Ten years had passed since Gloria went missing and slowly Jake made a new life for himself.  He had stopped calling Gloria’s friends and parents years ago.  He had dated some, but nothing too serious.  At first, he was drawn to women who resembled Gloria; petite women, with dark, red hair and hazel eyes.  But no woman could compare.  No woman could ever replace Gloria. 

He found himself dreaming and fantasizing about Gloria whenever he was with those women, so he decided to date women that were the complete opposite of Gloria.  Now, he dated specifically blond-haired or black short-haired, tall women.  No redheads. No brown-eyed women.  But deep down he still longed for Gloria and thought of her occasionally, especially when he was lonely.  It was not knowing what the hell happened all those years ago that haunted him.  Plus, the idea of his child being out there somewhere pained him.

He was at a local coffee shop one day, engrossed in grading his student’s papers, when he happened to look out the window as he stretched his arms.  That’s when he saw her.  It was Gloria or at least someone who looked very much like her.  Jake jumped to his feet and ran out after her.

“Gloria,” he yelled.  “Gloria, wait, Gloria,” he continued to yell after her.  “Gloria stop, please wait!”

The woman who looked like Gloria had crossed the street and was walking toward a park.

“Gloria,” Jake said loudly grabbing hold of the woman’s arm as he caught up to her.

The woman turned around to see who was shouting and who had grabbed her by the arm.  She looked startled.

“Gloria, oh God, Gloria!” Jake said excitedly as he held on to both of the woman’s arms.  “I can’t believe it’s you!” he continued.  “You’re here in Seattle?”

The woman looked frightened.  “I don’t know who Gloria is,” she said with worry.  “My name is Stephanie.  You have me mistaken with someone else,” she said trying to break free from Jake’s firm grip.

“No, it’s you Gloria,” Jake said frantically.  “You look just like her.”  He tried to embrace her but Stephanie began to panic and struggled against him.

“Let me go,” she yelled.  “Help, help! Someone, please help me,” she screamed trying to pull herself away.

But Jake was too strong for her and he wouldn’t let her go.  “Gloria,” he kept repeating.  “I found you!  Gloria!”

Just then two strong arms pulled Jake off Stephanie. 

Jake couldn’t think straight. All he saw was Gloria, his love, and he didn’t want to let her go.  He didn’t want to lose her again.

Suddenly he found himself handcuffed and in a patrol car where he was taken to the local police station and put in jail.

Had he lost his mind?  Jake thought to himself after he had settled down a bit.  Was that really Gloria or had his mind played a trick on him?  No, he was sure his mind hadn’t played any tricks on him.  That woman, Stephanie, looked exactly like Gloria; Same long, auburn hair; same height, and honey-colored eyes.  He was sure it was Gloria.

She hadn’t changed much.  She looked just barely older but she did look tired and pale.  She was dressed differently though.  Not the kind of clothes that his Gloria would wear.  This woman, Stephanie was dressed more darkly.  Gloria used to dress in light summer dresses with soft, bright colors.  Stephanie had more of a gothic look to her.  She was dressed in all black and had dark makeup on.  But other than that she looked just like Gloria.  Jake replayed the whole incident in his head over and over.

“Mr. Jake Wilder?” the officer called.

Jake sprang to his feet.  “Yes, that’s me,” he said.

“You’re free to go,” he said opening the locked door.

“I am?” Jake asked.

“The charges against you have been dropped,” the officer said.  “Follow me.”

Jake followed the officer down the hall.  He picked up his personal belongings and walked out of the building.  Jake was still confused about why the charges had been dropped.  He felt dazed.  He stopped outside the exit to get his bearings.  He needed to get to his car, he thought.  He had left it parked at the coffee shop.  It should still be there.

He began to walk around the building to the other side when he stopped short.  Stephanie was standing there leaning against the wall.  He stared at her for a moment and she stared back.  She wasn’t running away from him so he decided to walk slowly up to her.

“Hi, I’m Jake,” he said reaching out his hand. 

Stephanie didn’t make a move.  She just stood there looking at him. 

Jake could see her more clearly now.  She looked exactly like Gloria, no doubt, but he could tell she wasn’t Gloria.  Gloria had an easiness about her, a friendliness.  Stephanie was the complete opposite.  She looked at Jake with suspicion and mistrust.  She seemed very guarded.

Jake continued, “I guess I should be thanking you for dropping the charges.”

Stephanie said nothing.

“Um, why’d you do it anyway?” Jake asked.

Stephanie shrugged her shoulders.  “I don’t know,” she finally said.

Jake kept looking at her trying to read her but he couldn’t figure her out.  “Do you want to go get a cup of coffee or something?” he asked hoping she would agree.

“Nope,” she said.  “I don’t trust you.  You scared the shit out of me you know.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Jake said simply.  “You just look like someone I knew,” he said looking down.  “Look, I’m not going to hurt you or anything.   Are you hungry at all?  I missed lunch and it’s close to dinner time now.  I can buy you dinner if you’ll talk to me for a bit,” he offered.

Stephanie looked at him.  God, she had the same intense look as Gloria.  But Stephanie’s was different.  He could see pain in her eyes.

“Alright,” she finally said.  “You can buy me dinner and we can talk while we eat and then we go our separate ways.  Understand?”  Stephanie said in an even voice.

“Absolutely,” Jake said.  “Is there any place in particular you’d like to go?” he asked her.

“Just somewhere local,” she said, “and nothing fancy.”

“Got it,” Jake said.  “There’s a diner up ahead a block from here.  We can walk there.”

“That’s fine,” Stephanie said not looking at him.

They got to the diner in about five minutes.  They sat down at a table with a window overlooking the road outside.

“Hi there.  How you guys doing?” the waitress asked coming up to their table.

“We’re doing fine,” Jake replied with a smile.  Stephanie was looking out the window and didn’t say anything.

“You ready to order or need more time? The waitress asked.

Jake looked over at Stephanie who was still looking out the window.

“I think we’re ready,” he said.

“What can I get you?” she asked.

“I’ll have a cheeseburger with friends and a coke,” Jake said.

“What about you, Darlin?”  The waitress asked looking at Stephanie.

Stephanie finally looked up at the waitress.  “I’ll have chicken strips with French fries and iced tea, with a side of blue cheese,” she said.

The waitress smiled and took their menus.  “Coming right up,” she said as she walked away.

“Blue cheese, huh,” Jake said smiling.

“What’s wrong with blue cheese?” she said defensively.

“Nothing, nothing,” Jake said putting up his hands.

Stephanie looked out the window again.

Jake cleared his throat.  “It’s just that most people prefer BBQ or ranch sauce.  I don’t think I’ve ever known someone who likes blue cheese,” he said trying to start up a conversation with her. 

Stephanie looked back at him but said nothing then looked away again.

The waitress brought their drinks.  Jake took a sip of his and saw Stephanie do the same with her drink.

After five minutes of silence, Stephanie finally spoke up.

“You really thought I was her, didn’t you?” She asked looking at Jake.

Jake let out a deep breath.  “Yes, I did.”

“Who is she?” asked Stephanie.

“Gloria was my girlfriend,” Jake said.  “She was the love of my life.”

“What happened to her?” Stephanie asked.

Jake looked out the window.  “She disappeared about ten years ago,” he said his voice breaking.  “You look just like her and I thought you were her.  I mean, you could be her twin or her double or something,” Jake said looking back at her.  Jake took out his phone and showed Stephanie a picture of Gloria.

Stephanie took the phone and looked at the picture.  “Wow!  You weren’t kidding.  She looks just like me.  I mean her face but I would never dress like that,” she said giving back the phone.  “How’d she disappear?  I mean, what happened?” she asked him.

“I don’t know,” Jake replied.  “I came home one day and she was gone.  I never saw her again.  She left me a note saying that she was leaving,” Jake stated.

“Did she say in her note why she was leaving?” She asked.

Jake didn’t answer right away.  “She found out about my ex,” Jake finally said quietly.  “I was technically married at the time although legally separated. I was in the middle of getting a divorce but my ex was dragging her feet.”

“Were you cheating on her?” Stephanie asked simply.

“No,” Jake almost yelled looking up.  “Giselle and I were done for good!  Gloria was my life.  I didn’t want to be with anyone else!” he said with emotion.

At that moment their waitress brought their food. “Enjoy,” she said walking away.

Jake began to dig into his food. 

Stephanie just stared at it.

“I saw pain in your eyes,” she said softly.

“What?” Jake asked between bites.

“As the police were driving you away.  I saw pain and anguish in your eyes.  You looked so sad and heartbroken,” she said looking up at him.

Jake just sat there and looked at her.

“That’s why I decided to drop the charges against you,” Stephanie continued.  “You kind of tugged at my heart.   That doesn’t normally happen to me.  It’s actually never happened before,” she said taking a French fry in her mouth.

Jake wasn’t sure what to say to that.

Stephanie dug into her food with earnestness.  “So why weren’t you honest with Gloria from the beginning?”

Jake looked down at his food.  “I don’t know.  I guess I was afraid of scaring her off.”

“You ended up scaring her anyway,” Stephanie said taking a chicken strip and dipping it in the blue cheese sauce.

Jake put his burger down and cleared his throat.  “I was planning on telling her after we were secure in our relationship,” he said defensively.  He ran his fingers through his blond hair.

“It’s just better to be honest from the very beginning,” Stephanie said.

“Are you always honest with everyone from the very beginning,” Jake spat out.

Stephanie looked up at him.

Jake let out an exasperated breath.  “Sorry, didn’t mean to lash out at you,” he apologized.

Stephanie smiled at him.  “That was lashing out?”  She took another bite of her chicken strip.

That’s when Jake noticed that she had two dimples when she smiled. Gloria had only one dimple when she smiled.  Jake sat back reality hitting him hard.  This wasn’t Gloria.  He had already known that but now he really knew.  This was a completely different person.  One he wasn’t sure he even liked.  There had been instant attraction with Gloria.  With Stephanie it was different.  If she didn’t look like Gloria he would not have even noticed her. 

Gloria was always sweet and smiled at everyone.  This woman in front of him, Stephanie, was brooding.  She was melancholic and even rude, he thought.  She looked like she didn’t give a damn what anyone thought of her. She seemed to want people to see that she was confident but deep down was insecure.  She looked tough but at the same time fragile and delicate.  She was a mystery.  One that he wasn’t sure he wanted to figure out.  But there was also something about her that intrigued him.  He just wasn’t sure what it was.

“Thing is,” Jake continued, “I know something happened to her.  Something wasn’t right about the whole thing.  She just wouldn’t leave without talking.  She even left all her stuff behind,” Jake said.

“What about her purse?” Stephanie asked.

Jake thought about it for a second.  “I don’t remember,” he answered.

“Did she take her phone and wallet with her?” she asked.

Jake ran his hand through his hair.  “She had dropped her phone and cracked it and was in the middle of getting a replacement.  So she didn’t have a phone with her at the time and I don’t remember seeing her purse anywhere.  Why do you ask?” he asked curiously.

“Well, a girl doesn’t need much if she wants to disappear,” Stephanie said.

Jake looked down at his plate.  “I found out a few weeks after she disappeared that she was pregnant,” Jake said with watery eyes.

Stephanie thought for a minute then said, “Maybe she didn’t want the baby and didn’t know how to tell you.  Or, maybe she thought you would get upset or something so she decided to take off instead of dealing with it.”

Jake put his fists down on the table.  “No!” He said in an even tone.  “Gloria was not like that.  She was responsible and level headed.  She didn’t act impulsively!” he almost yelled out.

Jake’s outburst hadn’t fazed Stephanie one bit.  She continued talking as if it didn’t bother her in the least.  “Well, did you ever file a missing person’s report?” She asked.

“I tried,” Jake said trying to calm down.  “But because she had left a note saying that she was leaving, she wasn’t considered a missing person,” he said exasperated.   “You know, the note she left was typed.  If she had acted impulsively it would make more sense for her to write a handwritten note, not a typed one.  Typing a note takes a bit of rational thinking.  It shows she took the time to think about what she wanted to write and took the time out to type it and print it.”

“Okay, well maybe she didn’t write the note herself.  Maybe someone else wrote it pretending to be Gloria,” Stephanie said.  “Did she sign the note?”

Jake took a deep breath and thought for a second.  “Actually I don’t think she signed it.  It said from Gloria, but it was typed out not handwritten.”

“People forge documents all the time.   Maybe she didn’t write it at all.  Do you still have the note?” she asked.

Jake looked at her with pain in his eyes.  “Yes, I still have the note.  I’ve kept it all this time.  It was the last thing she left me,” he said his voice full of pain.  He inhaled sharply.  “If she didn’t write the note, then who did?” He questioned.  If someone typed the note then they knew a lot about her.  Whoever did it even sent one to her parents,” he said.  “But, who would want to hurt her?  Gloria was the sweetest and kindest person ever.  She had a heart of gold.  She was an angel,” Jake finished.

Stephanie looked up at him but said nothing.

“I moved here because I wanted to let go of her,” Jake continued.  I wanted to let go of the past.  It’s been ten years,” he said in a thoughtful tone.

“Then why did you come running after me when you thought I was her?” Stephanie asked him.

Jake looked away and didn’t say anything.  “I’m not sure,” he said after a while.  “Maybe I was just looking for answers and closure.  Plus, she had my child.  I wanted to find out where he was.”

Stephanie took a sip of her iced tea.  “I’m sorry about Gloria.  Sounds like she was very important to you.  She sounds like the perfect woman,” she said looking away.

“She was the perfect woman,” he spat out.  “I loved her with all my heart!”

“I don’t’ believe in love,” Stephanie said getting up.

Jake looked up at her.

“Seriously I don’t,” she repeated.

“Why not?” Jake asked getting up quickly and leaving money on the table.  He saw she was already headed toward the exit.

She sighed when she got outside as Jake caught up with her. “When you’ve had a life like mine, you lose all hope in humanity.  Love is a myth,” she continued as she walked on ahead.  “It’s the stuff of fantasies.  Look at all the people that cheat on the ones they say they love?  Men don’t want love they control.  Look at all the men that watch porn.  It’s not about love, it’s about lust and control; It’s about living out your deepest and darkest desires.  If love existed, don’t you think they would spend their time making love to their significant other instead of jacking off in front of porn?”  Stephanie said her voice rising.

“I loved Gloria with all my heart,” Jake said walking next to her.  “I was going to marry her.  I would have given my life for her.  I would’ve never hurt her!” Jake said excitedly.

“But you did end up hurting her,” Stephanie said.  “You weren’t honest with her from the beginning.  How do you think she felt when she found out about Giselle?  She must have been devastated!  So for all your declarations of love and about loving her with all your heart and never doing anything to hurt her, it probably felt like a punch in the face when she found out about your ex.  No wonder she took off.  I would’ve done the same thing,” Stephanie said excitedly at him.

Jake grabbed Stephanie by the arm and pinned her against a wall.  “What the hell do you know about Gloria or how I felt about her?  You have no idea what she was like so don’t presume to know what you’re talking about!”

“If she was anything like me, she would’ve been mad as hell to find out about your lies!” Stephanie shot back.

“Gloria was nothing like you,” Jake spat out.  “Nothing!  She was the most decent and honorable person I knew.  You’re just a selfish brat who thinks the world revolves around you.  You only care about yourself and no one else!”

Stephanie slapped his face!  “How dare you talk to me like that?  You don’t know anything about me!” she said with tears in her eyes.  At that moment she took off running away.

Jake stood there for a second stunned.  What had he done?  Why had he said all those things to her?  He felt terrible for losing his temper like that with her.  He had never spoken to a woman like that, not even his ex, and he felt horrible about it.  He needed to apologize to her.  But where had she gone?  He looked around all over as he started jogging in the direction she had taken off.  He looked for her for a good hour but couldn’t find her.  He finally gave up and headed back to his car.  It was already dark out.

He sat in his car as he went over everything in his head.  What on Earth had possessed him?  Why had he gotten so angry at Stephanie?  She had some valid points.  She was just speaking her mind.  Why had she gotten under his skin like that? 

Jake wanted to talk to her and apologize.  But he was tired.  Tired of chasing women who didn’t want to be found. 

He started up his car and began to drive home.  He was stopped at a red light when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eyes.  He was passing up the park where he had first seen Stephanie.  He thought he saw some movement by the restrooms and decided to check it out.

He turned into the parking lot and began to cruise slowly toward the park.  He could see the restrooms from where he was.  Everything seemed quiet. The park looked deserted.  Maybe he had just seen shadows, he thought.  He was about to turn back and head home when he heard an ear-piercing scream coming from the restrooms.  He quickly parked and jumped out of his car and ran toward the restrooms.  It was dimly lit inside but he could still make his way around.  Then he heard voices coming from the corner.

“Shut up bitch and cooperate,” Jake heard a male voice say.  “I’m going to hurt you real bad if you keep giving me a hard time,” the voice continued.

Then he heard what sounded like a punch and a soft moan.  In the corner, on the floor, he could see a struggle going on.  A heavyset man was on top of what looked like a girl.  He was punching her in the face as he tore her shirt and pants off.  It looked like the last punch he gave her knocked her unconscious and the man took the opportunity to rape her. 

It all happened so fast, Jake just stood there stunned for a few seconds, not believing what he was seeing.   He snapped out of his stupor when he saw the big man take out a knife and proceed to cut the girl.  He was about to cut her again when Jake leaped onto the man with a huge roar and shook him off the girl.  He knocked the knife out of the big guy’s hand and tackled him to the floor.

Next Chapter: Chapter Eleven - Mr. Recue Again