"Think of the house." She mumbled to herself when she got to the top of the stairs and saw the mess in the kitchen again, deciding to leave it until she got the locks on the other two doors. She grabbed another of the chains and went to the back door, fixing it in place and locking it securely before grabbing the final one out of the bag and heading to the front door.
Addi dropped the chain and the drill onto the sectional, remembering that she left the DVD in the player last night and that was one of her peeves. She popped open the DVD player and set the disk back into its case, finding its place on the shelf once again before skimming though the titles looking for The Notebooks' case, frowning when she couldn't find it but there was a space in the n section.
"Interesting." She mumbled dropping the disk onto the shelf. It wasn't one she liked so she didn't feel real bad about it before picking up the drill and chain and setting about attaching it to the door. She had just finished when she saw a car crest the hill. She set the drill back on the sectional and stepped out the door as the car came to a stop in the drive and a guy who looked about twenty stepped out carrying a platter that looked a lot like the one that held the sushi from last night.
"Well you aren't David." The guy said as he climbed the steps and Addi could feel his gaze sweeping her even though he was wearing mirror sunglasses.
"No I'm not. I'm Addisin." She said and crossed her arms over her chest when the guys head dipped as he got to the porch.
"Jensen. I work for the sushi place in town. Standing order to deliver a plate here to David every day." He said gesturing to the plate and the movement of his head made it clear he was looking over her body again.
"Ohh. Alright then." She told him holding a hand out for the plate.
"You staying out here long?" Jensen asked his head dipping again as he handed the plate over to her and crossed his arms over his chest.
"For awhile yeah. I have a stuff to do inside, thank you for delivering this." Addi said inching back toward the door. The way his gaze was sweeping over her made her want a shower. Or a bath. Definitely bath she decided and not caring if it was rude or not stepped back inside the house and slid the locks into place.
She took the plate into the kitchen and almost dropped it when she saw the mess had been completely cleaned up, all the cabinets shut and most of the makings for another batch of brownies was laid out neatly on the counter with a bowl bigger then the last one she used. A pot that was double the size of the one she used to melt the chocolate last night was sitting on the stove and there was a clean sheet of wax paper twice as long as what she used last night sitting on the island. The toy yorkie that was on the bed this morning was sitting on the end of it with her panties on its head, the leg bands over its ears and the crotch over its mouth.
"How the ever loving fuck are you still getting in here!" She screeched putting the plate of sushi into the fridge to stop herself from throwing it before going to the back door and jerking the locks off, yanking it open and stalking outside and down the back steps. Her hands curled into fists as she went around the edge of the house slowly looking for any cracks or holes or anything along the siding that would give the indication of another door anywhere along the foundation.
"I need to lock the windows." She muttered after feeling around the entire house and even going so far as to knock on the siding. She went back into the house, her eyes narrowing in anger when she saw that not only had the switchblade joined the yorkie on the island cradled in her panties, there was a small plate with one of the pieces of sushi sitting under the toy's front legs.
"Unbelievable." Addi muttered running a hand over her mouth, her fingers tapping against her lips a few times. She stalked around the downstairs and started throwing every lock on every window she could find, double checking them all once she was finished.
"Ok let's see you get in now!" She shouted, her anger getting the best of her as she stalked into the kitchen and started blindly measuring the ingredients for a double batch of the brownies. She was in the middle of breaking up the second chocolate bar when she realized what she was doing and laughed.
"There is no freaking way I can eat all of these." She said shaking her head as tears ran down her face. She had already told David that she baked to escape and leave it to him to pass on the information to whoever was trying to scare her. The fact that the stuff had been laid out made her naturally reach for it to blow off some of the stress.
She guessed he really liked the brownies and would bring him more tomorrow, since she wanted to get staples for cooking; potatoes, onions, fresh herbs, cereal. All stuff she had forgotten in her rush to get the locks today. She would make a list while she was in the tub she decided, as she poured the batter into a pan and set it into the oven.
"Well you win I hope you enjoy. The fuck, of course you'll enjoy, you wanted them!" She muttered and then shook her head. She really needed to stop talking to herself. And she needed that piece of sushi, she was hungry, so she picked up the piece of sushi and took a bite.
"Mm not bad." Addi shrugged and went in search of her cell phone, dialing a familure number as she put the other half of the sushi roll into her mouth.
"Addisin's Addictions, Tara speaking how may I help you."
"Hey chicky hows my baby doing?" Addi asked her assistant as she finished chewing the sushi, and plopping down onto the sectional.
"Well we haven't burnt the place down yet, but its only been a day, give me time." Tara laughed over the phone, and she heard one of her customers ask if it was her on the phone.
"Is that Mr. Ambrose?" Addi laughed hearing the older man's voice, looking over her shoulder when she heard a noise in the kitchen.
"Sure is. He misses you already." Tara laughed and Addi heard a scuffle, some mumbled words and then Tara laugh a little farther away.
"Addi honey why did you go and run off on me!" Mr. Ambrose's voice came through the phone and she could hear the smile in his voice even though he sounded stern.
"I'm sorry! I had an opportunity come up and I'm in Florida for a little while now." She said and then slapped her hand over her mouth and cringed.
"My grandson lived in Florida. You would have liked him." The older man's voice said though the line sounding a little sad.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking." Addi said quietly, feeling goose bumps rise on her neck and shoulder and she shivered, turning to look over her shoulder again.
"It's ok sweetie, its been two years now. I will give you back Tara so I can feed my addiction. I hope you come back soon the place isn't the same without you!" He laughed and Addi was glad to hear the sound. She had met Mr. Ambrose a little over two years ago and the man had been devastated when he learned that his grandson, who was a part of an elite F.B.I. S.W.A.T Team had been killed in some kind of sting gone wrong along with his team mates.
He had started out as a customer but turned into almost a grandfather figure to her and when she learned of his loss she had made sure the man was taken care of, stopping by his house almost every day to bring him meals and sweets until he managed to get over his grief a little. She still dropped by to spend time with him and bring him some healthy versions of her treats, although she would never tell him that he was eating beets and chick peas instead of flour and sugar, a few times a week.
"That man is too much." Tara laughed once she had the phone back, and Addi felt like the air temperature near her rose about ten degrees.
"Yeah but he's harmless. And he's the grandfather I never really had." She sighed and jumped when she heard a door slam.
"What the fuck was that Addi?" Tara asked with concern lacing her voice and Addisin heard more shouting on the other end of the phone.
"I don't know. I'm going to go check it out and it sounds like you need to handle some things there." She said and hung up after being made to promise to be careful. She gripped the phone in her hand and peaked around the corner to the kitchen, stepping fully inside when nothing seemed to jump out at her. She frowned looking at the basement door seeing a large crack in the wood near the bottom that hadn't been there before. She started toward it and her foot slide as she stepped on something and she scrambled for her balance, catching the island before she fell while muttering curses before lifting her foot and seeing the switchblade under her sneaker.
"What. The. Fuck." Addi said slowly picking the knife up from the floor and setting it on the counter, jumping and screaming when the oven timer went off.
"Ok kid get in the game you can't let them get the best of you." She laughed, taking the brownies out of the oven and setting them on top of it to cool.
"And now my reward." She sighed rummaging though the drawers until she found some matches and grabbed the candle before heading out of the kitchen. She paused, and turned back grabbing the toy dog and pulling her panties off its head, tossing them toward the basement door.
"Cute as you are dogs do not belong on the counter." She told it giggling, kissing the top of its head as she went up the steps.