Chapter Twelve

Mason

I didn’t know what happened the night before, but there was a really nasty feeling in my gut over it. I was really hoping this wasn’t Missy starting to pull away from me again. We had both been so excited to see each other after I was gone for three days, and I did not expect her to bail on me like that. Something had happened from the last time I texted her to when I showed up at the studio, and it was almost mind-boggling to me. How could I have done anything to her if I wasn’t anywhere near her? When I had gotten home after her dismissal, I checked my messages again, trying to see if maybe I had said something wrong, but they were all in tune with the conversation we were having. It didn’t make any sense to me.

I grabbed my bag from the office and hopped in a car to take me over to the studio for my afternoon lesson. At least I would be able to stand in front of her, face-to-face, and try to understand where she was coming from. Maybe she really did get overwhelmed by the amount of stuff she needed to get done, but that didn’t explain her absolutely terrible tone of voice with me. She’d snapped at me, and it didn’t feel good at all. I decided that even if it cost me my lesson for the day, I wasn’t going to let her start anything until she talked to me. Working with Missy on whatever it was she was hiding was frustrating, but there was no way I could just walk away from this girl.

When I arrived at the studio, Eliza was standing at the front desk smiling. I reached down and signed the log and looked around, wondering where Missy was. Eliza grabbed her mat and headed back to the room while I just sat there staring at her.

“You coming?”

“Where is Missy?” I was really confused.

“Oh,” Eliza said, looking taken back. “She didn’t call you? She said she needed some air, so she went out of the city for the day.”

“Did she say why?”

“No,” Eliza replied, walking back over to the desk. “I assumed you would know that. She looked completely burnt-out, and I didn’t even think that maybe something else was going on. It definitely is not in her character to bail on the studio like that, which is why I agreed to take her classes without question.”

“I just don’t understand,” I said, backing up and sitting down in the reception area chair. Eliza set her stuff down and walked over, sitting down across from me. “Everything was fine, and then poof, she was gone. We had plans last night and she canceled them.”

“Missy is complicated,” Eliza sighed. “I mean her parents’ deaths years ago really messed her up when it comes to relationships. I’ve watched her struggle for years.”

“Wait, her parents died?”

“Yeah,” Eliza said slowly, realizing she had slipped up. “You know, maybe it’s best if you talk to her about these things.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “I’m going to cancel my class for today.”

“Okay,” Eliza said, nodding. “I understand.”

“When you see Missy, please have her call or text me,” I replied, standing and walking toward the door. “Thanks, Eliza.”

My car wasn’t out front, not due to arrive till my lesson was over, so I took a walk through the Art District to try to clear my mind. I didn’t understand in any way, shape, or form why she wouldn’t have told me about her parents. Their deaths, coupled with what sounded like a terrible run with relationships in the past, all came together in one harmonious realization of why she was acting this way. Everything made sense now, and her flight response was not abnormal at all. But being left in the dark had made me feel like I had done something wrong. If she had told me about them from the beginning, I would have known how to handle everything, and it would have been a bit different than I currently was handling it.

I called the car as I walked, letting them know where I was. It only took them a few minutes to come pick me up, but instead of heading back to the office, I went home. I needed some quiet and space to think about what was happening and come up with some way to fix it. Missy was an amazing girl, and the last thing I wanted to do was lose her over this.

When I got home, I grabbed a couple of beers and went out onto my balcony overlooking the cityscape. I sat there for almost the entire day just thinking about everything that had happened. I dissected every move and motion that Missy had made and all of it started to make sense to me. I texted her a couple of times, not mentioning her parents, but trying to coax her into talking to me. She didn’t answer any of the messages, and by the time the moon was high in the sky, I couldn’t help but start to worry about where she was.

I went to bed that night with a full brain but did the techniques that Missy had showed me and was able to relax into the warm blankets. I tossed and turned all night, never really falling asleep until about six in the morning. I had every intention of sleeping in, but that was squashed when my phone started ringing off the hook.

“Hello?” I was groggy and grumpy.

“Dude, are you in bed?” It was Chris’s guido voice on the other line.

“Yeah, dude, didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Well, get your ass up because you were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago to listen to this chick’s test recording,” he said bitterly.

“Oh, damn, that was today,” I replied. “I’m sorry, dude. I’ve been up all night with an upset stomach. Do the test and I’ll listen to it when I get up there in the morning.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I replied with a fake chuckle. “I’m serious. I’m fine.”

After hanging up with Chris, I looked over at the time. My yoga class started in an hour, but I had this sneaking suspicion that Missy wouldn’t be there to give it to me. Either way, whether it was Eliza or her, I needed to relax, so I showered, got dressed, and grabbed a cab over to the studio. As I rode along in the back of a yellow cab, I thought about how hard things must have been for Missy losing both of her parents. I had so many questions, but first I needed to get her to tell me herself what happened. I didn’t want to throw Eliza under the bus for accidentally telling me the truth. In order to get Missy to do that, though, I needed to be face-to-face with her so I could show her how much I cared.

When I pulled up, I realized everything looked slightly strange. There were no lights on, and no one was coming in and out like they usually did. On the door, there was a bright yellow sign saying that the studio was closed. I shook my head and got out of the cab, refusing to let this play out like it was. I went over to the large door leading up to Missy’s apartment and jogged inside, taking the steps two at a time. I was breathing heavily when I reached the top, and I stopped for a second to catch my breath. Reaching up, I knocked three times and stood there, listening for any sound that would tell me she was home. However, I quickly realized that there was nothing but silence coming from inside her apartment. I rapped on the door one last time before turning and walking back out to the street. I stood there with my hands on my waist, looking up and down the street. She was gone and I had no idea how to find her.

Finding her was obviously important to me, but how or why would I go hunting for someone that very obviously did not want to be found? My heart sunk down in my chest at the thought of never seeing Missy again. I had really started to care for this girl, and now she was gone with no word, no note, and a cell phone that went straight to voice mail. For the first time in my life, I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I was at a loss for words and actions. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and dialed Chris’s number. I told him to meet me at our regular spot, that I really needed to talk to him. His normal cocky attitude was taken over by the guy who never heard me say I need to talk. I jumped into the car and headed over to the bar.

When I got there, Chris wasn’t there yet, so I sat down and ordered two fingers of whiskey and sat sipping it, trying to replay the last few weeks in my head. As I thought about Missy and the new information I had, I started to feel bad for Missy and wanted nothing more than to take her in my arms and reassure her. I looked over as Chris walked in, his suit on point, his hair perfect, and his smile as charming as ever.

“Hey, man,” he said, slapping me on the shoulder and ordering a drink. “What’s up?”

“Missy dipped again,” I sighed. “But this time she closed the studio and completely dipped.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” I shook my head. “When I got back from my trip, we were supposed to get dinner, but she bailed, looking nervous and irritated. Then, the next day, she took the day off. When I went to my class today, she had closed the studio with a note on the door.”

“No explanation? I just don’t get this chick,” Chris said, shaking his head.

“Well, her best friend, Eliza, slipped up and told me that both of her parents had died when she was little and that she struggled with that,” I replied. “Apparently it really affects her relationships with other people.”

“I’m going to be brutally honest with you, bro,” Chris said, turning to me. “You need to let this one go. I don’t know what you got so hooked on with this girl, but I think that you are missing the bigger picture. This is a whole lot of unneeded drama. It is not your job to save this chick from herself.”

I listened to Chris talk, and part of me wanted to agree, but the other part of me thought he was completely wrong. Missy was an amazing woman, and she deserved a man who was going to fight for her. She couldn’t continue going through life running from every chance she ever had at love because she was afraid of loss. When she did that, she’d already lost, and everything ended up being for nothing.

I stayed at the bar talking to Chris until the evening. When night had come, Chris and I went over to another bar, and I began drowning myself in liquor. There was a really hot blonde chick sitting next to me trying to drum up a conversation. Normally that would make me want to chase her until she let me plow her, but I couldn’t get Missy’s face out of my head.

In a drunken stupor, I left the blonde where she sat and made my way home. I needed to rest and regroup—I was not going to let her get away from me this easy.