When Jake got home that evening he expected to see Gloria there.  He had gone to meet Gloria at their normal spot but she hadn’t been there.  He would have called her cell but she didn’t have one at the moment.  He hoped everything was okay and that she wasn’t ill.

As he entered his apartment he looked around and called out for Gloria.  Everything was eerily quiet.  He went into their bedroom thinking she might be taking a nap.  But there was no one there.  That’s when he saw it.  It was an envelope on the bed with Jake’s name on it.  He ripped it open and sat down on the bed as he read it.  He couldn’t believe what he was reading!  It was a typed letter from Gloria.  It said she had found out about Giselle and was breaking up with him.  She didn’t want anything to do with him anymore.  It said that she had moved out and dropped out of school.  She emphasized in the letter not to look for her.  It was signed simply, Gloria.

Jake felt like he was going to be sick.  His whole world had just turned upside down.  How had Gloria found out about Giselle?   He knew he should have told her but every time he thought about it he chickened out.  Now, Gloria was gone and he had no idea where she was.  Of all the times for her not to have a cell phone. 

He had to find Gloria and explain.  He got up and paced the room.  Then he took out his phone and called all of Gloria’s friends he could think of.  Surely, she would be with one of them?

After about 30 minutes of non-stop phone calls Jake was getting desperate.  Nobody knew where she was.  Could she have gone back home to her parents?  They lived an hour away.  Gloria didn’t have a car yet.  He was going to surprise her on her birthday with a brand new car.  Maybe she called her parents to pick her up?   Nervously he checked his phone for her parent’s number.   Gloria had given it to him in case he ever needed to contact her parents.

After talking to her parents for ten minutes he hung up.  He couldn’t believe it.  Gloria had sent her parents a typed letter as well, telling them that she was moving out of state and to not look for her.  She wanted to be alone. She would get in touch with them when she was ready.

Jake began to shiver and shake.  This was not like Gloria at all.  She wouldn’t just take off and leave without talking.  She wouldn’t.  She was always levelheaded.  She wasn’t impulsive.

He began to check all the closets and dressers.  All her stuff was still there.  Why wouldn’t she take her things if she were getting out of town?  Something just didn’t sit right in the pit of his stomach.  Something wasn’t right, he could feel it in his gut.  He grabbed his keys and went to the police station.

After talking to the police for over an hour, Jake was heading home heartbroken.  The police couldn’t help him because Gloria was an adult and had left a note saying she was leaving town.   Jake couldn’t report her as missing.  According to the police, she had the right to leave her life and disappear if she wanted to.  But Jake couldn’t believe that she would just take off like that.  Something had happened to her and how had she found out about Giselle?  Giselle didn’t know where he lived.  He had changed his phone number a couple of weeks ago because she wouldn’t stop texting him.  He made sure that all communication with her was done through his lawyer.  He was close to finalizing the divorce with Giselle.  Could she have somehow found out where he lived and gotten a hold of Gloria?  As nasty as Giselle was he didn’t think she would go through all the trouble of sabotaging his relationship with Gloria?  As much as Jake hated the thought of talking to Giselle he needed to talk to her and ask her.

After talking to Giselle, for 15 mins he was no closer to finding Gloria.   Giselle had denied any knowledge of Gloria. 

Jake was at his wit’s end.  He didn’t know what to do?  He collapsed onto his bed exhausted and wept bitterly.

Jake woke up the next morning dazed.  He instinctively reached out for Gloria but she wasn’t there.  Then he remembered.  He curled up into a ball and cried for her.  How could she be gone?  Gloria was his life!  He loved her with all his heart.  He was planning on proposing soon.  How could this have happened?  How could she have disappeared without a trace?  There had to be a way of finding her.  There had to be!  Jake was not going to rest until he found Gloria!

Gloria’s new phone had arrived but she wasn’t there to use it.  Jake had spent the next two weeks in a daze.  He couldn’t focus on work or on anything else.  Everything in his apartment reminded him of her.  He could still smell her lingering scent.  His insides hurt every day without Gloria.  He hoped any day now she would walk through the door but with every passing day, his hope diminished.  He had tried everything he could think of to find her.  He kept calling her friends and her parents but nobody had heard from her.  It was like the earth had swallowed her up.  Nobody had seen anything or heard anything.  Nobody.  It was the not knowing that was driving him crazy.  If he at least knew where she was it wouldn’t be so heart-wrenching but not knowing anything?  Not even if she was safe at least?  The not knowing was killing him.

Next Chapter: Chapter Nine - She Was Pregnant?