She didn’t get it.

Yuri hopped on one foot to the other, doing a little jig on her spot to generate the much needed warmth from her body. The black puffer jacket she wore was only as helpful as far as it could reach. The cool breeze stung at her exposed skin and her jeans could barely keep off the cool temperature.

The past few days the temperature had dropped down to the single digits, barely reaching 18 degrees by noon in some days before gradually falling back down. The wind had been of no help, chilling her to the bone. Autumn was unforgiving.. and it had just started. She hoped fervently that the rain wouldn’t drop, though judging by the thick grey cumulus clouds, it didn’t look too bright for her.

She peered from behind the tree she was using as her cover, raising the viewfinder of her DSLR camera to her eyes. It worked well as makeshift binoculars. As exciting as those films make stake outs look, it wasn’t. Binoculars are just too out of place. She wanted to be subtle, not announce to the whole block that she was following someone and be branded as a creep. Cameras were a bit safer. A little less inconspicuous if she played the part right.

She lowered the camera back to her chest, her body shivering after a strong gust that raised the hairs on the back of her neck. The woman she was following was still happily listening on to her animated friend, their orders already cooled down though neither woman seems to particularly care much.

Yuri thought back to a couple of days before, when the woman’s ex-boyfriend came waltzing into her humble office, waving a wad of cash into her face while angrily yammering one thing and another about the woman that dumped him like a sack of potatoes. He made her sound so spoilt, hot-tempered and incredibly selfish. He shoved her photo he had taken from his new cellphone, nearly slapping her face with it. He wanted dirt on the woman and though Yuri looked down on people that resorted to blackmailing, unfortunately, her empty wallet couldn’t. The man was paying up front in cold hard cash, a down payment to get her started and the rest when she finished the job. She wondered then who was more deserving of the titular ‘bad person’. through the amount of the down payment she wisely kept shut.

So, there she was, questioning how freezing her fingers were worth the roof over her head and warm food in her stomach. The answer was very much.

She shuffled through her camera’s gallery, checking the good shots she had of the woman. She was as pretty as the photo she had glimpsed in her client's phone. The woman was lean, which was a surprise as Yuri noted(with envy) how the woman ate a lot and yet barely exerted any effort in everything that she did. She didn’t smile much, but she didn’t quite look like a grouch either. She didn’t speak too much, opting to listen to whoever she was meeting but looked to be reasonably polite with everyone she’s met. But when she did meet with her own clients the smiles on the people she’d conversed with as they left was enough of a proof that she was very good with her words.

Yuri looked up, catching the woman she was following leaning to wrap her friend into a hug before waving her away. Yuri checked her person, making sure she had everything and hurriedly returned to her car to trail her target.

She couldn’t wait for when this whole case can be shut closed.

The first thing that clued her in of the weirdness she had gotten herself into was the plate of toast, eggs, and bacon on the hood of her car. The meal was carefully packed in saran wrap and though the red and white polka dotted paper plate it was in made it look funny, food was still food. For a second, she thought how bizarre it was seeing the humble breakfast laid out before her. She was just thinking of returning to her house the night before, just so she could get a decent meal after days of not so appetizing convenience store food. There was even orange juice, granted it was in a can. There was a little sticky note planted on her windshield, held down by the wipers. The words read in bold marker :

It’s not healthy sleeping in a car.

It was most definitely for her.

She hurriedly stepped out of the old sedan and brought the meal back in the semi-comfort of the warm interior of her car, crushing the note and slipping it into her pocket. The plate still felt a little warm and there was still accumulating moisture, which meant that whoever left it there hadn’t done it too long ago. She looked around the semi-empty street. People were just waking up and going to work or dropping kids to school. There was no way she could pinpoint the culprit behind the meal.

Or maybe she could.

She stared at the door of the woman she was keeping tabs on. Then promptly shook her head. Why would she, of all the people around the neighbourhood, do this for her? To others, she must look like a homeless slob or someone who has drunk a little too much the night before and decided to pull up the side of the road. It must’ve been some elderly lady who’s noticed her presence.

She carefully unwrapped the meal, surprised to even find plastic fork and knife wrapped in a table napkin underneath the plate. She wondered the possibility of the food being poisoned, sprinkled with cyanide or lightly laced with antifreeze. She carefully arranged a piece of the egg and bacon on the toast and took a bite.

She gave it a couple of cautionary chews, her tense shoulder deflating at the simple taste coating her tongue. It had been too long.

Her eyes caught a movement from the house she was staking out from her peripherals. When she looked there was just the slightest movement of the curtains falling back into place.

The next few days she found a few more surprises while on the job. Yuri had always thought she was a pretty good detective. She was good at finding clues and tackling new leads. She often looked at the problem like a jigsaw puzzle, putting them all together to get the bigger picture. But she was beginning to think she was a lot dumber than she thought.

The takeaway cups of coffee and cans of juice waiting for her served both as a respite and, at the same time, source of annoyance. She never saw the perpetrator behind the small gifts, if she could call them that. She was still alive, and without any questionable conditions after consuming them. And that was really good. However, it continued to bug her thoughts - how someone would be kind enough to leave those for her without showing themselves or leaving any sort of note aside from the first one. It was unusual. The world didn’t work like that. It wasn’t some fictional utopian universe where someone could be just that kind without motive. The fact that the only person Yuri suspects would do those nice things was the same person she believed wouldn’t so only infuriate her more.

To add to her frustration, she had lost sight of the woman more than once, ranging from a few minutes to hours. She knew the woman would eventually return to her house but there were times in between her days that were unaccounted for. Being paid to follow the woman and keep track of her movement, those unaccounted time took a huge blow to her pride as a detective. If she couldn’t even do a simple thing as keeping track of a woman’s whereabouts, what else was there that she missed.

Yuri liked to think of the woman exactly as her client described her. Make her look bad so that she wouldn’t feel as bad when she does compile everything and dust her hands off this ugly part of her work. It was hard to stick to the thought when the woman looked very normal.

No, actually she looked like a woman who knew exactly how pretty she was and was confident in her own skin wherever she was and whatever she wore. But she wasn’t mean spirited, greeting everyone she had contact with a faint acknowledging smile or nod of her head.

Her interaction with her friends made it even worse. Apparently, the woman she saw quite often had a child, a young one that still drank from a baby bottle. Her target had looked uncomfortable around the baby but had extended a helping hand when her friend had spilled her drink on her clothes. Yuri had to grimace at the awkward baby handling but was pleasantly surprised when the woman made funny faces to make the child laugh.

The more the days rolled uneventfully by the harder it was becoming to keep unbiased to the woman’s actions. At that point, Yuri was desperate for something, anything just to get the job over with. She would have gladly gone back to her client and return the payment, but unfortunately, she had already used the majority of it to pay for her rent and utilities. She cursed the day she agreed to the job, it bought her nothing but frozen fingers and frustration on herself.

She thought about raising the needed amount from other assignments, but the only current open case was a missing person. And even if she tackled the case the pay would still come short.

Yuri sighed at her misfortune, pressing her forehead onto her steering wheel as she fiddled with her camera. It was a gift from her parents for her graduation, a relatively current model that could still fetch a fair price in the market. If she sold it, all she needed to do was find the missing father and she’d be able to pay her client back. If she could find the missing father.

She hit her forehead onto the steering wheel again, hoping the force of it could dislodge a better solution tucked away in her head.

“This is hopeless..” she grunted, pulling back to the backrest of her seat.

A tap to her window has her nearly jump out of her skin at the pair of eyes looking up at her. The little boy grinned, waving at her while holding out a piece of folded yellow paper. Drawing her brows in confusion she pushed the door open, gently as to give the boy time to back away.

“Hey there. Are you lost?” Was the first thing that instinctively came out of . Police training was hard to grow out of. She mentally slapped herself at the pout and feverous head shake, though she did think it was very cute.

“The pretty noona said you dropped this.” He said, flapping the paper in his hand.

“I did?” She takes the paper from the boy, eyeing their surrounding suspiciously for any familiar faces or shady characters. She knew what was in her pockets and she was positive she hadn’t had any yellow paper.

“Noona said she saw noona drop it, but she had to go.. somewhere and asked me to give it back to you. She said it might be important… and maybe Noona should open it?” The boy diligently recited. It was obvious he was trying to recall what was told for him to pass on, though it seemed he wasn’t fully sure of where it was going. “I think noona said something else.. I can’t remember, but you’re the good guy right?” he asked her with glittering eyes only children could pull off with ease.

Yuri pulled a smile, patting the top of his head. “Yeah, noona’s one of the good guys. Now, noona needs to go and make sure bad guys aren’t doing bad things.”

“Cool..” the boy said in awe and Yuri couldn’t hold in the surge of pride and soft giggle at the look. She urged the boy to return to his parents, who had been vigilantly watching the interaction not too far away. Yuri gave the parents a nod of her head, lifting the paper in gratitude before slipping back into her car and switched on the engine.

She unfolded the paper, eyes quickly scanning the nearly illegible chicken scratch of a location not too far from where she was along with days and times. She stared at it in thought for a while, shaking her head and crumpling the paper and shoving it into her jacket.

She had bigger problems than thinking about the meaning behind the paper. She looked over at the restaurant she had been staking out, cursing under her breath at the empty table that was being cleared out by the waiter. She had just lost sight of her assignment, again.

At least have a blanket with you.

Yuri was scratching her head at the new gifts. On top of the simple breakfast, there was a neatly folded blanket sitting at the hood of her car. The sticky note felt both reprimanding and caring and Yuri couldn’t decide whether to be frustrated or thankful. She took them all into her car anyway, carefully placing the blanket at the backseat. It had smelled fresh from the laundry and Yuri couldn’t find it in her to chuck it carelessly to the back. She needed to figure out who was giving her all these and thank them properly. It was only polite. She probably also needed to ask the person how to be as quiet as they were because it was driving her nuts how they get past her without even waking her up. She had great pride in her ability to wake at the slightest unusual noise.

“Maybe the person’s a ninja.. Hah, Yuri, you idiot.” She joked under her breath, digging into the meal. Her eyes perked up at the homely taste, silently thanking the cook for their generosity.

It’s an hour later when Yuri notices movement from the house. One by one the curtains were drawn, the woman of the house looking like she had just gotten off the shower. Yuri grimaced when she ran her tongue across her teeth. She missed waking up on a proper bed, wash up at regular hours and leisurely brushing her teeth. Her bathroom duties had to be done quickly, while the woman was at work, usually in public showers as to save gas.

She reached into her pocket, pulling out her old, tattered wallet to check her remaining balance when she catches a glimpse of the yellow paper falling out and into the crevice of the chair and the centre console storage. She huffs loudly, squeezing her hands down and just managing to pinch the edge with her middle and index before it slipped further down.

“I forgot about this.” She muttered, laying out the paper over her lap.

The string of numbers and letters tingled the curious side of her. She turned the paper around, trying to catch something out of it. A strange pattern or any sort of faint scent to help her formulate a theory as to where it came from or what it would lead to. After a few minutes, she settles back on her seat, index finger furiously tapping against the steering wheel as she thought over her options.

1. She could simply ignore the note, throw it away or stuff it somewhere and forget about it.

Or

2. Go to the place and quell the itch of wanting to know what’s in store for her.

She starts the car, muttering all the negative outcomes of her choice as she pulls the seatbelt over her. She looks back to the house, just catching the woman pulling the curtains back and opening her front window. She stiffens when she catches the woman’s gaze, quickly putting the car into gear and moving from her spot. She couldn’t stay now that she’s been caught. She’d be back later.

Hopefully, nothing noteworthy would have happened during her absence.

Yuri kept up the strained smile on her face as the woman continuously bowed her head while simultaneously shaking her hand, gratitude spilling out of her lips like a broken record. She was sniffling terribly and Yuri worried she would accidentally choke with how uneven her breathing had become. When she finally released Yuri’s hand Yuri quickly stuffed both her hands into her pocket, nodding her head at the rambling woman. She quickly sent a glance at the old man in his dress shirt, vest, and slacks. He looked like he was ready to return to work, but the lost look on his countenance said otherwise, only breaking when he looks over his daughter in concern.

“Dear, would you like to have morning tea with me?” The old man asked softly, breaking the woman’s ramblings, reaching to pat his daughter’s elbow. A kind smile lifting the saggy side of his cheeks, revealing a deep dimple on one side of his face. Yuri had no doubt that the man would have been dashing back in the days; before old age had his body withering away and dementia landing him in a rest home.

“Yeah, sure dad. Anywhere you want to go.” The woman reached for his hand, squeezing them as she turned him away. She gives Yuri one more grateful smile, the last couple of tears falling from the corner of her eyes.

And just like that, the missing persons’ case was closed. Yuri pulled out the envelope of cash from her pocket, feeling all the more confused at her of luck. The note had led her to a café where she accidentally found the old man having a cup of coffee. Though Yuri had a feeling it wasn’t at all an accident and the note wanted to lead her there.

How anyone knew she was looking for the old man, what the old man looked like, or how they even know of his scheduled visits to that particular café, was a complete mystery. And Yuri didn’t believe in coincidences. There was a reason, and she would get to the bottom of it.

She promised herself no more of the ridiculous wild goose chase. She sold her camera, and with the payment from the other close case, gathered a little more than enough to return to her client to cancel the contract. She didn’t care that the man threatened her business, to slander her name. It wasn’t like she was big in the field. She helped with police work during the rare times they commissioned outsources to keep up with the work, but she mostly worked odd cases by herself. There wasn’t a threat that spouted from his lips that bothered Yuri very much, though Yuri’s casual mention of his deal with her and accidentally letting it slip to the nosy reporters quickly stopped the barrage of foul language that fell from his mouth. Feeling vindictive Yuri further goes on about the contract that she still has in her office with his signature along with the recording of their first meeting- a lie, but he doesn’t have to know. She then tells him to lay off his ex or she would accidentally let slip how the big man behind the oak desk was really like, how she would gladly drag his name with her through the dirt. He was completely red in the face as she stepped out of his office, dusting her had off what would definitely have been something she would never forgive herself.

She would sorely miss her camera, but a clean conscious held way more worth..

Yuri sighed, bringing the hot cup of Americano to her lips. She was lying to herself, there was no replacing that camera. Though her parents would understand her decision- and be proud of her- there was still that sentimental value that nothing could ever replace.

Riffling through the remaining cash in her pocket she distractedly made her way to her car. There was no time to feel sorry for herself. Shaking her head she re-pocketed her wallet, only to halt in her tracks at the sight of a familiar woman leaning onto her idle car, a very familiar camera hanging around her neck.

A smirk hung on her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest, her clutch hanging off to one side. She was still completely decked in her pink long sleeve blouse, black pencil skirt, and high heels, looking like she had just left the office. Yuri checked the time, raising a brow when the time read that it was still regular office hours.

“Um..”

“Would you like to get coffee?” Yuri’s eyes fall to her full cup of Americano, “My treat.” She looks back up to the expectant gaze of the woman, before she dumps the rest of the takeaway cup into the rubbish bin a few feet away.

“What do I owe the pleasure miss..”

“Jessica.” She pushes off the car to give a small polite bow. When she comes up the smirk is still in place. Her body language screamed confident, if bordering arrogant, which Yuri thinks stems more from the fact that the camera she had pawned not too long ago is now hanging around her neck like a medal of honour. “I’ve wanted to talk to you for a while, but I thought approaching you while you were still stalking me wouldn’t do either of us any good.”

“Y-you know I was tr-trailing you?” Yuri stutters nervously. Part of her felt stupid and disheartened at how easily she was caught. Maybe it was time she really did hang up her coat and go home.

“It wasn’t that you were bad at it. I’ve just got a knack at… finding people and.. knowing exactly what they’re thinking. That’s why I’m the best at my work. Now..” she pulls the camera from her neck, approaching Yuri with quick steps. She holds out the device, urging Yuri when she looks cautiously at her. “Take this as my gratitude for shutting up that dirtbag of an ex of mine.”

“How do you-?” Yuri looks on with astonishment. She hadn’t said anything to anyone, not even her parents. She moves quickly to wrap her arms around the camera that’s shoved into her chest, staring after the brunette walking past her.

“Are you coming?” Jessica throws a smug look back. “I’d like to buy you something and actually get a proper thank you this time around.”

“You’re the-“ she points back to her car, to the blanket she had been using draped across the backseat. “How did you?” Yuri blinks, absolutely baffled. “This whole time?”

Jessica sighs, seemingly running out of patience. She runs her fingers through her hair once, throwing Yuri and annoyed look before turning on her heels and making her way towards the café Yuri had just left. She doesn’t glance back to see if Yuri had followed her.

Yuri stumbles after the receding figure. Questions fire rapidly around her mind. The notes, the things coming to her when she thought about them, how Jessica knew she sold her camera and getting her the same, if not the actual camera she had sold. She looks up, blushing when she notices the way Jessica’s hips swayed with her movement. Her blush grew hotter when Jessica looks back and, as if knowing she had just been thinking, throws a wink at her before walking with an exaggerated hip swaying.

Yuri swallowed. She had a feeling this woman was going to blow her mind one way or another.