Missing [ST]

Fifty Four

The following morning was a cruel reminder of yesterday.

Nothing had been forgotten, and the distance that Leah thought she could reign in, had just extended out of reach with both of her parents requiring the ruthless factor of time to see her side of the story.

She woke up to a silent house and a note on her brother's bedside with her mum's handwriting explaining that she would be back for lunch. There was nothing about her dad after he had walked out, and Leah didn't even know if he had come home last night.

Reading the note deflated her weak energy levels, and she would have gone back to bed if it wasn't for the single piece of encouragement at the end.

Tina will want to see you. She's been losing her mind. x

Justine Foster, or Tina as she went by, had been Leah's best friend since University. They met on the VetMed course as eighteen year olds, eventually stumbled through as friends through randomly assorted group work, and by graduation five years later, it was a perfect synergy of personalities that clashed in all the right ways.

They followed in each other's footsteps to end up working in the same veterinary branch, and when finances allowed them to, they moved into a flat together.

Eight years of knowing each other and Leah had only given Tina a quick moment of her time on a couple of occasions. She could blame it on the shit that had occurred in the last few days, but it was just an unfair excuse and a fresh load of guilt to burden her sleepy shoulders.

But, even with the negativity that floated around as she managed to get out of bed to find her newly returned phone, Tina might just believe what she had to say. After all, it was her birthday clash that had started the adventure.

Leah tried to ignore all of the panicked messages and hundreds of missed calls when her phone was given the first signs of battery life, but it was difficult when the past month was being shown in front of her eyes.

Every pathetic swipe of her thumb just made her want to buy a new phone and get a new number- start anew in general, but it had to be one step at a time, and calling Tina to come over as soon as possible was a very high priority. Essential, on the never ending list of apologies that she had been charged with as a result of her missing persona.

With a deep breath, Leah pressed the call icon and found herself biting back nerves in the wait for the first conversation with her best friend in an entire month.

<>

Still clad in her pyjamas and a dressing gown, Leah trudged down the stairs to the front door of her parent's home. It may have been her home too, but frankly, she didn't really know where home was in her current state of mind.

She had managed to keep the call short, only saying what was needed in a voice that was far from her usual tone. Tina, with all of her subjective intellect, somehow understood it all from the very first word, and proclaimed her arrival as soon as possible after promising to find a way to get a break from work.

Leah's reliable source of comfort was quite literally dropping everything to make an unscheduled visit that held some sort of belief. But the cautious conversation gave her flashbacks that sent her along a course of intrigue prior to last month's escapade, and it was making the start of an explanation of the man of her dreams a touchy subject, even if it was going to be to someone who already had background on those deepest secrets.

When Leah opened the door, her exhaustion settled on a female a tad shorter in height, wearing blue scrubs and a zip up hoodie, and bright blue eyes that welled with a melody of pure relief.