Her response to his worry made a small soft uncharacteristic smile move across his face. Not many people have experienced a soft gaze from stern looking young man and here she was, getting a full treat of it. Surprisingly her words made him calm down and he felt the tenseness of his shoulders slowly fall into a relaxed position. She seemed to understand why it would bother him but, despite that she could do to his decision she was choosing to stand with his choice. And because of that, he offered her a rare smile. 

His gaze followed hers to Bill who seemed more than happy (sarcasm) to let Lu go. The older man seem to shoot him a dirty look as Lu’s gaze turned to him and all he could do was smirk in response. Bill was really hoping to take advantage of the fact that she needed the money and work an extra shift. But, of course Lu would rather go home and a smug look came across his face as he packed up his belongings into his bag. It would be more justifiable for Lu to have him around if the owner thought he was just more than a patron and the smirk said something more.

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The good thing is that she allowed him to take his job seriously as he scanned the apartment once again before making sure all the windows were lashed. It looked like there were no fire escapes so someone scaling the side of the building wouldn’t be likely and she wasn’t on the top floor. A nod rose and fell his head as he came back to the door and allowed her inside. 

The house was suddenly filled with supplies and a bed was made on the floor for him. “Huh.” He said in a bit of a surprised tone as he looked around seeing the stuff. “I see why you like them to have a key. I will run background checks on them tonight if you give me their names. If they pass they can keep a key.” He said with a nod.

To his surprise, she held up a new lock. He waited until she returned to take the drill from her and the lock. Walking through the house he went to the front door. Her statement about which would be more convenient for him, he looked over his shoulder at her. “The door cracked is fine; I am a light sleeper anyway.” 

Arriving at the door he pulled it open and quickly replaced the lock with a practiced hand. This wasn’t an uncommon thing for him to do so it was a quick process. As he stood up he turned around and to his surprise, which was clearly read on his face, he found two men standing on the other side of the door holding a bag. 

“Hello,” “Hi,” They both greeted almost simultaneously as they stared at the man a head taller than them. 

“We forgot one bag. Are you the man staying the night?” Carlos asked as he held out the last brown bag.

“I am. And you are?” The two neighbors introduced themselves Serge made a mental note of their names in order to look them up. He took the bag from Carlos as they introduced themselves and he peeked inside the bag. “Oh parmigino-reggiano cheese and gouda cheese. These will make a fantastic addition to a breakfast casserole. She will need her energy in the morning after tonight.” With that he shut the door on the couple staring wide eyed and rather speechless as he shut the door and locked it. 

Carrying in the bag he placed it on the counter in the kitchen. “Your neighbors dropped off another bag. Looks like breakfast pieces.” He said with a nod as he unloaded the bag and put away the bag. “I got their names; I will run their background checks tonight and have an answer for you in the morning.” 

Coming from the kitchen he opened his bag that he had set down on the couch and pulled out a laptop. Within moments he had it set up and was logging what happened for the day. “Do not worry Lu, I will leave out details of your profession and the fact that you practically stripped in my SUV.” He said in a slightly teasing tone as he typed away. “When I am done here I am going to make some tea I brought, would you like a cup?”