The Void

I woke up feeling relaxed and at the same time with a tingling sensation in my belly. It was a good feeling.

I reached for my phone. A message. Excited, I swiped across the screen. Oh. Not from him.

From Bille: Well? Did he? Did you guys?

What should I say? “Yes, but not like you think.” How lame sounded that?

Instead, I opened the chat with him. I read his last message again.

“I want you!”

I exhaled sharply. Wow. Hot. If he were here now, if he was lying next to me in bed, I would know what I would do. But he wasn’t.

I typed: “Did you sleep well?” And a kissy face emoji.

No reply. I waited. Still no reply. He was probably still asleep.

I took a shower. Then I put my evening dress back on. I didn't have anything else. But I didn't complain. It was just so gorgeous. The other hotel guests would surely stare when I floated over to the breakfast buffet like that. Let them.

Cell phone? Still no reply. You sleepyhead!

I went out into the hallway, one room down, to knock. Maybe I'd wake him up, get him out of bed, and he'd open the door with just a towel around his hips. Hmm! I barely touched the door and it swung open.

The maid looked up from making the bed and smiled politely. “Good morning,” she said with an accent.

He was gone.

No note. No message. No “Good morning” or “Sorry, urgent appointment, but see you later.”

Just a message at the front desk: “A taxi has been ordered for Miss Cloe. Everything paid in advance.”

I cried like a schoolgirl whose favorite doll had disappeared. No appetite. No breakfast. Just home.

I sat in the back seat of the taxi. The dress clung to me like the remnants of a dream that would never come true.

At home, I changed my clothes and went to the office.

At work, I was told, “The CEO is out of town all week on business.” Where? Confidential.

I looked at my phone. No calls. No messages.

Nothing.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I held my phone tightly, stared at the screen, typed messages to him that I never sent.

Was he playing with me?

Or had the game been over long ago without me noticing?

Bille wrote: You still alive?

I never replied.