all but one small hallway light. My tired eyes gave the darkened living room one last compulsory sweep, running over the dark silhouette of a man by the large picture window before I turned for my bed.
    Wait…what?
    My heart thumped loudly and tea spilled over the ceramic mug as I spun around, flipping on all the lights. My pulse raced as I stared around the empty living room for a couple of minutes, but nobody popped out of a hiding place. The only movement came from the building across the street that casted shadows into my living room.
    It’s just your eyes…It’s just your eyes playing tricks on you.
    Go to bed.

CHAPTER FIVE
    The Crusty Biscuit
     
    The rest of the week, my routine was very much the same - get up, spend some leisurely time hanging around the apartment, and head in to work. The last few mornings, leisure time meant reading from a stash of romance novels I'd found while cleaning the apartment. One of the previous tenants must have been a fan of breezy blouses and brawny men. Not my taste in literature, but entertaining in its own way nonetheless
    Just after noonish each day, I headed to Finley's for the night. I enjoyed working with Aggie and it seemed we were becoming quite the pair, making out  like thieves most evenings, thanks to the overly generous drunken patrons. Just one week in Midtown felt decades away from my old life. I felt happy and comfortable. There hadn’t been any more weird occurences in the apartment, convincing me further that it was all in my head. I was certain I had only been allowing the fear of all that had happened with Jackson to bleed into my new life. It made sense in retrospect.
    Thinking I saw a man's shadow in the mirror – I had been thinking about Jackson while I was in the shower. There was nothing wrong with this place, my mind just didn't want to believe things were finally okay. During my first few days in Midtown, I had almost expected to find Jackson waiting for me every time I walked out my front door. He never was, and it was silly to think he would be. Jackson wouldn't know where to find me. I was in some tiny city I’d never heard of, what were the odds he would have?
    For my first day off, I planned to get to know my new town a bit better. After a shower, I slipped on a comfortable pair of jeans, a fitted white t-shirt, and a purple cable stitch hooded sweater. The weather had grown cooler since I arrived, it was comfortable for the time, but I made a mental note to pick up a good warm jacket while I was out.
    Nolan hadn’t said much to me all week aside from telling me to take today off. After working six days this week I would get a bit of overtime and I was happy to earn some extra money, but I definitely welcomed the day off. I had been itching to explore Midtown, and with my extra tip money from last night, I planned on treating myself to a nice local breakfast. A sense of adventure spread a smile across my lips as I slid my feet into my brown slouchy leather boots. I still could not get over my newly found freedom. Even before I was with Jackson, I always had my mother to answer to.    
     “Ugh, my mother.”
    Instant guilt sunk in at the thought of her. Granted, since I’d been with Jackson she barely heard from me as it was, but word would have gotten to her that I skipped town. I needed to let her know I was okay, but I couldn’t risk calling her from here.
    I made another mental note to get in touch with her in a couple of days. For now though, I pushed thoughts of her away as I grabbed my bag and headed for the door. A gust of wind hit me the moment I exited the apartment building. I shivered as the cool air seemed to blow right through the knitted fabric of my sweater. No need to remind myself about that jacket. I headed a few blocks over, back towards Finley's. I remembered