Underwhelmed expectations

Emily led me into his home. All in all, it looked tame. The living room had different furniture of course, but the layout was the same. It felt a bit like coming home again, I hadn't fully adjusted to my new apartment yet.

"As you can see here, the hallway was a bit modified." Indeed it was, it was now completely closed off from the rest. The one room bordering the living room had a hole in it. I pointed at it in surprise. "Oh yeah, this is where I'll install a door. James wanted this to be a guest room so I suggested moving the door out of the hallway. He plans to use these rooms as the living quarters for everyone living with him. That way they can have privacy the way a normal couple has their bedroom."

"Still, those are a lot of rooms."

"Oh, not really, right? Just a handful."

"Have you not been around the corner? Let's go." I brought Em along the hallway and turned on the lights on the second corner of the hallway.

"Wow there are so many... And here I thought we'd have to rebuild the second floor."

"Rebuild?"

"According to the plans this was a mansion once. GRC bought it, renovated the first floor, and then realized nobody would buy a mansion this far out."

"Fair enough. This corner here is great for a recreational space. When I lived here I thought maybe the church could turn it into a church camp or something, but nothing ever came of it."

"I'm a bit concerned though, this spot is where the stairs used to be. And in my opinion, there should be a full bathroom here instead of a recreational area. The shower in the bathroom adjacent to the living room is okay, but a bathtub should have a place here somewhere. The main issue is the sewage, there are no pipes here of course." Emily trailed off in her thoughts for a second, staring intensely at the wall. "Ugh, sorry, I'm rambling. I don't know why but I keep having ideas when I'm here. I love my job perhaps a little too much. And this house feels like a place where I can do a lot to improve the lives of the people living here..." She paused for a while, as the smile faded from her face. "Sorry, I rambled again."

"Haha, don't worry, it's cute how excited you are. In any case, if you are serious about the bathroom idea, you can see the pipes in the basement."

"Basement? Oh right, there was one in the floorplans. Where's the entrance?" I walked back through the hallway and grabbed the hidden handle. "Wow, this is really well hidden. I wonder why this was done?"

"Not sure. I found the basement by accident, I tripped on that handle once." In the basement, Emily took a look at the pipes. She followed them across the wall.

"Hm, there are pipes that lead up there. I can only assume that they led to the next story upwards, as they are where the stairs would be. If this is true then maybe I could get an actual bathroom to work in that corner. Let's head back up, though, so much empty space is giving me the creeps." We went back into the hallway.

"Yeah, I'm shocked he doesn't have a sex dungeon down here."

"I mean, hasn't he only been here for a month? Plus I really doubt that he's that kind of person, you know?"

"He has multiple partners, don't you know that?"

"So what? Doesn't say anything about his sex life. And from what I can tell the people he dates seem to really like him, if I had to guess, they probably like whatever they and James are doing."

"How can they like this? It's disgusting, it's immoral, it's.." Suddenly, a door opened and Donna came out of her room. Did she live here now?

Donna: "Could you two be quieter? I'm having a call. And I don't know what you're doing here Floria, but if you don't want to be here nobody's keeping you here." She got back to her call, but only briefly. "Sure, if she wants to..." She handed me the phone, and only said "Beth." I picked up the phone.

"H-Hi boss."

"Hi Floria, what are you doing at James' place if I may ask? Last thing I knew you two weren't dating."

"We aren't, I just wanted to visit his place because I used to live here."

"I see... Wait, doesn't that mean you had a spycam on you? Is that why you were thinking about leaving?"

"Y-Yeah, sorry... I'm not going to, though. I think I have found a better thing to do."

"Alright, good. Now tell me why you were yelling so loudly. Even I could hear you."

"Doesn't it seem awful to you that James has multiple partners? It's unnatural, it's cruel, it's-"

"I don't care."

"What? Why?"

"They're happy and adults that can consent. They seem to love James and James seems to love them. That's all that matters legally speaking and that's also everything that should matter morally. You may have your own opinions, mainly because I can't stop you, but if James or any of his colleagues quit because you are mean to them we will have to have a serious discussion, have I made myself clear?"

"U-Uhm, yes, boss."

"Good, now let me talk to Donna again." I gave Donna the phone back. Was I being too judgy? I don't know, usually a guy who has multiple women ogling him is either rich, a wanna-be macho, or both. Yet James doesn't fit into either category, does he?

Emily turned to me. "Ahem. Anything else you'd like to see Floria?" This was an awful visit, I found nothing useful and I've got an earful from my boss. I want to leave as soon as possible. But there's one thing I was still curious about.

"Where do you sleep? Can you show me your room?"

"Uh, I sleep in James' room. The other rooms are empty or I'd sleep in someone else's bed and room, so I asked if I could stay with him."

"You asked?"

"Yeah, I also felt like if we acted more like a couple in private it would be easier to sell the idea to my dad."

"I-I see. What's his room like?"

"Oh, normal, I can show you." Indeed, his room was quite normal. A large bed, a closet, a couple of drawers. And a bag of clothes, presumable for Emily. It was really clean and tidy for a guy. "Can't believe it's been over two weeks since I removed the camera here. Wait, it spied on you too, right? Probably shouldn't have brought this up, sorry."

"You removed the camera?"

"Yeah, I followed the investigation with James and Jane, the lead investigator. We traveled to all the apartments that we knew had cameras. It was probably the weirdest job I've ever done. But it was easy. James paid me a grand for this, mainly because I had to stay with him and the officer for so long when the officer talked with the tenants. Getting paid by the hour is a treat, haha. Wait, doesn't that mean he gave you compensation, too? How much was that? I wish I could get free money like that."

"Emily, it's not free money, it's compensation. I was spied on for five years and..." I didn't really want to talk about it.

"Sorry, I guess you're right. I wish I could sue my dad for what he does to me but it would be pointless since he'll die and I'd inherit it anyway." I gave her a hug to comfort her.

"In a way, I guess I have it lucky, you know? James' father was just a powerful guy to me, but your father obviously means so much more for you."

"Floria, it's okay... Unlike you, I have the knowledge that it'll be over sooner or later. That all I have to do is to bide my time. You had to leave. You were under threat until you left." She hugged me back. "Can I ask you something? You don't seem to think all that well of James, why is that? Is there anything he should have done differently?"

"I..." I had to think. I feel a lot of emotions when thinking of James, when being in this place I used to call home. I remember learning of the cameras, I remember his father simply opening the front door with a key he copied, I remember the realization that that James Goodman was my colleague now... But the way she phrased the question shook me to my core. What could he have done differently, or rather better? He apologized, he tried to make it right the best way possible. What more could I ask for? He's not his father, so that means that James doesn't deserve to suffer as a result of his father's crimes. Had I been to hard on him? I mean, everyone liked him for a reason, right? And Helen was never wrong about a guy before. But... But what, exactly? I didn't know anymore. "I don't know. Now that you say it like that... After everything that had happened, I was mad, I was terrified, I was scared. But he tried his best to make amends, to say sorry for things he didn't do, couldn't be reversed, but needed an apology. I feel bad for treating him worse."

"I'm sure he'll be able to forgive you, don't worry. Just stay friends with him and everything will be alright. I mean, look at me. I'm well-fed, I'm having fun, and I'm not hurt. I've got three great things going for me as a result of being James' friend."

"That's not a very high bar."

"But it's the bar that I need and didn't have before. Besides, I don't see anyone else sticking up for me on their own initiative. Not to trash your shelter, but sometimes it's great to have someone reach out to you. When my father made these initial demands, all I did was call James and ask him if he'd marry me. He had to painstakingly ask to get me to reveal what happened. And when I eventually gave in, he gave me hope. Without him, I wouldn't be this cheerful, even at the shelter. He gave me hope when I needed it most. At my most broken he put me back together to my former self and helped me get up. I don't know if you need someone like that, but I think James is a great guy. Apologize to him and things will work out, I'm sure."

'Gave me hope when I needed it most'. Isn't that how Christine felt? When she had realized that she nearly killed a guy? When it dawned on her how far she had gone in her fear? I wasn't as broken as her, but maybe I still needed help. At the very least I needed to apologize. And I still needed to visit Klara. "Thanks, Emily. I'll go now."

With a short five minute walk, I was at Klara's home and I rang the doorbell. Klara opened.

"Oh, hi Floria. It's been a while. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry. I just wanted to thank you again for everything."

"Oh no worries, women have to support each other. Is everything better at your new place?"

"Besides rent, yes, hahaha."

"Well, that's to be expected, given that we are so far from the city."

"Say... do you still have some milk that I could buy?"

"Oh, sure, Amber should be right about finished with the milking. I'll fill you a couple bottles." After a few minutes, she returned with three bottles. "That'll be five bucks."

"I probably won't be able to pick up your milk in the future again, so... Here, take this. As a thanks for everything" I gave her 500 bucks. Klara went wild.

"That's so much, I-I can't..."

"Don't worry, that's not a lot of the compensation I got. I wish I had a better way to say thanks for everything, but money will have to do. And say hi to Amber to me, okay?"

"W-Will do, thanks. Take care of yourself, Floria. It was nice seeing you again."

"Bye."

James

"So what did you want to talk about, Ms. Dapy? Any questions? Why did you want us to meet anyway, a restaurant isn't the best place for such a conversation."

"Didn't you call it a date?" Her voice sounded confident but hesitant at the same time. More accurately, she spoke with determination and speed, while also being highly insecure.

"I asked for the date on which we would meet, I think. I hope you didn't misunderstand..."

"N-No..." She looked frustrated and began swirling her coffee.

"How's everything been since the scoop I gave you?"

"High compliments from my boss, no promotions, no gifts, nada. The usual. I got called 'the butcher of Trinton mayors' by a political editor though, I framed that on my wall."

"That's a badass title. Do you have it out for Trinton mayors or are they the only ones that cause trouble."

"I grew up here. It's weird but I feel a sense of duty to this place, you know? As an investigative reporter you sometimes have to inform the public about truths that its creators would rather keep secret."

"Duty... I'm glad I don't really have a duty, I-"

"Of course you have a duty, you have millions of readers."

"I... wanted to say if I felt like I had a duty it would feel like too much pressure."

"O-Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to." Megan +4SP (+23SP)

"It's alright, Ms. Dapy. I assume you are one of these readers that I have a duty to?"

"I have to read your articles. For research purposes of course, Mr. Goodman. Shouldn't we drop the formalities, by the way? You can call me Megan."

"Oh this was merely meant as a show of respect for the butcher of Trinton mayors, Megan." I jokingly bow while using her title.

"Hahaha James." Suddenly, a young woman addressed us.

Woman: "Wait, are you two James Goodman and Megan Dapy?"

Megan: "Yeah we are."

Woman: "You two know each other?"

James: "Yeah, we're friends and met up to meet as colleagues."

Woman: "Mr. Goodman, I heard you were involved in her story, were you not?" Megan stared at me, expectantly. But expecting what? Covering for myself? Giving information she wants for an article? Was this a setup?

James: "I guess, yes. I'll be appearing in the city council on Monday evening to answer that in more detail." A second woman approached the neighboring table, with two coffees in hand.

Second woman: "What about the city council? Oh, aren't you Mr. Goodman? And you're Megan Dapy? Pleased to meet you, although we will see each other on Monday again, Mr. Goodman."

First woman: "Oh, have you made it onto that committee?"

Second woman: "Yeah, I'll have to ask Mr. Goodman over here some important questions."

Megan: "Not fair, I wanted to interview him first."

James: "Don't you know most of what they want to ask anyway? You can just write half the article ahead of time and release it earlier than everyone else."

Megan: "Sly dog, hehe. You know our business well."

James: "Haven't I been a journalist longer than you?"

Megan: "Hmph, barely."

First woman: "Why didn't you invite her too?" The woman asked the councilwoman.

Second woman: "No real need, honestly. Mr. Goodman can tell us more of what we want to know and interrogating the reporter who axed off two mayors will just make every question by the SGP and CTP councilors seem vengeful. In any case, we'll have to end our conversation here, Mr. Goodman. Unlike some other parties, the Trinton City Party takes upholding the laws and norms of this city seriously, so I need to ensure not to speak too much with witnesses before the investigation."

James: "No worries, we'll leave you alone. Until Monday."