Malice found herself sitting at Jordan's kitchen island, with a glass of water and two Advil pills. Jordan had gone to call an Uber after she told him her address. She didn't know why he was the one calling; she had a perfectly good phone in her pocket and was capable of making the call herself. She downed the pills with a gulp of water, and waited for Jordan to return.

"Uber's on it's way. Should be here in about ten minutes." Jordan walked into the room, grabbing himself a container of chewable pills. He shrugged when she gave him an odd look. "I can't swallow pills for the life of me. The damned things."

Malice rolled her eyes, and went back to gazing at the house around her. The oven couldn't have been used once, it's polish was clear of any smudges or stains. When she looked at everything else, it too was shiny new and unused. "What's with the lack of décor? You just move here?"

Jordan gave a tired sigh. "You're not the first to mention it. I've been here for over a year, I just haven't gotten around to making in mine."

"It feels cold and desolate. Also very distant. You like the modern style?" She took another drink of water as Jordan formulated a response.

" Uh, yeah, I guess so. Never really gave it much thought before."

"The modern style has always seemed to distance itself from everything else. Usually it reflects the owner in some way. I've always been a log cabin sort. I grew up in the country, under the dappled sunlight filtering in through the trees."

He squinted his eyes. "You a writer or something?"

Malice gave a short bark of laughter. "A writer? Me? You've got to be kidding."

"Uh, well what do you do for a job then? You are out of college, right?" He had a worrying undertone to his voice.

"Yes, I'm out of college. I just received a job at Valerio Architects. I start on Monday," She was telling this man she barely knew everything without an argument. The fuck was wrong with her? She needed to keep away from people like him especially. They had everything and she had to work from nothing to get where she got today. Remember Malice, she told herself, remember what happened last time you tried to make a friend with someone who had everything? "So, er, what kind of youtube videos do you make?"

"I'm a gamer, but I mostly make minecraft centered stuff."

"Minecraft?" She sounded dubious at best.

"It's not just for kids!" He snapped, hold himself away from her, closing her off.

"Oh, no. That's not what I meant." She yelped, inching away from his sudden change in behavior, "I've never heard of it before, that's all."

"Oh." He relaxed, his tone softening. "I'm sorry for snapping. I just get so many adults frowning on it. Usually I don't tell people, I just call myself an online entertainer. It does the job."

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz buzz.

Her phone started to go off like crazy, text messages coming in as a tidal wave would. Oh shit. Gwen. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, and unlocked it, dreading what she would find.

Gurrrrl where the hell are you?

ANSWER ME WOMAN

MALICE I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T CALL ME NOW I'M GONNA ASSUME YOU DIED

you are dead to me

Seriously, where the fuck are you? You nvr came home

"Boyfriend?"

"Wha-oh no. I don't have one. It's just my best friend. She's usually the one who ends up drink at someone's house, not me. She's just worried. You mind if I call her?"

"Go right ahead. The Uber should be here in a couple minutes by the way." Jordan left the room to give her a bit of privacy.

Malice dialed Gwen's number, and fear started to curl in her gut. Was she going to get yelled at? What if Gwen didn't understand? God, what if Jack never let this go? She mentally groaned.

"MALICE YOU HAVE SOME ANSWERING TO DO!"

"I know, I know. I'm fine Gwen, just so you know."

"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU? WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT? YOU SCARED ME WHEN YOU DIDN'T COME HOME! I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING!" Malice held the phone away from her ear as Gwen screamed.

"I'll tell you everything when I get back. For now, all you need to know is that I should be home within the next hour, if traffic is forgiving. I don't know exactly how far I am away. I'll see you soon. Adios"

Before Gwen could shout back, she hung up, and turned her phone on silent. Malice then stood up, stretched, and went downstairs to find where she had left her shoes. She hadn't woken up with them near her, and she hadn't bothered to look hard for them.

Jordan popped in after about a minute of searching. "Your Uber's here. Looking for something?"

"Yeah, my shoes." She squatted down (which was hard to do in a dress) to look under the bed.

"You left them by the doorway. Lemme escort you out."

Malice stood up straight, and followed him back up the stairs. "You make me sound like royalty."

He chuckled. "With that dress on you could be." He face palmed. "I'm not flirting I swear. It's just a nice dress. That's not helpful. Fuck. Er...I mean.." Red crept up Jordan's neck and he couldn't stop twisting his hands.

"Hey, it's okay. I like the dress too. I did buy it after all." She gave him an assuring smile.

He sighed with relief and continued forward, around a corner and into a hallway which ended in his front door. She slipped on her flats, and opened the door. The front of the mansion looked so unassuming. It was low to the ground, and the garage was made of wood, and looked unlike most of the house.

"Goodbye Jordan." She gave a small wave, before turning away, and heading to the waiting black Uber car.

Jordan called out a brief goodbye, and then closed the door. "See you Malice."