Mira followed Kai's lead in cleaning the apartment. She was slightly surprised as his offering--it just didn't seem like something a cold-blooded killer would do. Then again, how would she know? She hadn't known any up until last week.<br/><br/>She was a little puzzled at Kai's apt placement of the things in her home, though he only laughed at her when she finally mentioned it. "I'm Merlot, remember? I've been here plenty of times," he said with a small, tired smile. Mira's eyes briefly glanced at the floor wondering how she didn't see that before. She knew that realistically it would have been impossible, but still she wondered.<br/><br/>"Me and Chuck smashed your coffee table one night..." Kai started, lost in a memory. She looked up at him with mild curiosity. "...I remember passing you in the driveway, and you started screaming right when I was getting in the car..." Mira felt the long dead irritation reignite in her chest. She had been furious that night. It was a rather new coffee table, one she had saved up for months for. If there was one thing Mira could appreciate, it was aesthetically pleasing furniture. "I thought you'd come after me for sure," and Mira looked at Kai with some confusion, "Why would I do that?"<br/><br/>"Oh shit he never told you?" a small laugh, an irritated hrmph, "I was the one who broke it...can't believe he never told you..." The room filled with uncomfortable silences and the mirth of the memory faded from Kai's face, replaced with one of...regret?<br/><br/>"I'll sleep on the couch," he said quietly, resuming cleaning the house. Mira took that as a chance to find her own peace about the absence of Chuck. As far as she was concerned, Chuck's death was Kai's direct fault. She remembered the night Kai mentioned. It had been one of her and Chuck's biggest fights, though unfortunately their fights weren't uncommon. It was a wonder they even stayed together.<br/><br/>Though, now that he was gone, it was a wonder how she was even able to breathe without him. Being in the apartment and knowing he would never walk through the door again seemed to bring a whole new light on her feelings for Chuck. She didn't know how she would sleep tonight without him there. She didn't know if she even would sleep. Chuck and her had been a terrible match, but it was a match they had chosen. He had been her perfect little nightmare, one that always kept her from being alone with her thoughts.<br/><br/>She tried to shake her mind off things by going over to her messaging machine. It was old school, but Mira found having a landline phone was a lot better than giving out her personal cell number. Less people bugged her during the day. The light on the machine flashed daringly at her, urging her to hurry and check her messages. She was anxious for whatever reason.<br/><br/>She pressed play:<br/><br/>"Uh...hi...Mira...This is C.C. I'm just checking on you. We haven't heard from you in a few days. The manager is threating to fire you if you don't check in..." Mira pressed to skip to the next message.<br/><br/>"Hello, this is Officer Ramos looking for a Mirabell Damson in regards to Chuck..." Mira quickly pressed skip.<br/><br/>"This is Officer Ramos again, uhh...we sent a patrol car by earlier but you weren't home. If you could just call me back at..." the click of next echoed in the room.<br/><br/>"Mirabell Damson, due to your absence at work without proper communication, you are hereby terminated from your position."<br/><br/>The machine let out a loud beep as it finished playing through all the messages. Most of them were about the same---Officer Ramos really wanted to talk to Mira, but she had a weird feeling that she should definitely not call him back. She didn't know what to do. What could she say? That an underground organization kidnapped her? That they caused the death of her boyfriend? Even if she did want to spill everything, she couldn't. No one would believe her and Kai would kill her before she ever got the chance.<br/><br/>It was then Mira noticed a newspaper by the door. It looked like it had been kicked into the apartment somehow--likely when someone was rummaging around. She picked it up with the intentions of throwing it out until she saw her face at the bottom of the cover. She began to read the article--it seemed she had been reported missing and was believed to be in great danger on the account of her boyfriend showing up dead.<br/><br/>If the police were so concerned, why were they leaving her voicemail messages and not investigating her home?<br/><br/>"These people are fucking stupid," she muttered out loud. "I...just need to go to bed. Good night," she stated abruptly, storming to her room and slamming the door behind her.