Florence," she said, "I know this is a little unusual, but I need to ask if you've heard from Bradley Lindstrom? He told me that he was going on vacation but I thought he was going to be back on Monday."
Florence looked over at her and hesitated for a moment.
"Sarah, I'm sorry. You know that I can't reveal personnel issues or give out private information." Sarah started to protest.
"Normally I wouldn't be able to tell you anything," Florence continued. "But Bradley doesn't work here any more."
What? Sarah couldn't have heard her right, "He doesn't work here? What happened?"
Florence shrugged, "All I know is that he called in on Monday to resign. He asked us to mail his last check to his P.O. Box. Sorry I can't tell you anything else."
Sarah felt her heart drop and she slumped into a chair. He quit? He called and quit? And he didn't tell her? He didn't even try to reach her?
Sarah was having a hard time thinking straight. They had seemed so good for each other. What had happened? Oh My God. There must be something else. She couldn't believe that he had been leading her on. That just didn't make sense. Wasn't he her soulmate?
First, he had put himself in danger to save her. And he had been so considerate to her afterwards when she had fallen apart emotionally. Was he lying when he said he'd had a crush on her? What about that kiss? Certainly that couldn't have been a lie?
Sarah buried her face in her hands, she had to figure this out. This wasn't anything like what she'd expected. She had to get to the bottom of what had just happened.
~ # ~
"Aunt Carrie, I just can't believe it. First Tony and now Bradley. Are all men just jerkwads?" Sarah knew that even Aunt Carrie's ex-husband Russ had turned out to be a bastard, doing everything he could to make Carrie miserable, especially at the end.
"Now Sarah, isn't that a little extreme?" Carrie was trying to calm her niece down. "I mean, don't you think you should give him a chance to explain?"
Carrie was trying to defend him?
"Explain? He called the hospital on Monday and quit! He hasn't even tried to call me. I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out what might cause him to do this. Why he would just disappear.
"Then I worried that something bad had happened to him or to his family. But I don't have any way to check. So, I keep going around in circles. I don't know what to think any more. I thought you told me he was conscientious!"
"Sarah, I also told you he doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve. Maybe he needed some time away? What did he tell you before he left?"
"You mean besides the fact that he had a crush on me?" she sounded hurt. "Only that he had to visit his parents in San Francisco and he would be back in a week."
Carrie poured a cup of hot cocoa and handed it to Sarah. It was Saturday afternoon, and they were sitting in front of a nice fire. The wind and rain outside seemed to create a buffer against the rest of the world while the fire kept them safe and warm.
Sarah was wearing a large sweatshirt and her merino leggings. She sat sideways, her stocking feet slung over the edge of the overstuffed chair directly in front of the fire. Carrie sat on the loveseat, her legs curled up under her with a light throw quilt on her lap.
They could watch the fire and still see each other. The flames cast a hypnotic trance, and Carrie hoped they would help to soothe Sarah, although she couldn't get Sarah to sit still long enough for them to have the effect she wanted.
"Look, Sarah, you can't ever really know what's going on for someone else. I'm sure he has his reasons. I know it's hard to wait, and it probably feels like it's been ages, but it's only been a week."
"Here's the thing. When he kissed me, it was like we were one person. I knew he was my soulmate. But my soulmate wouldn't just disappear without telling me where he was going, would he?"
"Well, I don't know. Did you tell him you felt that way?"
"No. I didn't get a chance." Sarah sighed. "I