UNDERLYING AGENDA
CHAPTER TEN
When Zechs awoke, the housekeeper had come and gone. The remnants of the defunct photo frames swept into paper bags and disposed of in the alleyway dumpster along the way back to her car. Grabbing a bottle of Perrier from his fridge, Zechs eyed the album she left sitting atop the mantle and took a hydrating sip before walking over to it. It was quiet and harmless, and yet he hesitated to disturb it. With a quivering breath, he abandoned the bottle and cracked it open.
"What say you, Lightning Count? Do we make a handsome pair, or what?"
For the first time in nearly a year, Zechs more than acknowledged the pictures.
He remembered the memories.
"We sure did…" Zechs turned the page, the sound of lace sliding along the curves of her body echoing through him as he touched his fingers to the smooth, glossy surface of the shores captured there. "Mongibello…"
"Where are you seeking to depart from, sir?"
"Tokyo, Japan."
"When, sir?"
"An hour ago." Filling his leather carry on, Zechs slipped it onto his shoulder, grabbed his papers, keys, and reached the elevator just as it signaled a passenger was imminent.
The unopened prescription bottle waited.
When Zechs awoke, the housekeeper had come and gone. The remnants of the defunct photo frames swept into paper bags and disposed of in the alleyway dumpster along the way back to her car. Grabbing a bottle of Perrier from his fridge, Zechs eyed the album she left sitting atop the mantle and took a deep breath before walking over to it. It was quiet and harmless, and yet he didn't hesitate to discard it along with the empty bottle to the bottom of his designer trashcan.
TAKE TWO (2) TABLET(S) BY MOUTH AT BEDTIME.
When Zechs awoke, the housekeeper had come and gone. The remnants of the defunct photo frames swept into paper bags and disposed of in the alleyway dumpster along the way back to her car. That was hours ago and he had heard it all. Insomnia kept him awake while he slept, never one or the other, and it only afforded him with enough revitalization to piss, shit, and vomit on the rare occasion he afforded some of that precious energy to eat.
He could care less about a photo album, about any one thing, and in that single moment of utter carelessness… he grabbed the bottle and swallowed the ninety day supply with mouthful of lukewarm bathwater.
When Zechs fell, the housekeeper had come and gone. The remnants of the defunct photo frames swept into paper bags and disposed of in the alleyway dumpster along the way back to her car hours before he had finally collapsed.