It was suspicious.

It was definitely suspicious.

Zara attended to other customers but constantly found herself looking at the man in the gray suit out of the corner of her eye, keenly expecting him to burst into flames or move from his rigid position. His left hand was always on the briefcase as if to protect it with his life. She would have loved to know what the briefcase held but she was to do her job as a good employee. Her eyes would not even lift up to the door when it would open because she was concerned for everyone's safety with this man's presence. He sat at an angle with his back facing the glass window, as if to hide his identity. After a really long time, she cursed her major of Criminology for making her suspicious of everything. But it was built in her bones as she told herself it to be.

The call bell in the kitchen rang twice to inform Zara that the order was ready. She placed her pencil and notepad back into the pockets of her crimson apron as she walked into the kitchen through the flapping doors to get the order of the gray man. Maybe she could make small talk with him once he ate something. Men were always grumpy when they were hungry.

"One order is up!" She chimed as she walked out, holding the tray in her hands. But her eyes widened when she saw the empty counter.

The man was gone.

And so was the briefcase.

No money for the order either.

"Hey, Leo?" The African-American wearing his birthday floral Hawaiian shirt turned around from the cash counter. "Where is the man that was here?"

"Oh him! He just walked out the door."

Zara frowned. "That's weird. He left without his order."

"Ah," said Leo, leaning with his back to the counter. "Well, you know the policy. If there is extra food, you are allowed to take it. That's why I always trick Sweta to make extra batches of those gorgeous brownies." He winked.

Zara tried to smile. She really did. She loved desserts more than anything, and Sweta's brownies were to die for, except for the one time when they had used only baking soda to bake their cake and it ended up becoming stone. But there was something strange with that man and she could have helped him out if she hadn't let herself get to her.

Once the sun started to set beyond the sky scraping buildings, leaving a fiery hue behind till the nyx of the blue sky took over, Zara finished for the day and walked out of the bar. She waved at Leo to let him know that she was leaving and headed down the street, holding the brown paper back with the man's order in her hand. She buried her free hand into the pockets of her jacket, her mind still on the tense face of the man. Something was definitely up with him.

But her thoughts were diverted to something, making her stop in her steps.

A low whimper.

For help.

It was so soft that she would have missed it in her usual hurry. Maybe she could thank the mysterious man for letting her walk slowly in the direction of her house. Because if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have found the one-week old puppy inside a cardboard box behind the dumpster. "No!" She gasped as the dog's eyes locked with hers. "Who could leave such a sweetheart like you behind?" Tears were quick to form in her eyes as she picked him up with the cardboard. "Well, it's a good thing that I know just the right place for you."

Explaining to the bus conductor why she had a stray dog with her wasn't that hard when it was actually Old Man Willy. He was always supportive of people and it was impossible to imagine him angry, as he always had a smile on his face even on a bad day. "We are going to your new home," she whispered to the puppy as she petted the top of his head. "Hopefully Mal doesn't want any breed in specific but you needn't worry. I'll make him keep you."

The bus stopped at Zara's usual stop after a while of introducing herself to the puppy. Walking towards the shop with the almost empty parking lot, she realised that she had gotten attached to the puppy more than she had realised.

She couldn't provide a home for him, sadly.

But there was someone who could.

"Annyeonghaseyo, Mal!" Zara greeted in Korean as she walked through the glass pulling doors of the battered shooting range named Shot Drop.

"Namaste and Hola, Zara." It was a usual tradition for the two childhood friends to indulge in each other's traditions. It was one of the few things that has brought them closer to each other. Mal-chen was Zara's only friend that she considered to be so. "Love, what do you have there?" He pointed to the cardboard box and gasped dramatically. "I can't believe you remembered my birthday!" He held his heart as he walked around the counter to take the puppy from her.

She punched his arm. "It's not your birthday." 

"How would you know that?"

She placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him. "Your birthday is not for another four months. We've known each other since we were eight. So don't try to fool me."

"Not bad, Medina. Not bad at all." The puppy started to play with Mal immediately. "Ooh someone's feisty!" He laughed. "And is that food I smell?" He reached for the brown paper bag, which resulted in his hand being slapped away. "Ow!"

"It's not for you." She rolled her eyes. "Always so hungry!"

"It's better than....than....oh come on! How is it that I can never give you a great comeback?" She patted his shoulder in support. "Thank you for the dog, darling. I hope I can repay that effort by allowing you to take your usual booth inside."

She wrote her name and time of entry in the registry while Mal found a blanket for the puppy to lie on. "Adios for a while!" She gave him a small salute as she walked into the range.

Zara was a regular at Shot Drop. Studying what she did, it was important to learn how to shoot a gun. After waiting to get her license, it was a regular thing for her to go to the shooting range and get her aim perfect, because after all, the world was cruel and unless you could protect yourself and your family, the wolves will come to eat you. 

The pieces on the chessboard have always been laid out. It's only upto the player to make their moves. 

But she did not know why she was thinking about the gray suit man, imagining his face in the paper dolls in front of her at the range. Her hands wobbled at that thought. She did not want to kill him even if it was in her imagination. She averted her eyes and made her shots with the rubber bullets that she was allowed to use before her license got confirmed.

Her shots were in and around the centre. It poked the second, third and fourth circles, but she could never get them to overlap over each other in the first circle. That was one of her fantasies that she wished would come true one day. 

Removing her noise-cancelling headphones and protective glasses, she examined the gun in her hand. Could the shiny silver briefcase have had a gun inside? It was certainly big enough for transporting a weapon.

She shook her head. "No suspicions, Z. No suspicions," she reminded herself.

Well, it was only a matter of time before the suspicion would show its chiseled face around.