The door opened just enough to see Quentin’s fat face peering through it. His hair was caked with sweat and his face was flushed, but the overall impression was one of terror. In fact, he had a chain on the door, which he was clearly hoping would protect him from me.
“You’re… you’re… “ He stuttered.
“Megan’s boyfriend, yeah,” I said, “Name’s Mike. Why don’t you open the door and let me in?”
“She – she came on to me, man… she said she’d do whatever I wanted… It’s not my fault!”
“Okaaaay… listen, I’m not going to kick your ass. She didn’t explain things to you?”
“Wait,” he said, understanding dawning, “That was true? You told her to go out like that?”
“Yes,” I said, trying to resist bursting out laughing at this guy shaking in his boots. He was such a pathetic figure it was hard to take him seriously. No wonder Megan chose him over Stan. She probably had him wrapped around her little finger. Part of me wanted to kick his ass anyway, because some faces just bring that out in people, but another part kind of felt bad for him. I doubt he got laid much, if ever, before today. “Listen, just open the door. She’s been in there for a while, and there are other disappointed neighbors who were looking for a turn, so I came to check on her.”
“How do I know you won’t… beat me up or something if I do.”
“You don’t, but you’ve got my girlfriend in there, and I’m confident she’d want to see me, so if you don’t let me in I’ll have to assume you’re holding her against her will. And then I absolutely will kick your ass up and down the block. And really… do you think this chain would stop me?”
I gave him a menacing grin, and he blanched. No backbone at all.
“Okay, okay… just, be cool ok…” he closed the door and fumbled with the latch. He opened it again and stepped back, practically flinching as I crossed the threshold.
“Where is she?”
“Um… downstairs… I…”
I looked him in the eye to wait for him to complete his thought, but he just looked down and gestured towards a door. I kept my distance from him in case he really was a psycho, and opened the basement door. I held it open for him.
“After you, Quentin.”
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