chapter 6

~sullivan~

       My cell phone buzzes on my desk, indicating someone is trying to call me. I pick up my phone, seeing that it's Caelus. I ignore the call and put my cell phone back on my desk face down to continue my work. I don't know what he needs, but surely it's not important.

       Caelus doesn't seem to understand that I'm busy with work because his calling moves to texting. My cell phone continuously buzzes with incoming text messages. Caelus can be a stubborn person at times, so it's honestly no surprise he's not giving up trying to contact me.

       There's no way I'll be able to focus on my work with the constant buzzing, so I pick up my cell phone again, hoping to see a text from Caelus explaining why he's trying to get a hold of me. He hasn't sent me one. Instead, his texts consist of saying my name over and over again, both Sullivan and Sully, knowing well enough I'm not fond of being called Sully by someone who isn't close to me, and my ex-husband is definitely not close to me.

       I sigh, calling Caelus to see what he wants. It better be an emergency and not something miniscule. Caelus answers almost immediately and before I can even say anything, he says, "Do you have my keys?"

       "What keys?"

       "My house keys."

       "No."

       "Are you sure? I can't find them."

       "Why would I have your keys?"

       "I don't know. Maybe you accidentally grabbed them when you were grabbing your keys."

       "I didn't. I know what my keys look like, so I wouldn't grab yours."

       Caelus sighs. "Great."

       "You can just keep the front door locked and leave through the backdoor. Kona doesn't like when people she doesn't know are in the backyard, so she'll bark at any possible intruders."

       "Sullivan, I'm outside. I left in the morning before you, remember? I didn't lock the door because you were leaving shortly after me, so I didn't check to see if I have my keys. They're normally in my bag anyway, but they're not."

       Oh, now I understand why Caelus was so adamant about calling me. He's locked out. "That sucks."

       "Seriously?" Caelus asks. "You're not even going to be the slightest bit sympathetic about the fact that I'm locked outside in the pouring rain?"

       "No, not really. It sounds like your problem, not mine. The house has a porch anyway, so you that can cover you from the rain."

       "That's not the point, Sullivan. I don't want to wait outside for you to come home. I'm exhausted from work and just want to lie down and relax."

       "You should have checked to make sure you have your keys."

       "Yes, I know, Sullivan. Thank you so much for pointing that out."

       "Well, what do you want me to do about it?"

       "I just wanted to know if you somehow have my keys since they disappeared from my bag."

       "I don't."

       "Then what time will you be done work?"

       "I'll be done in about two hours. Maybe more, maybe less, depending on whether or not I finish what I'm working on."

       Caelus sighs again, this time more heavily and exaggerated than the last time, as if he's trying to make me feel bad so I can come home early to let him inside.

       "Is that all?" I ask. "If you really do not want to stay outside, you can head to a nearby cafe."

       "Cafe's are busy and loud at this time."

       "Then... If you're desperate, I suppose you can crawl in through Kona's doggy door in the back. It stays unlocked while I'm at work."

       Caelus is silent for a few moments, and I can't tell if he's debating my suggestion. Eventually, he says, "I'm not doing that, Sullivan. That's embarrassing. Plus, what if your neighbours see? They can call the cops on me."

       "Right, and remind me, where do I work?"

       "I thought you're an IT specialist or something."

       "Yes, at the police department. You won't be arrested for being in my house when I've given you permission to live there."

       "Fine. Whatever." Caelus hangs up, and I assume he's going through with my suggestion. I put my phone back down and get back to working on this case. I've been tasked with looking through one of the suspect's banking history to see if we can link him to a series of bank robberies happening around town.

       It's not a daunting task, but it's one I need complete focus on since I need to pay attention to all the details.

       And my focus breaks once again when I received yet another text message. I thought it would be from Caelus, but it's not. It's from one of my neighbours, asking me if I can turn down my music because it's a bit too loud. So it's not from Caelus, but it still involves Caelus. Of course.

       I text my neighbour a reply apologizing and explaining that it's my roommate, who I'll tell to turn down the music. I'm not sure if Caelus would hear me texting him over the load music he's playing, so I call him instead. As soon as he answers, I ask, "Why are you playing music so loud?" I can even hear the music playing in the background of the call.

       "Why are you ruining my vibe?" Caelus asks.

       "Turn it down. One of my neighbours can hear it."

       "Your neighbour is also ruining my vibe."

       "Caelus." 

       Caelus groans. "Ugh, fine." He hangs up.

       I sigh, putting my phone back down before I rub my forehead. One of my co-workers, Rhea, walks over to my desk. "Is your assignment that hard?" she asks.

       "No, it's not my assignment," I say. "It's my roommate. He's giving me a headache. But speaking of the assignment, I really don't think that the suspect has anything to do with the bank robberies. His bank funds are average. Nothing that would really spark a robbery. Besides, I noticed that he used his debit card at a gas station around the same time one of the robberies happened."

       "How close is the gas station to the bank?" Rhea asks.

       "Not close enough to make it possible to be involved in the robbery," I say. "I think he's in the clear."

       "Noted," Rhea says. "Wilson and I are still looking into another suspect, so we'll let you know if we need you to look into anything." Rhea pats my shoulder. "Good luck with your roommate." She walks off. I definitely need luck to deal with Caelus. Things were fine with him living with me temporarily, but now I feel like he's gotten comfortable enough to annoy the living shit out of me.

       I don't want to kick him out though if he doesn't have anywhere else to go to, so I'm just going to have to put up with him for now.

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caelus was blasting get him back! by olivia rodrigo. he'll blast it again when sullivan is home tbh.