Missing Like You

FIFTEEN

ISABELLE DONOVAN
FRIDAY JUNE 17, 2022

A man stands in front of me. He closes the door behind him. Our eyes are locked on each other, a staring contest of sorts. No one speaks. The room is silent. I'm too afraid to open my mouth.

"Hello," he finally says, breaking the silence. I do not know this man. I don't recognize him at all. He's not Justin.
"Hi," I make the words come.
"How you feeling?"
I hesitate. He walks closer to the bed and I instinctively flinch backwards. He stops and takes a step back. I swallow. "Who are you?"
"Do you remember me?" he asks. "From yesterday?"
I shake my head.
"How do you feel? Are you okay?" His voice sounds genuine, as though my answer actually matters to him. And he's easy on the eyes, which makes this whole thing even more confusing. Who is this attractive man with dark hair and blue eyes and why is he asking me if I feel okay?
"Who are you?" I say again, thinking this time he might actually answer.
He takes another step closer. "May I?"
I hesitate, then eventually nod. For some reason I don't feel fear when I look at him. I feel like I can trust him. I shouldn't be so foolish. Ted Bundy was attractive and look how that turned out.
"Did you drink any water?" he asks, nodding towards the glass.
"No. Was I supposed to?"
"Are you thirsty?"
"Yes."
"Then have some," he reaches over and picks up the glass, then hands it to me.
I hesitate, then I take it from him, our fingers brushing slightly at the exchange. I look in the glass to inspect it, which is stupid because drugs are essentially invisible. It could have something in it. I drink it anyways.
"Better?" he asks, then takes the empty glass from me.
"A little," I say. "My throat hurts. And my head hurts. This is so embarrassing, but I can't remember a thing and..." I pause. "I don't even know who you are."
He laughs and I get a full view of his teeth. He has nice teeth. Instantly an image comes to mind. The Big Bad Wolf, the little girl saying, "Oh what big teeth you have!"
All the better to eat you with.
"Should I?" I say to him. "Know who you are? Oh my God this is so embarrassing," I turn away.
"Hey," he grabs my wrist gently until I look at him again. "It's okay, don't be embarrassed. You're actually taking this all really well."
I make a face. "What do you mean?"
He tilts his head, observing me sideways. "What is the last thing you remember, Isabelle?"
My heart leaps at the sound of my own name. Recognition. I am Isabelle. Another thing to add to the list of facts I know right now.
"Um, let me think." I pause for a moment, making a face that I'm sure looks puzzling. I scan through my brain, going through the workings of my Thursday. I remember speaking to Kate at lunch. I told her about Justin. She seemed surprised but happy for me. Then I went back to work. Met with two new clients, a girl and a boy. Linda told me it was her husband's birthday and she got him a cake. That reminded me of Maya's birthday this Saturday. I look at him. "What day is it? Friday?"
"Yes. Today is Friday."
I nod and go back to thinking. After that, I left work, got in my car, drove home. It starts to get a bit foggy here. I think I took a shower. Did I make dinner? No, because I had dinner plans with Justin. So what did I do when I got home from work?
"I don't remember," I eventually tell him. "Did something happen?"
"Yes."
I stare at him, waiting for him to elaborate, but he doesn't.
"What happened?" I ask.
He stands abruptly then and it startles me. "We'll get to that soon," he says. "Is there anything I can get you? Food? Coffee? Anything you want."
I'm still confused. Why won't he tell me who he is or how I ended up here. Then I think of something. "Did you save me?" I ask. "From Justin? Did something go wrong on the date and you rescued me?"
He smiles at this and I think I've finally cracked the code and got the right answer. "Yes," he says, and I feel relief flood my body. "I rescued you," he says. "So, coffee?"
"Please."