Two

The phone went dead. She stopped for a minute. The whole world stopped. Then she burst out in tears. She buried her head in her pillow and punched the matrass with her fist. How could they do this? Once they were so in love, nothing could break them apart. At least, that’s what she thought until it all changed 8 months ago. He told her he loved her. He promised to stay, to be a responsible parent. But he lied. She cried even harder. Tears flowing like a river. She felt stupid for trusting them. They had done her wrong before, but deep down in her heart she still believed in them. She grabbed Lisa the teddy bear that Jayson gave on their anniversary and hugged him tight. Then she stopped. She hated this bear. She grabbed the scissors and without a second thought she stabbed him in his furry belly. The scissors went right through the bear, leaving a small cut on Emily’s hand. She cursed and flung the suffering bear, with the scissors still I his small body, to the other side of the room.

A notification woke her up, it was Mrs Woods. When she opened it, her heart dropped immediately. According to Mrs Woods Jayson brought their little brother Max to soccer practise. Max was brought home after he was found unconscious on the street. Max didn’t want to speak about what happened until this morning. Apparently he said ‘white van’ repeatedly, after which his worried mom called the police. The police looked at the security camaras and found something shocking. Emily’s eyes filled up with tears while reading the massage. With shaking hands she read the next sentence: The camaras showed that a white van stopped next to Jayson and Max, 3 men dressed in black came out of the van. One nocked Max out while the other two forced Jayson in the van. Emily stared at the message, reading it over and over. Thousand thoughts went to her head. The thoughts were so overwhelming, her head hurt. Emily’s thoughts went back to the time she caught him. She would never forgive him.

Two months ago Emily brought her friend, Ava, and Jayson’s sister Lisa home. She wanted to see Jayson, she had barely seen him that week. But that day she saw Jayson, shirtless kissing her best friend. Emily was furious. She stood shouting in his living room with angry tears, calling him names and throwing furniture. Lisa told Emily even more shocking news. How she heard Jayson sneak someone in at night. He didn’t even deny, he simply said he couldn’t explain. Then grabbed his shirt and sat silently on the sofa. Emily’s now ex-best friend, had fled the scene. Emily broke up with him then and there. He only whispered a weak ‘I’m sorry’ and escorted Emily out of his house.

Oh, how Emily had been wishing that Jayson disappeared... but now they did disappear. That afternoon she went to the place where Jayson was last seen. The sky was grey and it rained softly. The police was looking for clues, asking passengers if they saw something. Mrs Woods was standing next to an officer, she waved at Emily. ‘Hey, Emily, how have you been?’ asked Mrs Woods. ‘I’m fine, I guess,’ Emily answered, she paused, ‘Is there news about Jay?’

An officer walked towards Emily. ‘We’re talking about a planned kidnapping, but the strange thing is that they haven’t asked for ransom. Besides, we still have no idea who could have done this. All we found was his necklace.’ said the officer. ‘Oh, I wonder who wants to kidnap him,’ Emily stopped, realizing that might sounded insulting. Jayson’s mom sighed and looked down. With a soft voice she said, ‘I didn’t even had the chance to tell them they’re adopted.’ Emily was taken back by this news, but shrugged, since it wasn’t important at the moment. ‘Can I have the necklace?’. The officer shrugged and handed over the necklace. Emily clamped it in her hand. She felt save for a moment. With a soft smile she looked back at the officer. ‘Did you found his phone and wallet?’ she asked. The officer replied to Emily’s question, ‘no, why?’. Emily started explaining, ‘Jayson always takes his wallet and phone with him, so maybe..’ the officer looked questioning at Emily, ‘maybe the kidnappers got there ransom directly from Jayson. Or am I saying something stupid?’ The officer thought for a minute, frowning and humming. ‘Well, that would be unlikely, but if you want to be sure, we probably can check his bank account.’ ‘I can check his bank account, give me a moment.’ Jayson’s mom took her phone out of her pocket. After a few minutes her expression changed. She blinked a few times and whispered a soft ‘what?’.

‘Something wrong?’ the officer asked with a worried face. ‘This can’t be,’ Mrs Woods stammered ‘2.000.000 dollars?’. She showed her phone to the officer. Someone deposited 2.000.000 dollars into Jayson’s account. The officer was stunned. ‘This is really unusual. Excuse me, I have to call a colleague of mine.’ While dialling a number, the officer walked away. Emily stood awkward next to her ex’s mother. She was deep in thoughts, what happened with Jayson? Maybe they did something illegal and ran away, faking his kidnapping. It would be a logical explanation, but she knew Jayson was better than that.

‘Good afternoon, Emily,’ said Jayson’s best friend Daniel, ‘I hope Jayson will be fine soon.’ Daniel stood arms crossed next to Emily. He was dressed in a long coat with a matching handbag and bright coloured earrings, typical Daniel. Emily rolled her eyes. ‘I don’t care. He is an imbecile anyway.’ she snarled. ‘They’re not! You just don’t understand!’ you could feel the frustration in Daniels voice. ‘There is nothing to understand!’ Emily yelled back, ‘He cheated on me with my best friend, then somehow got 2.000.000 dollars and ran away, while I’m the one who’s pregnant!’ Daniel let out a sneaky laugh. ‘Oh Emily.’ he said mocking, ‘If you listen to them, they said that they didn’t cheat. It’s Jayson. They would never cheat or do you wrong. Every story has two sides. You might not believe him, but I do.’ Well, that was easy to say for Daniel. ‘Your just his best friend.’ Emily growled back. Daniel looked mysterious in the distance. ‘Whatever. Just you wait.’

Jayson’s disappearing had been five days ago. But at this point Emily didn’t care anymore. They got what they deserved, right? Emily decided to write something in her dairy. Instead of finding a new empty page to write, she came across an eye-catching page. The page was full of hearts and love poems about Jayson. She felt disgusted just by looking at that page. Without thinking twice she ripped it out of her dairy and shredded it into small pieces. She smiled. Chapter Jayson was over. Emile didn’t feel like writing anymore. Perhaps she should go out with her friends again. That sounded like a good plan so she opened her phone. She ignored her notifications and scrolled through her contacts. Her eyes fell on Jayson’s name. A bit annoyed by seeing something about Jayson again, she decided to might as well delete his number. Then she saw something insoluble. There, under his name, in capital letters, stood the words ‘LAST SEEN 2 HOURES AGO’. The words echoed through her head. No! No! No! You’re distracted again, she told herself. It’s just a stupid fault of this stupid phone. Her mood was ruined immediately. She deleted the number, threw her phone on her bed and settled in for a Netflix day.

Emily woke up in a good mood. A new day, a new chance to go out with friends. However, that chance was ruined really fast. ‘What now?’ Emily moaned irritated, her attitude chanced quickly when she heard the officer. She listened carefully.

The phone went dead. Again. So now they were back. Great, absolutely great, Emily thought. Tonight, 7 pm, they would arrive at the airport. Emily sighed. She decided not to go, what was the point anyway. But then an evil smile appeared on Emily’s face. If she went to the airport, she might see his arrestation. A devilish smile appeared on her face. She was sure that would make up for everything.

The whole day Emily looked forward to seeing him again. Finally he’ll get his karma for all the pain he gave her. 6 Pm, just one more hour. Emily was ready to go, but hesitated, not knowing if she was ready to face him. What if he tried to come back in her life, just to ruin everything again. Nevertheless, she went. She was stronger and smarter now, he couldn’t hurt her anymore. She had to go and proof herself. With new-found confidence she grabbed her bag and drove to the airport.

Jayson’s family was already waiting, among them were a few officers. She spotted Daniel in the crowd. Silently she stood next to him, not knowing if she should start a conversation. She thought about leaving. She looked up at the screens with arrivals. ‘He will land in two minutes.’ Daniel answered as if he read her mind. The minutes lasted longer and longer. Emily felt nervous and started shaking. She saw his reflection in the window. She imagined being in a movie, a dramatic song played in her head. The door opened. There he was. He wore an outfit that Emily had never seen before. And since when had Jayson a tattoo? But his eyes and hair were still the same. Emily gazed into his beautiful blue sparkly eyes. Their eyes met. He smiled. The moment had some indescribable magic. Right then and there she fell in love again. She pushed through the crowd and ran in his arms. Tears streaming down her cheeks. She hugged him tight. Jayson reacted a bit awkward but hugged her back. Then she looked up and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. Jayson pushed her gently away. A loud familiar laugh came from behind. Another Jayson appeared, ‘Who’s the cheater now, huh?’