The Tea Cup Has Been Empty Since Two Hours Ago

With his hands perspiring under the fancy dining table, Alwin kept on glancing at the restaurant’s door to wait for his beloved childhood friend Leona. Ever since her family moved to Norwich City from Port Charleston many years ago, the two became good friends and neighbours who shared secrets. Their relationship was said to be ambiguous, and Alwin couldn’t agree more. Today, he finally mustered enough courage to clear that ambiguity.

The young police officer was five years older than her, and for the longest time, he thought he would only see Leona as a sister. However, as she grew into a smart lady who shared her creative ideas, he realized that the feelings he harboured were no longer that innocent. He did not know when it started, but after a while, Alwin started to view her as less of a sister and admired her more as a woman. He understood what he felt for Leona when they decided to sleep over in her apartment together one night after a night of movies and dinner. Leona was dressed lightly in threadbare clothing when she fell asleep on the couch beside him. Alwin felt his heart skip a beat and his thoughts running in an inappropriate direction for someone he treated as a younger sister. It was at that moment that the policeman understood things could never be the same again.

After all the friendly dates they have spent together in recent years after Leona overcame the grief of her mother’s passing, Alwin thought it’s finally time to let her know his feelings. Unlike their usual friendly dates, the restaurant Alwin chose for their breakfast meeting was slightly fancier. The cheapest item on the menu was a cup of tea priced at a not-so-humble price of twenty dollars. Alwin tried to think positively. It wasn’t that bad for such an occasion. The striped polo shirt bought from the thrift shop across the street was roughly the same value. He was thrifty, but for Leona, he could afford to splurge a little.

For the longest time, Alwin watched as the waiters attended to other customers as he sipped his expensive tea as slowly as he could. Time passed slowly, and the sun was blinding by the time the crowd dwindled. Checking his watch, it was already ten in the morning.

The waiters and waitresses observed him from the side, expecting him to raise his hand for his next order. Unfortunately, two hours passed, and he still had no new order. The fancy restaurant's owner, who was a muscular guy in a chef's uniform, also noticed the pitiful man who kept on glancing at his watch and smartphone. He wanted to pity him, but he knew he wouldn't get rich if he did. What's more, he was occupying a four-seater! It was unacceptable!

The muscular owner couldn't help it and walked towards Alwin's table and narrowed his eyes on him. "Sir, would you like to order lunch?"

The man's muscular appearance and terrifying gaze made him quite intimidating. He looked like the mad monkey villain Alwin used to fight in arcade games when he was a kid.

"No, thank you. I'll just pay for the tea," he responded as the annoyed restaurant owner swiped his cash.

Deciding to leave, Alwin let his feet take him to her apartment. It wasn’t the first time he was there, and the road was familiar. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel it was a little lonely without someone by his side. What a morning! He realized that all the love quotes he memorized last night were useless! Was this the world’s way of telling him that he shouldn’t confess?

Alwin felt a little numb and hollow after getting stood up. However, he tried his best to remain optimistic. Leona was a writer. She must have slept in after staying up all night to finish her chapters. There was no way she would have forgotten about their meeting otherwise.

When Alwin finally reached Leona’s apartment, he only saw a very battered Leonard carrying a huge backpack as if he would be away for quite some time. He took a glance at her brother’s troubled expression and felt a cold fear settle inside.

“Good morning, Leonard. Is Leona still sleeping inside? She was meant to meet me two hours ago.”

The silence was deafening between them, and Leonard shifted subtly to lock the door quickly. What uncanny timing! Ignatius would have his head if he ever found out that there was a witness. The inside of his apartment was a mess, and thanks to his role as a mole, it was better to leave sooner than later. The fewer people knew his connection with Leona and Alwin, the safer it was for him.

“She’s… she’s on vacation,” Leonard replied hastily and took hurried strides past Alwin. “I gotta go.”

Sensing that something was horribly wrong, Alwin hurried after Leonard, who picked up speed and broke into a run. Unable to keep up, Alwin could only watch in shock and dread as the car drove away after Leonard jumped into a conveniently parked black BNW.

Alwin immediately returned upstairs to Leona's apartment. He found and asked the landlord to unlock their unit. At first, the owner was reluctant and told him to wait for the siblings to return. However, when Alwin presented his police I.D., the man panicked and hurriedly complied.

As soon as the door opened, Alwin checked all the rooms. The messy state of their apartment did not go unnoticed, but he had more concerns.

When he did not find any traces of Leona, Alwin started to look for certain items that might give him a clue where Leona went. Judging by the content of her closet, Leona did not bring her usual clothes with her. In fact, she left her favorite rubber shoes behind. That made Alwin worried. Leona would never leave the apartment without them unless she was going to an event.

As he rummaged through her room with the jittery landlord behind, Alwin noticed that her laptop and phone were missing. Normally, Leona would take them along with her to a nearby cafe to write for a change of pace. If he were to assure himself, that would make more sense. However, Leonard’s odd behaviour and those rubber shoes told him otherwise. Why did Leonard have to tell him that she was on vacation, and where was he going in such a hurry looking like that?

Something was definitely off.

"Uhh... Officer, what's wrong?" the landlord asked.

"Did you notice anything or heard anything suspicious here?" Alwin studied the nervous man.

The landlord shook his head, and Alwin decided that his work was done here. There was nothing more to uncover. Thanking the landlord for his cooperation, Alwin went back downstairs.

The young police officer thought for a while as he walked out of the apartment. It was too weird that Leona would ditch him without saying anything. It never happened in those years that he knew her. She’s a very thoughtful person, and she knew very well that ‘time is gold’.

Uneasy, Alwin took out his cell phone and dialled his co-worker.

“Officer Donovan. Can I request to view a public CCTV footage?”

Senior Police Officer Raymond Donovan was surprised by his colleague's sudden request. The two of them have worked on difficult cases together for three years. He trusted him and knew that the man on the other line was a responsible police officer. To assess the situation, he asked, "Tell me what happened."

"A missing person. I suspect kidnapping, but to confirm it, I have to see the CCTV footage on the lamp posts at Marshall street from yesterday."

"A kidnapping, huh... Just a moment," Officer Donovan bit the tip of the pen he used after he wrote the details down in a form he used for these kinds of requests.

Another suspected kidnapping?

The crime was not uncommon these past few weeks, so many officers were requesting certain CCTV footage in different streets. Sure, he could let them view these if he was the boss. Unfortunately, it was not up to him.

It would be up to his boss, the police chief inspector, to approve and allow it.

"Let me just ask for Chief Fedora’s approval," he told Alwin to give him some hope, even though he knew it might be disapproved. His boss was too strict.

"It will be approved in at least an hour, right?"

"Usually, yes. Depending on how busy he is," he then asked him to wait for his call.

Alwin walked to his apartment, which was a fifteen-minute walk from Leona's apartment. He closed the door, then sat on his springy sofa, leaning on the backrest. He stared blankly at the dirty white ceiling and waited for the time to pass.

To his surprise, it was less than an hour that Mr. Donovan called back.

"Officer Ermont," he said in a dispirited tone, "I'm sorry, but Chief Fedora rejected your request."

It was the first time Alwin experienced a CCTV viewing rejection. He asked the officer on the other line if he explained the situation to him, and he said that the chief even viewed the CCTV footage.

Hearing the bad news, Alwin scratched the back of his head in disappointment. Why the heck did the chief disapprove of it? Perhaps there was nothing weird in the video footage, and he was just overthinking?

He sighed deeply and thought of the next step. "What now?" he murmured to himself. As he felt his tiredness enveloping him, Alwin closed his eyes and saw Leona's smiling face. He already missed her dearly and wished that wherever she was, she's alright. His longing for her made him snap back to reality and decide not to give up until he saw what was in those videos.

In a rush, he took long strides towards the door. He needed to convince Chief Fedora to let him see the CCTV footage no matter what.