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"I'm not sure, but it was heavy and lasted only a second, and then I didn't smell it again." Enzo tried to explain.
“Can you describe it?”
"Not really. It wasn't floral, but it wasn't what I'd call a kitchen smell either."
“It’s stuck in your head now and won’t let you go?” Noori said with a ghost of a grin playing around his lips.
Enzo sat up straight and pinned Noori with his gaze. “What do you know?”
"It sounds like your beloved was near you tonight." He blurted without preamble and smiled. "When I first saw Marek, I was struck with a scent so powerful it took my breath away for a few seconds. Then, as time wore on, I found that I could not get that gorgeous scent out of my mind."
Enzo thought about it but then shook his head. "Can't be, no one there caught my interest. It was just a scent, nothing more."
"You don't have to see them to scent them." Noori took a long sip of his wine. "Fate has a way of working it out, so if it is your beloved, you will be meeting them again soon."
"It was probably one of the new entrées in the kitchen. It smelled good, so it had to be from the kitchen." He realized that he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince Noori.
“We’ll know soon.” Noori continued to smile at Enzo’s expense.
"I have nothing against meeting my beloved. I just have my doubts that my beloved was hanging out at the Sienna, and I didn't see them." Enzo figured that Fate would have brought them together, not just waved a scent under his nose.
"Again, we'll know soon." Noori was going to say more, but his phone went off. He quickly answered and then stood. "There's an incident on the first floor. A human saw more than they should have, and they're on the run. They'll probably have him apprehended by the time we get there, but let's check it out."
“I’d love to.” Enzo laughed. “How often does something like this happen.”
"Not as often as you'd think, considering we have so many humans working in the building."
Enzo was wondering how the human got away with security at the level that it was within the Center. It seemed impossible. "How far would they get, do you think?" Enzo theorized as they rode the elevator to the first floor.
“It happened in the restaurant bathroom, so I doubt he made it to the lobby.”
“The Sienna?”
“Yes.”
“Rather sloppy for whoever it was that was seen. The place just closed at nine.” Enzo shook his head.
"Definitely sloppy." Noori agreed. "Whoever he is, he's getting a dressing down from his commander as we speak."
They stepped out of the elevator into the lobby just as the scene exploded. There were too many humans around to do an all-out scramble; we couldn't be making a spectacle of ourselves. The human moved fast and with agility, dodging the guards and making his escape out the main doors. Several guards were in pursuit.
"They'll catch him," Noori stated. "No human can outrun our guards. They have his scent, and they'll bring him back shortly."
"He seemed pretty wily to me," Enzo interjected, looking around the lobby at the security guard standing there. "He got out of the restaurant and out of the building. For a human . . . that is quite good."
“Master Hadden is calling for a meeting in the security office . . . immediately.”
"It's not going to be pretty," Enzo mumbled as they headed in that direction.
"It was a shit show, and we only saw half of it." Noori chuckled.
Foster left the parking lot, keeping to the hedges that lined the border, and made his way back to the main street. He was too exposed but wasn't sure where to go; he stood for a moment pondering his options as a car sped by too close to the curb and hit a large puddle, showering Foster in the filthy water. Could his night get any more fucked up?
There were several motels south of town that took cash and weren't too picky about the name you used, so he headed in that direction. On the way, he stopped at a shop and picked up a few essentials he'd need for his stay. It was likely they had his apartment covered just like his car, so until he had a better idea of what was happening, he would stay below the radar.
Keeping to the shadows, he managed to make it to the low-rent district of town and checked into one of the motels. They were all pretty sketchy, but the Sunset had less of a sordid reputation. The Sunset Motel catered to average folks who needed cheap accommodations for a week or so. But that didn’t mean it was clean by any stretch of the imagination.
He'd purchased cleaning products and scrubbed the place down before stripping off his clothes and taking a shower. He then put his things to soak in the tub. He'd need clothes for tomorrow, and these were all he had. Luckily the shop he stopped at had some cheap, white, t-shirts and he bought several. If only he could go to his apartment even for only a few minutes, but that would be risky.
