The afternoon sunlight peaked through Chris’s bedroom window as he opened his eyes. He reached out to see if Sarah was beside him, but then he remembered she wasn’t there. A massive headache had woken him up. He wiped his hand across his face as he felt his dried tears. His phone buzzed on his nightstand as a text message appeared, “Chris, are you still coming into the office? -Jane”
Chris glanced at the time on his phone which read 1:45 pm and he knew that going into the office would be useless. Even though he loved his job there were other important matters to deal with. Sending a quick reply he said “Sorry I just got your messages and missed calls. There was a family emergency I had to attend to. I’ll try my best to be in tomorrow. If you can please call my clients and let them know what happened and reschedule them. Thanks. -Chris”
After quickly getting out of bed and getting dressed, Chris headed into the kitchen. He poured some cereal in a bowl, but as he opened the milk he could smell that it had spoiled. Chris threw the milk and cereal into the trash and stood against the kitchen island.
Looking at the pictures on his phone he softly smiled at the one of him and his wife going on a date one evening. He couldn’t believe how blessed he was to have her in his life. He was determined to fix his marriage no matter what.
****
Chris could smell the baked goods and coffee as he waited outside of the Bakery and Coffee Cafe. A colleague of his, Patterson Naman had some information on Dr. Victor Waterstein. He couldn’t wait to see what he found. A few minutes later Patterson arrived with a briefcase in his hands.
“Do you have everything?” Chris said staring at the briefcase.
“Yeah. Everything’s here. I would talk longer but I’m due in court in an hour.” Patterson said handing the case to Chris.
“Oh. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. They need my expertise on a case.”
“Alright, I’ll let you go. Thanks again.”
“You’re welcome,” Patterson said shaking Chris’s hand before walking away.
Chris held tightly onto the briefcase as he walked into the cafe. He sat down at a table which overlooked the city’s street. He began to skim the papers to get an overview of what was inside. Peaking into a pocket in the case there was a photograph of Dr. Waterstein. He was at a conference for those in the same career as him.
Looking at the photo more in-depth Dr. Waterstein had his hand around a woman’s waist. He flipped the photo over and there was contact information for the woman. Chris' hands shook as he held the photo. Finding the information on Dr. Waterstein wasn’t difficult.
The fact that Patterson had gone to grad school with him, helped Chris find out more details. But, calling someone was a whole different matter. At the moment he didn’t think of the repercussions. But only of Sarah and getting her away from Dr. Waterstein as soon as possible.
Chris dialed the number from the back of the photo and after two rings a woman answered, “Hello…hello…”
“Um…hi”
“Hi can I help you?” the woman said as Chris could hear her chewing gum.
“Oh yes sorry. I was wondering if Dr. Victor Waterstein is there?”
“Ugh…what did he do this time?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you a cop?”
“No.”
“I haven’t seen him in a few days.”
“I’m looking for more information about him?”
“Why?”
“I just suspect he’s doing something suspicious.”
“I don’t feel comforta-”
“I can give you my details and I can meet you in person if that’s better.”
“I don’t know…”
The woman paused on the phone before continuing, “I mean if you can get me out of here…”
“Daisy! Who are you talking to!”
“No one. I was just-”
Chris could hear a woman, probably Daisy sobbing in the background before the line went dead.
Chris stared at his phone before calling David. Even though he knew David was frustrated and hurt with how he treated Sarah. Maybe this new revelation could bring him closer to his wife.
ns 172.70.127.73da2