AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jack laughs, clinking his bottle against mine. “God, haven’t you become a changed man?”
I look up to find Jack grinning and Tommy smirking at me. “What?”
Jack glances quickly at Tommy and the two of them chuckle before he turns back to me. “You, being all whipped by your woman, checking in and shit. It’s so freaking adorable,” he adds, all dramatic and sarcastic.
I flip him off, loving that I can do that to my boss, before turning back to my screen to see there is still no message from Tessa. Just as I’m about to say fuck it and call her, Jack nudges me.
“You know I’m only giving you shit, right?” he says, still grinning.
“Yeah, yeah,” I say, waving a hand at him. “I’m just wondering where Tess is, that’s all. She isn’t responding to my messages.”
“She’s with Lu,” Jack says. “She had to push their meeting later, so I’m sure they’re just busy chatting house shit and whatever,” he says, as though it’s no big deal.
I look at Tommy, who just shrugs as if to saywhateverand even though I know they are both probably right, something about her not responding right away feels weird. Figuring at this point I’ve got nothing to lose, I type out another quick message to her.
Me: Me again, sorry, I’m being OTT aren’t I…anyway, Jack says you’re with Lauren, so I’ll just see you at my place tonight?
I throw my phone onto the bar, ignoring Jack’s laugh as I take another sip of cider and try to ignore the bad feeling that’s suddenly swirling in my gut.
An hour or so later, I’m walking into my place and almost as soon as I open the front door, I know Tessa isn’t here. The apartment is quiet and the lights are off.
“Tess?” I call out anyway, wondering where the hell she is. There’s still no response to the three text messages I sent and I’m legit starting to get worried now.
I pull my phone from my pocket and hit call on her number, standing in the middle of the living room as I wait for the call to connect. It rings and rings, before eventually going to voicemail.
“Hey, babe, it’s me. Just wondering where you are. Hope everything’s okay, give me a buzz when you get this.” I pause, words trapped on the tip of my tongue. I don’t say them though, swallowing hard as I add, “Okay, talk soon.”
When I hang up, I fire off a quick text to Jack asking if Lauren is still with Tessa. I know he’s probably going to give me an endless amount of shit for it, but I don’t care, something just feels really off with all this.
Jack: Nah mate, they’re all done. Lu is home and I’m about to join her in the shower ;) Said T left maybe 30 mins ago.
“Fuck,” I breathe out, wondering if maybe she had a car accident or something. I’m grabbing my keys again, ready to head out and do god knows what when it suddenly occurs to me that maybe her phone is dead.
After the whole debacle with my phone when I had to go get that part in San Fran, I don’t want to jump to the same conclusions and totally freak out over this. Exhaling, I throw my keys on the counter and head back to my bedroom to take a shower.
If she hasn’t called by the time I’m done, I’m heading over to her place.
She hasn’t called.
No text message, no voicemail, nothing.
And yeah, I’m officially freaking the fuck out now, so I grab my keys, heading down to my car as I try calling her again.
Just like before, it rings and rings before eventually going to voicemail. I leave her another quick message letting her know I’m heading to her place before jumping in my car.
When I reach her house, I go straight inside using the key she gave me, but just like with my place, I know as soon as I open the front door that she’s not here. There’s absolutely no sign of her and I’m really starting to get worried.
I try calling her again, but just like before, it rings a few times before going to voicemail.
“Tess, babe, it’s me. You’re really starting to freak me out here. I’m at your place, but you’re not here. I don’t know where you are. Jack said you left Somerville’s nearly an hour ago and you aren’t at my place either. Babe, seriously, can you please just let me know you’re okay?”
I hang up, not knowing what the hell to do. Should I wait here or go back home?
Unsure, I head into the kitchen, grabbing a beer from the fridge, I lean back against the counter and try to work out what the hell to do next. As much time as we’ve spent together, we haven’t exactly met each other’s friends, most of our time being spent at work or with each other. The only person she has met really, is my sister.
Shit, my sister.
Pulling my phone from my pocket again, I hit call on Hannah’s number, taking another mouthful of beer as I wait for her to pick up.
