He stood atthe window of the office staring out into the city. Although it was alreadyalmost 2 in the morning, cars were still moving on the streets, little specksof light which flitted here and there endlessly like fireflies. In the citythat never sleeps, life still goes on no matter what the hour. This was indeedthe case for Luke.  “Ahh…” he murmured, asound of contentment at seeing the wonderful view before him. The position ofthe office, on the twentieth floor allowed him to catch a bird’s eye view ofthe city. He wondered why he hadn’t been here before.  He put his fingers on the windows blockingout the view of some buildings and cars imagining he had the power to make themcrumble and disappear at his whim and fancy. Chuckling silently to himself, hefound that the novelty of that small game never dissipated over time. Tracingsmiley faces on the window pane he giggled silently once more. It was a gloomynight, not a single star could be seen in the sky. Even the moon herself hadobscured herself from view. “Great view isn’t it?” Luke remarked, glancing atthe girl seated beside him. Susan sat in her comfortable office chair staringout through the window herself. He ruffled his fingers through her hair andsmiled at her. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him.Intelligent, pretty face and had the figure to boot, he adored her. He sat downon the office table staring at her.” I love it here, especially with you hereby my side.” He told her softly, gripping her right forearm gently with hisleft hand. She continued to stare out of the window speechless, too immersed inthe moment they were sharing together he deduced. Times like this were indeedhard to come by. They never spent enough time together and this had been veryhard on him, the other moment they had been able to share together was almost aweek ago. That brief time spent together could hardly suffice for him. He wasmadly in love with her and wanted to be with her constantly but there were manyother unavoidable factors that hindered them from doing so.

  So this was the place she worked. He silentlyscanned the surface of her table. There were not many things on it, just a fewfiles and some sheets of paper. All of them were in perfect order, anindication of Susan’s meticulously efficient nature. Luke moved them to theside of the table slowly, careful not to make a mess out of things. He createda small space on her table and grinned boyishly at her. “That’s where ourpicture will go right honey?” he asked, walking towards her with his handsclasped together in delight. She nodded her head, looking at him with those biground eyes. Oh, how he loved those eyes. She looked so perfect and gentle, justthe picture of contentment and happiness. “I’m so glad you’re happy. You meanso much to me you know?” he bent down and kissed her on her forehead. Shenodded once more. Luke ruffled Susan’s hair once more and smiled.

  He got up and walked to the other end of theoffice pausing to look at the art on the wall. Three abstract paintings hung onthe wall. Fascinated, he stared at them trying to decipher what meaning laybehind them. Puzzled, he scratched his head. They all seemed just likenonsensical shapes and weird looking diagrams. The only thing he appreciatedthough was the choice of colors used by the painter. The first looked like abunch of circles and cones, the circles were in a light hue of green whereasthe cones were painted blue. “What a strange combination of colors,” hemuttered to himself. The second painting was a mixture of purple and grey whilethe last one was a vibrant mix of orange and bright red. He particularly likedthe last one, the striking colors matching his mood tonight or rather thisearly morning to be exact. He traced the swirls of the paintbrush with his fingertipand let out a low whistle. Paintings like this were expensive, he thought outloud looking at Susan with a gaze that can only be described as amused. Shenodded her head for the 3^rd time invoking slight laughter from Luke.He walked back to the window, drew the curtains shut and relinquished his seatbeside her. He had enough of taking in his surroundings; he just wanted to bewith her now.

  It had been in a long time since he had beenin a serious relationship, the last girlfriend he had cheated on him with hisbest friend. The heartbreak had been intolerable and he had sunk intoalcoholism, drug abuse to ease the suffering. Hopefully all of that would nothappen again. He gazed at Susan adoringly. She meant the world to him now andthere was no one that could ever tear them apart. Just the notion that anyonewould want to do that sent adrenaline coursing throughout his whole body.Furious he slammed his balled fist against the table. Susan stared at him, herexpression not betraying what she was thinking. Luke’s solemn face softenedinto a smile. “It’s alright sweetheart. I’m ok. Don’t worry.” He traced thepath of a single teardrop that ran down the side of her face. “I’m really finehoney, really” he continued with a wistful smile on his face.  He leaned closer and kissed her, his handslowly moving up her forearm. Letting out a sigh of contentment, Luke closedhis eyes.

  “Crack!” the sound of wood splinteringshocked him to his senses. “What on God’s name?” Luke spluttered whilestruggling to get to his feet. He was greeted by the sight on six dark blueclad SWAT troopers moving in one loose file through the office door, or ratherwhat remained of it. The sight before him took a split-second to register inhis mind, electrically charged nerve impulses racing along his neurons to hisbrain and back. Smoke started pouring into the office. “Halt and put your handsin the air where I can see them,” barked the lead trooper in a gruff voice. Thetroopers took up firing positions on the office floor, kneeling and trainingtheir MP5 automatic submachine guns on the figure. Luke looked down to see sixunwavering red dots on his chest. It took only a moment for him to decide. Hereached behind him, a grimace painted upon his face. The harsh sound ofautomatic gunfire was deafening. Luke pitched backwards, his chest opened up bya barrage of bullets. Crimson streams of blood gushed out from the uncountablenumber of holes on his chest. Luke’s eyes gazed unseeingly at the ceiling, evenin death he managed to maintain his boyish grin. The lead SWAT trooper kneltbeside him and checked his pulse. “He’s dead” he remarked and dragged a fingeracross his own neck.””It’s all clear, the suspect has been taken down by use oflethal force,” he reported into his walkie-talkie.

  The rest of the troopers moved forward intothe office room. One knelt beside Susan. “Don’t worry. You’re fine now.” Hespoke to her gently. She nodded her head vigorously, tears streaming down bothsides of her face. The trooper removed the gag covering her mouth and cut theropes that tied her to the chair she was in. Once free, she laid her head onthe shoulders of the trooper and wept. Her terrifying ordeal was finally over. Lukewas a colleague in the office where she worked. Almost a week ago, he had takenthe elevator together with her. In that particularly short span of time, he hadtaken hold of her and whispered unspeakable things into her ears. Shaken up,she had bolted once the elevator door opened and went straight back to heroffice. Then today, just as she was about to pack up to go home, he entered heroffice. Susan still lived with her parents and when she was late; her parentshad made a police report. The police were reluctant to do anything at firstbecause the initial 24 hours needed for anyone to file a missing person’sreport were not up yet but soon they received reports of a situation going onwhere Susan worked. Before he had tied her in, she had managed to text messageone of her close friends about the predicament she was in. Thank God for that,unless they would never have had a clue according to the police chief. Theinitial plan was for a SWAT sniper to attempt a shot from the adjacent buildingbut the suspect had drawn the curtains at the most crucial moment preventing himfrom having a clear shot at the suspect. That was when the inevitable choicewas the entry of the SWAT assault team. The office blueprint was studied and itwas concluded that the best way of entry was through the front door itself. TheSWAT team had broken down the door with a battering ram and moved rapidly inusing smoke grenades to increase the element of surprise. When the suspectreached behind him, they had no choice but to shoot to kill. The mission hadgone flawlessly all but for one minor detail. The lead SWAT trooper kneltbeside Luke’s body and found that he was actually reaching for a sheet ofpaper, letter where he had poured out all his feelings for Susan. Luke was apparentlysuffering from a delusional mental disorder and how he had got a job in the office in the first place confounded everyone. Heseemed just like any other ordinary individual.

  Slowly but steadily, Susan got to her feet.She cast one last fearful glance at Luke, his eyes looking as though they werestaring right at her even in death. She shuddered and averted her gaze. Twostrong SWAT troopers held her and led her out. She took a sigh of relief andpictured the faces of her parents. They must be so worried. In a moment shewould soon be united with them. She was finally free of him, she smiled toherself. Everything had played out just according to plan however things werenot exactly same with what everyone else believed they seemed to be. Forinstance, there was the case of the money she had been embezzling from thecompany. Luke had come across some discrepancies in the company’s accounts andstarted asking questions around. However, she had known long ago that he hadsomething for her and even though she knew he would not go to the authoritieseven if he found out she was behind it all, she had to be absolutely sure. 20million dollars is too much a risk for that to happen, not to mention beingsacked from one of the better paying jobs around town. She would even be throwninto jail for committing a serious crime. That day in the elevator, it was shethat had whispered seductive things and invited him to come to her officelater. After a steamy session, she had suggested tonight as another date. Thistime she preferred to be bound and gagged instead. Just experimenting with newthings she had said with a cheeky smile. Before that, she had excused herselfto the bathroom to send the text message. Mentally, Susan complimented herself.She and her tidy little fortune were now safe and if anyone comes close tothreatening that, well, she would have to think of yet another plan and as weall know, plans are what she excels at. Smirking, Susan walked out of theoffice, never looking back.

Keyword: What Happened That Night

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Comments (5)

Posted by chaabuk 2008-08-10 02:40:33 Whoa! So, Susan is master planner no !. She could not only play a seductress but she could also embezzle money. How is it such a huge amount of money could go undetected. I pity Luke. Great story idea. Keep it up. + Report this comment
Posted by The 13th 2008-08-10 08:48:26 .... I liked your story.I'd think about the lay-out but thats your choice .A bit short but it was good.I like susan, my kind of woman. Just wondering how she gonna tell her parents where she go the 20million from.Maybe a raffle. Again well done. + Report this comment
Posted by Tarhead Mugwump 2008-08-10 09:47:41 well this was nicely written, and had a great twist on the end of it. had him pegged as the bad guy from the very beginning. the only thing i was distracted by throughout the whole tale was at the end of the third paragraph, where i think the word relinquished is misused... write on julian! + Report this comment
Posted by resistanceisfreedom 2008-08-11 21:27:17 .... thought this was pretty good. it was nicely written and easy to follow. But Susan sounds evil to me haha. + Report this comment
Posted by Something Indecent 2008-08-12 19:57:56 .... Great twist! That was perfect how you opened up with him thinking they were on a date allowing us to percieve it that way. I loved the unfolding of events. What an evil bitch. So she's single now right? + Report this comment

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