Three weeks ago

I enter her home for the third time. The first was merely to ascertain whether or not I could defeat the lock and to learn the layout of the house. It was fairly simple. The second I venture into her bedroom and watched her as she slept. I took a single earring with me when I left. I can only assume that she believed that she had misplaced it. Had my desire been to cause fear I could have done so much more, but for my purposes it is best she suspect nothing, at least until the moment is upon us. Tonight.

This all started three weeks ago. I first caught sight of her leaving her job, however this really began when my client procured my services. I was given a name, a location, and a cashier’s check made out to “bearer”. I provide a very specific service and why my clientele require it I couldn’t even begin to guess. But I don’t pass judgment. I merely do the job that’s in front of me. And I love what I do.

She’s a minor government official. A mayoral aide or some such. She draws a fairly significant salary, in the high six figures, which explains the two story house in Lakeside, a neighborhood that has, by and large, some of the highest property values in Duluth. Her social network accounts indicate a quiet personality. Lots of friends online, very few in person. Those friends she does have she sees very rarely. No significant other. She’s married to her job. She has a passion for cooking, but finds it depressing to be the only one who tastes her creations. A few searches through her trash told me the former. Facebook posts the latter. All in all a thoroughly boring life.

She wakes in the morning, makes an elaborate breakfast for one, goes to work, comes home, showers for twenty to twenty-nine minutes, reads for an hour (she has a fondness for true crime) makes dinner for herself from some exotic ingredients (which she picks up from Mt. Royal Fine Foods every Thursday during her usual reading time) while listening to podcasts, sits down to her bachelorette meal and watches two episodes of Gilmore Girls on Netflix. Does twenty minutes worth of calisthenics while listening to more podcasts, undresses, brushes her hair and then sleeps. On the weekends she wakes later, takes showers averaging an extra ten minutes, reads for an extra three hours, spends an hour and a half making and eating lunch, and watches quite a bit more television (she’s making her way through Supernatural). On Saturday she spends an hour at the library.

On the whole a throughly regimented and orderly, while extremely boring, life. I’ve been contracted to make her life more interesting.