This Can't Be Love

Chapter 9: Where is Aaron?

Samantha goes through a few pages of the phone book and stops. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her cell phone. She dials a number as she looks at the phone book. She brings the phone to her ear as she turns to face Bethany again. There is an obvious sense of concern among the two that they are both trying to hide from each other. Samantha offers Bethany a closed-mouth smile and in return gets a nod as she waits for her phone call to be answered.

"Uh, yes. May I please speak to Aaron Walsh? ... Sam Lawrence, or, Samantha, I guess... yeah... sure, I'll hold."

Samantha covers the phone with her free hand and mouths the word "transferring" to her mother.

"Ah, yes hello, Aaron? ... Oh... Sorry, well this is his friend Sam, I... Yeah hi! Hehe I didn't think you'd remember me... yup... yeah"

Samantha turns her back to Bethany again and looks down to the ground with a furrowed brow.

"... Well when's he coming back? ...Really? ... Yeah we got that too. Do you have his house number? ... hmm okay, what about his address? ... Mmm hmm... Thanks... okay, you too.... Bye."

Samantha ends the phone call and puts her cell phone on the counter. Bethany walks around the counter and to the front of Samantha.

"What did he say?"

"That was Robert Schwartz... He says Aaron hasn't been to the company in weeks."

"Oh dear. They haven't heard from him either."

"Not exactly. He said the last he heard from him was the Monday after the hotel incident. He said Aaron called him to say he's going on an impromptu vacation... But that doesn't seem like right to me."

"He probably just needed time away from town, you know, to clear his head."

"I don't know, Robert said Aaron was supposed to be back a week ago but that they haven't heard anything from him. The company's been calling him and leaving messages, but after a while they started getting the same automated answer you got, full mailbox."

"What do you think happened?"

Samantha walks over to the coat rack and grabs her coat.

"I have no idea, but it's strange."

She puts her coat on and takes a set of keys that hang beside the door.

"What are you doing? Where you going?"

"Robert gave me Aaron's address so I'm gonna go over there and see if he's there.

"You sure you wanna do that? He obviously doesn't wanna be bothered."

"Mom, am I the only one who gives a crap? I mean nobody's heard from him in over three weeks, yet nobody seems to care enough to even file a missing person's report? What the hell is that? What if he never made it back from his vacation?"

"Doll, I'm sorry, I... Look, let me go with you."

Moments later, as they drive through the crisp windy morning, Samantha is at the wheel of her mother's car and her mother Bethany in the passenger seat. The automated GPS voice is heard...

*Take the next left on... Spruce Street... and then... merge right.*

Samantha follows the instruction and turns at the next intersection. Bethany takes a deep breath before speaking to her.

"I know this is a sensitive subject, doll, but... But what if when we get there we find that he..."

"...Did the same thing that Michael did? Yeah, I've been thinking that... Which is why I'm even more worried."