On the verge of breaking
When he ran into some of the staff members during his run down the hallway, he asked if they had seen Jenny. The moment they saw in what state of undress Jason was, they became flustered and averted their eyes. Through their girlish hearts they answered Jason's question, telling him they hadn't seen her yet and thought that she was still asleep. Jason hurried further down and ran into Garry. "Garry have you seen Jenny?" He asked with an ever increasing heart rate. "No. I have been here since six this morning and have not seen the young miss anywhere on the premises. I thought she was still asleep."
The bad feeling Jason had became worse and worse. He ran back up the stairs and grabbed his phone. When he did, he noticed the note and something that made his stomach drop to the floor. On top of the note, he saw Jenny's engagement ring. With shaking hands he grabbed the ring and the note and read the words Jenny had left behind.
'Dear Jason,
If you have found this note, it means that I went through with it and that I have left the house once more. This time with no intention of returning to your side. I don't mean to hurt you with what I have done and I want to ask you to not try and look for me. I am doing this not because I don't love you or have stopped caring about you. Contrary, I have done this because I love you too much to be selfish and stay by your side even though I have realized that I am not the right person to take that spot in your life. I am strong and I don't care what other people say about me, but I do care what they say about you and I do care about my impact on your life. I don't want you to suffer or face difficulties because of me. So, please forget about me and if that is what you need to do, you can even hate me. Just know that you will always have a place in my heart.
Love,
Jenny.'
Jason felt like his heart was standing still and slowly a sense of panic took over. He tried to call Jenny, but all he heard was the automatic message saying that the number he had called was out of reach or has been disconnected. No matter how many messages he sent, they all could not be delivered and even the tracking app he had installed on her phone was showing nothing. He then proceeded to call his connections, asking them to track her down. Calling all their friends, if they had seen or talked to her. In the meantime he went into the other room and tried to look for clues. Only to find out that Jenny had taken nothing with her. Seeing even the card he had given her on top of her desk with another note. This time with just the words 'Thank you'. Jason became so lost and frustrated, that he started trashing the room in his search for the smallest clue she might have left behind while venting his frustrations. Before he calmed himself down again and forced himself to rationalize. Walking towards Jenny's computer and breaking into it.
The commotion he had caused, had caused the staff and Garry to become worried. They informed Susan and Stephen and together they came to check up on him. Seeing how pale and worried he looked, their worries grew even more. Seeing the trashed room, they walked in hesitantly and stood beside Jason who wasn't paying them any attention. "Jason honey, what's going on? What happened to your room?" Susan asked as she put a hand on his shoulder. With reddened eyes Jason turned around and said with a voice that was on the verge of breaking, "Jenny left." Susan and Stephen were both shocked hearing those words. "What do you mean she left? Jason, talk to me. What do you mean?" But Jason didn't say any more and simply pointed at the note Jenny had left behind before continuing his search for her the best way he knew how.
Susan was the first to read the words. Seeing the note, Susan dropped herself on the armrest of the sofa as she brought her hand to her mouth and tears welled up in her eyes. Stephen took the note from her hand and looked at Jenny's message before narrowing his eyes as he thought of what to do. After comforting Susan, he too came into action. He started by contacting Jason and Jenny's friends once more and informing them about the situation. Asking them to help them in their search and thinking of where Jenny might have gone. Each of them had the same reaction of shock and each of them started thinking back on Jenny's behaviour for the past weeks. Regretting they hadn't dug further. Blaming themselves for being content with the easiest answer. Finally understanding Jason's frantic call earlier today and feeling worried about his current state. Imagining he must be feeling at least ten times the regret and hurt they were feeling.
In reality it was much worse than they had imagined as Jason had started breaking little by little with each minute that passed and he couldn't reach her. Each second that his phone didn't ring to tell him they had found her. He kept asking himself questions, that proved how much he was blaming himself for the situation they were in. 'Why hadn't he broken into her phone back then? Then maybe he would have found out about her escape plans before she could act on them.' 'Why didn't he stay awake when she left for the bathroom. The fact that she had been going to the bathroom every night was suspicious in itself. How could he have missed that?' Blaming himself, while working as fast as he could to gather as much information as he could find in order to find her.