Casey never wanted Kane within ten miles of any girls he knew again but, unfortunately, he lived in the same hallway as Vera. It was possible they could run into each other at some point.
She would probably talk to him if she saw him, thinking he was Casey. Then would get a rude awakening when she discovered they were as different as could be despite sharing a face.
Everything about them was different, from the way they talked to the way they carried themselves. Kane was cooler and more confident than Casey could ever be. He could be really popular if he wanted but he didn't particularly like people. Aside from Casey, that is.
He was very overprotective. Why wouldn't he be when Casey was, in his words, a massive wimp?
At least Kane meant well even if his methods weren't always the greatest. That was why Casey kept forgiving him for making his life harder than it had to be.
He didn't know many women though. Just his coworkers and Vera, though it was highly unlikely Kane would ever meet any of the former. And if he did by some chance, he wouldn't know they were Casey's coworkers.
Vera was the real danger. Especially because he already suspected Casey liked her.
He didn't. He really didn't…but he couldn't deny that if he spent more time with her that he might be in danger of that happening.
She was so pretty and fun to talk to and was nicer to him than anyone else had ever been. Even Ashley. He thought she was a great person but that didn't mean he had a crush on her. Yet.
Casey couldn't allow that to happen. It was better to keep his distance, especially if it kept Vera off of Kane's radar. If he did something stupid, she would never want to look Casey in the eye again.
Thankfully, Kane dropped the issue of Vera for several days until he came home and looked at Casey with an unfathomable expression. "There were police at Snow White's place just now."
"What?!" Casey cried, jumping up from the couch.
Police? What were police doing there? Did it have anything to do with why she had been so stressed she cried like the world was ending?
"I have no idea what sort of person you got yourself involved with but she seems like bad news," Kane continued, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Nobody involved with the police is innocent."
"…unless they're a victim, Kane."
"What would she be a victim of?"
"I don't know. Robbery? A hit and run? You always assume the worst of people," Casey scolded.
"Yeah, because people are the worst. Seriously though, I don't like there being cops in our building. I always feel like they're out to get me even when I haven't done anything," Kane said as he pulled a face.
Casey actually couldn't disagree with him on that point. Whenever he was driving around and saw a cop car, he felt like he was going to get pulled over even though he was going the speed limit and following the rules of the road perfectly.
He chose not to continue the conversation because he didn't want Kane to keep asking him about Vera. He was debating whether or not to tell her what he knew and go check on her.
That would be creepy, wouldn't it? Being creepy was the last thing he wanted.
Casey said nothing and did nothing until he was going to the complex's laundry room with his basket days later and saw someone wearing a hood running away from Vera's door. They had left something on the ground. A card of some sort.
He wasn't sure if she knew about it or not because it didn't seem like the person had knocked. It wasn't his business though. He kept walking toward the exit until he heard a scream from behind him.
So startled he nearly dropped his basket, he whirled around and saw Vera white-faced and looking at the envelope like it was going to explode. What could possibly be in it that could cause her to make such a horrified expression?
"V-vera?" Casey asked in concern. "What is it?"
"Casey! Did you see who left this?"
"Yeah, it was some guy in a hoodie who ran past when I was first leaving my apartment. Why?"
"Did you see his face?!"
"No. He was t-turned away from me so I only saw his b-back. Why?" Casey repeated, feeling nervous because of her urgency.
Vera bit her lip, hesitating. She ended up clutching one arm and rubbing it in a self-soothing gesture. "Do you mind coming in for a little while? I need to call the police and you saw the guy so—"
"The police?!"
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure you just saw my stalker."
Casey was horrified. A stalker. No wonder she had been so jumpy! She must have found out about it either the night before or the morning of her breakdown because she had been fine before that.
"S-since when do you h-have a stalker?"
Vera sighed heavily. "Apparently it's been a couple of months now. It's really been giving me the creeps."
No kidding! Having something like that going on absolutely explained why she had cried so hard. She had been stressed, likely from not getting any answers from the police.
"I'm s-so s-s-sorry," Casey stammered.
He didn't know what else to say. He had never dealt with anything like that so how was he supposed to know? He didn't even know how to comfort a crying person, let alone one being stalked by some random creep.