No time for questions

"you're lying to me... I thought you were a fan of me and you're…"

"...of course, I'm a fan, I'm not just a fan, I idolize you" Dexter blurted before Carl could complete his sentence.

"then tell me the truth, where is Anastasia?" Carl asked, hoping that Dexter would finally tell him.

"Uhm, to be honest with you, Anne made me promise her not to tell anyone where she is," Dexter said

"But you could tell me, right? Since you're a fan of me, you wouldn't want to keep things from me because I'll be forced to think that you're only pretending to like me when you don't" Carl said.

Dexter gulped. He was caught up in a hook. He knew that Carl was only trying to manipulate him so he can tell him where Anne was but that is not going to work. Anne would eat him alive if he told Carl where she is.

"I wish I could sir but I can't tell you anything," Dexter said.

Carl frowned. He felt pissed that his tricks didn't work.

"you know what? It's fine!! Just forget about it" Carl said with a straight face and he left immediately.

"Geez! He's so angry…" Dexter mumbled.

He saw that Carl was upset and he couldn't help but feel bad for him.

...

Carl got into his car with rage feeling frustrated. He brought out his phone to call Anne again but her number was still unavailable so he decided to drop another voicemail.

"hello goddess Aphrodite, it's me again. You know I've been so delusional sending you tons of voicemails expecting a response from you but I got none. I understand, maybe you're too busy.

Listen up, this is definitely going to be my last voicemail. I get it, you wanna run away from everyone because you got your heart broken but it's enough. It's not cool at all...

You're not the first to get heartbroken and you won't be the last. Anastasia, you can hide for a year or more that's your problem goodbye!!" Carl said sternly and hung up.

......…

Meanwhile, at the vice chancellor's office

"Treasure Reed, are you aware that you're owing this school a huge amount of money?" The vice-chancellor said to Treasure

"yes… yes sir, I'm aware." Treasure said in a low tone.

"If you're aware, why are you still owing your tuition fees since your second year?" he said coarsely

"Sir please give me more time to gather some money I..."

"…I've given you more than enough time." he interrupted her.

"This is your final year in this school and I'm afraid that if you don't pay up to a reasonable amount of money before the end of this semester, you're not going to graduate." The vice-chancellor warned.

Treasure felt her heart throb. She couldn't afford to be a school dropout. Whenever her mind drifted to the part where she might not graduate because of money issues, she ends up crying.

"Okay sir, I'll do my best to meet up on the payments," Treasure muttered.

Although she knew deep down that it wouldn't be possible to gather much money before the end of the semester.

Her brother, Kim is the only family she has and she hates it whenever Kim steals and dupes people for money. Treasure has no choice but to deal with it because that's the only source of their survival.

"please do so," The vice-chancellor said and gestured his hand for her to leave.

Treasure left the vice chancellor's office with a sad look on her face. Her back was resting by the office door and her eyes were shut, thinking about what the vice-chancellor just told her that she might not graduate.

"God, help me" she whispered to herself.

**The next day ****

Carl was at his company walking through the hallway and he heard loud noises coming from the staff room. He decided to peep from the window to see for himself what the noise was all about.

He saw some police officers and detectives having playful arguments he wasn't sure about. Most of them were laughing at top of their voices and it made Carl wish to himself he was that happy.

'These guys are lucky they have a chill boss like me,' he thought

He got to the restroom to sanitize his hands and while doing so, his eyes met his reflection in the mirror. Surprisingly, he also saw Anne's reflection standing behind him, smiling gracefully. He slowly tried to touch her reflection in the mirror and he quickly turned his neck to look behind him but he was alone in the restroom.

He looked at the mirror again and saw just his reflection. He was daydreaming about Anne.

He reached for his pockets and brought out his phone to call Anne again but as usual, her number was unavailable.

Carl inhaled sharply. He missed her so badly to the point that it hurts him. He couldn't control himself anymore and he decided to drop another voicemail.

"Hello Anne, actually I thought I wasn't going to send you another voice mail but I can't help myself. I told you to hide for a year or more but believe me I didn't really mean that... I said those things out of frustration and I'm truly sorry for that... Anne, I care about you a lot and I miss you desperately."

******

A few moments later, Dexter could be seen rushing to a restaurant where Carl had asked him to meet with him.

"prosecutor Carl, you asked me to meet you here asap," Dexter said sitting down opposite Carl. He wondered why Carl wanted to see him

"yeah I did," Carl said, bringing out a checkbook and a pen.

"How much money do you want to tell me where Anne is?" Carl said in a serious tone.

"What?" Dexter exclaimed. "Sir, are you being serious right now?"

"yes, I am! Now tell me how much money you want." Carl said holding the pen, ready to write any amount Dexter would mention.

It has gotten to this point, he felt that bribing Dexter would be the only way for him to spill the beans.

Meanwhile, Dexter was just too surprised to see Carl this desperate. How can he be willing to pay any amount to know where Anne is?

"Sir I'm not sure about this" Dexter said scratching his head.

"Dexter, I can change your life forever, don't sleep on this" Carl insisted.

"Sir I don't want your money," Dexter declined.

'Like sister, like brother,' Carl thought to himself, seeing how stubborn Dexter is. It reminded him of Anne.

"Dexter when I was at your grandfather's funeral, you asked me if was interested in your sister. The truth is, I'm actually in love with her and I'm going crazy not seeing her for three months now.

Yes I know she doesn't love me but I just want to see her face. Let me just see her once. Please I'm really desperate" Carl pleaded desperately.

Dexter looked into Carl's eyes and saw the desperation and desire for Anne. He knew in his heart that Carl had good intentions toward his sister.

"hmm... Are you willing to do ANYTHING to know where she is?" Dexter asked.

"Anything within my power" Carl answered desperately nodding his head.

"Okay," Dexter said with a huge smile on his face preparing to seize his moment.

"I've always wanted to be a detective once I'm done with my school. Employ me to work at your company and I'll text you the address of where my sister is." He said.

"What??" Carl scoffed.

"I can't do that, you're too young and you have no experience at all. I can't employ you just like that. Besides, being a detective is a risky job. I'll give you all the money you want but I can't employ you right now"

"Prosecutor Carl you haven't seen what I can do. What makes you so sure I'm inexperienced? I'll be 22 by the end of the year and I know my age isn't a limit for me... And I'm still working on my master's degree and I guarantee you, I'm going to meet up.

Besides you said you were willing to do anything to know where my sister is but I don't think you meant it" Dexter said standing up to leave.

"Wait!" Carl said and Dexter paused.

Dexter had a little smirk on his face, he was certain that Carl has no other option but to give him the job.

"send your application letter to me through my email," Carl said and Dexter grinned from ear to ear. He was indeed more than happy to have secured a job just like that.

***********

It was a two hour plus journey from New York to Alabama by plane. Carl drove to Oak hill, inside a shabby little town, following the descriptions Dexter had sent to him to look for Anne.

He parked his car in front of a local dairy farm and he came down from his car looking around the place. He looked lost yet focused.

Carl saw a lady milking a cow from a distance. He wasn't sure who the lady was since it was from a distance but for some reason, his heart started beating rapidly.

"Anastasia!!!" Carl yelled her name at the top of his voice even though he wasn't sure if it was her or not.

He just had that strong feeling that the lady was Anne.

However, Anne came out to see who had just yelled her name and to her surprise, she saw Carl standing a few feet away from her, sparkling under the sunlight, looking as handsome as always.

Anne's jaw dropped in disbelief as soon as she saw Carl. She wasn't expecting to see him at all. Her eyes were fixed on Carl who had a beautiful bright smile on his face that has struggled through tears.

Carl's heart melted as soon as he saw her. She was wearing a check shirt designed in a blue and black pattern and a pair of blue jeans to match and she was also wearing cowboy boots. She looked so beautiful and she was in a daze, seeing Carl.

Carl ran towards Anne and hugged her passionately, squeezing her tight to his body with his eyes shut. He has missed her so much and he just wanted to be in her arms at the moment. He felt so emotional hugging her and her warm embrace was sending shivers down his spine. Carl was more than happy

Anne almost lost her balance because the hug was unexpected. Their hug was so tight that she could clearly hear his heart beating fast.

She wanted to speak up and ask questions but at that moment, she knew that Carl was only interested in hugging her, no time for questions.