The (un)perfect couple by Textfreak1 (list of e readers .TXT) 📕

During the night, people think about their secrets they keep from their friends and how shocked those will be if the truth comes to light. And that they will do everything in their power to keep that from happening.

The streets were empty, because black night scared everyone into their houses. Streetlights and wavering lights of the skyline were turned off and everything came to a deadlock. Well, it was four o’clock in the morning and of course, no human being would leave its bed voluntarily. But sometimes a lost soul found its way onto the dark streets of Los Angeles and rarely for good reasons.
The moon was shining high above the streets, diving everything into a threatening light. The cloudless sky showed spots of shining stars, watching the sinful doings of the people on earth. A cold wind blew through the streets, taking along trash, cleaning the dirty streets again.
Suddenly, the silence was interrupted by a loud noise caused by a car. The glaring head-lights were shining through the darkness and made shadows flee.
The driver, Daniel Miller, wasn’t keen on driving at night. But unfortunately, he couldn’t prevent that. His affairs didn’t allow him to be careless. He turned on the radio, lit a cigarette, drew on it and rolled down the window. His wife didn’t like that bad habit, at all. Sometimes, Daniel couldn’t quite understand what had came over him to marry that crazy woman. He drew on his cigarette once more, flipped it out of the car window and with it, the uncomfortable thought about his loveless marriage.
He mashed on the gas pedal and shifted down a gear. Daniel hoped desperately that his wife was already asleep and wouldn’t question him about coming home that late. Hannah, his wife, was insanely jealous. No attractive woman was allowed to speak to Daniel without passing Hannah. She was controlling every little detail of Daniel’s pitiful life, starting at morning with his clothes and ending at night with the question: “Have you closed the door properly?” Lost in his thoughts, he barely noticed the car behind him. ‘Crap!’, he thought.
A police car had turned on the sirens, signalizing Daniel to pull over and a few minutes later, both cars came to a halt. Annoyed, Daniel searched for his driver’s licence and registration certificate. A policeman, wearing sunglasses for whatsoever reason, approach-ed Daniel’s car.
“I know, I know. I drove way too fast. Just give me the damn ticket!”, muttered Daniel and thrusted the papers into the policeman’s hand.
“You know we all have to share the road, but when you drive like that-“, the policeman began in a droning tone and Daniel assumed that he only wore those sunglasses to prevent anyone seeing his eye circles.
“Ya, ya. I’m not just a risk for myself, I’m a risk for others, as well. Listen, I’m a lawyer, I know my rights perfectly well. Please, would you just give me the ticket”, Daniel rolled his eyes, took the ticket and his papers back and threw them on the passengers seat. The policeman wanted to reply, but Daniel mashed on the gas pedal and turned up the radio.
The cold morning air blew through the open window and ruffled his hair, but he didn’t care. It got later and later and his wife got angrier, for sure. ‘Please be asleep,’ he thought despaired.
Daniel turned into a dark street. He lived in a huge tower building and from his apartment you got the best view over Los Angeles. Certainly, Daniel had to spend half of his pay check just on rent for the apartment. The door of the underground garage opened automatically and he pulled the car into a parking lot. Daniel turned off the motor, got out and pressed a button which locked the car.
His steps resounded and Daniel hated the feeling of being observed which was easily created in that coolly, gray, dimly lit hall with concrete floor. He suppressed the scary


feeling, he always had at night, because as a lawyer, there are loads of people who might want to see you dead.
The elevator doors opened and Daniel stepped inside. He pressed the button for the fifth floor and the doors closed immediately. It slowly moved higher and higher. His stomach tensed up and it seemed that his heart was beating painfully against his chest. Daniel thought about an excuse for his delay, but before he could collect his thoughts the doors opened.
The dark corridor made a terrifying impression. It was really odd, because at night even the friendliest environment seemed to become dangerous, even if there was nothing to be afraid of. Daniel fished his keys out of his pocket and scuffled to apartment number fifty-three. A shroud of silence surrounded him while he put the key into the keyhole with trembling hands.
Relieved he closed the door on his way in. The lights were out and he couldn’t hear anything, except for himself breathing. He left his shoes at the doorway, pulled off his coat and tiptoed through the corridor. When he could make out the bedroom, his heart was thumping like mad, again.
The door stood ajar. A chink of light flooded into the corridor and cleaved the darkness in two. Slowly, Daniel drew nearer and reached out. In that moment, a strange sound came out of the room, as if something had fallen to the ground. Anxiously, he opened it.
The bedroom was tidy and decorated tastefully. The two bedside lamps filled the room with a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Hannah had decorated the whole apartment on her own and was proud of it. Well, the result put in an appearance. But something wasn’t in its usual place. In the bedroom a chair lay on the ground and Hannah was dangling from the ceiling, apparently lifeless. The scarf around her neck, strangulated her trachea.
Daniel gasped. To his own horror he hesitated for a few seconds, but then ran to the bed, grabbed the scissors, climbed on the chair and cut the scarf.
Hannah was breathing slightly, but her eyes were still closed. Instantly, Daniel called 911. Of course, if he had known what she was about to do to his life, he would have left her hanging there.
The flashing, blue light of the ambulance appeared seven minutes later. A crowd of tired-looking people in dressing gowns with disheveled hair, unbrushed teeth and unmade-up faces, gathered around the ambulance. They were speculating about what had happened, standing in front of the tower building.
On the fifth floor, apartment fifty-three, the paramedics put senseless Hannah on a stretcher and carried her off the building. Here and there an apartment door opened and a neighbour stuck out his head, still half asleep. But when they faced the paramedics, their eyes widened and they could only look in horror at what took place in the middle of the night.
All the way down into the entrance hall, Daniel held Hannah’s hand and couldn’t even remember what he had thought, ten minutes earlier. The imagination of losing Hannah, gave him to understand what he really felt for her. Unaware of the future, he wouldn’t hurt her again intentionally.
At that very moment, when Hannah was carried out of the building, people looked at her in shock, but just for a moment. One must know that the citizens of Los Angeles have a dubious habit. They like to tattle. And a woman, carried out of her own apartment, un-conscious, followed by her husband, was the perfect template. Just as the ambulance doors were closed and it pulled away, the whispering began.


The thought of lying next to Hannah in their bed without any problems, seemed far away. Although Hannah had been without oxygen for just a few minutes, she hadn’t woken up yet. The ambulance drove into the driveway of the Pure Spirit Hospital. Instantly the

stretcher was carried out and into the hospital. Daniel was running next to the paramedics and didn’t stop holding his wife’s hand.
An hour later, the doctor was sure that Hannah had no inner injuries and it would only be a matter of time for her to wake up again. The doctor had also mentioned that she had to stay in the hospital for an additional day, which wasn’t unusual for patients, who had tried to commit suicide.
Dawn was breaking and Daniel truly felt tired. He decided to go downstairs, because he had noticed a coffee machine there, earlier. Caffeine was the only thing to wake him up again.
The cafeteria was nearly empty. Just two doctors occupied a table and the cashier, a young coloured boy, sat at the cash till, absorbed in a magazine with the title “10 hints how to get a woman above your level”.
Daniel grasped a cup and filled it with hot coffee and forgot to pay for it, accidentally. Slowly he went to a table and sat down. He didn’t notice the man who called for him twice.
“Daniel, is that you?”, said the, so far, unnoticed man again and approached his table.
“Adam?”, he asked astonished. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Europe, for two more months!”, Daniel spoke in a depressed tone, put on a forced smile, then stood up and shook his hand. Adam Sanders was a tall, handsome-looking man with short blond hair. Daniel and he got to know each other at Hannah’s birthday party and became good friends. Since then, Adam had introduced them to loads of girlfriends, which became more and more stupid each and every time. “I’m not the guy for steady relationships”, he said everytime he broke up with one of the women.
“Well, I thought I’d come and visit my best college friend while I’m here, but I got sick and it turned out that I had a slight attack of appendicitis. So, where is my favorite friend Hannah?”, Adam asked and looked around, as though she’d appear from behind a niche, yelling: “Surprise.” Daniel’s stomach constrained and he explained hoarsely what had happened. With every word he spoke, Adam became more and more frightened. When he stopped talking, Adam sat down, looking at Daniel in total disbelief.
“Why would she do something stupid like that?”, he muttered, more to himself than to Daniel.
“She hasn’t woken up yet. Of course, the police will come and ask lots of questions. I can tell you further details, as soon as Hannah wakes up. Only if you want to”, Daniel sipped on his cup of coffee and looked out of the window. The sky was light red and covered by heavy, black clouds. It began to drizzle and slight raindrops patterned against the windows of the cafeteria. For a few minutes, Daniel and Adam sat motionless face-to-face, leaving their conversation in an awkward silence.
“Mr. Miller?”, Doctor Reed’s dark voice cut through the morning silence at the cafeteria. He was Hannah’s doctor and looked shockingly happy in spite of the sad tragedy haunting Daniel’s thoughts.
Daniel looked puzzled into the unlined face of the doctor who was apparently perfectly familiar with the use of botox. “Yes? Is everything alright with my wife?”, he asked tensed.
“Yes”, Doctor Reed said without showing any emotion. “She just woke up