Make Me (Editing)

thirty seven

I arrived at work half an hour early on Monday morning, hoping that the extra time would allow me to settle my self and my nerves before the inevitable reunion with Mr Gray. Our 'unrelated' holidays had reached their scheduled expiration, forcing both of us back to work to finally face our reality.

By the time the clock struck seven, I'd successfully built up the courage to go knock on his door. But there was no reply. When I walked into his office, his chair was empty and his desk was bare. There was no evidence of him in sight, which didn't sit well with me.

Nevertheless, I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, trying again an hour later, but to no avail. He wasn't in, and something really wasn't right.

"Come in," a deep voice called as I knocked on the door of my other superior. "Oh Miss Carson, to what do I owe this pleasure."

"Mr Baird," I nodded in respect. "I was actually just wondering if you'd heard from Mr Gray recently? He doesn't seem to be in today, but he hasn't informed me of a reason for his absence."

"Unfortunately, dear, I haven't had anything from him either," he seemed equally as clueless as myself. "I've left several messages, but haven't gotten a single reply."

"That's so strange," I commented. "Will you do me a favour and let me know if you hear from him?"

"You'll be the first to know, Miss Ally."

Back in the privacy of my office, I busied myself with work in an attempt to take my mind off Tyler's disappearance. Given that both the CEO and his Personal Assistant had been gone for over a week, the list of things to do was pretty much endless, which was both a blessing and a curse.

The worst part was that I didn't have the time to take a proper lunch break. Even though I'd already brought Nikki and Conner up to speed on my situation over the weekend, they were still rather bummed about me missing our routine gossip session. But I assured them that I'd be available tomorrow, and would hopefully have some developments to report.

When Tyler still hadn't shown up by the end of the work day, I decided that I'd give his apartment another try. Call me naive, but I was still holding onto the hope that I'd simply caught him at a bad time. It was about the only explanation that didn't end in tears in my mind.

But just like it had been on Friday, the penthouse was still empty and the car still missing from it's spot. And just like that, my hope took a hit.

By this point, the possibility of my feelings being reciprocated by the stubborn CEO was not even a thought in the back of my mind. My sole concern was his safety and his wellbeing, given that we had so few leads on his whereabouts.

I found myself feeling almost guilty as I walked back through the busy streets of Manhattan, as though my disappearance had ultimately caused his. But he'd known where I was, and knew the person I was with, and had no reason to believe that I was gone for good.

I also felt alone; desperately alone; despite being surrounded by crowds of people. I made up my mind then and there that being home alone wasn't on the cards tonight, and decided to instead be alone in the heart of the city, Central Park.

Walking past a sushi bar, I bought myself a container of sushi rolls, carrying it the short way to the park before finding a bench seat and staking my claim. I then started to dig in to my delicious dinner, surrounded by people and nature.

This was just my second time at Central Park; my first during daylight hours. The other had of course been during my first unofficial date with Tyler, where he'd shown me a whole different side of New York; his New York. Even though I had no clue where he was in this crazy big city, I felt strangely closer to him here, which brought a small smile to my lips as I observed my surroundings.