ESRIN
SAGE

Louis Tomlinson.

He's the friendliest face I get to see every day at work. I swear all of his pockets are just filled with sunshine. When I started working here, I didn't plan on making any friends but Louis just destroyed that and it was impossible for him not to. Come on, when a coworker offers to buy you lunch once a day every week, how can you say no to that?

There is one way to know if you're liked by Louis Tomlinson. That would be if you're receiving daily sticky notes in your office from the British lad. Louis leaves handwritten messages of positivity on colourful sticky notes in everyone's offices every day. He tells me that he doesn't feel like himself unless he does it because the world deserves more kindness every day.

It's safe to say that Louis is the social butterfly I wish to be and has the ray of positivity that I wish to have.

My eyes scanned over the words written in his handwriting one last time to drink it in. After, I opened the little drawer that was installed on my desk and added the sticky note to the bunch of others he's written to me.

Work begins after that and as usual, I started with reading and responding to emails. Some days they get by fast and others they're the slowest part. Halfway through I received a message from Zayn requesting me to call a few of his alliances for certain things and I do before heading into the paperwork.

When the hour for our lunch break hits, I saved my work on the computer and left my office to meet Louis and the others in the lunchroom. Walking past Zayn's office, I remembered all the lunch hours I spent with him there. Most of the time sharing meals, and others doing some inappropriate touching on his beautiful desk.

Every time I remember something from the past about us, it feels like another cut on my body or arrow through my heart.

The lunchroom was nothing special. There were probably five familiar faces in here since most chose to go out for lunch today. Louis was already sitting at the table with Seth. If you ever observed him in a conversation, you'll swear by the way he's so into it that it's the best chat ever.

"Green tea!" Louis gushes as his eyes land on me. Did I forget to mention that he calls me Green Tea? It makes no sense at all and it's definitely the weirdest nickname I've ever been given. Somehow, Louis took my last name Sage and ended up with Green Tea.

"Seth babe here is just finally ready to get his first tattoo done with me," Louis reveals, winking at Seth who looks like maybe he was blackmailed into this. "What? You finally convinced him!" I shouted, actually surprised that Seth had given in. Louis loves getting new tattoos. His entire arm and even his chest are filled with them and he's been trying to convince Seth to get his first one done for weeks.

I turn to Seth, staring at him jaw dropped and he blushes, hiding his face with his hands. Seth Mcalester was one of the newest members of the team that Zayn had hired a few months ago and Louis and I had the pleasure of taking him under our wing. "Don't be shy! You're truly becoming a man now. Be proud, all the guys and gals are going to be lining up for you," Louis teased as if he was so sure of himself.

"Just shut up, man," Seth shakes his dead, dropping his hands. My skin has never been inked even though it was always something I saw myself getting into when I was younger. I wish I could say maybe one day I won't care as much and get one done but being hopeful is a nasty thing.

Louis always described getting tattoos done so passionately. All of his tattoos have a special meaning, even if they don't matter to him right now they mattered at some point in his life and he claims that's what's important.

"Oh, this is for you," Louis suddenly remembers my lunch and slides me over one of those plastic grocery bags inside of it was a salad bowl with cheese and grilled chicken. Seth hands me my drink and we started eating, Seth and Louis bickering through it all.

After our lunch bowls were empty, drinks only had a few sips left and the chocolate covered strawberries Seth brought were no more, we all decided to head back to work. We only had a few minutes left for lunch either way so we cleaned up the table we were at and said our goodbyes.

As work resumes, the last few hours of my day consisted of typing and filing documents whilst answering Zayn's calls, most of them redirecting it to him and having to adjust his schedule a few times.

To my interest, Zayn had requested that I add a flight to his calendar in a few weeks. He didn't say when or where but he'll be flying out soon and usually, it would make me sad but today it makes me happy.

At the end of the work day, I cleaned up my office for tomorrow and then I went to the front desk where employees time stamps their exact leaving time. I walked straight out of the building before anyone can stop me. Of course, even though I was in a rush I said goodbye to the sweet security guard and then made it to my Jeep.

Annoyingly, there was traffic on the road home but luckily, the music on the radio kept my anger at bay. When I parked my car in the garage, I haven't felt so relieved in a while. For some reason, I love the sound of my heels against the floor when I'm walking in the lobby of our building. Sometimes, it's the most satisfying part of my day.

Unlocking the door, I stepped into the penthouse and automatically walked into an amazing scent. No, it wasn't one of our candles it was Remi cooking in the kitchen. "Hey!" She shouts when she hears the door shut, too busy mixing something in a pan to turn over and see me.

"Hello, early dinner?" I replied since she was making dinner earlier than usual. "Yeah, why not right?" She answers, spinning around to go grab our salt shaker. I set my stuff down on my desk before walking over to the kitchen. "Need help?" I asked, leaning against the countertop with my arms folded across my chest.

"No, it's fine. Dinner is all on you tomorrow," she reminds me and I shake my head. So that means that since she doesn't want help with dinner today then I can't ask her for help tomorrow. "Well, I need to get out of these clothes and take a shower," I leaned off and left the kitchen to make my way up the stairs.

Opening my bedroom door, the sight of my bed was so tempting, practically begging for me to lay down and ease my back after sitting for so long. Instead, I stripped my clothes off and got into the bathroom to do my usual skincare routine and shower.

Afterwards, I changed into my favourite golden colour silk pyjamas and slid my feet into fluffy slippers that had tiny cows on them before returning downstairs. The table was already set and ready while Remi was finishing up showering upstairs.

When she's done, she sprints down the stairs looking refreshed in a jumper that had sleeves pushed up to her elbows and long sweatpants that hugged her ankles. She hands me one of our square shaped plates and we filled it with mixed rice, greens with a mushroom and chicken sauce.

Sitting down at our overly long dining table, Remi excitedly rubs her hands together," let's eat!" I sat down on the chair and before I could even have a taste of my food, Remi was already having full spoons without a care in the world.

"Oh," she moans," that's good," closing her eyes as she salvages the taste. I brought a scoop to my mouth and it was nothing special. Of course, it was delicious but it tasted the same as it always has every time she's made it. "Dramatic," I muttered jokingly and she playfully glares at me.

Light conversation flew by between us whilst I worked up enough courage to finally bring up the elephant in the room. Only, Remi doesn't notice the elephant just yet. We were halfway through our meal when I decided it was about time to just rip the stupid bandaid off.

"How's Death Hood coming along?" I ask Remi, starting the conversation I've been thinking about all day. "Good I guess. Had more chats with some witnesses, managed to put some theories together," Remi reveals, shuffling some of the mixed rice into her mouth. Here goes nothing.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Yesterday I was intrigued and I watched some of the stuff on your computer. I'm sorry by the way...I couldn't stop myself but I noticed that the delivery van for the Halloween store we visited the other day was around a few of the crime scenes," I started.

My eyes remained on her to see her reaction to the words I was saying. Remi swallows and puts down the spoon, giving me her attention. "What are you saying?" She questions and the way her eyebrow draws together and her face projects confusion and concern make me nervous.

"Well...I guess I'm just wondering if you or your coworkers investigated on that lead...of the Halloween store person," I answered, looking away, suddenly regretting this entire conversation. "I don't know, Es. Another detective stated that it was a dead-end lead so no one bothered to," she sighs, picking up her spoon again to start eating and I copied.

"Well, I'm giving you a reason to bother now," I didn't mean for the words to sound insisting like how I truly felt on the inside but they were. "No, I think this is the same lead he followed," she reveals, grabbing the tall glass of water and bringing it to her lips for a mouthful. "Plus, I know the guy and he's harmless, I promise," Remi adds as she places down the glass again.

Suddenly then, I do remember her saying a friend owned the Halloween Store and she'd hope to get a discount for shopping. What possible reasoning could someone have for being near most of the crime scenes?

I don't ask that question though, I remained silent until we were almost finished and Remi changes the topic.
"How was Mr Malik today?" She wonders, looking up at me with a small smile on her face and pushing away the curl that was bothering her eye.

"I think he finally got the message clear enough," I vaguely yet clearly told her. Let's hope that Zayn doesn't push me further because I don't know how much more of this I can take. After being together for months, building something that felt so important to me then crashing everything as if it was nothing. "Let's hope so. If I could arrest him, I would," Remi sighs.

I returned the question, which sets Remi off, rambling about Randy who is her partner that could never cooperate with her. "If I could throw him in jail too with Zayn, I won't hesitate at all," she huffed, rolling her eyes at stupid Randy. "Maybe you guys should just have sex and solve everything," I suggest with a shrug of my shoulders.

Remi drops her spoon and a loud sound echoes through the room as it collided with the edge of her plate. "How dare you!" She squeals, jaw unhinged and tattooed hand over her chest. "I'm only joking, I remember you telling me that Clary said he's bad in bed," I assure her. Clary was another detective on her team.

"Yeah," she returns to normal, grabbing her spoon to finish the last bits of the food along with me. "If only sex fixes everything," she adds softly with a loud sigh. Yeah, if only.

When we were finished, I washed the dishes and neatened the kitchen properly while Remi dried the dishes and placed them back in their rightful places. Afterwards, she was dying to rest her back so with that we said our good nights. I watched as she lazily drag her feet up the stairs, waving to me as I said," goodnight!" For the tenth time cheerfully.

I made my way around the penthouse, cleaning up any little things that I saw out of place. Afterwards, I sat down at my desk. Tonight I was the one that kept the lights on while Remi was away in her bedroom, probably asleep by now. My computer light shone at me with the search bar open and waiting for me to type something.

My fingers hovered over the keys. I guess it was because some part of myself was trying to grab onto anything to stop me from falling deeper into this rabbit hole. The other was probably confused about what words to exactly type. Eventually, my jumbled thoughts turned into clear words and I found myself pressing on the keys.

Owner of Spooky Silhouettes.

A bunch of links loaded in front of me and I clicked the first few articles, reading through them but none of them had information on the owner of this stupid Halloween store. I entered different searches, changing the words but attempting to get the same answer every time.

My eyes glanced at the corner of the taskbar where the time was to notice that two hours had passed. How did I waste two hours of my night, just like that? I leaned back in the chair, bringing a hand up to pinch the corner of my eyes, somehow soothing the headache pain between them.

Maybe I'm just using Death Hood to ignore the personal problems going on. I'd jump at the first opportunity to forget all about Zayn and the baggage he left me stranded with. I dropped my hands, staring at the useless screen with tired eyes. Maybe I should pack this idea away and find something else to obsess about.

My phone that has been silently sitting on the table in front of me vibrates and rings, notifying me that I received a notification. Lazily, I grabbed it thinking maybe it was YouTube or something. No, it wasn't. It was a breaking news notice sent out in a newsletter informing everyone that Death Hood has added another murder to the toll. damn it.

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AUTHOR'S
NOTE

Thank you for reading lovelies<3 Hope you're as excited for the next chapter as I am.

What's the weirdest nickname you've been given? Mine is Insidious, don't ask.