The smell of coffee fills the
aroma of the room. The scent intoxicates Phil’s nose as he pretends to read the
paper. He likes to people watch at coffee shops, no, scratch that, he loves it.
The annoyed look on the young
woman’s face taking orders amuses him. She has been working here a long time.
She is probably a college student looking to make some extra cash.
Phil’s eyes move from the young
woman to a man sitting two tables over from him. The man sips his coffee and
scans the room. Phil notices the man subtly slip a gold band off his left hand
and place it in his pocket.
A few seconds later, a
significantly younger woman sits at the seat adjacent to the man. Phil couldn’t
care less about infidelity. He couldn’t care less about anything.
Phil continues to watch the
couple exchange awkward remarks until his trance is broken by a rush of smells.
Within seconds, his nose fills with the scent of a citrus perfume.
He quickly turns towards the
entrance of the coffee shop and finds the source of the smell. A young woman
enters the coffee shop and now scans the menu hanging from the ceiling.
Her shoulder length red hair appears
unfazed by her sudden change in position. Her green eyes brighten up the once
dull room and her pale skin contrasts against her jet-black skirt.
Phil focuses in on the intense
citrus smell as the rest of his senses seem insignificant. He reaches down and
gently touches his ankle.
His eyes never leave her petite
figure as she grabs a coffee lid and sits at a table near the back of the
coffee shop. Phil continues staring as the woman attempts to place the lid on
her coffee cup. The lid, however, slips against the rim of the cup, knocking it
over.
The redhead gives a slight
scream as hot coffee pours off the table and into her lap.
Her pale skin slightly reddens
Phil grabs the pile of napkins
that is in the center of his table and walks over to the embarrassed woman.
“Here you go, miss,” Phil smiles
at the young woman as she gently takes the napkins from his hand.
His perfect smile and sparkling
eyes forces a smile on the woman’s face. “I’m such a klutz,” she said shaking
her head back and forth. “I swear, I annoy myself so much sometimes.”
“Don’t worry about it. It
happens to everyone,” Phil begins to say. “That happened to me just last week.”
“It’s fine, you don’t have to
lie to make me feel better.” The redhead says, still shaking her head in
embarrassment.
Phil takes the seat next to her.
“I was sitting at that table
right over there,” Phil points and the woman stops vigorously rubbing the coffee
and looks. “It was about seven o’clock in the morning and I was on my way to
work. I grabbed my coffee off the counter and went over to grab a lid off the
other table, but the cup was too hot and I accidentally let go of the cup. The
coffee fell all over my new pants and the floor. The worker who came to clean
it up glared at me the entire time she was cleaning. I had to go home to change
and ended up being thirty minutes late for work.”
The redhead laughs. “Wow that
sounds worse than mine. I just got off work, so I can go straight home after I
clean up as much as I can.”
Phil smiles, “See, it’s not so
bad. Do you have far to walk?”
“Not too far. I live in an
apartment building two streets over,” She points to the left, “and I have a
shortcut.” She playfully smiles.
“Oh, really? I live in that
direction too. Do you mind enlightening me on the shortcut?” Phil winked.
The redhead leans closer to
Phil. “That back alley right behind this shop.” Her voice turns to a whisper.
“You miss all the stoplights and it saves me at least five minutes.
“Hmm,” Phil said as he stands
up. “I will be sure to remember that.”
The redhead smiles and arises as
well. “Thanks for the help.” She smiles politely and moves past Phil and over
to the door.
Phil does not need to look over
to watch her leave. The citrus scent abruptly leaves his nose and is replaced
by the intoxicating smell of coffee.
Phil walks back to his previous
table and grabs his coffee cup. He waits a few minutes and then gets up to
leave. The young college student behind the counter conspicuously stares at
Phil as he walks by the counter. He makes eye contact with the woman and
smiles.
Phil is out of the coffee shop
and now walking towards the back alley of the building. His slow strides
quicken as he approaches the darkness of the alley. A few yards away he can see
the young woman walking home, no one else is around.
He
can smell the citrus perfume.
Phil comes to
a stop, reaches into his sock and pulls out a knife. Now coming closer, Phil
tries to make his steps as quiet as possible, until he finally is only inches
away. Before she has the chance to turn around, Phil uses his free hand to
cover her mouth.
Complete and
utter shock fills her expression as the warm skin of his hand overwhelms her
face. Fear envelopes her body as every ounce of her breath lingers at the top
of her throat, only to vanish a second later. Her nervous attempt to
scream fails as each finger presses firmly against her innocent face.
Startled by
the cool blade of the knife on her flawless skin; she feels as though her whole
world is collapsing. Her body trembles as the frigid blade sends a chill up her
spine while it slithers along her bony frame.
Phil smiles
at his own enjoyment after her body tenses up in his arms, his twisted
satisfaction growing with every fearful movement of hers. The blade penetrating
deep into her pale side kills the only tinge of hope that remains in her
already wilted spirit.
Failed
screams erupt into agonizing moans while forcing their way through her clenched
teeth. Releasing his grip from her almost breathless mouth, he feels her body
crumble before him. Blood forces its way onto the once spotless blade and she
falls from his daunting grip. Red droplets slowly form into rich pools as crimson
puddles tarnish the once spotless asphalt of the alley.
He watches
her squirming body get weaker and weaker, until finally she lies motionless
against the hard ground. Phil listens once her cries of pain grow fainter and
her eyes gracefully close, never again to see the light of day.
Phil
gently removes the blade from the redhead’s side and is careful not to get
blood on his clothes. He examines the dripping knife and wipes both sides of
the blade on the woman’s fitted skirt, making sure there is nothing left before
he slides it back in his sock.
He bends over and inhales the remnants
of her citrus perfume, which is slightly defiled by the coffee stain, and
disappears out of the alley.
Phil walks
home satisfied with himself. Reaching his apartment, Phil immediately goes to
sleep, pleased with his successful day of people watching, and anticipating the
many more to come.
The next
morning, Phil awakens and leisurely gets up and showers. He had a very restful
nights sleep.
After thirty
minutes, Phil leaves his apartment and heads for a different coffee shop down
the street.
Within
minutes Phil enters a coffee shop and orders a black coffee. He sits down and
begins pretending to read the paper.
The person
behind the counter of this shop is older and male. He seems much happier than
the woman from the last place.
A young
couple walk in next, they are very young. They are probably high schoolers
getting coffee before school starts. The teenage girl clings to her boyfriend’s
arm and he orders for the both of them.
The smell of
coffee is much less intoxicating in this place than the other, but still not
very pleasant.
Phil watches
the teenage couple leave the shop and most likely head to school.
He moves his
attention to a man sitting at a table in front of him. The man is wearing a
nice suit and is on his laptop.
Suddenly,
a headline in the newspaper catches his eye.
Women’s Body Found in Alley
He
scanned the article and saw they did not have any leads, or anything pointing
towards him. Phil reflects on the night before until he hears the door open.
Suddenly, his senses were invigorated with a sweet citrus smell.
Quickly
turning, he sees a young woman heading to the counter. Her chestnut brown hair
falls just below her shoulder, and her skin is much darker than the last one.
Phil reaches
down at his sock and grazed the knife that lies perfectly against his ankle.
It’s
amazing what a person is capable of doing when no one is watching.
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