He walked to the coffee shop, directly after his meeting with a client, enjoying the light breeze blowing on his coat. He walked towards one of the tables and sat on the chair with a direct view of the police headquarters. A waitress approached him with a wary eye and asked for his order. He took off his glasses, and gave the waitress a smile, delighting a little when he noticed her gasp, and asked for a demitasse of cappuccino. The waitress bowed a little, before heading towards the counter, leaving him smiling to himself. He stretched out his long legs leisurely and looked around, taking in the view. The night sky is just breathtaking, illuminated by a sprinkling of stars, heralding the coming end of another day. He closed his eyes a little unconsciously running his index finger on his lips, enjoying the sensation of the light breeze ruffling his hair and cooling his face. He opened his eyes slowly as he felt the waitress coming his way, and sat up straight propped his elbows on the table. He looked up at the waitress and thanked her, then rests his chin on the back of his hands.

                He looked across the street and zeroed in on her car parked across the street. “Just as I thought,” he smiled knowingly, before taking a long sip on from his cup. He recalled their little “encounter” this afternoon, letting a grin creep upon his lips, as he let the scenes play in his mind.

                 He was walking out of the store across the block, just when she stepped out of her doorway. A plan formed on his mind, and he walked towards his car, idly parked a few meters behind hers. He strapped himself in and waited for her to back her car out of the driveway. He smiled playfully, then gunned his car down towards her, aiming for the car’s bumper, and waited for it to connect. Just when he was about to hit her, he grabbed the steering wheel a little to the left to miss, while she braked her car. He then sped off, but not before looking at her from his rearview mirror. He saw her face was drained of color, and her hands trembled a bit. He watched him until he couldn’t see anymore and was a bit sad when he saw her compose herself, and become expressionless again.

                “Will you ever smile for me?” he asked to no one in particular, letting out a sigh, before he turned to his pack and took out a copy of Pratchett’s Reaper Man. He opened, it to the page that he marked last night and continued reading. He liked the way that Death was described in this story, curious, distant, and not so efficient. So different from what people think of Death. So different from what he is. Death is him, and he is death.

                His eyes were on the book; his mind elsewhere, when he felt the now familiar sensation on his nape. The tingling sensation at the base of his neck let him know that someone is watching him. The feel of his manic heart beating against his chest, let him know that her eyes are fixed on him. He smiled to himself, and continued staring at the book, not really reading, but enjoying the attention she is giving him. He chanced a glance across the street and noticed that she was getting out a new lens from her pack and loading it to the camera. He couldn’t resist playing with her a little, so he faced her and gave a little smile in her direction. He saw her startled expression which was a bit different from the one this afternoon. Then he watched the gradual change in her expression, as panic started to creep on her face. He watched as she, entered her car then sped off, leaving him to laugh about the whole situation.

                He knew that with his gesture, he revealed himself to her and it could be unfavorable for him. Still, he felt happy for the first time in years. No other has ever held his interest like that before her. He was drawn to her expressionless face, always concealed under her cap, hood and glasses. She intrigued him, and although he feels that this interest is dangerous for him, he couldn’t seem to pull away from her. He wants to know her. Wants to know what goes on behind that face of hers. He wants to know what she does, inside that dark home of hers. What goes in her head when she’s following him around. Taking his pictures and watching him while he works. She’s different and he knows it, but he doesn’t know what’s different about her.

                He stood up from the chair, and decided to go home himself. He knows that he won’t be able to sleep in until early morning thinking about things. He went to his car which he parked a couple of blocks from the café, and against his better judgment called her house. He wants to know if she was able to get home safe, telling himself that he’s not concerned but curious. He doesn’t want anything to happen to her, at least not before his curiosity is satiated. The phone rang on and on but no one was picking up. He frowned and checked his phone. Did he dial the wrong number? He tried again, this time getting the machine. He smiled a little to conceal the concern in his voice before leaving her a message.

                 Still standing in the kitchen, my mouth agape while staring at the phone, I still can’t believe what happened? Did he really call me? Why? How? I don’t know what to do. “Walk,” I told myself and tried but it feels like the nerves on my legs are severed and I can’t feel them anymore. The memories of the afternoon in the police conference slowly came back to me.

                After finishing my presentation that afternoon, they all thanked me and congratulated me for doing an exemplary work. Hearing them praise my work made me happy and more thankful that I agreed to do this. I looked across the table to the man, sitting at the helm looking over the photos I took while discussing with his subordinates. He must have felt my stare on him, so he looked up and smiled at me. “I’ll just wait outside Uncle”, I mouthed to him, then silently slipped out of the room, so I won’t interrupt them. After a while, they were all filling out, with my uncle behind. He noticed me waiting for him at on the hallway and beckoned for me to follow. The bright light in the hallway is making my eyes tear up a bit; I adjusted my cap lower so it could protect my eyes from the glare, while still keeping track of him.

                “Does it hurt?” asked, P D/Gen. Park, my uncle. I looked up at him and smiled, saying “I’m fine”

                “Thank you for accepting this job, even though it’s dangerous,” he began and then gave me a pat. Ever since my dad died, he was the one who took care of me and my mom.

                “It’s okay, you know how much I want to be a police right”

                “If you were able to be a police I’d be very happy for you,” he said looking at me with a proud smile, “but I’m glad that you weren’t, coz it’s really dangerous. I already lost my brother to this profession; I don’t wanna lose you too” he continued, a little teary-eyed. I let out a long sigh, and gave him a comforting smile. “It was a long time ago General, he was happy to die in the line of duty”

                He looked at me for a long time, and then gently, patted my hooded head. “Yeah, and I know that he’s happy that you turn out to be a famous landscape photographer” he said beaming at me.               

              “When’s your next exhibit? You know I can help you with sponsorship”

              i just smiled at him, shaking my head. I dont want to bother him, with my work. 

              "Dont hesitate to ask okay, you know you're like a daughter to me" he said smiling. Then his expression sombered, and creases appear on his forehed. "Joanne, are you sure that he never suspected you were watching him?" he asked worriedly. He looked weary. with all those lines appearing on his face.

               "I dont think he noticed, i'm a landscape photographer and i know he knows it. He has been to one of my exhibits before" was my response to calm him down. "Dont worry about me"

               "You know he is dangerous right?" he asked, then looked down on me with guilt on his face. He swallowed hard before he spoke again

               " Do you know why i asked you to do this job?' he began. I looked up to him inquiringly, not speaking a word, but letting him know im listening.

               "We cant keep track on him because he is a very cautious man, so we used your reputation as a renowned landscape photographer as a cover", he continued, looking into my eyes, guilt written all over his face. "Im sorry if i didn't let you know what his crimes were. We were desperate" he let go of a long sigh then looked at me

                "He is a trained assassin...". he said looking dejected, and all i could manage was a gasp

                I took a deep breath to calm myself and tried to lift my leg again. This time it moved so I lifted my foot and stepped towards the phone. Then I felt it, the pain spreading from the underside of my left foot. I looked down and saw blood, mixing with puddle of milk. My blood. Gushing from a large wound, where a shard of glass was lodged in the soft pad of my sole. I screamed from the pain, then everything went pitch black.

==========================================================================A/N: Dear readers and subscribers, Thank you so much for showing your appreciation and anticipation for my story. i really enjoyed reading you comment and it totally made me feel giddy, i had a smile like this *________________* for 3 straight days (blush)

So there, she aint a detective or a police, definitely not a stalker (yet). She's a landscape photographer, and im not sure if there even is a profession like that but its one of those things that i would really like to do. To take picturesof building, parks, fields, the horizon, things like that. 

There really is a book called Reaper man by Terry Pratchett, its part of the discworld set. I liked the way the grim reaper was depicted in that story. He was a cold shell with humanity. However, that was not the reason why i named this chapter after that book. Its coz, this chapter is about J, the reaper man.

So i hope you enjoy reading this as much as i enjoyed spending my time with J. Before i forgot. the lead character's name is Joanne ( in case you were wondering who Joanne is). It took me about a week to even come up with that name (o.0) and J's character has a name too don't worry.