HE DID IT

4: TEXT MESSAGE

The following Tuesday night arrived, and I'm not sure what came to mind, but I'm thinking about going to Olive Garden tonight. I arrived at exactly 7 p.m., entered the restaurant, and proceeded to the usual table that I and Esther usually occupied; however, when I get close to the table, it is already occupied by a woman sitting alone, her head bowed slightly and she is just staring straight at the table, holding a glass of wine; moreover, as I was about to look away, she lifted her head to drink her wine. I was stunned for a moment because I thought she was Esther at first glance. After she took a sip her eyes shifted on me, A surprised look was entirely evident in her face, when she finally came back to her composure she immediately stands up still not cutting her gaze on me.

"Hi," she finally said, the way she looked at me makes me feel uncomfortable.

"Umm, do I know you? Is there a problem?" I asked her, I'm a bit confused and worried about her reaction.

"You must be Esther's friend, right?" I became curious about this woman by just mentioning Esther's name, does she know something about what is going on?

"What about her? Why did you know her? How did you know about me?!" I am getting furious right now, why is this woman seem to know something?

"Well, I'm Devorah her sister" So, that explains why they are look-alike because they are siblings, I calm myself down a little and I am the one now who is surprised.

"Aren't you with someone? If you won't mind, can you please join me? I know this is the usual spot you and Esther always have" I gave her a confused look, how did she know that?

"I'm supposed to be with her, but how did you know about this spot? Does she tell you?" I asked her.

"She told me about you a lot, and I know she wouldn't come over tonight," she said, and we took a seat facing each other.

"How can you say she wouldn't come over tonight?" I asked her trying to figure out something in her words, this woman has something that she needs to tell I haven't seen Esther for about 2 weeks did she know where she was.

"I haven't visited their house since I heard the news from her husband that he reported to the police that Esther is missing" she stopped for a while to call a waiter, I can tell that she feels bothered just the way she can't look at me.

The waiter walks away after he took our orders, I glanced at her when she takes a deep breath and adjusts her seat. She looked out the window and released a deep breath before she continues talking.

"She contacted me, and while we were talking on the phone, she was crying, and she was telling me that 'he did' and that she hates him, then I heard a loud bang on her line, as if something had exploded," she says, and I just give her a bland look. I had a feeling this was about Esther's unexpected absence. I'm not sure why she's saying this to me.

"I was frightened, and I kept asking her what was wrong, but she wouldn't respond to me; she just kept crying until the line went off." She took a deeper breath, and I could tell she was having trouble speaking. I didn't say anything; all I wanted to know was her side of the story. I simply  let her speak out.

"I'm so far away from her; I want to see her, but I can't leave my work there; I'm getting nervous by the minute, and I can't concentrate on my work because I keep calling her and she doesn't return my calls, I texted her several times but had no response, so I was planning to visit her until I received a message from her later that day, in which she stated, "Do not worry about me, I'm fine." She abruptly came to a halt, and I noticed a single tear rolling down her cheek. She cocked her head to the side, and she quickly wiped her tear with the back of her hand.

"I'm confused, and I got even more confused when her husband called the next morning and told me she was missing—" she shook her head, tears flowing down her face.

"He informed me that when he got home that night, he searched the entire house for her and she was nowhere to be found..." she said while crying.