20th December 2019
Noel's POV:
"You are telling me the exact thing that Renita had told us", the cop leaned back on the chair and massaged his little tummy.
"I can only tell what happened sir, nothing more nothing less and nothing to hide", I said still refusing to believe that the girl I had met often, the girl to whom I have spoken and the girl who liked me has been missing now. Kidnaps were something that I had only heard of from news and newspapers. It has never before happened to people I actually knew.
"So are you in a relationship?", the cop asked diverting me from my own cloud of thoughts.
I instantly made a face, "What? Um no"
"Your age?", he asked drumming on the desk in between us.
"Twenty seven", I said promptly.
"And not married too?"
"No of course, why do you ask?", this made me uncomfortable for some reason.
"What about your parents or siblings?", he went on questioning with his eyes closely observing me without answering my question.
"They are in my native place, Kanyakumari and I have no siblings", I said wondering how many more questions he had in line.
"Do you doubt anybody regarding this?"
"I don't even know the girl's name properly", I shrugged.
The cop nodded. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Noel?"
"Noel Wilson", I stood up as he did and accepted his hand to shake. "Call me if you get anything informative to tell", he handed me his business card as I agreed and then they left.
After that, I felt an empty feeling inside me. Having my life run busily all these years I didn't have time for love and happiness. I was almost like a robot working for money unaware of how much good looking I was or how girls drooled over my feet.
Though I didn't pay much attention to Cathy too, I always had this weird wave of electricity that struck in my head and my heart went faster almost like it's going to explode whenever I saw her, after learning that she liked me.
But it was unfair to get into a relationship with a girl who was way too younger than me. She was a very young, bubbly, and charming girl who would be a doctor soon and would earn ten times more than me in the future.
Anyone in my place would have gladly swept her off her feet into his arms and cherished her forever. But I cannot do the same. She deserves better. The day when I warned her I felt like I lost something very important and precious in my life and like I had done a very big mistake.
A very small part of me wished that she wouldn't stop looking at me but she did. I regretted warning her soon after that. I wished I had pretended that I didn't know anything about her liking for me and went on each day enjoying the feel of her stare burning on me as I worked. But then I consoled myself saying its for her good.
And now? Is that all? Is it a dead end? The cops told its been four days since she went missing. Is she no more? I didn't realize that my eyes had watered until a tear dropped on my thigh and spread into a perfect circle on the fabric as I sat there staring at the floor.
I quickly wiped my tears and sucked in a deep breath. "Are you alright kid?", I asked to no one as I threw my head back and looked at the spinning fan straight above my head. "I hope you are. Don't leave yet. It's too early to lose a sparkle like you"
Suddenly the telephone on my desk started ringing distracting me before I picked the receiver and stuck it to my ear. "Yes?"
"Sir, an MBBS student has come to meet you", the female receptionist crooned.
And I already knew who it is. The girl I guessed was sitting in front of me after a minute or two.
"I am very sorry Renita. She will be alright, don't worry", I said though it wouldn't make her feel any better.
She looked horrible. She was no more that pretty dashing girl who would always be in perfect makeup and her hair done beautifully. I can already see her have lost some weight and her once chubby cheeks were now sticking to her cheekbones. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying and the dark circles around showed that she haven't slept much. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail and her dry lips were cracked as it opened to speak.
"Thank you. Did you tell the police anything important?", she asked obviously expecting me to say yes.
But I shook my head, "I hardly knew her"
She nodded in acceptance before saying, "She liked you so much"
My stomach twisted into a knot. Now I don't want to hear that. That will make me miss her more and regret like its all my fault. I dropped my gaze to the floor with a small smile. "I know", I muttered.
"You were her first crush or love, whatever it was. She was totally broken the day you turned her down", she smiled weakly.
"What I did was for her good. I am sure about that. Now, why have you come to meet me?", I have to send her soon before she told anything more unpleasant for me to take in.
She glanced down and rummaged into her bag as she went on talking, "She has a habit of making a physical memory of whatever she liked", she pulled a thin brown diary from her bag and placed it on the desk. "This diary is about you. I went through it already. I felt that you should see it once. You will love it. It's creative and full of love"
I suddenly felt so important. Did she write a whole diary for me? Renita slid the diary towards me over the table in between us and stood up.
"Once you are done reading please return the diary because once Cathy returns she will be mad at me for letting you read it", she laughed sadly as I smiled and nodded. "The receptionist has my phone number in case you need it"
With that, she left as I took the brown diary carefully in my hands which was tied up by a black ribbon with a red heart key chain hanging from the front cover of it.
This is really going to be tough.
HAPPY READING!