Watched You Go

Suspicions

When Ivy got out of bed the next morning, Alex already had the table set with breakfast ready. At her spot there was big cup of orange juice, enough eggs to even satisfy Gaston, four chocolate chip pancakes, and bacon.
"You trying to feed a family of five?" Ivy asked staring at her plate.
"Well you barley ate at all yesterday, and you really need to get some food into you." Alex replied while pulling out her chair for her. Ivy just stared at him but didn't sit down. "Ivy, you didn't even change out of your clothes from last night, please." He was looking at her desperate for her to do as he asked.
"Thank you, I love that you did this for me, but I'm still not hungry." Ivy began to walk away, but turned back around when she heard a strange noise come from Alex. She turned back to look at him and saw he was trying to hold back his tears. "What?" Ivy asked concerned.
"I'm just scared that because of B missing you might be getting back into your old habits," Alex was choking on his tears.
"Alex, I'm not going to do that to myself again," Ivy assured him.
"Please," was all he could get out. With a defeated sigh Ivy sat down and Alex sat across from her. It took a couple of minutes for Alex to pull himself together, but once he did he said, "there aren't any updates on B. She's on every news station."
"I don't think we'll be getting any updates about her," Ivy quietly said, looking away from Alex.
"What does that mean?" He asked confused.
"I just have this strong feeling that whoever hurt B is smart enough to cover up his or her tracks. And if there's no body or evidence, then there's no crime." Ivy looked back up to Alex who had distress written all over his face.
"You cant think like that Ivy, how do you know she didn't just run away?"
Ivy crossed her arms on the table and leaned forwards looking Alex straight in the eye. "Think about it Alex," she began, "why would B just disappear without a single word? If she were to run away then she would at least tell me, and call her boss saying she would be gone for awhile. Even at that she would continue her work form her computer wherever she would be so no one would have to pick up her slack. I think someone did something to her."
"But who Ivy? Who would ever want to hurt B? She's completely harmless."
"Okay, think about it like this," Ivy leaned back into her chair and began using hand motions which she did when she was getting angry. "B would never hurt anybody, like you said. However, people could have other motives for wanting to harm her."
"Like what?" Alex exclaimed, a hint of anger in his voice.
"Well, last Tuesday B was telling me that she believes Seth is having an affair. So that immediately gives us two suspects. The first one is obviously Seth. We know he is religious and even though having an affair is one of the major sins, so is divorce. However, divorce brings shame along with it, but he could hide an affair." Ivy told Alex matter of factly.
"And I assume the other suspect would be the mistress?" Alex asked, not believing Ivys suspicions.
Ivy didn't notice the skepticism in his voice and excitedly yelled "exactly!" because she believed he was understanding her. "Maybe the mistress wanted B out of the picture, and knew that Seth wouldn't really leave his wife for her, so she decides to take matters into her own hands."
"Ivy, this is ridiculous," Alex said. "Seth loves B, and they've been married for years. He wouldn't risk his marriage by having an affair!"
Ivy was taken aback by Alex's outburst. He hardly ever raised his voice at anyone, let alone Ivy. Ivy felt a tightening in her throat, and chocked back her tears while saying in a quiet voice, "even if that is true, maybe when she called him out on it they got into a big fight and things got out of hand. Maybe he accidentally killed her and is trying to cover it up." Ivy was staring straight at her untouched food so Alex wouldn't see the tears that were welling in her eyes.
Alex realized that his outburst had hurt Ivy and softened his voice. "Babe, I know that you want an answer as to why B is missing, we all do honey. But come on, don't you think you're jumping to conclusions?" Alex asked.
Ivy didn't believe that she was, but she also wanted this conversation to end. She kept her eyes glued to her plate as she said, "yeah, maybe I am."
They silently ate their breakfast, Ivy only eating a small portion that was even too small for a young child, and Alex shoving down his normal sized plate of food.
Ivy put the rest of her breakfast into a container and then put it into the fridge. She still felt the tightness of her throat, because she still felt like crying. She made sure to avoid looking Alex in the face because she knew even with one glance it would cause her to breakdown and she didn't have the time for that now. "I'm going to hop in the shower before I run my errands," Ivy told Alex, her voice just above a whisper.
"Okay," he responded and kissed the top of her head. "I'm going to head off to work, I'll be home for dinner." He told her.
Ivy gave him a small smile before heading off into the shower. Yes, she did have errands to run, but not the type Alex would have expected.

    About an hour later, Ivy had finally arrived to Carolines apartment. Caroline was Bernadettes younger sister and lives with her college roommate, but they both dropped out of school because it became too expensive. Both of the girls were hairdressers at a popular salon, and her roommate has to work a double shift to cover for Caroline.
When the door to her apartment opened, Ivy saw Carolines tear stained face and puffy red eyes. It looked like Caroline got very little sleep, if any at all.
"Oh Care," Ivy said, she wanted to cry just by seeing how devastated Caroline looked.
Caroline jumped into Ivys arms and began sobbing. Ivy smoothed Carolines dark brown wavy hair that was in tangles. When Caroline finally calmed down and released Ivy, she grabbed her hand and led her to the couch.
"Coffee?" Caroline asked as Ivy sat down.
Ivy heard her stomach grumble and said "please." Caffeine is a good replacement for food when you're hungry. It temporarily relieves the hunger.
After a few minutes Caroline came back from the kitchen carrying a tray with two mugs, cream and sugar, and the pot of coffee. She placed it down at the coffee table in front of the couch, and sat down on the opposite end of Ivy and made her coffee in silence. Ivy did the same.
After they each took a couple of sips in silence, Ivy decided to begin. "Honestly Care, I don't know where to begin, and I hope this doesn't upset you too much, but I do have some questions for you."
Caroline and Ivy had practically known each other for their entire lives, and Ivy was like a second sister to Caroline. She gave a small smile and tucked her legs beneath herself. "Go for it," she said.
Ivy also readjusted herself on the couch, now sitting cross legged and turning so she was facing Caroline. "B never spoke much to me about her marriage to Seth, but from the very limited things I've heard, none of them were good."
Caroline cleared her throat and said, "Yes I agree. She would always change the subject whenever I would bring him up. Something about their marriage always seemed...off to me. But I can never put my finger on what exactly."
"Same!" Ivy said almost excitedly, she was glad Caroline and her were on the same page about this, unlike her and Alex. "Did she tell you she believes he is having an affair?"
"Yes, she told me Sunday night before she left here and she said she was going to call him out on it when he got home." Carolines face grimaced as she said, "I didn't think much of it when she didn't call that night. I assumed they were either still fighting or she needed her space. I didn't even think much of it Monday when I still hadn't heard from her. To be honest I thought she chickened out of it last minute. I should have called." Carolines voice broke at the end of that.
"Hey, do not feel bad, how could you have known something had happened?"
Caroline looked out the window which was behind the couch trying her best to hold back her tears. "She's my sister, wasn't I supposed to feel that something was off?" Her voice was filled with guilt.
"I didn't think much of it either when she didn't show up for the first twenty minutes. Life isn't like a movie, we don't always feel like something is off." Her words were meant to be of comfort, but they didn't seem to do much good.
"I don't know," Caroline began, "I know it's probably in my head, and I feel so stupid for even thinking this, but I just have a feeling that Seth has something to do with her disappearance."
"You think so too?" Ivy exclaimed jumping up a little. Even though it was a small bounce, she spilled a little coffee on her white V neck shirt and light gray sweatpants.
Caroline looked over at her and said, "you think Seth hurt her too?"
"I do, and I'm going to prove he did."
"How will you manage t0 do that?" Caroline asked curiously.
"Well, my first step is to search his house."
"Isn't that illegal?" Caroline asked.
"Only if I get caught," Ivy said with a grin.
"How will you get away without being caught?"
"Well, thats actually part of why I came here," Ivy said a little nervous now. "I want you to help me."