Chapter 19
Astrid
Why did there have to be so many Darla’s?
Sure, the name was pretty, but surely it fizzled out by at least the 1960’s?
I’d sat here for over an hour, endlessly scrolling through Facebook for all of the Darla’s within the local area. Theo kept butting in, telling me that his grandma could barely use a toaster, let alone navigate the world of social media, so it was likely that Darla would also fall under the same category. I wasn’t giving up though, I couldn’t. Not when the one thing standing between me and my job, was a 24-year-old male who thought it was a fabulous idea to swear at small children. I needed to be there for that observation, I couldn’t let him ruin this for me. Without teaching, I was a nobody. I was crap at everything else. There was no way I’d slot into a retail or hospitality job where the public berate you on the daily, (I’d cry), and I couldn’t deal with an office that was full of middle-aged corporate bullies either, (I’d cry even more). I didn’t get how long it took; I was a woman on a mission.
“Grab me the phonebook.” I shout over my shoulder to Theo.
“We have a phonebook . Since when?” He asks.
I tut, “Since like 3 years ago, would you just pass it to me please?”
“Sorry, sorry.” He mumbles, dropping it in front of me. “Are you seriously planning to go through every Darla in here? It will take you hours, even days maybe.”
Rolling my eyes, I reply, “I know that thanks. But if I don’t, who will?”
“Maybe you could have asked me to help, instead of trying to do it all yourself.” He adds.
“Or maybe you should have just started doing that anyway without me needing to tell you, considering, you know, you’ve nearly got me fired and all that.” I ask, my voice laced with sarcasm.
“I’m not a mind reader Astrid. I said I was sorry already!”
I didn’t want to argue with him anymore, all I wanted was to find Darla and be done with it once and for all. Whatever game she was trying to play was just that, a game, and frankly, I was sick of it. Ripping the Darla sheets in half, I pass the wedge over to him. “Just look through these and let me know if you find anything of interest.”
◆◆ ◆
“Oh, I’m so sorry for your loss Mr. Green.”
I put the phone down and breathe out a sigh. This was hopeless . Theo and I had tried everything to find this woman. Everyone we rang under the name ‘Darla’ was either a surprisingly young woman, or…well, dead. Whoever our Darla was, she clearly didn’t want to be found.
My eyes were red raw, and my head ached. I’d been staring at a computer for far too long, (yet another reason I would hate to work in an office), and Theo didn’t look much better. Wow. Is that really what I looked like when I was tired? I looked awful.
“We might just have to give up the ghost for now.” Theo sighs into his hands.
“What, and risk staying like this forever?! No offence, but I don’t want to be in your body whatsoever.”
“Hence why I said, for now.” He clips back. “Plus, what makes you think I want to be inside of you either? Well, actually…” he smirks.
I stick my finger up at him.
“In seriousness though, and without risk of you cutting my head off, have you tried ringing Giovanni’s to see if you can find out any more about her from the night she booked?”
That wasn’t a bad idea actually. How had I not thought about that sooner?
Immediately grabbing for my phone, I search up the number for Giovanni’s and press call. The line rings for a few seconds before a peppy man with a thick Italian accent answers.
“Good evening, Giovanni’s! How may I help?”
“Oh, Hi! I have a bit of a strange request that I was hoping you could possibly help with?”
“Hmmph” he responds, which I presume translates to yes.
“My partner and I made a reservation here over a week ago, and I bumped into a lady called Darla in the toilets.” I hoped this didn’t come across as dodgy as it seemed, “Anyway, we really hit it off. She gave me her number to meet up with her for a coffee, but I’ve misplaced it.”
Theo’s eyebrows bunch in confusion as he hears my blatant lie.
“So, I was just wondering, if you by any chance could access her booking information and give me her number. I have no way of contacting her otherwise.” I add a more pleading tone at the end, hoping to win them over.
They pause, “Sorry miss. We are not allowed to give out the personal information of any of our customers.”
“But you don’t understand!” I beg, “I need to talk to her.”
“I’m sorry. But like I said, we’re not allowed to give out that information. It’s against our policy. Too many legalities involved I’m afraid.”
“Could you at least tell me if she’s one of your regulars? Maybe I could come down on a day she typically visits and see her then?” I say, hyperaware that I sound like a stalker now.
“Um, no. We also cannot disclose that. That goes against her privacy. We don’t want any stalker claims on our hands.” The man says sympathetically.
“Is there nothing you can do to help?” I ask, noticing my bottom lip starting to quiver embarrassingly.
“No sorry miss. Unless you want to book a table for yourself?”
I don’t even answer before ending the call.
“Okay, so it didn’t go so well tonight.” Theo reassures confidently, “But that doesn’t mean we won’t find anything. Let’s just leave it for now. You need your rest anyway.” He adds, his lip curling.
Oh for god’s sake.
Amongst the stress of the Darla search, I’d completely forgotten that I was supposed to be starting at Theo’s work tomorrow. I had little motivation to start anyway, but that motivation was at an all-time low right now.
“Does it involve as much preparation as mine?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“No don’t worry.” He says, smiling and shaking his head, “Don’t think you’ll have to worry about getting me temporarily suspended.”
Maybe it was the exhaustion from today, or maybe it was just from the sheer madness of the whole situation, but I couldn’t help but letting out a snort at that. If I didn’t, I’d probably cry.
“Can’t promise that.” I reply.