Chapter 4

At four in the afternoon, I espied Damien returning from work at a distance.

As anticipated, he took the route I had drawn on the map and I quickly moved to intercept him from the opposite direction. He was looking down at his phone, typing something as I came within seven feet to him.

When I was close enough, I feigned a stumble and threw a cup of cold frappe at the unsuspecting Damien. He yelped in shock, dropping his phone in the process.

“Oh no!” I gasped at the sight of him. His entire shirt was drenched. Luckily for him, none came in contact with his face.

“I am so sorry!”

Hastily, I took out a bundle of table napkins from my pocket and started dabbing it on his wet shirt.

“I tripped for the third time today. I am so clumsy! It's embarrassing,” I prattled, spouting excuses and fabricated impromptu lies.

Damien looked mildly miffed as he stood rooted in his spot, but was too polite to grumble anything. His torso was visible through the wet fabric. He had no ab muscles, but he was not fat though. Just plain and flat. He must be a simple man.

Frantically dabbing on his stomach, he stiffened whenever I get closer to his sides. Interesting fact, he was ticklish.

“I’m so sorry mister. I was just having my afternoon frappe. I love coffee, you know. I really didn’t mean to spill it on you.”

“It’s alright. You didn’t do it on purpose,” he muttered quietly, his eyes laced with despair as though resigning to his fate.

Just for good measure, I swiped the stained handkerchief across his face and pretended to be unaware that I was spreading the coffee on his features instead of cleaning him. He stiffened as I wiped his nose and scattered the stains where it should not have been dirtied.

For a moment, I thought he was going to throw a fit, but then his body relaxed and just let my caffeinated assault happen. Apparently, Damien had more self-control than I gave him credit for.

After I finished dabbing, he stooped down to pick up his phone. Thankfully, it was a keypad with those hardcore military-type covering.

“Your shirt is ruined!” I gasped as he faced me again, trying to sound horrified. “Let me buy you a new shirt.”

“No, I’m fine. I’m heading home either way,” Damien reasoned, trying to sidestep me, but I was quicker than him, blocking his path.

“Please, let me buy you a new shirt! I really feel terrible about what I’d done to you,” I pleaded. “Just for my peace of mind.”

He looked conflicted for a second and I took this moment to observe him closely. His shoes were immaculately clean and unconventional; he strikes me as someone who gets easily agitated, I guess.

My eyes went to his brown hair which was ruffled, and there were dark bags under his eyes, heavily contrasting his pale skin. Good. Nothing too suspicious about a melancholic and depressed boyfriend who's partner had seemingly vanished into thin air.

“Okay, if you say so,” Damien finally relented. His shoulders were sagged the entire time as though the whole world was on his shoulders.

Yup, he’s totally depressed.

I led him to the shop where Kassandra Port worked. I easily spotted her in one of the counters as we entered the shop.

We weaved our way through the male clothing section, Damien looking like a stray puppy tailing me without any energy nor enthusiasm.

I frowned, trying to come up with something to talk about, but he seemed too lost in his own gloomy world.

"Are you okay?" I asked, watching him carefully if he'd look up to acknowledge me.

He only croaked a soft "yes" and never spared me a glance.

"You look depressed," I stated matter-of-factly.

"Am-okay." This time, he looked up to meet my gaze and tried to flash me a small smile. He failed miserably at it though. It was undoubtedly forced.

I needed to find the right opening to engage with him; to empathize with him. That's what Kassandra is for.

So, I hurriedly picked three shirts for him, reckoning his size like a master. He never said anything, until I asked him of his preferences. His favorite color was blue. He didn’t specify what kind of blue, so I just picked an admiral, a teal and a cerulean.

Damien looked utterly lost as he trailed behind me towards the counter, his lips straight and his eyes cast downwards.

“Good day, ma’am. Do you have－” Kassandra began to say at the counter, but she stopped once she saw who was with me. Her eyes flashed in surprise and then narrowed in suspicion. She looked me up and down in my baby blue dress and then raised a pair of inquisitive eyebrows at Damien who was still lost in his own world.

I nudged Damien by the elbow to get his attention. “Umm… do you know each other by any chance?” I asked him, gesturing a hand toward a pissed off Kassandra.

Damien seemed to snap back into attention. “Hello, Kassy,” he greeted in a half-hearted manner.

Kassy frowned at him. “Who is she?” she asked rudely, referring to me.

If I were any other customer, I would have filed a complaint, but I wasn’t, so I just rolled with it.

Finally understanding how we looked in front of Kassandra, Damien straightened himself and stuttered, “She’s… she—” he looked at me, as though asking for help. He did not appear so eloquent at the moment, the poor guy.

I gladly took control of the situation. “Actually, we don’t know each other. I just happen to be spending the vacation here in Sylvan, but we came across each other just five minutes ago, when I accidentally drenched his shirt with my frappe.”

I glanced at Damien, noticing his grateful smile and Kassandra’s softening features. “I was being clumsy, so I wanted to buy him a shirt as compensation for the damage I did.”

Kassy slowly nodded in understanding. “Of course, I’m sorry for being rude. I don’t mean to offend you.”

“Don’t worry about that.” I shrugged.

“It’s just that…” Kassy continued, before shaking her head again. “Never mind. So, do you have his right size?”

“I think so,” I responded with a doubtful tone, allowing her to check the tags.

“Hmm… you’ve got a sharp eye.” I then paid and she gave me my receipt, handing the paper bag to Damien.

“I’m Kassandra, by the way. You can call me Kassy. Welcome to the town.”

“Thank you. My name is Milady.”

There was no use giving away a fake name; since Jeremiah already knew my real name. I just hoped they wouldn’t recognize me.

“I guess you already know Damien?”

I shook my head as Damien visibly froze beside me. “No, he hasn’t introduced himself yet.”

“How rude of him!” Kassy admonished Damien who looked very much ashamed and guilt-ridden now. His face was beet red as he visibly shrank away from us.

You were rude yourself, I thought, but kept quiet.

“I’m sorry miss... I’m Damien Evans.” He did not make eye contact with me as he said that which only proved my former assessment regarding his personality.

“That’s alright,” I said politely. “I kind of got the feeling that you had a problem in mind. You looked really lost and depressed. I know I asked this earlier, but I just want to ask again, are you okay?” I stressed out the words, pinning him with my gaze.

Damien went silent after that, but he didn't evade my gaze, so I looked to Kassy for answer, but a customer had interrupted us.

“Can you guys wait for me outside for a few? My shift is almost over.”

“Sure.” It was going along very well. I was gonna spend some time with both Kassandra and Damien; the best friend and the boyfriend. I needed to make it worthwhile.

Damien and I waited outside, sitting on a booth. He seemed to be avoiding me...

“Aren’t you going to change?"

I didn't miss how Damien's eyes visibly widened when I asked that.

"W-what?" he stuttered, blushing profusely.

Had I said something wrong?

It took me a few seconds to understand what was running through his mind.

Oh... Did he think I was suggesting that he should change in front of me?

I waited. I didn't want to torture the guy, I just wanted to see what he would do.

It's either he declines politely and suffer the cold and damp shirt; boldly takes off his shirt in front of me to change and feel refreshed; or will he have the common sense to change inside the restroom that was literally on the other side of the street?

"I—" he stuttered, his entire face resembling a tomato now. His forehead was starting to sweat. I could almost hear the inner battle he was having in his mind.

Okay, now I'm feeling guilty.

Just as his hands began to hover over the hem of his wet shirt, I spoke up, "There’s a restroom right over there.” I pointed to a public restroom on the other side of the street.

Damien visibly relaxed at my words. He quickly nodded at me, then bolted away from me to change. He returned three minutes later in a fresh teal blue shirt which complimented his fair skin.

“Wow! It looks good on you, Damien!” I exclaimed, emphasizing the first-name basis. He just blushed, clearly not expecting the chummy compliment.

“So,” I began as he took a seat across from me. “Since you’re from this town, I guess you know where to find good food right?”

This topic seemed to garner his attention effectively when he replied, “Yes, I know a few. Fe, Fi, and Fo’s diner has cheap and a wide variety of food to choose from. There’s also Poppin’s bakery and Sakura’s Chinese foods. Also, there’s Marx’s restaurant. I work there. The food isn’t expensive compared to others, but it’ really delicious.” I made a mental fist-bump in the air at his last suggestion.

“Well, I guess I’ll be visiting you there soon then.” I smiled.

“Yeah. I guess so.” He nodded. I saw him glance at me hesitantly, sputtering the words, "V-Van. Call me Van."

"Oh? Is that your nickname?"

"Y-yeah."

Right on cue, Kassy’s voice greeted the two of us from behind. “Hey guys, thank you for waiting for me.” This time, I got a good look on her entirely. She was a petite woman. Her uniform was an indigo formal dress and her hair was tied up neatly into a bun.

“Where are you headed?”

“Oh, I was looking for a place to eat,” I answered.

“That’s great. Would you like to join us tonight?” I almost laughed out loud at her invitation. How good could this day get? “My friends and I are going to the bar to hang out together.”

“Of course, I’d love to.”

Kassy’s smile faltered for a moment as she glanced at Van. “You’re not coming, are you?”

Van, aka Damien, only shook his head making her brows pleat in concern. “We’ll find her soon, Van. Don’t lose hope.”

“Find who?” I was more than ready to act curious.

Kassy turned to look at me again. She was in the middle, so she had to turn left and right to speak to each of us. Van and I had the same height, while Kassy was a few inches smaller.

So, you can imagine how we looked, all wearing different shades of blue.

“It’s my best friend. Her name is Samantha Roberts. She went missing five days ago.”

“Did you know who had seen her last?”

“No. Maybe at her workplace? But we’re not sure. Her car was found in Victoria's Bar though. But nobody knows how it got there.” She kept glancing back up at Damien as she said this. "We're really worried about her."

“Was there any suspect?”

“No. The police haven’t found any leads yet. They’ve already interviewed us, her co-workers and her family. They searched her apartment but found nothing helpful. But her phone was gone.”

Yes, I already knew that... “Maybe she just left town?”

“That’s impossible. Sam wouldn’t just disappear without telling any of us.”

I nodded solemnly. “You’re right. But if she did, would there be any reason why she would have left?”

“Her life is perfect here. Why would she?” Kassy defended, and I took note at how she used the present tense.

“She wouldn’t have any enemies, did she?”

Kassy shook her head no quickly. “She is everyone’s friend here. We all love her. That's why...” She exhaled, rubbing a hand against her bracelet. "I'm so scared for my best friend."

“Your friend wouldn’t happen to be behaving oddly when you were with her last?”

“She was…” Kassy hesitated, looking over to Damien who remained quiet throughout our conversation. “…acting weird.

Samantha was always a happy person but those last few weeks she looked tired and nervous. I asked her if she had any problems, but she always brushed it off as nothing.”

“I see…” So, something must have bothered Samantha during that period. I need to know what it was in order to retrace her whereabouts and mindset in the last few days she was seen.

The three of us walked together for a while, talking about nonsense stuff. Well, Kassy and I did most of the talking part while I had to extend more effort to engage Van into the conversation.

Kassy pointed to different buildings, stores, and cafes like my personal tour guide. She gave me a short history of Sylvan whilst I ahhed and oohhed as if I didn't already know everything.

Just as we arrived at the park, we bid each other farewell before going our separate ways.

“We’ll show you more around town next time. Be at the bar at seven, okay?”

Kassy exchanged numbers with me. She gave me Damien’s number too, but he didn’t seem to care much about having mine.

I then headed back to where I hid my bicycle, feeling triumphant. It was my first day to make a move, and I was already breaching slowly into Samantha’s circle of friends.

I was being more productive than I’d hoped. Plus, I got a new lead on my own. I'm sure the detective would want to exchange notes with me pretty soon.

I sighed to myself as I rode back to the hotel, knowing I have to pick a nice outfit for tonight. The things we do to find the truth.