There is no trace of Anna Houston

Chapter one hundred and sixty-five

Anna spent the next one hour talking about Vanessa while Greg's keen eyes followed her every expression. He appeared very interested in the whole conversation, he intertwined his fingers and placed both elbows on the table, with his chin on his fingers. Anna was so engrossed in the Vanessa talk that she almost passed time. She'd have continued but for the reminder she set. Her conversation went from the kind of gifts he could give Vanessa to the fact that she liked surprises, anything that she wouldn't expect. 

"Oh no, I can't believe that I've talked for two hours. I have to run, Greg. I still have some unfinished business at the office," Anna said, chuckling. She didn't know that she could talk for two hours without feeling it. Well, since the subject matter was Vanessa, she should have expected it. She could talk for hours about Vanessa, she could in fact write a book about her. She knew that much about her. 

"What to do? I'd have loved to continue listening to you. I hate to say goodbye like this. But again, I do understand that you have to leave. Thank you so much, Anna. I'm so grateful that you came. It means a whole lot to me," Greg said and they both rose from their seats. 

"Anything for Vanessa. You don't have to thank me, Greg." 

Greg took care of the bills and they both got out of the restaurant.

"I'll just drop you off," Greg said, looking over at Anna.

"No, you don't have to. I'll just find my way back to the office," Anna protested. 

"No, let me do this, Anna. I feel responsible for you. I brought you here, after all. I should take you back." Greg insisted.

"It's fine, Greg, really. I came because I wanted to, so don't feel so obligated to do this. It was still my choice." Anna said, giving Greg a reassuring smile. She didn't want to bother him at all, and she also wanted to be alone on the way back to the office. 

"Alright, then. Since you insisted. I'll just- get going now. Thank you again, Anna." Greg said, nodding at her, before leaving. 

Anna watched Greg leave and she stood there for some minutes. She knew that it would be hard to get a cab or catch a bus back to the company, but she still insisted on doing this. She didn't know how much longer she would have to wait before she gets back to the company, and she'd been trying so hard not to get on the bad side of Mr Williams, especially with the way he'd been acting lately. 

She thought of giving him a call, she retrieved her phone from her bag and noticed that her battery was flat. This was not good at all, she thought. She knew that she'd past the time he'd given her to return to the office and she was a little worried about what would happen if she stayed longer here. 

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It had been over four hours and Anna still hadn't shown up in the company. Xander had been waiting for her in his office. He'd tried calling her but her line wasn't going through. He wondered what was keeping her so late. Xander waited for another one hour, hoping that she would show up in the office, and when she didn't, he began pacing about his office. He wondered where she was. She couldn't possibly still be with Greg. He'd sternly told her not to spend more than two hours away from the company. Or could she have gone back home? What if she'd gone back home because she thought that he'd have left the company? Xander kept thinking about where she could be. 

He called some of his men and ordered that they checked every restaurant close to Brookswill and Sons to find her. He knew that she would most likely not be there, but he still couldn't take chances. He had her address with him, besides, one of his drivers knew her house. He called him to his office and ordered that he checked her house to find out if she was there. 

The first call he received was the one from his driver, whom he sent to her house. 

"Miss Houston is not here, sir. I only met one Vanessa, miss Houston's friend. She mentioned that the last time she saw Miss Houston was when she left in the morning." 

Xander's jaw tightened. He clenched his teeth tightly and balled his fist, his knuckles went white. 

The next call he got was from the men he sent to the restaurants around the city. 

"Hello sir, we've searched everywhere, but we didn't find a trace of her. Miss Houston is not here."