Chapter 43: GETTING CLOSER

We kept eating in comfortable silence, both of us leaning over the counter with forks in hand. Voices drifted in from outside through the open bedroom window. When I focused, I realized one of them belonged to Karim.

"...to you," I caught. "It was your fault, actually. How could you forget?"

Sarah swallowed the last bite and let out a soft breath. "Wow. We really cleaned the plate, huh? Oof. I ate too much."

"It was only a slice." I picked up the empty plate. "Let me wash it for you."

"I can take it back and..."

"I was going to run the dishwasher anyway," I said, sliding the plate in. "Gives me an excuse. I hate turning it on when it’s not full."

"You live alone, though. That has to be hard sometimes."

I closed the dishwasher and looked at her. "You wound me, Ms. Angi. Don’t hit me with harsh truths right after I ate something that good."

"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that." She sounded genuinely apologetic. "I just..."

"I know, I know." I smiled. "But hey... you’re here right now. So I guess I’m not alone, huh?"

"Y-yeah..."

"Hmm."

Sarah’s phone buzzed in her pocket, cutting the moment short. She pushed herself back from the counter and pulled it out. The second she saw the name on the screen, her expression dimmed a little.

"Hello?" she answered. "Hubert, hey."

Of course it was him.

"Yeah, I’m at... I’m at home."

A system window appeared in front of me almost immediately.

She had just lied to her husband because of me. And the system rewarded it, Dependence dropped again.

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TARGET: Sarah Angi

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[ RELATIONSHIP ]

> Partner: [Hubert]

> Loyalty: 0%

> Dependence: 64%

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[ SYSTEM SYNC ]

> Favor: 0% [☑]

> Threat: None

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x2 Sexual Encounter EXP

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> GRIEVANCE LOG

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Sixty-four percent. Getting closer.

While she listened to whatever Hubert was saying, I let my eyes drift. She was standing with her weight on one leg, hip cocked slightly to the side. The black pants she wore hugged her ass tightly, the fabric stretching across each cheek. If I looked closely I could just make out the faint outline of her panties underneath, a thin, simple cut that sat high on her hips. Every small shift she made made the material pull a little tighter.

"I’ll do that, yep," she said into the phone. "Y-yeah. I get it... okay. Bye."

She hung up and slipped the phone back into her pocket. I pushed off the counter and watched her. She still wouldn’t fully meet my eyes.

"Sorry, I have to go," she said. "Hubert’s coming home early. Stomachache. I need to make him some soup."

"Oh. Right, sure." I nodded. "I’ll walk you to the door."

Damn it. I’d wanted to get her Dependence under fifty before she left, but this was still progress. Better than nothing.

I followed her the short distance to the door, eyes briefly dropping again to the way her hips moved with each step. She opened it herself and gave me a small, slightly awkward smile over her shoulder.

"Thanks for... sharing the cake with me."

"Anytime," I said.

She left. I closed the door quietly behind her and leaned against it for a second, exhaling.Sixty-four percent. Still not low enough. But I was getting there.

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I woke up to... something.

I’ve always been a light sleeper. Even a quiet cough in the next room is usually enough. Grabbing my phone from under the pillow, I saw it was barely five in the morning. The window was closed, but the air in the room still felt freezing, that deep, pre-dawn cold that cuts straight through you.

I swung my legs off the bed and stood up. The light switch did nothing when I flicked it. I pulled the curtains aside and looked outside. The entire street was dark. No streetlights, no windows lit. Living in a shithole with shitty infrastructure.

"Damn."

I turned on my phone flashlight and opened the bedroom door. The rest of the apartment was empty, which I supposed was a positive. No giant mansion hallways like in horror movies, just one open living space and a bathroom. The bathroom door was open. Nothing inside. Living room and kitchen were clear too.

So what had woken me?

I rubbed the back of my head and started back toward the bed. Then a scent hit me.

Perfume. The same one Star, Latonia, had been wearing. Strong enough that it still lingered from whenever she’d visited Karim last.

"Smells good, though," I muttered. "She must be spending real money on that stuff."

I lay back down. The second my head hit the pillow I heard something move in the living room. A rat? I shot up, flashlight on, and rushed out.

It wasn’t a rat.

The black cat was curled up on the single couch, tail tucked neatly around her body. When she sensed me she opened her eyes, those same glowing purple ones, then yawned, stretched, and stood up.

The air suddenly grew thick. Heavy. Like I couldn’t pull a full breath.

"Open up, boy!" a man’s voice roared from the door, followed by heavy pounding. "I’ll fuck your shit up! Open the goddamn door!"

What?

My eyes snapped open.

I was back in my bedroom. Sunlight was already filtering through the closed curtains. Just a nightmare. It had felt way too real, though. I’ve had bad dreams before, but this one sat differently in my chest.

"Fuck..."

I rubbed my eyes, got out of bed, and, too lazy to walk all the way to the bathroom, washed my face in the kitchen sink. I stayed there for a moment, elbows on the counter, watching water drip onto the floor.

"Okay... first, the quest."

According to the system I needed to run two kilometers and do ten push-ups. Doable. And since I was up early, I could knock it out now and then focus fully on Sarah and her Dependence.

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OPPORTUNITY DETECTED

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[SUGGESTED ACTION]

- Have Sarah run with you.

She needs some distractions.

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- COST: 10 Lust

- EST. GAIN: ??

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Have Sarah run with me? Hubert had come home early yesterday with a stomachache. I had no idea if he was still here.

I walked back into the bedroom, cracked the window, and leaned out far enough to check the street. His car was still parked in its usual spot. Of course it was. I’d have to figure out a way to invite her without him knowing.

I checked the fridge out of habit. Empty, as expected. At least I wasn’t bleeding money to my sister anymore, so I was starting to put a little aside. Still not much, though.

With time to kill, I opened the quest list. They refreshed every few hours, which meant new options. One of them stood out immediately.

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NEW QUEST

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[!] MISSION:

Getting Ready

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> OBJECTIVE:

Have sex with Star.

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> REWARD:

+100 EXP

> +50 EXP (If she climaxes)

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It had a deadline: today. Problem was, I didn’t have her number. I could wait around and hope she showed up looking for Karim... or I could swallow my pride and ask Karim himself for it.

"Nah. That should be the absolute LAST option."

I didn’t like the guy. The way he acted like the entire building was his personal brothel, how little he cared if anyone heard him. Complete lack of shame.

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PERCEPTION CHECK: ✓

[Needed: 9] - [Result: 12]

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You remember the receipt she

had when she opened her purse.

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The memory hit me clearly. When she’d put the condoms back in her purse yesterday, there had been a receipt visible for a second, from a coffee shop not far from here.

Was she a regular there?

I didn’t know. But it was a lead. I could head over, see if I got lucky, and go from there. Paying her still felt like a waste of money I barely had... but the EXP was hard to ignore.

"Guess I know where I’m going next..."

I threw on the most casual clothes I owned, which wasn’t saying much, and left the flat. As I locked the door, a woman stepped into the hallway. She didn’t even glance in my direction. Instead she walked straight to Karim’s door and knocked.

A few seconds later it opened.

I glanced over... and damn.

She was tall, dark-skinned, with long wavy hair and a body that looked like it had been poured into her clothes. A tiny white crop top barely contained her heavy tits, the underboob fully on display, and a pair of skin-tight black shorts rode so high they might as well have been underwear. Long legs, thick thighs, and heels that made her already impressive ass sit even higher. She looked expensive and completely shameless about it.

"Hey, sunshine," Karim said with a grin. "Come on in. We’ve been waiting for you."

"Hey, handsome." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Sorry I’m late. Traffic was terrible."

"Oi, Chance." Karim waved at me, then gave her ass a firm slap. "Hope I didn’t wake you up yesterday."

"Hmm..."

I didn’t answer. I just left the building and took a deep breath of freezing air.

Karim was fishy as hell. Different women every other day, all of them walking into that apartment like it was nothing. The guy was clearly a player. Unlike me, unfortunately.

The coffee shop wasn’t far, but the cold was brutal, so I decided to take the bus. Snow must have fallen overnight, the roads were still covered in a thin white layer, and every gust of wind cut straight through my jacket. I used to have a motorcycle for days like this. Had to sell it to cover my sister’s debts. Biggest leech I’d ever known.

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