CHAPTER 50: SHE IS GONE!
Inside one of the prestigious hotels in HY City was HYs main hall meant for extravagant events. Around the hotel were numerous cars parked at different locations and prominent men were also standing by either alone or with a lady beside them.
A rock and roll song was playing beneath the whole facade as Raphael thought it was. The lights weren’t bright, there were disco balls around, displaying different colors for beautification.
Many cars kept driving in and the greetings got so loud among the people.
Raphael arrived in his black car, his face was a little bit tight and he seemed less concerned about those around him as he got out of his car. The ladies’ attention was drawn toward the young and handsome man who had just gotten out of his car looking all smart.
“Wow, he is hot.”
“Who is he? I have never seen him before.”
“Same here.” The murmurings intensified amongst the pair of ladies. Erica who was standing not quite far from the gate was drawn into the murmurings and wanting to know what was all about, she was directed to look at Raphael.
“My oh my.” She whispered. Raphael was definitely in another spot tonight. He was mouth-watering in front of Erica that she couldn’t help biting her lips but now to notice, Evelyn was not with him. He didn’t bring her along which was somehow good news for her, this only made her believe that there was nothing between the two.
Wanting to make her supremacy known, she approached him in her sparkling yellow gown.
“Good evening, Raphael. This is our second time meeting today. The universe must definitely have something to say to us.” She teased and chuckled softly but Raphael remained as passive as he could ever be.
“Good to see you too, Erica. Please, enjoy the event.”
“I will.” She replied, still wearing her smile nevertheless so as not to fall out of character. Raphael nodded and walked into the hall, Erica glanced at a corner separated from light entirely before following Raphael from behind while secretly enjoying the questioning looks on the ladies’ faces.
The MC soon came on stage and hit the microphone twice before speaking. He had this ‘vampiric’ and ‘pretentious/greedy’ smile on his face as he looked at the guests seated at the auction. The more powerful their personalities, the more income it would bring for him.
“Hello, distinguished ladies and honorable gentlemen. I welcome you here to tonight’s auction that happens to hold every year and I am glad that tonight’s event was made possible.”
A sitting ovation came after his first paragraph.
“As we all know that every year we get to bid over treasures just to provide for those who need it and also to help our businesses. Not to waste much of our time, things will remain the same as they were before and our auction will begin now starting from the lowest commodity to the highest commodity. I wish you all here good luck as we start.”
Another resounding clap intruded on him. Two fair ladies pushed in tiny towers with the commodities on them but inside a glass. They stood beside the man with their hands hooked to each other while smiling.
The MC began the bidding. Raphael was not concerned and would stick his finger into his ears as that wasn’t the reason he was here in the first place. The main commodity he was here was probably going to be the last one.
Erica stood up from her seat and went to meet Raphael. She sat elegantly with her legs crossed.
“Why do I have a feeling that you do not seem to be interested in whatever is happening?” She asked rhetorically.
“You don’t need to feel anything. It is well written on my face.” Raphael answered coldly but Erica took it with lightness. After all, she wasn’t new to his behavior.
Raphael stared blankly at the ongoing bidding while his mind was somewhere else. He brought out his phone and somewhere scrolled through his contact list, he hesitated for a while before dialing Evelyn’s number but it wasn’t going through. He did it for the second time but it was a failure.
This somehow frightened him a bit and he excused himself from his seat, trying to see if it was a network problem. Erica watched him go to and fro for a few minutes while sipping her drink.
“What’s going on? Why is her number not going through?” He whispered to himself worriedly. His eyes darted towards the event hall before sighing, he was about to do something that could probably ruin his peace for now but he didn’t mind.
Erica was deep in thought, what was happening to him? Why did he feel so detached? She had been so glad to see him alone thinking she would be able to be with him but…on looking at the other side, he was nowhere to be found.
With curiosity, she stood up and went outside only to see his car driving further from her.
“What is wrong with him? Doesn’t he have a bid…” Her lips were sealed in the middle of her words and she went back in. It was either she wasn’t good at winning a guy over or there was something else behind it.
“Whenever it comes to you, I just become so weak.” She muttered sadly and went back in.
Raphael was driving in a rush back to the hotel as fear gripped his heart. There was a high chance Evelyn might not be inside but he didn’t want to believe the negativity for now. On his way back, he kept on calling her number and even tried that of Kira but it seemed that the universe had decided to play a game of chess with him.
He then contacted Jeremy and he picked up instantly.
“Hel…”
“Jeremy, I need you to do something real quick for me. I need you to help me board a ticket.” He cuts in.
“Huh? Board a ticket?”
“Just do it, I need to get back to the City right this instant, and help me try Evelyn’s number, she isn’t picking up my calls.”
“Alright sir, but have you…”
He swiped the red button indicating the end of the conversation. Jeremy was stunned when he heard the sound notification, he took a look at his phone for confirmation. Was it from his side or did his boss sound as if he was in an apocalypse and being chased by alien zombies? Wow, he must have watched too many movies.
Nevertheless, he got on straight to what his boss wanted him to do but unfortunately, there was nothing.
“In this state, it is bad news.” He said and pulled a troubled face.
Raphael parked the car with urgency and rushed in, ignoring the greetings of others as he climbed the stairs. He pushed the door open and slammed it behind him.
“Evelyn, are you in here?” He called out but there was no response. He checked everywhere and lastly, the wardrobe but her things were no longer there. This confirmed his fear, she was gone!
_*_*_*_*_*_
It was raining back in Capital City and Kira was not disturbed. She folded herself on her couch with some late-night snacks to catch up on her favorite episode of KinnPorshe the series. When she was getting into the movie, she heard the bell ring.
She wanted to ignore it but then it only got worse so she had no choice but to answer the unstoppable dinging of her doorbell at night. She was kinda scared at first as she approached the door with a piece of wood, goodness knows where she got it from but probably for her art.
Richard came to her mind at first but then she shook the thought. She looked through the peephole and was astonished to see Kira.
She threw the wood to the ground and opened the door swiftly.
“Evelyn?”
“Ki… Kira…” Evelyn mumbled and fell into Kira’s arms.
_*_*_*_*_*_*_
“She is gone,” Raphael said in a devastated tone.
Don, who was filling his mouth with ice cream, paused for a minute and exchanged eyes with Zeke before facing Raphael on their screen.
“She is what?” Don asked before stuffing his mouth with another spoon of ice cream.
“Is she aware?”
“Did you tell her?”
“Yes…yes, I told her. She kinda got hold of the truth that I was Ralph’s ghost and somehow asked me the question, I could not resist telling her the truth.” Raphael replied to them.
“Now I understand why there’s a quote, LOVE IS BLIND. You have been blinded that you couldn’t keep the act for a while.” Don shook his head.
“You wanted him to continue lying?” Zeke frowned at Don.
“It was an ACT not that he was lying intentionally.” He shrugged.
Raphael stood up and groaned as his hands ran through the whole of his head in frustration.
“You guys ain’t helping.”
“What are you planning to do?” Don asked.
“Embark on a road journey. There isn’t any available plane to the Capital City.”
“It’s late, Ralph, and dangerous. Wait till morning.”
“What if she is gone by then?”
“Her friend wouldn’t be so dumb to let her leave. Just calm down, Don and I will handle things over here.”
“Hmm.”
The call ended. Ralph sat down but couldn’t bear it. He grabbed his car keys and soon evacuated the building at night.