Nine

Two stitches and one painkiller later, Archer still feels guilty. He feels angry and guilty. Even after the plane lands and they leave the airport and hop into a cab to Maddy's apartment, he still feels guilty. He can't even bring himself to look at her.

Archer sits in the front seat of the taxi with his hands on his knees and his eyes fixed on the city racing by outside the window. Solomon sits next to Maddy in the back seat. He leans in to speak to her.

"Why do you forgive Mister Archer for hurting you?"

Maddy lifts her shoulders.

"Why?"

"Sometimes you have to suffer for the people you care about."

"Why do you suffer so much for Mister Archer?"

"Because I know he's a good man."

"But Miss Bowen, he always hurts you."

"I know he's a good man, Solomon, he just doesn't know how to be one."

She speaks just loud enough to catch Archer's ear if he's listening. He's not, but he hears her all the same. He forces himself to look up at the rearview mirror. He sees Maddy's face. Her olive complexion. Her fresh injury. Her smile. She's turned to Solomon, but her eyes meet Archer's in the mirror and he quickly turns his head.

"What if Mister Archer is not really a good man, then what will you do?"

"I'll accept him for what he is."

"As a monster?"

"As a man."

The taxi pulls up the curb in front of Maddy's apartment building and the three get out quickly. Maddy pays the driver generously and thanks him and then turns to look at Archer and Solomon. They both look out of their element and Maddy can't help but smile.

"Please, gentlemen, after you."

She motions up the stairs and Archer and Solomon climb them a few paces in front of Maddy. They enter through the revolving doors and are greeted by the security guards behind the front desk. Maddy is friendly with them and Archer assumes they know each other. He keeps his head down. Solomon nods to them politely. They walk through the front lobby to the elevators where Maddy swipes a card that grants her access into them. She presses the button to her floor and Archer notes that her apartment is on the top floor.

The elevator ride is silent. Maddy stands facing the doors and Archer can't keep his eyes off the nape of her neck. The first bumps of her spine are visible from under her skin. Archer wonders what they feel like, he wonders if he can see her spine all the way down her back. The elevator doors opening pull him out of his reverie. He's surprised to be stepping into a room and not into a hallway.

"Make yourselves at home," she says.

Maddy's apartment is a loft apartment. Everything is out in the open with only a few half walls signifying different rooms. The kitchen. The bedroom. A reading nook. A dining space. The living room. Maddy walks to the living room and drops her bag on the low coffee table that sits in front of a brown tweed sofa.

"The kitchen doesn't have any food in it because I've been away for the past few months, so I'll have to go shopping later," she rubs her hands together as she soaks in the smells of her apartment. "Who wants to shower first?"

She turns to look at the two men. They're standing side by side in front of the elevator, which has closed now. Archer tilts his head to the side.

"Solomon, you can shower first. Come on, I'll show you the bathroom."

"What about clothing, Miss Bowen?"

"I have robes," she answers. "I'll go and buy clothes when I go grocery shopping."

"Are you going alone?" Archer asks, shaking his head. "You shouldn't go alone."

"We're not in your jungle anymore," Maddy says to him. "We're in mine. I can handle myself here. But yes, Solomon, I'll provide you with clothes, don't worry."

"Thank you, Miss Bowen," Solomon tells her with a bow of his head.

Maddy smiles and leads Solomon into the bathroom. She fixes him a set of towels and tells him to take his time. She returns to Archer, who is still standing by the elevator. She looks at him. He looks at her.

"Are you just going to stand there?"

"Why do you keep forgiving me, huh?"

She raises her shoulders.

"I punched you and I cut your cheek, Maddy."

"It was an accident."

"Maddy."

"The punch was not intended for me, I just happened to get in the way."

"Tell me why you keep giving me all these chances, Maddy."

"You heard what I said to Solomon."

"You tell me why."

"I'm going to head out now before it gets too late."

"Maddy."

"Make yourself at home here, like I said. The remote for the television is on the couch. I'll be back in an hour."

"Maddy!"

"I'll be back in an hour."

A loud huff escapes Archer when she leaves. She's so stubborn, he thinks to himself. He turns around and decides that he might as well kill time familiarizing himself with her apartment while she's gone.

Her kitchen is on the left. One long countertop, one sink, one toaster, one refrigerator, and one stove. He drags his hand across the cool granite of the counter as he looks out onto the living room. It's basic just like the kitchen is — one sofa in front of one coffee table in front of one average sized television.

From behind the counter, he can see her bed in the far corner of the space sectioned off by two half walls. Her bed is covered with white sheets with several big white pillows strewn across the mattress. She must like her pillows, it's the only thing she has in excess.

Archer feels almost let down by the simplicity of her apartment, but he realizes that anything more extravagant than the basics would have been entirely out of character for Miss Bowen. He shoves his hands into his pockets and feels the diamonds he has on him. He empties his pockets onto the countertop. One velvet pull-sack and one wad of fabric — hundreds of small diamonds and one big pink. Archer sees millions as he fingers the small diamonds and his heart races in his chest. The prospect of getting money from these stones excites him tremendously. He puts the rocks back into his pockets and continues through her apartment.

The entire back wall of the space is covered with bookshelves and every single shelf is filled with books and magazines and photo albums. Another excess. Archer looks the shelves up and down as he scans the titles on the spines. Some are photography books and others are books published by journalists about conflict areas, war zones, famines, and natural disasters. This is her true extravagance, he realizes.

He picks an album off the shelf and opens it. It's filled with personal photos. Maddy is not in any of them and Archer figures she is probably behind the camera. He thumbs through the pages hoping to see Maddy in one of the photographs, but he only sees strange faces smiling and laughing. He sees happiness. It bothers him. He puts the album back in its slot on the shelf and pulls another out in hopes of finding pictures of Maddy, not pictures taken by Maddy.

Archer works his way through two rows of albums before finding one with a picture of Maddy in it. She's still holding the camera, he notes, when he notices her extended arm in the corner of the frame. Her green eyes look so vibrant in the photograph. He turns the page and flips through the rest of the album in hopes of finding another picture of her, but he has no such luck. He puts the book back in its place and pulls another, thicker one out. He sits on the floor with his back against the shelf as he looks through it.

This album is filled with polaroids and Maddy is in almost every single one of the snaps. As he looks over each faintly colored square, his realizes his heart his pounding against the back of his ribs. His throat is dry. His palms are sweating. He licks his lips and swallows as he closes his eyes and rests his head back against the hardwood shelf. He must be exhausted, he tells himself.