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Four years later.....
Griffin sighed as he threw the completed piles of paperwork onto the front desk of The Tremont hotel, rejoicing at the fact that all of the hotel's bills had been paid for the month. But just in case, he flipped through all of the pages again to make sure that he didn't miss anything, and sighed in relief when he saw that it was all in order.
About a month after he had been released from the hospital, Griffin had decided to move back to his old hometown of Sulphur Springs, Louisiana as a way to feel closer to Harper and took over ownership of The Tremont so that way his parents and Mrs. Dunn could retire and enjoy life since they were starting to get up there in years. And he enjoyed every minute of it. He had hired some bellboys and concierges so that way he wouldn't run himself ragged managing the hotel all by himself, and he still kept up his guitar playing whenever he had the chance, so life was good.
On his desk in the manager's office lay a pile of books about some of his favorite rock artists, as well as a few other personal items he had kept over the years, including a Darth Vader snowglobe that Wyatt had gifted him for his 16th birthday and a CD of some of the band Metallica's greatest hits. His gaze finally rested on a photograph, and he picked it up to look at it. As he ran his fingers over the mahogany picture frame, he gazed at the occupants of the picture, all of whom were smiling as they enjoyed their family outing in Audubon Park in downtown New Orleans. His sister Zoey had her arms wrapped around Topher with their sides turned to the camera while they looked enchanted at the marvelous evening sunset. Their little five-year-old daughter Makaylah was being her usual hyperactive self and looked almost like a blur as she was jumping around in pure glee. Wyatt was seated on Topher's right as he bit down on a hot dog that was absolutely slathered in ketchup and mustard, staining his lips. Griffin was the one who had taken the picture.
His eyes became moist and damp as he thought about the one person who had been missing from the photo. The only person he wanted to be in the photo. The one person who had been absent from all of their group photographs for the last four years.
His girlfriend, Harper Dunn.
He had been willing himself for the last four years not to think of and/or about her. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't seem to get her out of his mind. He hadn't seen her in four years, but the pain of her absence was still as strong as it was in the present. He knew that it would never be possible for him to completely get her out of his mind. Whenever he closed his eyes, he could still see her face and her long, flowing curly, black hair. The round almond shape of her honey-brown eyes. All the contours of her body, and the chilling feeling of her skin up against his. He could still hear her soft, caring voice and the smile that she reserved especially for him. Whenever someone made a joke, he still expected to her giddy laughter, which he often teased her about, but secretly loved. The way her eyes twinkled and shone brightly whenever she thought of a joke she could play on Topher....
"No," he stopped himself. He had to get Harper out of his head ---- all he was doing was torturing himself. Whenever his mind drifted off to thoughts of Harper Dunn, he would often need to retreat inside of himself, usually with an art book of some sort. All art reminded him of her. But Harper was gone now, and it was time for him to move on.
But it was simply no use. No matter how hard he tried to forget, memories of that fateful day came rushing back to him. Memories he desperately wished that he could forget. Memories he wished would just go away. But they always stayed in his mind, coming back just to haunt him. They were like a constant disease at the back of his mind, which he would not be able to rid himself of for the rest of his life.
If he had just been able to prevent her from leaving the apartment, or maybe accompanied her to the meeting, or just took her out for lunch, he might've been able to prevent what happened to her. The image of the guest bedroom being an absolute disaster was still perfectly sketched in his mind to this day. Even four years later, those feelings of nausea and dizziness always returned whenever his mind brought him back to that day.
Griffin sighed heavily as he set the photograph back down on his desk and his flashback ended. Even four years later, after everyone had moved on, he still couldn't. He remembered everything. He remembered the long weeks that he, Zoey, Topher, Wyatt, and their parents all spent searching for Harper. Even Makaylah helped, although she was way too young to fully comprehend what was going on. He remembered coming home to his apartment, and soon after that, The Tremont every night as defeat clouded him. He remembered how he never had the courage to tell everyone else about their relationship, thinking that it would simply make everything worse. He remembered what he'd wished that he'd done when she was still here. When it could have mattered.
With these thoughts still clouding his mind, Griffin left the office and went upstairs to his bedroom and immediately made his way over to his closet, where he kept his most personal and private possessions hidden in an old shoe box. These were things that he hoped his siblings and Topher would never see. There were numerous Polaroid photos of him and Harper as a couple ---- kissing, holding hands, lovingly staring into each other's eyes as if the rest of the world didn't even exist. It was a look that he realized he may never see again.
Among the many numerous gifts, cards, and souvenirs from their relationship, there was one special object that caught his eye. It was the one that he had been searching for. The small velvet box was covered with dust from the time it spent hidden in the shoe box for the past four years, but thankfully, the gorgeous diamond ring that was inside the box was still sparkling clean as the day it was when he had purchased it from a KAY'S Jeweler's store on a crazy, impulsive whim late one night.
That small ring was the reason why he had asked Harper about bringing their relationship out into the open ---- he had so desperately wanted to marry her, start a life together. To finally have a perfect future. He had planned to give it to her if she had agreed to come clean about their relationship to their others, but fate had other plans, and now, that ring would probably never make its way onto Harper's finger, where it rightfully belonged.
He had spent weeks after her disappearance staring at the ring, imagining the proposal he was planning, imagining himself placing the ring onto her finger as she agreed to commit herself to him forever. After Harper's disappearance, he couldn't bring himself to just give the ring away; he felt as if the ring, among some of the other objects that were hidden away in the shoe box, were the only things he had left of her that would truly keep her memory alive.
As Griffin sat down on his bed with the ring box still in his hand, he felt himself being hit with a sudden flashback as he remembered one of his favorite moments that he and Harper had shared shortly after they had begun dating. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eight years earlier.....
The rain was falling down from the gray clouds in the sky as The Tremont hotel was alive and buzzing with all sorts of activity. Guests were mindlessly chatting with one another on the patio as they enjoyed one of Jess' many delicious baked goods, the staff were cleaning rooms and washing windows, and Ben and Sarah were sipping on coffee as they relished in the sight of the hotel's business. And amongst all of the cacophony and chaos of the hotel that was surrounding him, 17-year-old Griffin Campbell was heading down the stairs towards the lobby as he made his way to the kitchen to find something to sooth his thirst and hunger after he had worked up a sweat shooting hoops in the driveway, despite the relentless downpour of the rain.
Almost immediately after he had reached the bottom of the stairs, Griffin saw Topher waiting for him.
"Hey, Toph, what's up?" he asked politely as he moved out of the way of a guest.
Topher hummed as he grabbed Griffin by the wrist and started to pull him towards the parlor, much to his confusion and bewilderment. "Uh, Topher, what's going on here? I'm sweating like crazy, and I'd like to get a nice hot shower in before that one guest in room 113 uses it all up."
"Oh, sorry, Griff," he said sheepishly as he came to a stop and let go. "Well, I'm in a little bit of a pickle."
Griffin's face softened as he saw that the younger boy looked a little distressed. "What's going on, man?"
Topher sighed as his cheeks turned a slight rosy color. "Well, as you may know, Wyatt and Zoey's birthday is coming up soon, and I have absolutely no idea what to get Zoey. I already got Wyatt a brand-new catcher's mitt so he's ready for next year's baseball season, but I've gone half-crazy trying to think of a gift that I can get for Zoey. And it can't be something lame, either. Zoey is special. She's not like other girls. She's sweet and smart and really funny and also maybe kinda cute," he said before he quickly caught himself and cleared his throat. "Er, um, forget I said anything. The point is I don't want to get her the wrong gift, and have her hate me for the rest of my life. Can you help me, Griffin?!" he asked frantically.
Griffin chuckled. Despite what Topher thought, he actually already knew about the younger boy's gigantic crush on his younger sister, and he didn't have a problem with it or with them dating. But he knew that know was not the time to tease Topher with that sorta thing, and gently placed his hand on his shoulder to help him calm down.
"Topher, Zoey would love anything you got her, whether it be a bouquet of flowers from that new flower shop that just opened a few weeks ago, or a simple box of chocolates from the grocery store. But I think if you asked her nicely, Harper would be more than happy to draw a picture of you and Zoey hanging out together. Her art skills are unparalleled, and I bet she would love finally getting an official commission from someone instead of just filling up her sketchbook with whatever she feels like drawing," Griffin said calmly.
Topher's face softened considerably as he listened to what Griffin was saying. "You know what? You're right, Griffin. Zoey loves Harper's drawings just as much you do, so I bet she'd love to have one of her pieces hanging up in her room where she can it everyday," he said excitedly as he started to race back towards the stairs. "Did anyone tell you that you're a bona fide genius, Griffin? 'Cause you are. Thanks again," he called as he ran up the stairs to the second floor.
Griffin chuckled, happy that he was able to help get Topher out of his funk, and continued to walk towards the kitchen, but heard Wyatt grumble in the parlor, and went to go see what was troubling his younger brother.
"Hey, Wyatt, what's up?"
Wyatt crawled out from under one of the round, circular tables in the parlor and huffed in annoyance. "Well, Griffin, the hinges on the door to room 209 are loose, and Dad is going to fix them, but he can't find his red Phillips screwdriver anywhere, and made me go look for it since I was sitting on a couch in the lobby and wasn't doing anything else. But so far, I've had zero luck finding the dumb thing. Do you know where it might be?" he asked as he stood back up and brushed some dust off his pants.
Griffin sighed. "I honestly don't, but I think you should check the basement. I saw Dad use it a few weeks ago to help him replace a loose floorboard. Maybe it rolled under the stairs or something," he said nonchalantly as he helped Wyatt push back the chairs into the table.
Wyatt snapped his fingers as the realization hit him. "Of course! Why didn't I think to look there? Thanks a lot, Griffin. In case you didn't know it, you're a real genius. See ya later," he said as he ran off towards the basement, leaving Griffin alone in the parlor.
"That's the second time someone's called me a genius today," he thought to himself as a small smile formed on his lips. "Did I cross over into some sort of parallel universe?" he asked before he chuckled as he realized the chances of a parallel universe existing were about as good as aliens being real or time travel being possible.
Chuckling to himself, he walked back into the kitchen, and began to peer through the cupboards and the fridge, trying to find something to soothe his raging appetite when he heard the sound of the coffee pot starting to bubble and the sweet smell of honey lemon tea hit his nostrils.
"Is someone making tea?" he asked as Zoey walked into the kitchen, a Tremont hotel coffee mug in her hand.
"Yeah," she answered as she removed the coffee pot from the machine and began to pour it into the mug. "Mrs. Dunn has a sore throat, so I'm hoping some honey lemon tea will help with that," she answered as she took a quick sip of the tea to make sure that it wasn't too hot, and smiled in satisfaction when she knew that it wasn't.
Griffin hummed as he pulled out a bag of pretzels, a bag of Swedish Fish, and a bag of nacho cheese Doritos out of the cupboard and a bag of Peanut M&Ms out of the fridge. "I see you watching Jess in the kitchen has finally started to pay off after all this time," he said with a small chuckle.
Zoey stuck out her tongue at her brother as she began to stir the tea. "Oh, whatever. Also, what's up with all the snacks in your hands? I'm not even on my period, and you don't even like Swedish Fish," she said as she pointed to the snacks he was currently holding tight against his chest in his arms.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Griffin asked calmly as he stepped out of the kitchen backwards and started to head back towards the stairs, completely ignoring Zoey, who was following him. "Uh, yeah, that's why I asked, dipshit!"
"Language," Ben called from the front desk as he checked out a guest.
"Fine, that's why I asked, dipstick!" Zoey corrected herself as she watched Griffin start to walk up the stairs with the snacks in hand.
"Zozo, don't you have other things you need to be doing right now? It's Saturday, and I'd like to just enjoy it by munching on yummy junk food that's gonna rot my brain and watch TV. Smell you later," he called as he finally reached the top of the stairs and quickly retreated into his bedroom, where his secret girlfriend of five months, Harper Dunn was waiting for him with a wry look on her face as she browsed through Disney+ on the TV that was set up in the bedroom.
"Took you long enough. I thought I was gonna die," she said dramatically as she scooted over to make room for Griffin on the bed as she grabbed the bag of Swedish Fish out of his hands.
"Uh, you're welcome, by the way," he said wryly.
Harper smirked at him as she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. "So, mind telling me why Topher came in here about eight-and-a-half minutes ago with two wrinkled 20s in his hands, asking me to draw him a picture of him and Zoey having a picnic by the springs?"
Griffin sighed as he popped a pretzel in his mouth and took the remote from her. "Well, he was having trouble coming up with a birthday gift that he could get for Zoey, and I suggested that he turn to you and give you a commission of them hanging out, but I wasn't expecting him to actually do it!!!" he cried in exasperation.
Harper nodded. "I agree. We've only been dating for about five months, but I'm worried that sooner or later, we're gonna get caught," she said as she sighed restlessly.
Griffin frowned when he saw the distressed expression on her face and scooted closer to her to offer her some comfort and began to slowly run his fingers through her curly hair. "Hey, hey, you don't need to worry about any of that right now, Lovey. We'll deal with all of that trouble when we get to it, but for now, how's about we just sit back, relax, and take it easy? We got all the time in the world to tell our loved ones that we've been a thing for almost five months, but for right now, none of that matters. I promise," he said gently as kissed her temple.
"Okay. Besides, I enjoy our Saturday cuddle sessions," Harper said as she smirked mischievously.
"You're not the only one, Locker Ninja," he replied as he kissed her temple again and played Up on the TV.
As Griffin and Harper cuddled close to each other and watched the movie on the TV as the rain continued to fall, Griffin couldn't help but smile in contention. Although his and Harper's relationship was a secret, he still loved getting to spend every single day with her, and to him, that was all he needed in life. He loved Harper so much, and nothing was ever going to change that.
No matter what. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As his flashback ended and Griffin came back to reality, although he felt sadness in his heart, no tears had fallen down his face. He missed Harper so much, and wanted nothing more than to have her back in his arms where she rightfully belonged, but with every passing day, he began to wonder if he would ever get his girlfriend back at all.
Just then, a sudden noise made him jump and he almost dropped the ring box since he was still holding it in his palm. He scanned the room, searching for the noise before he finally realized his phone was ringing, waiting to be answered. Although he really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, he still set the ring box down on his bed and pulled his phone out of his pocket.
"Hello?" he asked as he yawned and noticed that he was feeling very tired.
"Griffin!!!!" Zoey's voice yelled into the phone, making Griffin flinch slightly. He loved his younger sister, he really did, but he wished that she wouldn't yell so much. It always gave him a really bad migraine when she did.
"What do you want, Zozo? In case you forgot, I've got a hotel to run," he snapped as he got back up from the bed.
"Sorry about that, Griffin. But this couldn't wait," she said frantically. "After all this time, we've finally found her at last!" she cried.
"Wait, what? Found who?" he asked in confusion.
"Who do you think, dumbass?!" she replied. "We've found Harper!!!"
That was the last thing Griffin heard before his entire world went black once again. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, they've found Harper. But that's just gonna be the beginning of everyone's troubles. Although we're only two chapters into the story, there's gonna be a huge plot twist in the third chapter that y'all are not gonna see coming!!!
Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed, and I'll see you in the next one.
I love you all so fucking much!!!! Ciao 4 now!!! <3<3<3<3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------