THE MASKED (Sequence 1)

CHAPTER 23

RICHARD'S POV
I was so happy when my angel agreed to my request although she was kinda resistant at first but later gave in. After which, I left to greet other guests leaving her to get to know her fiancée. After sometime, Gate came to tell me that he was leaving . We talked for a while before deciding to path but before he left, I asked about the whereabouts of my angel.
What he said shocked me.
" she left immediately you did"
"Really? To where?"
"I don't know. She just left without a word and when I tried to stop her, she gave me a death glare"
"Am sorry for that. But I know my daughter. She'll come around when you show her the sweet side of you.."
"Am sorry sir but I don't understand "
"My daughter is a simple girl. She loves romance and if you can sweep her off her feet, she'll come running into your arms"
He thought for a while and with the way he was looking, I think he doesn't have an idea of what to do.
"Come closer"
I whispered something to him and he nod his head in agreement to the plan. Am sure with that Emy will fall for Gate.
We shook hands and he left. Speaking of my princess, I know I have chosen a good man for her. A man who would take care of her and everything I got. You might be thinking that am being unfair to my son but I know he would squander everything so I left just one company for him. if I give him now, he might reject it so am keeping it till later.
After searching for few minutes,i spotted Zena dancing with a couple of kids. I felt relieved and went straight to ask her. She looked drunk and couldn't give me a tangible answer of where my princess could be. Frustrated, i walked up to the microphone
"hey...hello...angel where ever you are, meet me outside. We need to talk"
with that, i went outside and i noticed that her car wasn't there either. She must have drove out in annoyance. Oh God what have i done. I thought what i did was for the best. What if she currently injured and cant get help, what if she had an accident and is probably lying dead.... I mentally slapped myself. Why am i assuming stupid things. I mean, she's a big girl right? I just hope she's okay. Am going to go home and get some rest. If she doesn't come home tomorrow, then am certainly reporting to the police. I just hope the car has a tracker installed in it or something. Let me call Nils...no, I'll call him tomorrow. I might just be paranoid.

* * *
I rubbed my face and stretched my body while sluggishly opening my heavy eyelids. My eyes were greeted by the bright light shinning from the windows. I forced my eyes closed and opened it again. I checked the time,9:00am. The events of yesterday came flooding into my mind. I rushed into the bathroom,performed the normal morning rituals while praying for my daughter to be soundly sleeping in her room. I took long strides to Emy's room and my fears were confirmed.
I quickly took my car keys and off i drove to the police station. I related the events to them. After which, i took out my phone to place a call across to Nils.
"hey"
"good morning"
"how are you"
"am good"
"and my sister"
"she's improving"
"OK. Hmm...is there a tracker in the car you gave Emy?"
"yes...is there any problem" i sighed in relief.
"no,there isn't"
"why do i have a feeling that something is wrong?"
"don't worry yourself..its nothing i cant handle"
"ok"
"just take care of yourself and my sister..I'll see you guys soon"
I quickly gave the policemen the new update and they went to work with it.
The car was later traced to a bar not too far from the hotel where the party was hosted. A Darm bar? What could she possibly be doing in a bar? I know for a fact that she hates alcohol so why would she be in a bar?
Immediately we entered, i scanned the small bar with my eyes. I saw people sitting in groups and a man who seemed to be the bar attendant talking to a suppose customer. I approached and asked if he has seen my daughter who drove in there last night, not leaving anything out in the description i gave him. To my disappointment, he said he hasn't seen someone like that since he resumed duty.
On hearing that, the head of the investigation unit asked to see the person who was on duty the night before.
After some time a man walked in and after interrogation he opened up that a certain young man came in yesterday night and then after few minutes, a girl with my exact description came in and sat with him and when she was drunk, he took her away. A guy? but that wasn't what i told Bill to do. What am i even saying,she left without talking to him. Does it mean she had a boyfriend or something? What if they eloped together? No, she would do no such thing.
The policemen searched clueless and still couldn't find her in hours.
What am I going to do?

ALEJANDRO'S POV
For some days i was on the spot were she left me, drinking my life out. WTF she left me.
I've always felt it will never work
Now I'll have to tell myself a few words from the heart
Look at how far we've come
And am here now but if you think nobody ain't hurt, best believe I am
Look i cant turn back right now
Even though am out here stressing, gat to do my best and let it go.
So I cant look back now but I gat to keep pressing on till I get out of this somehow.
Am in a serious mess and i know that I stink. I've been here for one, two, three, four days? I don't even know how long I've been here but I know I've been here without taking my bath or eaten anything. I never wanted to accept the fact that i love her now see what accepting that fact has brought me? Hmm...
Jonah suddenly appeared in the house.
"hey man"
"WTF...what you doing mehn. You look like shit"
"stop that man...am fine"
"you're not..you know what, lets get you cleaned up. We can talk about the problem later"
He helped me up and washed me while telling the workers to take care of my mess.
He left me to dress and went downstairs to prepare something with the instruction of meeting him downstairs in less than ten minutes.
He's kinda bossy and he is acting like my father now. At least he succeeded in making me forget my doom for few minutes.
Jonah is my friend. We met at a party and ever since we've been together. He's my partner in crime. When i say partner i mean we go clubbing together, bang women, discuss dirty stuff and plan for the future. When i told him I found love, he laughed at me big time saying that I've joined the slave club association. If I tell him she dumped me, he's gonna say he warned me so am not telling him anything.
She dumped me...
Fuck you Richard...
Darm you Bill...
Its still kinda hard to believe that she left me because of them. She told me she loved me. I smiled when i remembered how hard i banged her last night...wait last night? OMFG so I have been in one place for over three days. Emilia, see what you made me do. I loved her with the whole of my soul and life. She betrayed me. I don't think I'll be able to look her in the face anymore.
For the past four days I've been crying and wishing that it was all a bad dream that i could just wake up from but it ain't a dream to wake up from. Am stock.
I walked downstairs pushing those thoughts aside. The aroma of the food greeted me half way down the stairs. This is the only good thing that I can say Jonah is capable of. His food is so good, you could eat the plate. As soon as i entered the kitchen and sat down, my stomach grumbled. Am so hungry.
"that's it mehn....you look better"
"whatever...what you preparing?"
"how is it your business?"
"this is my kitchen and everything that happens here is my business. Don't think I'll go down on my knees and grovel because of food. Nah. Am not hungry....ok?"
immediately I said that, my stomach grumbled out loud. Shit. Why do you have to be that loud. Jonah gave me a teasing smirk..
"ok...a little"
he laughed for long before setting the table. We ate in silence. I know he was itching to know what was wrong but I gave him the I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it look. He used that as a cue to be quiet and the next time he talked, he made mention of going to a certain party and i must be in attendance. Hmm...i know there's no way I can reject his offer. That's Jonah for you, bossy.

* * *
Party, its been so long. As normal, people where dancing while others were drinking. While the loud music blast through my ears, we pass a couple of people making out. I took a cup of drink that was being passed around. The whole place was too crowded with bodies. Jonah was busy blending in but i took it as a cue to leave. I walked for a while before going into a bar. I know am being stupid for deciding to drink more but that's the only way out of this hell am in. The attendant greeted me with a flashing smile while giving me a wink. She was visibly flirting with me.
I would have fall for all her stunts but she's obviously not my type. Something being said on TV caught my attention. It was about a missing person. When i heard the name of the person my heart stopped beating.....
Miss EMILIA RODERICO, the fiancée of Mr BILL GATE and the daughter of CORNEL RICHARD RODERICO has been reported to be missing for the past five days. If seen please report to the nearest police station....