Annabelle's POV
"Hello?" I answer the unknown phone number that called me. I had decided to get a manager. I am in this new phase, a rebuild of my career. With that, I've been packing in all sorts of gigs, music videos and whatever else you could imagine. I'm trying to distract myself. Not being busy, I feel, has led me down this path of me worrying so much. Therefore, August has been a very busy month.
This past month has been all work for me, and most of it is phone calls and emails.
So, in order to maintain a good work-life balance, and to focus on my relationship with Noah, which has grown too stale for my liking since I've created so much work for myself, I'm hiring a manager.
I'm hoping that the person on the other end of this phone call is one of the finalists to be my manager. Highly credited, she knows local places, she has a history in music. Instead, it's a voice I find all too familiar. My heart sinks into my stomach as I hear...
"Anna."
It's my father. I want to hang up the phone, but instead, I find myself frozen in time. I stand in the kitchen, feeling nothing but worry.
"Now Im glad I went through your grandmother's contacts."
My grandmother passed away a little over a year ago. Her death was one of the reasons I fled to Texas. She basically raised J and I... although my father begs to differ.
"Anna, I know you're in Texas."
I haven't heard my father's voice in so long. A part of me wants to be comforted by it, but the logical part of me doesn't allow that to happen.
"Do not look for us, or we will call the police," I threaten.
"You act so tough. You act just like your mother. But I know you."
He doesn't know me. He wants to think he does. He abandoned me. My mom died during childbirth. My dad resents me for killing his true love. My dad would get so angry at me, screaming at me. He locked me in closets, in my room. It got worse when he began taking painkillers after his knee replacement surgery.
"Do not call my number again," I say to him.
"I'm already in the state. It won't be hard for me to get to you."
Now I'm hyperventilating, "What do you even want from me?"
"What, I'm not allowed to see my precious daughter?"
I hang up the phone. My vision gets dizzy as I grab my car keys and my wallet. I put on my shoes. I have to go. I don't care where I go, I just have to bail. As I'm rushing to my car, I turn my phone all the way off. I'm not taking any chances of him finding me. I get in my car, swiftly pulling out of the driveway and I start driving. I don't care where. Anywhere but here.
————
Foolish's POV
I just got back from the gym and from the store, pulling into the driveway to find Annabelle's car gone. I raise an eyebrow, before texting her where she is. I walk inside the house to find Schlatt on the couch. He must've taken the day off.
"Where's your sister?" I ask him.
"Where's your girlfriend?" He rebuttals.
"I don't know that's why I'm asking you!"
"Well I don't know either," Schlatt tells me, before popping a few chips into his mouth.
I sigh, looking at my phone. No response from Annabelle.
I stay in the house for a few hours. I decide not to stream today either, I can't when I'm worrying about where Annabelle is. She hasn't called. I left her voicemails, text messages, everything.
"Her location is off," I tell Schlatt.
"Maybe she's out buying drugs."
I smack him.
"Ow!" he complains.
I start chewing at my nails a bit as I continue to call her. She would never go somewhere and not tell me. Does she have a music video today? I check our shared calendar. No. She has nothing scheduled but 'MANAGER PHONE CALL'. I know she wanted to take that phone call at home.
Did her phone die? Maybe she's just buying groceries. Maybe she's getting sushi for lunch across town. I call again. No response.
"She always answers her phone," I say to Schlatt.
"I'll call her. I never call her so I'm sure she will pick up," Schlatt says. He calls. No response.
"See?! There's a fucking problem," I say to him.
"Her phone probably died. You know she forgets to charge it at night," Schlatt says. I nod gently. Maybe he's right.
————
The sun has set and there has been no signs of Annabelle. I'm sick to my stomach as I've been waiting in the living room, staring at every car that drives by. I call again for what feels like the millionth time. No response.
Schlatt pulls back into the driveway after checking a few spots he thinks my girlfriend could be. He walks back into the house.
"Yeah she's either dead or she fled the country," Schlatt says.
"Not funny."
"Sorry."
Schlatt tries calling his sister again, no response. He mumbles incoherently, before frustratingly walking to the bathroom. I am about to lose my mind. Where is she? Alex is in Mexico for the week, surely she didn't go and meet him there. That's something we would do together. Or, at least, she would tell me before doing so.
There's an unknown car that pulls up in front of the house. A man gets out of the car, shutting the car door and walking up our driveway. When he knocks, I go over to the door.
"Hello?" I say. Maybe this is someone who knows something about what Annabelle's up to. Someone she hired for a music video.
"Is Annabelle here?" the man asks. He does not look young. His hair grey, a goatee prominent on his face. He has blue eyes similar in hue to Belle's. I immediately notice the huge dark circles under his eyes and his extremely skinny figure.
"Who are you?" I ask.
"Her father."