Nobody knew of my mission.
Letting my parents in on any of it had been out of the question from the very beginning and this was something I had decided to keep from Jake too.
Jake Ryan was my oldest friend. We grew up together for the first twelve years of our lives on this planet, and then I had to move away with my parents who decided to explore unknown lands for quick fortune and quicker success.
I had initially been very upset with my parents' decision to relocate, not understanding in that moment how necessary it had become for our survival. My father found solid footing the minute we moved into the big city and I realized in that very instant what our lives had been lacking up until then. He worked for people who valued his work, his dedication and his want to do more and better. He was happy working with people who appreciated and recognized his hard work. My mother was happy about my father having finally found a place that he enjoyed working at, not knowing that seventeen years down the line he would come to own the very company he had started out with and lead it into the big bad world with all of his strength and vigor. My mother also found a place to work, a women’s help center, not very far from home and became actively engaged in helping the homeless women of the neighborhood. Seeing my parents so full of life, I slowly began to let go of my anger and began to settle. I found myself gradually letting go of the past, my life in that small town where Jake and I had grown up together, and began to look forward to my days in the city with much more enthusiasm and excitement. Days changed into months, months into years and before we knew it, my family had transformed into true city dwellers-- loving the automation, the taxis, the beautiful restaurants, the rich culture, the politics, the glamour, the sophistication, the people and the unpredictable weather.
Distance, we believed, only made our hearts grow fonder. Jake and I never lost touch and kept our friendship alive and strong all throughout those years. I knew everything about him, probably more than his parents and his girlfriend of almost ten years. She was kind and smart-- just the girl for Jake. She was secure as far as their relationship was concerned and never displayed any discomfort or suspicion about our friendship. She understood what she shared was pure camaraderie and unadulterated love for each other and for that I always respected her. She and I became good friends over the years and I always asked about her in my letters to Jake which he'd reply to with much enthusiasm, never sparing any details.
It started about two years ago. My older sister Gina was working as an intern at the local city bank. She was an honors student and the best in her class, always. She had been hoping to take a break from academics and participate in an oversees social project when the job opportunity came knocking at her door, all by itself. My parents were proud as usual, Gina mostly surprised and confused, and I for once was in complete awe of my sister. She was brilliant--smart and witty and generous and loving. She was engaged to be married by the end of her work contract and I couldn't have been happier for her. Jake and I were the most delighted when Gina and William, Jake's older brother, made their relationship public.
But our happiness didn’t last long. It had been a mere six months into her tenure when I started to notice changes. Gina started to get moody and was easily irritable. She grew secretive of her work and stopped sharing silly office gossip with both me and mother. After some time she started to keep away from William too.
At first I just let her be. I knew my sister was smart and if there was something troubling her she was well equipped to take care of herself and deal with the situation. But soon, I began to worry. Her behavior wasn’t normal because she was someone always calm and in control but now she seemed to be losing it. She wouldn’t pay attention when any of us brought up wedding prep, stopped taking William's calls and would meet him at odd hours, either on the pretext of a post-dinner walk or out-of-the-blue ice-cream cravings. She asked my mother to never again step inside her room and took away my copy of the keys to her cupboard one day, explaining nothing. William began to get anxious too; he was confused. He'd call me up multiple times in the day just so I could assess Gina’s mood and give him an update. When he began to worry my father realized it wasn’t just regular every day office nonsense that was causing trouble for his daughter at work, transforming her into a stranger all of us failed to recognize.
My father, Daniel Kramer, was a patient man. He spoke very little, but whenever he did, there would be nobody who wasn’t listening. With Gina acting different every second of each passing day and scaring everybody in the house, dad decided to talk it out with her one day. He called her into his office, taking her by surprise and took her out to lunch to her favorite bistro. He had always been a caring, gentle and loving father but he had never placed family before work, not until that day. Gina didn’t drop by dad’s office and told him that she would see him at the bistro instead. Dad didn’t push her on this and quietly agreed. I was the only one who knew of this planned rendezvous and his determination to get to the bottom of whatever it was that was creating so much tension and angst in her. Gina was punctual; she stuck to her word and met dad at Bill’s Kitchen in precisely an hour.
Hi honey! It is good to see you. How have you been?, said dad, calm and composed.
I am good dad. Why are we meeting here, like this, on a weekday? What’s wrong?, replied Gina.
She was edgy, looking over her shoulder every five minutes. She held on to her bag so tight as if she was ready to leave any second. She didn’t even look through the menu and ordered a glass of red wine and a cold salad. Who was this woman?, I thought to myself, sitting only two tables away from them some 10 feet away. Dad asked for a cup of coffee, waited for the waiter to leave the two of them alone and spoke again.
Fine, I’ll get straight to the point. I called you here to meet with you so that I could speak with you privately and try and figure out what it is that has been bothering you at work. I am worried and so is your mother. William spoke to me only yesterday and he sounded anxious. And Alex, don’t even get me started. She has been the most worried of us all. You can’t deny that something is wrong because you haven’t been yourself for some time now. So I decided to take the matter into my own hands and summoned you here. What is it baby? What is eating you inside out Gina?
That was impressive. My dad hadn’t turned into the softy that he is whenever he gets down to talking to Gina or I. He was crisp, sounded concerned but determined to find out what was truly going on with my sister. The waiter interrupted and Gina seemed glad. As he lay down the food on the table, Gina seemed to be preparing herself to answer dad’s questions. I could see he had caught her in a tight spot and she couldn’t just walk away from him, not now.
Dad, everything is okay, said Gina, I don’t know why you are all so worried. She had never sounded so unconvincing.
I want you to tell everyone that everything is okay. That nothing is wrong with me. You have to promise that you will make everyone believe that, she said, almost breaking down. Her face was wrought with a deep unknown pain. She sounded weak, like she had given up fighting a battle she had anyway been losing.
I know you are all confused now but you will understand soon. I just need some time. And you have to make William understand that he must not question me much, just trust me and love me how he always has.
Something was not quite right. Gina’s plea to keep everyone quiet in the house about her situation seemed odd. She was restless and didn’t touch the food on the table. She called for the waiter, asked him to take her food away. What was wrong with her! Everything seemed out of place. Dad was lost and didn’t know how to keep up with her. She kept checking her cell phone every ten minutes and when dad asked who she was expecting to hear from, she wouldn’t say. Her smile did little to reassure our father. They sat there silently while I had a million questions brewing in my head.
Gina, you are in trouble, that much I know. I know you are brave and strong but you have to let me help you, dad said next, making an effort one last time to get something, anything out of her but Gina was as stubborn as ever. Her face was so dreadful to look at that for a good two minutes dad’s could not seek the courage to speak again. She looked right at him and whispered an apology.
Dad decided to drop the conversation. I knew he couldn’t see her agonized. If only talking about whatever was going on vexed her beyond comprehension, he wondered what he'd be putting her through if he pushed her to the edge. He offered to drop her to work and she agreed. I decided to stay back and meet William. I wasn’t going to tell him about what went down here but I could at least tell him that whatever it was, he needed to be by Gina’s side in this difficult time. She needed him to be patient.
Dad and Gina walked out of the restaurant and waited for the valet to get dad’s car. This last hour had been so tense, I didn’t realize I had downed three pints of beer already. Nobody else at the restaurant looked perturbed. Everyone present was having a good time, enjoying with friends and family. I had never felt so alone; all of this was too much to deal with at eighteen. I confirmed my lunch date with William and snug deeper into the comfy chair, wanting to past out right there. It couldn’t have been more than five minutes later when I saw dad make his way back into the restaurant.
Alex, I lost Gina. I left her waiting for me, I was away for just a few minutes but she was gone by the time I got back outside. No one saw her leave.
I calmed dad down and asked for a glass of water for him. I called Gina on her cell but she didn’t take my call. Her office was only a ten-minute walk from the restaurant and she'd often go out for long walks whenever she needed to clear her mind. I called her office to check if she was back already but she wasn’t in. In fact, she had called in sick just an hour ago. I cancelled meeting William, excusing myself to finish off some urgent work at the university and dialed Gina's phone number again. As I was walking dad out, I heard Bill call out to me. Bill Carson was the chef-owner of the bistro and a good friend of the family. I remember him giving me, Gina, Jake and William a tour of the kitchen when we were all kids.
Hey Alex! There you are. I have been looking all over for you, Bill said.
How did he know I was here and why was he looking for me? I had promised him a few weeks ago that I'd visit his place next only when I had someone special in my life whom I'd be interested in introducing to him, but I didn't think he'd be serious about it. Maybe he was expecting good news but unfortunately I had nothing for him.
Hello, Bill. How are you? Dad and I would love to stay but we are in a rush.
Bill was sweet and always pleasant company but essentially he was a chatty old man at heart. If you didn’t break loose soon enough he could keep you latched all night long with his mundane stories.
Now's not a good time. I am sorry but we need to leave right away.
It’s okay Alex. I won’t keep you and Daniel waiting. I just wanted to give you this envelope. Gina left it with me an hour ago and requested me to deliver it to you. I asked her if everything was okay but she didn’t say a word. I just received her text to come out here and give you this.
Bill pulled out an envelope from his breast pocket and placed it on the table between us. It was an ordinary white envelope addressed to me with no other writing on it. I hurriedly picked it up and shoved it deep inside my handbag.
Thanks, Bill. It's probably her wanting me to solve some crazy stupid puzzle. You know how she loves to keep us wondering. Thank you again. We’ll see you soon.
Bill and dad shook hands, and then we left. I dropped him off at Rick Nelson’s home because I didn't want to leave him alone. Rick was dad's oldest and best friend, and they also worked together. I instructed dad not to share a word of what had happened with Rick. He was a trustworthy guy but right now I wanted nobody involved.
Take care, dad. And do not worry. I'll speak with Gina the second I locate her.
I drove off as fast as I could and cut down a forty-minute drive into half. I ran upstairs to my room, locked the doors, switched off my phone and sat down on my bed emptying the contents of my bag. From everything sprawled all over my bed, I wished I didn’t have that envelope looking right at me. I said a tiny prayer in my head and wished that it wasn’t anything terrible. That it was just Gina being Gina, a little eccentric and not at all in danger. But the stars must have aligned against me that very moment because what was in that envelope changed my life forever. It was a tiny piece of paper but with words on it a thousand tons.
William is in danger. Keep him safe.