Emergency

Half an hour later, I was still in the kitchen, while Ellen was in the living room with a cup of tea in one hand and churros in other.

She stood surrounded by a group of seven people, intently listening to every word as she told them about the takeover, my trip to Boston, and about Caleb.

"That rich, spoilt brat! He disappeared from work for two weeks, had his brother-in-law handle all the work, then came back to claim what he said was 'rightfully his'."

Maybe it was her mocking tone, or the fact that I could've sworn that her eyes flitted to me as she uttered the last part, but suddenly I had the urge to jump into the conversation and get a few facts straight.

For one, it wasn't Tristan who had handled all of Caleb's work. It was me. And second, Caleb was many things, but a 'rich, spoilt brat' was not one of them.

If anything, I could sense his acute resentment for his family name and money, but the fact that he was currently trying to get the authority over the company made me doubt my own observation.

But that didn't mean I liked Ellen bashing Caleb like that. Before I could decide to jump in or not though, my mother walked into the kitchen.

"Ruth, is it true what I've been hearing? You actually resigned from your job?"

I pulled out a batch of garlic bread from the oven, just to avoid looking at her.

"Yes, I did. I've been there long enough anyways. And ever since the management changed, it has become increasingly difficult to cope to all the changes." I shrugged, not willing to go any deeper.

But my mother being how she was forged on. She lowered her voice, and asked, "is it because.. you know, you left before they could fire you? Is it because 'they' thought you were not good enough for the job?"

I banged the tray against the counter a little harder than I had intended to. Rounding up to my mother, who stood there looking like an older version of me, I hissed, "what? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Now, now, Ruth, we understand layoffs happen after takeovers. Nobody else needs to know either, just tell me."

"What are you even talking about? Where is all this coming from?"

But she didn't need to answer. Just then a few words from living room floated in, answering my question.

"..... I'm just glad that I am good enough at what I do to not be in danger of getting laid-off or transferred, unlike some. One just needs to be irreplaceable these days."

I looked up in time to see her gaze cut towards me for a fraction of a second, before turning back to the crowd.

I gritted my teeth as people around her murmured in agreement, praising her for being exceptional at handling the front desk.

If only I could share the real reason why I was leaving, or that I almost got promoted then things would- shit!

My promotion! In all of the excitement today, I had forgotten all about the promotion I was going to get. Neither had I informed Tristan of my resignation.

".....Maybe now is the time to move back home. I mean how will you afford rent and bills -" I realised my mother was still talking. But I couldn't concentrate on her.

For a brief moment, news of the promotion I almost had, and the reason I was quitting my job seemed too good to pass up from sharing, just to see the look on everybody's faces. That would definitely qualify for the satisfying birthday evening.

But my birthday wasn't for another few hours and now that my promotion was out of question, I controlled the urge to give everyone something jucier to chomp on. Besides, I had another thing to worry about.

"Are you even listening to me, Ruth?" My mother's annoyed voice broke through my train of thoughts. I truly wasn't listening to a word of what she had said, but that will have to wait.

"I was. I am, mom. I just need to make a call, can we take a rain check on this?"

Without waiting for her reply, I walked out of the kitchen, straight to my old room three doors down. I had left my purse and phone there earlier in the evening, as I always did.

I had no idea what was going on between Caleb and Tristan, neither did I know - or cared - who was going to get the control of the firm. But Tristan had been a good boss to me.

In the short time that I had worked with him, he had realised my true potential and offered me the promotion that I had always secretly longed to have. So it only seemed fair that I at least informed him that I was leaving.

But as I unlocked my phone, another thing caught my attention, distracting me from my current mission.

I had 12 missed calls from Shy in the last half an hour, few text messages and 3 voice mails. What the hell? She knew I was here so it can't be that she was worried about me.

The only other reason she'd flood my phone like this would be if she had an emergency.

I quickly called her back while checking her text messages. They were short, but made worry spike in my stomach as I read through them.

22, December, 9:03PM.

"Ruth, where are you? There's someone banging on the door, drunkenly calling out your name!"

Another message at 9:10PM read, "For God's sake, pick up your phone Ruth, its scaring me now."

22, December, 9:15PM.

"I am calling the cops. Should I? Would you get in trouble if I did? Pick your God damned phone Ruth!"

Damnit. The area we lived in wasn't a crime spot, but it wasn't the safest neighborhood either. Worry gnawed into me as my call went to voicemail unanswered. Especially as I read her last text message.

22nd December, 9:18PM.

"Know what? Don't bother. I'll check it out myself."

I picked up my purse and rushed out of the room as I called Shy for the third time.

"Hey honey, something wrong?" My aunt asked as I ran into her in the hallway, still trying to reach Shy.

"I have to go, aunty. Shy has got some serious emergency. I need to reach home as soon as I can."

"But what about the party and- listen, wait Ruth!" she called out after me, but I was already off, sprinting to the elevators as another call went to voicemail.

If Shy was trying to make me pay for not answering her calls from before, I would say her mission was successful.

The veins in my temple throbbed as I got off the elevator and waved down a cab while imagining worst possible outcomes of the situation. No, can't think of that or I'll lose my mind.

I rattled off my address to the cab driver, and settled in to call Shy again, but at that precise moment, my phone rang with Leo's name flashing on the screen.

I briefly considered disconnecting it, but I was already paying for missing one person's call, so in the moment of utter guilt, I accepted his call.

"Ruth, hey, thanks for answering-" his voice sounded gruff and shaky, as if he was running somewhere as well, but I didn't have patience for pleasantries.

"Please make this quick, Leo. I have to be somewhere soon."

"Yeah, okay. I was just wondering if you have heard from Caleb. Have you?"

"Caleb? No, I haven't heard from him since he left from work earlier. Why?"

Even though I had worries of my own, the desperate tone in Leo's voice made me wonder what was going on.

"Well, I'm sure it's nothing at all, but um... Caleb is missing."

"What?"

"Yeah, has been since earlier today. He's not at home, or gym, or anywhere else he usually is. And he's not been answering his phone which is very unlike him. I'm just.. worried if he is okay. He wasn't in a good place when he left."

I pressed a hand against my lips to stop from screaming in frustration. Why does this have to happen today? All of it? Here, I'm imagining worst case scenarios with Shy, and now I had Caleb to add to that list.

I must have made some noise though, because Leo asked, "What was that sound? Ruth? Are you okay?"

"No. No, I'm not okay, Leo. I'm absolutely. Not. Okay."

Then the dam broke, my internal angst from throughout the day poured out.

"As if I wasn't already having worst day ever today, what with Caleb losing his shit and forcing me to resign, having to endure taunts and bitching from Ellen and the likes of her, I now have Shy's safety to worry about, while berating myself that if anything bad happened to her, I'd be the one responsible for it because I didn't answer when she called for help. And to top it off, Caleb has gone missing. Can this get any worse?"

"Woah, woah, back up. Who's Shy?"

I hadn't even realised I was crying until a sob broke free.

"Shy is my best friend and roommate. About 45 minites ago, she was desperately trying to reach me because some drunk guy was banging onto our door, and she was really scared. But I was at my parents' and didn't hear my phone. Now she wouldn't answer my calls. I'm worried sick, Leo. What if something happened to her?"

Another sob broke free, and now I openly wept, not giving a damn of what the cab driver or Leo thought of me.

"Hey, calm down, Ruth. Nothing will happen to her, okay? Has anyone called the cops yet?"

"I haven't. I'm not sure if she has. I'm on my way to the apartment, but it'll take me a while to reach."

"Don't worry, honey. I'm very close to your apartment. I'll be there in a minute or two to check on your roommate, okay?"

His deep, calm voice reassured me, but still I asked, "why are you a couple of minutes away from my apartment? How do you even know where I live?"

"Its not a difficult information to obtain in a software firm, Ruth. Especially since I have access to all the employee records. I was actually coming over because I was sure I'll find Caleb there. Thought it'll be better if I'm there in person in case Caleb goes off the rails again. Works out for the best, I suppose."

"Be careful, Leo. Her text said the guy was drunk. It could be dangerous."

"Oh honey, have we met? A drunk wastrel is no match for a sober Cross. Especially if that Cross is me."

The way he said it would've sounded pompous and exaggerated. But the tone of his voice was too quiet. Too serious. And in that moment, I had absolutely no doubt that he wasn't exaggerating.

"I've reached your apartment." Leo said, and the line went dead.