41. I Found A Letter
I FOUND A LETTER
WILL
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD
I’ve had some pretty shitty days at work since I started my apprenticeship, but I feel like today, everything that could have gone wrong on this job did go wrong.
It all started when Bill misquoted the lady whose house I was sent to solo, meaning she abused the crap out of me when the work was done and I handed her the correct invoice.
Then I had to get him on the phone to calm her down and email her the correct invoice, all while she was staring daggers at me like it was my fault.
Which it turns out, Bill made out it was because he’s too proud to admit it was his cock up.
I’ve been checking my phone most of the day, as Annie hasn’t responded to any of the messages that I sent her, which is not like her at all.
I’m hoping she’s just lost track of time while she’s writing and nothing serious has happened.
I wanted to go home mid-morning to check on her, but Bill had me booked out all day on stupid, annoying little jobs, and now it’s after six and I’m only just getting home.
I pull up outside the townhouse and notice immediately that there are no lights on.
Given that I usually walk around the house switching lights off after Annie has turned every single one on during the day, this concerns me.
Annie’s car is parked across the street though, so maybe she’s just taking a nap. She’s been doing that a lot lately.
Something else that concerns me.
I check to make sure everything in the ute is locked up and then head inside, turning on the lounge room light as soon as I enter.
Everything seems fine and looks exactly the same as when I left this morning. But for some reason, the house feels cold and empty.
“Annie?” I call out, standing at the base of the stairs.
No reply.
Okay, something is definitely off.
I take the stairs two at a time and make a beeline for her office. It’s bathed in darkness, but her laptop is missing, so maybe she’s just taken her writing to bed today?
I continue down the hall to our bedroom and open the door quietly, in case she’s asleep.
But there’s no sign of her.
Panic starts to set in, and I flick on the light to get a better look at the room.
My bedside drawer, the one where I keep all my junk and a certain engagement ring, is wide open next to the unmade bed. I look over towards the walk-in wardrobe, trying to work out what’s missing from the gap under Annie’s clothes, finally remembering that that was where she kept her suitcase.
What the fuck? Did I forget she was going to a writer’s retreat or something this weekend? She goes to those every few months when she’s trying to finish a draft, but I’m pretty sure she’s not working on anything new right now.
I grab my phone out of my pocket and dial her number, swallowing hard when it goes straight to voicemail.
Something is seriously wrong here.
Dialling Tara, I head back downstairs to check the calendar hanging on the wall in the kitchen.
“Hey, Will. What’s up?” Tara answers on the first ring.
“Is Annie with you?” I ask, not bothering with any pleasantries.
“Um… No. I haven’t spoken to her in a couple of days. Why?”
If I was in less of a panicked state, I’d be careful of what I said so that I didn’t worry her, but I’m past that point.
“I’ve just gotten home from work and she’s not here. She seems to have packed a suitcase, but her car is still here.”
“That’s weird… I’ll call Mum and see if she knows anything. Has she left a note or anything? Maybe she decided to go on a writer’s retreat?” I can hear the concern in Tara’s tone and know she doesn’t really believe that.
“Usually she’d at least text me. But I’ve not heard from her all day, and her phone is going straight to voicemail.”
My brain is starting to run through a million scenarios. Annie has been acting strange ever since we lost the baby, but surely she’d tell me if she decided to go somewhere.
I glance at the calendar and there’s nothing written on there for today.
“Something is wrong, Tara,” I say, and she sucks in a breath.
“Don’t panic. I’m sure there’s an explanation. I’ll call Mum and call you straight back.” She hangs up, and I pocket my phone again, looking around the usually neat kitchen.
Annie is normally meticulously neat and tidy, but the dishwasher is open, with all of yesterday’s dishes still inside.
I turn in a circle, trying to make sense of all of this, when my eyes fall upon the piece of paper on the bench. It’s folded in half with my name written on it in Annie’s neat handwriting .
Breathing a sigh of relief, I snatch it up. And start reading it. And then read it several more times, because it’s not computing.
Dear Will,
I’m so sorry, but I can’t do this anymore.
I love you.
Annie
She never calls herself Annie…
That I’m focusing on that part rather than on the first sentence is proof enough that shock has set in, and I run my eyes over the words a few more times.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out to answer it on autopilot.
“Mum hasn’t heard from her either,” Tara says straight away.
“I think… I think she’s left me, Tara,” I reply, my voice sounding strange to my own ears.
“What do you mean, she’s left you?”
“I’ve found a letter.”
She’s quiet for a moment. “Kylie and I are coming over.”
I’m too out of it to protest, and when they arrive twenty minutes later, I’m still standing in the kitchen staring at that fucking note.
Tara takes it from my hand as soon as she walks in, her mouth moving as she reads it silently.
Her eyes widen, and she looks up at me. “I don’t understand. What can’t she do anymore?”
Kylie snatches the letter out of Tara’s hand. “What the hell? This is the shortest note ever.”
“Have things between you guys been off lately?” Tara asks, ignoring Kylie.
I nod. “Yeah… But I didn’t think she was planning on leaving me… ”
Kylie pulls out her phone, pressing the bottom of the screen before holding it to her ear.
“Morgan, sorry, I know you guys are on your honeymoon, but something weird is going on with Annelisa. Call me as soon as you get this.”
Morgan calls back within minutes. “What’s going on?” she asks immediately once Kylie puts her on speaker.
The girls fill her in while I move to the couch to sit down, suddenly feeling sick. While they are all busy discussing how it is surely a misunderstanding, I know that this is it. This is the end.
I look around the room, taking in all the pieces of Annie that are scattered around. Her overflowing book cases, the photos in the frames above the TV. The signature bear she’d gotten everyone to sign for her eighteenth birthday as a joke… It’s all still here… But she’s not.
The next day, Kylie messages to let me know that Tara has heard from Annie. She doesn’t go into much detail, but at least it’s a small relief to know she’s okay. It seems as though Annie has sworn Tara to absolute secrecy on her location.
I’d known for ages that Annie doesn’t deal with problems in a healthy way, but running away from everyone she knows and loves… This isn’t like her.
And now I have to make sense of a world without her in it…