by Robin Leaf
“She left,” Javier announced from the doorway.
“When will she be back?”
Javier hesitated. “I don’t think she will.”
Riley blinked, focusing on Javier. “Did she say where she was going?”
“She said she didn’t know.”
Riley stood, stunned. “Javi, what happened?”
“I’m not sure. I heard her in the living room talking to someone when I was watering the plants by this side of the pool. When I came inside, she came down the stairs and left.”
Riley sat down on the bed and rested his head in his hands. “Did she say anything before she left?”
“Yes, she said, ‘Tell Riley he puts his faith in the wrong people.’”
Riley stood up. “What does that mean?”
Javier shrugged his shoulders.
Riley began pacing the room. “Javi, who was she talking to?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you think Graciela would know?”
“I’ll go find her and ask her, but she was at home talking to our son on the phone. He told her we’re going to be grandparents.” He smiled, but Riley was too stunned to react. Javier started to walk away, but stopped. “Riley, I’m… Don’t…” he looked down and turned away slowly. “I really like Vanessa.” He walked down the stairs.
“Yeah,” Riley fell backward on the bed and stared at the ceiling. “Me, too.”
***
On Wednesday, Riley was vaguely aware that in the last three days, he had fallen back into the same routine he had established pre-Vanessa. Wake, run, shower, kill video-game zombies to music, eat, work out, brood, sleep. Except now he had added one thing – thoughts of Vanessa, thoughts which made brooding time much broodier. After she didn’t return Sunday evening, he entertained the idea of going after her. He knew he could find her easily with the help of his friend, Troy, who was a private investigator, but the idea of her rejecting him really didn’t sit well. So he sat on the couch killing zombies, an activity that used to always distract him from his thoughts, but for the last three days, it did nothing to chase any of them away, especially since time on the couch, their couch, was not easy. It always brought him back to his first sight of her when he played the same game. He couldn’t bring himself to change games, even though his heart just wasn’t into the slaughter of the undead quite like it used to be. Maybe it was self-flagellation, punishment for whatever he did wrong, to play this game that brought back the beautiful memory of her arrival. That beauty quickly turned painful when it reminded him of her abandonment. His choices in music were not helping either. All his music seemed empty and hollow. What he wouldn’t give for some of Vanessa’s hate rock. Plus, no matter how loud he turned his ear buds, the thoughts in his head were louder.
Everywhere he turned, the fresh and painful, yet beautiful memories of her stared him down, so he couldn’t even escape. In such a short time, she had become a part of him, now a missing part of his soul that he desperately needed back. He thought he knew emptiness after his mother died, but this… this was debilitating, especially since he had no clue what happened to make her leave.
He racked his brain the last few days trying to figure out what went wrong. He knew two things: one, he poured his heart out to her. Two, she panicked easily. He held back a lot of what he wanted to say for fear he would scare her away. Did he scare her away with what he did tell her? Did he not say enough? Should he have said the words his heart wanted to scream to her? Would that have made her stay? Did he move too fast? The not knowing was making him crazy.
Yet, he had no way to contact her to find out, and he wasn’t sure she would talk to him if he did. Was he supposed to chase her? Was he supposed to leave her alone? Even if he did chase her, where should he start? Emily seemed like the most viable option, but he didn’t know anything about Emily, except that she worked at a law firm. Law firms in Los Angeles? About a thousand of them. And with no last name to aid his search, it seemed impossible. What should he do, call every law firm in L.A. and ask for the Emily who just got a tattoo? Emily had a tattoo artist for a boyfriend, but again, tattoo shops in L.A. were quite plentiful.
It kept bringing him back to what went wrong. He put his faith in the wrong people. Did she mean herself? Did she mean Emily? He did ask Emily to champion for him. What on Earth did she mean by that?
He felt a presence in the room. His heart constricted, as he ripped the ear buds from his ears and stood, correcting the mistake he made the first time when he did not rise for her.
“You look like crap,” Darby announced. “This is not what I expected to find. What is wrong?”
He sat back down on the couch, resting his head in his hands for a minute. He ran his hands through his hair roughly, grabbed his game controller, resumed his position and went back to his game.
“So we’re back to this?” Darby asked. “What the hell happened?”
“Vanessa left. Don’t know why. Now you know. Now you can go.”
“Yeah, like that will work.” Darby moved to the end of the couch where his feet were propped and moved them. She sat staring at him as he ignored her. “What do you mean you don’t know why? Why is this the first I’m hearing about this?”
He threw the controller across the room. “Because I didn’t want to talk about it,” he bellowed, gritting his teeth.
She glared at him, unfazed by his tantrum. “So? You need to. Tell me what happened.”
“I still don’t want to talk about it. Just go away, Darby.”
“Ri, I can’t do that,” she insisted. “You are my best friend, and you are going to let me help you. So, you can either just give up and tell me right now, or we can argue about it for a while, ending with you telling me anyway. Can we not waste all that time and just get to the end?”
He glared at her for a moment. She raised her eyebrow, and he knew she was right. She maddeningly always got her way. “It was Sunday. I told her I had a production meeting, and she made plans to have lunch with her friend, Emily. I asked to meet Emily, and she freaked out.”
“Freaked out how?”
“Said something about how meeting her friends made this real. And how she didn’t know what we were doing and that things were moving fast. Said something about her dad and meeting him. I thought I calmed her down. I met Emily, who told me she would talk to Vanessa at lunch.” He closed his eyes, trying to remember Vanessa’s face right before she left with Emily. “She seemed better, at least more relaxed. I thought everything was okay, that it would be. When I got home from my meeting, she was gone.”
“And you don’t know what happened between the lunch and her leaving?”
“Javier said something about her coming home and hearing her talking to someone. He said when he came inside, she was running out the door.”
Darby took a breath. “You don’t know who she talked to?”
Riley sat up and swallowed back emotion. “No.”
“Have you called her?”
Riley laughed humorlessly. “I never got her number.”
“Nice.” She put her hand on his knee. “What does Emily say?”
“I haven’t talked to her. I don’t know how to find her. I don’t even know her last name. She works for a law firm and has a boyfriend who is a tattoo artist.” He leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes. “It’s not much to go on.” He looked at Darby hopelessly. “She told Javier to tell me I put my faith in the wrong people.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t be sitting here trying to figure it out.”
“It doesn’t look like you’re trying to do anything other than sink back into that hole you dug for yourself before you met her.” She narrowed her eyes. “Look, I know you well enough to see how crazy you are about this girl. I thought she was the one. Actually, I still do. Are you going to let her get away without knowing why? Are you going to lay here wallowing in your self-pity or are you going to fight for her?” She pu
lled out a clipping from some rag-mag and shoved it at him. “I want you to look at this. I cut it out yesterday.”
Riley sat up and took the clipping from Darby. He focused on the picture, a picture of him and Vanessa at Darby’s party. They sat at a table, heads together, totally absorbed in each other.
“You look at that, Riley,” Darby gently reprimanded. “You tell me what you see, because it looks a lot like two people in love to me. Read the caption. ‘Riley Tate is off the market.’ The press usually never gets it right, except this time they did.” She moved closer to Riley and placed her hand on his shoulder. “You have deep feelings for this girl. I knew it the first time I saw you look at her.” She grabbed his face and forced it away from the picture and guided it until his eyes met hers. “And based on what I saw from her and what I see in this picture, she feels for you, too. You guys are truly right for each other. I’ve never had a stronger feeling about two people who are meant to be together, ever. What’s stopping you?”
He sighed deeply. “I don’t know if it’s what she wants.”
“Screw what she wants right now, Riley. She doesn’t know what that is. What do you want?”
He looked back at the picture and smiled a little. He remembered exactly what they talked about at the time this picture was taken. “Her. I want her.” He crumpled the picture and grimaced. “But it’s not that simple, Darby.”
“It seems damn simple to me. You know her name. You know where she is from.” She grabbed his hands. “We’ll find her,” she said softly. “But first, let’s think about Sunday. I want to know everything. Start from the beginning.”
He took a deep breath. He explained how the morning began, waking up next to Vanessa, how it felt so natural. He went for a run and found her in his bed, but he didn’t tell her about how she was there with her vibrator, putting on a show for him. He just said they had sex and took a shower. He did go into details about their breakfast and how they shared their plans for the day. He thought the conversation was pretty normal couple stuff, until she became increasingly agitated at the thought of him meeting her friend. He ran through her rant on the couch, trying to remember as much of what she said as he could. He told Darby what he said to Vanessa and answered Darby’s questions about how he interpreted her reaction to it. Then he detailed meeting Emily and how he left things with Vanessa.
“It sounds like you were right,” Darby admitted. “I don’t see how that made her want to leave.”
“And judging from the way she acted in the little time I spent with Emily, I don’t think she would have said or done anything to make Vanessa bolt. She seemed to be happy for Vanessa and said she had a way of convincing Vanessa to take risks.” He once again leaned back against the couch. “I just don’t get it. I even decided to take some time off after this shoot ends. I was going to ask Vanessa to come to the Caribbean with me.”
“Wow. You really are serious about this girl. I didn’t think anything would pull you away from work.”
“That’s what Charles said.”
“Wait!” Darby stood up. “You talked to Charles?”
“Well, yeah. He is my agent. He’s been pushing this movie deal, and I needed to tell him to turn it down. I thought he needed to know about my plans.”
“Exactly what did you tell Charles about Vanessa?” Darby yelled, which was a new experience for both of them. Usually, Darby kept her cool.
“That I needed some time off to spend with her. He told me a few weeks ago he had an offer he really wanted me to consider for another movie, but it started right after this one finished, so I wanted him to understand why I had to say no.”
“No Riley, WHAT did you TELL him about VANESSA?”
“Why? What does he have to do with this?” Riley asked innocently.
“Because HE is a smarmy little rat weasel and probably is in this up to his hair plugs.”
“C’mon, not this again? Charles has been nothing but good to me…”
“Yeah, as long as you line his pockets. You’re his golden goose, and you just told him you’re going on sabbatical.”
“So?”
“Have you always been this naïve?” Darby smacked him. “Remember, he makes more than the normal share off of you, Riley. Who else does he have for a client? No big names, that’s for sure.” She handed him her cell phone. “Call him. Find out if he’s in his office. Let’s find out what Prick-ney knows.”
TWENTY FOUR
Riley and Darby stood in Charles’s office.
“I thought you were all about the universe telling you what to do, Darby. I don’t think the universe condones breaking and entering. This is wrong,” Riley whispered.
“Sometimes you have to help the universe along, Riley. You have to look for its clues.”
“I don’t feel comfortable with this. He’s not here, and we shouldn’t be going through his desk.”
“I’m looking for evidence, Riley. If you don’t like it, you can stand out in the waiting area.” Darby turned toward Riley and asked, “You really think he had nothing to do with this, don’t you?”
“Again, I have no reason to think otherwise. What are you doing?” Riley asked, moving between her and the desk. She had already grabbed an opened FedEx envelope off of his desk and removed its contents. Riley watched Darby’s eyes widen and then watched her smile.
“Here, read this.” Darby handed him the contents of the envelope, which contained a cashier’s check made out to Vanessa Taylor in the amount of $1000 and a handwritten note dated Monday which said: I am returning your down payment since the terms of our agreement were never reached. This formally nullifies our business agreement and effectively terminates our business relationship. It also proves that no matter what you said about me, I am an honorable person. I hope to never hear from you again. Sincerely, Dr. Vanessa Taylor, PsyD. Riley read the note three more times. He had never seen Vanessa’s handwriting before, and his brain had a hard time processing the words on the page.
“It may not be actual proof,” Darby said, “but it gives us something to go on.”
Riley stood unmoving for several more seconds. He placed the check and the letter back in the envelope and placed it back on the desk. He then moved to the filing cabinet and searched through it.
“What are you doing?” Darby asked.
“Looking for a contract. When we leave, I’ll call and have Charles meet us at the house.”
***
“Vanessa left? I’m so sorry Riley. When did this happen?” Charles asked.
“Sunday,” Riley responded. “When I came home from my production meeting, she was gone.” Riley watched Charles closely to see any signs of guilt and saw none. “I wanted to know if you knew anything about why she left.”
“No,” Charles said. “I haven’t seen Vanessa since I hired her.”
Charles, Darby, and Riley stood in an awkward triangle in front of Riley’s couch. Really, Riley had angled himself between Charles and Darby, just in case Darby decided to lunge at Charles and rip out his hair plugs. The action would be very un-Darby-like, but she never ceased to surprise him.
“I just don’t buy it, Riley,” Darby announced in front of Charles. “I really don’t trust him.”
“Well, I didn’t do anything,” Charles righteously defended. “I brought the proposal for the movie, just in case you changed your mind.”
Riley studied Charles, who today was dressed in his expensive power suit, so differently from when they first met. He had come a long way from the cheap suits he used to wear. He did notice how Charles looked quite smug when he focused on Darby. Riley had a hard time interpreting the smugness. Was the look because Charles simply didn’t like Darby, or was it because Darby was right, and Charles was gloating since Riley didn’t believe her?
Riley wasn’t sure, but something about Charles’s reaction to Darby’s accusation was not quite right. But he had to concede, “Without proof, Darby…”
“The proof is in his aura. Guilty as sin.”
Riley almost smiled. “Auras are your thing. I, however, have to give Charles the benefit of the doubt.”
The doorbell rang, followed by vicious pounding on the front door. Riley made a move toward it, almost hopeful that this would be Vanessa returning to him. He steeled himself, closing his eyes to say a silent prayer at the front door before opening it. “Emily!”
“Is Vanessa here?” Emily whined, pushing past Riley into the house. “I have been texting and calling for three days, and the messages are unread and the calls just go straight to voicemail. At first I figured that you two were just having hot, sweaty sex, but after three days, I was getting a little worried. It’s not like her to not contact me for that long.” She stopped short at the audience. “Omigod, you’re Darby Cheetwood. I love your show!” She gave Charles a quick once over. “Am I interrupting an important Hollywood meeting?”
Riley stepped closer to Emily. “Actually, no. We were just…”
“If you just tell me where I can find Vanessa, I’ll leave you alone.”
Charles’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he excused himself to the patio to take the call.
Riley stood there stunned for a moment. He felt sure, until that moment, that Emily would lead him to Vanessa. “That’s just it, Emily.” He looked down at the floor. “I don’t know where she is.”
“This house is big, Riley,” Emily teased. “But I doubt you can lose a whole person in it, even one as short as Vanessa.”
“She’s not here. She left. Sunday. Right after your lunch. No goodbye, no note, no explanation, nothing.” He fell back on to the couch, resting his head in one hand. “I kinda had my hopes set on you shedding some light on why.”
“I don’t know if I can do that,” Emily sighed and sat next to Riley placing her hand on his. “When I dropped her off, she seemed fine. She said something about being home, so I took that as a good sign.”
