I was a fair distance from his house now, but the uneasiness didn't leave me; this wasn't true freedom. I was bound to this stupid deal that I had no control over.

I knew that I'd have to talk to Zona about what had happened. However, if I didn't compromise this deal, if I didn't tell Zona his whereabouts, I wouldn't have to worry about money for a very long time.

"Zona?" I asked, after three successive knocks. "It's me, Matilda."

The door creaked open, and I slid inside the dim room. Zona rested her forehead in the curve of her thumb and index finger, the other hand gliding around the rim of a whiskey glass, that sat on a tablecloth of papers.

"What?"

She sounded tired. I decided to keep my visit short.

"I- I have some money, Zona. It's not enough yet but..."

She thrusts her hand out, without lifting her head. I tentatively placed the small wad of notes in her hand, and turned to leave. She had these moods sometimes; she was a coiled, wild cat, and I had no intention of provoking her, and I certainly wasn't going to bring up how exactly I got the money. But what she didn't know, wouldn't hurt her; especially in her state.

*

The door to my room was slightly ajar. Strangely, no noise escaped the room, which was a surprise since Norbert and Lexi were mostly in the same vicinity these days; and that usually meant some kind of bickering, or banter would conspire between the two.
I slipped inside to a sleeping Norbert, slumped against the radiator and a pillow; his head hung back, and a comic book hanging limp in one hand.
The low sun warmed his face and neck, and the golden glow gave him a youthful and guileless appearance.

I looked over to Lexi's bed, where she lay with one headphone in her ear; she too, had her eyes closed, but I knew she was awake, from the light tap of her fingers on her stomach.

"Where were you all day?" she said, but with her eyes still closed.

"Out and about. Managed to get some money."

"So you won't be moping around anymore?"

I could hear the smirk in her voice. I threw a pillow in her general direction, and a small 'oomph' swiftly followed.

"You two were right."

"Tell me something I don't know."

unfortunately, I had no more pillow ammunition left.

"I need to get over this guy. I can't let him ruin my life."

"You're making this sound like he broke up with you or something..."

She had sat up, and I took the opportunity to give her a good glare.

Lexi sighed, "this situation would be easily resolved, if you just went to Zona. You know that right?"

I swallowed nervously, I couldn't tell Lexi why I couldn't turn in this bastard. The fewer people knew, the smoother this would go. "We don't know what connections he has. He could be a detective or something. If Zona makes even a little slip, we would all be ruined."

It was contrived, and I knew Lexi wouldn't buy it.

"All the more reason to let Zona deal with it! I don't know why you're being so difficult with this."

"I'll make a deal then."

"Go on."

" If I see that fucker again, or anything to do with him, I'll go straight to Zona."

She shrugged her shoulders, "whatever, it's your life Tills." But her lips were pursed, and her tone accusing.

I knew she wouldn't be satisfied with my 'deal', but I hoped my promise would ease the tension a bit.

"What's all the fuss about." Norbert mumbled; our conversation obviously waking him.

"Nothing new, Bert. Tilly is just being melodramatic again."

I just rolled my eyes, I didn't have the energy to retort.

"What's up Tills?" Norbert asked, ignoring Lexi's previous answer.

"Nothing much. I've just started getting the money back, and trying to put this whole fiasco behind me."

Lexi rolled her eyes, and I knew she had a whole list of sarcastic remarks tempting her tongue.
I gritted my teeth; I knew how ridiculous I sounded, and I hated lying.
Hopefully my agreement to get all my money back, wouldn't take too long.

I sprawled on my own bed, my body angled towards the wall. Arguably, my situation had worsened considerably with this stupid deal. It has only jeopardised the apartment even more than before.
However, I couldn't help feeling more at ease than ever since the day of my 'abduction'. If this all worked out, I would get the money gradually, and then the rest of what he promised at the end.

I've got to be doing the right thing. I must be making the right decision.

*

This was it. The new beginning to whatever this was.

It took me a while to get to the cafe I agreed to meet him in, but I was glad for the distance from the apartment. It made me feel less guilty.

It was an independent cafe, and despite the slightly run down atmosphere, there wasn't a free seat in sight. I spotted him in the back corner of the cafe, and slipped into the seat opposite him. His steel blue eyes flickered up from his newspaper.

"Good Morning, Matilda."

I couldn't help slightly cringing when he said my name.

"So, what now?"I said impatiently. I just wanted to get this over and done with.

"Nothing complicated. Just an interview." He exchanged his newspaper, for a notebook and a pen.

There was a moment of silence, as if he expected me to say something.

"Well?" I said impatiently, breaking the awkward lapse of silence.

He cleared his throat. "Right, well, question number one." He flipped open the cover of the notebook.

"How did you become involved in the thieving business?"

"The boss found me and took me in." I wanted to keep my answers as short as possible. I don't know how much information I could hold back in a bloody interview, but I was determined to try.

"How much money do you earn a week?"

"Depends."

He looked up from his scribbling in the notepad, to give me a withering look. I rolled my eyes in response.

"Fine. On average, maybe two hundred pounds."

"What happens to the money?"

"Filters back to the boss. I keep the leftovers."

He nodded, still scribbling furiously.

"What do you do in your free time?"

"What is this, twenty one questions?"

"Oh Matilda, I thought we were actually making progress for a minute there."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Productive is my middle name." I said, almost monotonously.

He smirked as he gave a small shake of his head. "Come on, It's not a difficult question."

"Fine. I do hard drugs in my free time."

His eyes widened, as if he actually believed me. "Really?"

"Well obviously not." He looked confused, and I sighed exasperatedly at his incompetence.

"I read, go to the library, go for walks. You know, boring stuff."

"You go to the library?"

"That's what I said. You have a problem with that?"

"No, no. I just...."

"Didn't expect someone like me to be literate or something?"

"I never said anything like tha-"

"Just forget it." I said, interrupting him. I couldn't help being so hostile, I couldn't comprehend the idea of working with him. My minimal cooperation was all he was going to get at the moment.

He cleared his throat. "Ok, next question. Have you ever been caught before?"

I gritted my teeth. "No. Not until you decided to ruin my life."

He didn't visibly flinch, but he swiftly moved on to the next question.

"How long have you been doing this for?"

"Since I was about fourteen. So five years."

"Do you remember your life before?"

I shook my head, and looked down at my hands. Despite not knowing much at all about my past, it was something I didn't like to think about, let alone talk about.

"How did you happen to be in the apartment then." He persisted.

"Just drop it."

My fists were clenched tight, and I had to resist shouting in his face; I'd already attracted a few turns of heads. I inhaled deeply.

"It's nothing interesting. Just your stereotypical, tragic backstory. Nothing new."

He had pushed the pen and notebook aside now.

"I didn't mean to offend you."

"Whatever. I'm done with questions today."

He leaned back in his chair.

"Yeah. Yeah of course. Let me buy you a tea or something. Lemon and green tea, right?"

"Please don't. Just let me leave." I said, already drawing back from my chair. I was tired and frustrated. Of course I wanted tea, just not with him.

He sighed again. "Same time, same place, on thursday." there was a slight pause, before his eyes widened as if he suddenly remembered something.
"Here's some more money by the way, so you don't have to... work today."

I nodded, took the envelope, and stood up to leave. But he opened his mouth before I turned my back.

"Next time you can interview me too. I'll answer anything. I promise."

"Fine." I said curtly, and walked away.

Despite the appeal of his proposition, it didn't change my opinion of him. He was still dangerous.