After establishing a routine... Jack developed his routine further.

Now he spent most of his days between two activities. Staring out his window and walking around aimlessly.

The two activities were interluded with a session at the gym.

Jack could blend in for the most part so long as he wore a hoodie. You could tell he was swole when he had a t shirt on, but he had a regular person's frame when covered up in thicker longer sleeved clothes.

At the gym people wouldn't mistake him for Jack Attack so long as he wore a hat to cover up his signature fade haircut and an unassuming hoodie.

It was hot as hell but he wanted to blend in. Didn't want random guys coming up to him to try and grab coffee or drinks to discuss business deals or get life advice. No. Jack ran away from his old

life

to avoid just this.

His time at the gym lasted only an hour or so each day. His observations of the man who never left his room lasted between two to four hours depending on how quickly Jack got bored with watching the other man do nothing.

At first observing the man in the room interested him. "why the hell was he there? And why that chinese food?"

With time he grew less interested. Or at least was habituated to it. Jack would get antsy and want to take a stroll. He felt better on his feet. He'd never go on a walk without his phone. Because what he really wanted was to talk to

Imogen Howe

. Maybe meet up with her. It had been three weeks now. It seemed inevitable.

It was a hot scorcher. Rain was due the next day. Until then he would continue to sweat under neath that hoodie and baseball cap.

At night he'd stop by the same bar he'd been going to for nearly his entire stay. Few nights he had tried other bars thinking he might want some variety. But he learned that the different bars were all different in ways he didn't like. The bar he had gone to the first night by happen chance was the one he liked most.

Rust Bar

.

On this night it was

Saturday

. This meant the

service industry

folks weren't the dominant creatures. There was a hodge podge crowd. Plus there was a show happening. Some college kids playing rock. So there'd be more youngsters out. Jack might drink more. Talk less. Not that he spoke to many people at all during his stays at the bar.

There was a good chance that the one girl Bella might be there. They sometimes drank together. She'd give him her employee's discount. He'd never tell her who he was and how much money he had. His lie was that he was a fitness instructor and made little money.

The prospect of Bella being at Rust that night did make going there feel a little less lonely, but it didn't excite him. The only thing that excited him these days was the prospect of the guy across the street leaving his room, or the prospect of seeing Imogen again. He hadn't seen her since that one winter back in town. He cherished that winter. Jack couldn't really point to exactly why. But he thought about it nearly every week in carlifornia. Now that he was in 

Westcity

, he thought about that winter all day.

It was like the last string that tied Jack to anything genuine rest in that one winter break. Wasn't that why he was back here right now? to see if he could pull on that string and see if anyone or anything existed on the other end?

He was now walking along the river. North away from the main parts of the city. It was poorer here. Less pleasant for most people. He'd have to turn around soon to get back to the main, more walkable parts of the city. Then he felt his phone vibrate. Which meant it could only be one person.

And it was more than one vibration. It was a phone call.

He tried to not sound too eager. "Hey, what's up?"

"You got a moment? Remember when we met the other day?"

Jack placed a pause just before he saying yes.

"Well."

Now she paused.

"Maybe we should talk about this in person." she said. "I can meet you anywhere."

"I'm down to kind of drive tonight. Maybe this time I can come up to 

town

?"

"Mm that might be nice. But I'm actually already in Westcity."

"Oh. Are you?"

"Yeah. Long story."

"You wanna meet at Rust?"

"Sure. Twenty minutes?"

"Sounds good."

They said goodbye and hung up. Jack was alreayd walking towards his apartment. He was taking steps fast. He would change, freshen up and head on over to the bar and maybe get half a PBR in before Imogen arrived.

He was excited. He didn't even know what she wanted to discuss. All he knew was that she would be in front of him.

Damn he should've picked a quieter place. He could just suggest they go somewhere else though after a drink. Someplace more dinner-y rather than drinks.