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Mabel opened the door to none other than Jay Pflug, wearing his usual jeans and hoodie, his hair slightly messy.
If she didn't know any better, she might have assumed him to be in the same tax bracket as her.
"Hey." Mabel sounded unsure of herself as she let him into the apartment.
She hadn't properly cleaned in more than a week, and a pile of clothes was covering the chair next to her bed.
But she refused to be embarrassed in front of him, holding her chin high as he took in his surroundings.
"Cute apartment," he said, and Mabel didn't know what to think of that.
"What do you want?" she settled on saying, leaning against her kitchen counter.
He turned towards her. "You get right to the point, huh?"
She shrugged, waiting for him to answer her question. Perhaps it was her profound sense of mistrust towards wealthy people that made her feel uneasy around him.
Jay took a deep breath. "Honestly, I'm just here to ask how you've been. Maybe see if you want to go grab a coffee with me."
"I don't drink coffee."
"Then tea, or water, or whatever you want."
Mabel studied his expression for some sort of confirmation of his agenda, but she couldn't figure him out. And it drove her a little crazy.
"Seriously? You want to have a drink with me, and then what?"
He gave a faint smile. "I don't know. This is not me trying to propose to you, we can just see where it goes."
Her cheeks lit up with embarrassment. He'd somewhat effortlessly managed to make her feel like she was the one reading into things after he'd asked her out at least twice now. Like she was the one who wanted more, who was unable to be chill about this.
Or maybe she was projecting.
But there was nothing at stake for him, and a lot at stake for her. She wasn’t even sure how famous exactly he actually was. It was hard for her to tell, since she hadn't been paying much attention to celebrity gossip ever since getting wrapped up in investigating the various murders that kept happening around her.
"Don't pretend you don't like me," he said, and it should've enraged her, but it came out soft, and understanding.
"I'm not pretending anything," she said, watching as he stepped closer to her.
Her breath caught, and he seemed to notice. They'd had countless conversations that felt more intimate than was usual for people who didn't really know each other. But they'd never been physically this close before. Mabel knew it was a bad idea, and that she couldn't trust him no matter what, but still, she felt a pull towards him. Wanted to finally close the space between them. With anyone else, it would've been easy to do so, simply reach forward and not care about the consequences.
And it was getting increasingly difficult not to do just that.
Something tugged at her stomach with the way he looked at her. She could smell the faint, fresh scent of his clothes — or maybe it was his hair.
She was screwed, and he knew it.
The conflicting thoughts disappeared when he dipped his head down, slowly, as if waiting for her to protest. His eyes searched hers, and she wasn't sure what he found, but the last thing she saw was a look of relieved confidence before he kissed her.
She had no idea what she'd expected, but somehow she wouldn't have been surprised had he been bad at this. A billionaire heir, surely with plenty of yes-people around him, wasn't bound to necessarily prioritize other people's comfort.
However, the kiss was soft, and gentle, and Mabel found herself melting into Jay. He cradled her face in his hands, and she decided to just enjoy the moment, think about everything else later. She wrapped her arms around his neck, happy to be pulled in closer. It was warm, and easy, and exhilarating, and everything she didn't need right now.
And then, as quickly as it had started, it was over.
They still were close, somewhat embracing, when she looked up at him.
He was smiling at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling up. Her insides fluttered at the sight. It had been getting harder and harder to ignore just how beautiful he was. In a noncommittal way. He should have looked average; she couldn't pinpoint what feature of his made him so beautiful, exactly, but somehow it all came together to sculpt a perfect face. And Jay didn't carry himself with the arrogance that others might have in his situation; didn't act entitled, or like he was better than others. Then again, maybe he didn't need to. He was born into wealth and likely saw every privilege he possessed as natural. Didn't need to acknowledge it for it to be true.
"What are you thinking?" he asked, and Mabel realized that she'd just been staring at him.
She hesitated. "I'm not sure."
"Was this okay?"
A little laugh escaped her mouth. "Yes! A little unexpected maybe, but," she felt herself blushing again, and tried to suppress her embarrassment once more, "definitely okay. More than okay."
She disconnected from him, taking a step back. "So, about that coffee."
"Yes?"
"I'm not going to a coffee shop with you. But I could make us some coffee here, if you want?"
He met her eyes. "I thought you didn't drink coffee."
"Huh?" It took her a moment to remember. Her thoughts were in disarray. "Oh. No, I just kind of said that."
He gave her an amused look, and then followed her through the kitchen as she started the kettle.
"Can I help with anything?" he asked.
She retrieved the ground coffee from a cupboard and motioned to the one next to it. "You can pick a cup."
Dutifully, he opened it and took in the sight of at least a dozen mugs, which she'd meticulously selected and accumulated over time.
He ended up choosing a large mug that had been hand-painted different dark blue shades by a high school friend of Mabel's. They'd taken a ceramics class their sophomore year, and Mabel and her friend had swapped mugs because they each liked the other's results better.
Mabel got her own cup from the dish drainer next to the sink, simple and white except for a close-up picture of Charles-Haden Savage's face and "Brazzos" written directly below it in Comic Sans. After she'd jokingly expressed her disappointment that she didn't own any Brazzos merch, Charles had gifted it to her last Christmas. And she'd been using it ever since.
Jay gave a low laugh when she took a sip out of it, only now seeing all of it. Mabel grinned. "I know, right?"
They both laughed.
"My most prized possession," she added, to avoid silence.
And then she didn't know what else to say. Or what to do. She was out of her depth, sitting at her little table, having coffee with a rich guy she'd suspected of murder, then been out-maneuvered by, spent too much time with, and now just kissed.
She took another sip of coffee, turning her gaze out the window. It was getting dark early these days, the city lights were already coming to life.
Jay seemed comfortable in the silence, but she couldn't take it. They'd had plenty of effortless conversations before, but this time she didn't know how to proceed.
She huffed, then buried her face in her hands.
"Hey," Jay reached forward to place a hand on her shoulder.
She un-buried her face and looked up at him.
"Hey," she said back, sounding deflated.
He was waiting for her to explain herself, his expression open.
"Look. This has been nice, but seriously, what is this?" She set her cup of coffee down.
"What do you mean?"
She raised her eyebrows. "This. Us spending time together. It doesn't make sense."
"Why?"
Mabel was growing slightly frustrated. "Because we're too different."
"I don't think we're that different," he stated plainly.
"It‘s true, though," Mabel said. "You're what, a billionaire? Even if we ignore the fact that it's just morally wrong for someone to have that much money, you also have all the power in the world. And I don't. It's as simple as that."
He gave her a strange look. "What does that change about us?"
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. I know I have more than most people do, thanks to my family's fortune, but how does that impact you? I have no problem being in your apartment, going for coffee wherever you want, in case you ever decide to be seen in public with me. I don't need anything else, I'm happy to just spend time with you."
Mabel exhaled audibly. "People like you can buy anything… Buy a podcast without thinking about it. You guys tricked us into that, and it wasn't even hard for you to do."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. But I thought we'd talked about that already?"
"That's not the point," Mabel said. "The point is, you can do whatever you want, and if you want to get away with it, you will. Do you not understand how that makes me powerless in this situation?"
His expression changed. Maybe it was slowly dawning on him.
"Do you think I'll do something to you?" he asked, his tone serious.
Why was this so difficult? She didn't want to be having this conversation, would have liked to ignore the subject altogether, but she also needed him to grasp just a little bit how unfair all of this was.
"Not right now," she started, and then paused. This felt weirdly vulnerable. "But I hope you understand why I can't trust you. It's not personal, and I don't blame you for it. It's just the way it is."
He nodded, glancing out the window. "Okay."
She hid her face behind her mug as she had some more of the coffee.
He seemed in thought for a moment before he spoke up again. "What do you think I'd do to you?"
She frowned. "I don't think you'd do anything. But I don't know that for sure, and I'm not trying to find out. I'm sorry," she quickly added. She was being really blunt here, and wondering whether that was such a good idea. But the cat was out of the bag now.
He looked at her like maybe she was broken, and she downed the rest of her coffee in one movement.
"Don't pity me," she said and went to put her mug in the sink.
"I'm not. I'm just wondering who hurt you," he said drily.
"Oh, save it," she snapped.
"No, seriously. You think I'll kill you and make it look like the next accident here at the Arconia as soon as I'm done with you?"
Mabel got very still, and Jay seemed to realize he'd gone too far, because he quickly stood up and went up to her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
"It's not funny."
"I know, I didn't think—," he started, then stopped when she tore the mug out of his hands and emptied the remaining little bit of coffee in the sink.
"So that was nice. Let's not do this again," she said stiffly.
"Mabel," he pleaded.
She met his eyes, none of the determination leaving her features.
"I'm really sorry," he said.
"You know what? I believe you. But that doesn't change anything."
He nodded.
"I'm not looking for anything complicated. And this," she motioned between the two of them, "is complicated."
"Okay. Well it was nice getting to know you." He put his hands in his pockets, assuming a very non-threatening stance. "And if you change your mind, even just wanna get coffee as friends, let me know."
"I will." She managed a smile.
She hated this. She wasn't angry anymore, just determined that if she didn't put a stop to this now, if he kept treating her the way he'd been, looking at her the way he had today, she'd eventually fall in love with him. Which also came, whether they liked it or not, with a massive power imbalance. Sooner or later she'd be dependent on him, unable to really decide for herself on certain things. Perhaps unable to say no to others. It was no feasible way of living for Mabel, and she didn’t want to end up hating herself either, even if the worst outcome to happen would be accepting gifts from the 1%, no strings attached.
And so she walked him to the door, wishing that things were different.
Jay seemed at loss for what to do.
Slowly, she stepped up to him — to see if he'd want this at all — and gave him a cautious hug.
He hugged her back, tightly, and she returned some of the forcefulness, now clinging onto him.
They stayed like this for a moment, and Mabel got progressively sadder.
"Take care," she mumbled into his shoulder.
They let go of each other.
"You, too."