Happy Christmas Eve everyone. I am going to be heading out for all sorts of family social things and as it helps my brain to settle I thought I would go ahead and do this mornings prompt before I begin my Christmas. So timers set and lets go, ho, ho!
Okay not as merry as I thought it would be. I think Cheryl is going to find out some really crazy stuff though.
Wednesday, December 24th: We must have just missed each other.
“We must have just missed each other,” Doug said.
Cheryl nodded. “I suppose we did,” she replied.
“Well maybe we can have lunch later in the week.”
Cheryl nodded and he wandered off. She watched him go. She knew Doug’s schedule. She thought to stop in because her meeting ended early. She had planned to stop and ask if he wanted to grab lunch and then circle back at lunch time. She arrived at his office at ten in the morning.
There were plenty of things in the area she could have used to occupy herself until his scheduled noon break. She knew he hated to adjust his meal time routines.
Doug’s car wasn’t there. She couldn’t recall him mentioning going anywhere. She waited for about ten minutes and then walked over to the nearby row of shops. She went in and out of the stores, picking up the things she needed. She didn’t’ see Doug’s car drive past and every time she left a store she looked back to the parking lot. His assigned spot was always empty. A few minutes before noon she went back to the car. Doug kept his phone off during the work day but turned it on before he left the office in case there was some sort of office based emergency interrupting his lunch. The clock on her cell phone showed noon. She took a few breaths to let the noon settle into place and then she called Dough. It rang and he picked up.
“Hi my meeting ended early and I thought we might get lunch,” she said.
“I can’t today,” he told her. “I already agreed to lunch with the guys. We are leaving the office now.”
Cheryl looked at the front of the office building. Doug wasn’t there. His car wasn’t there.
“Leaving now?” She asked.
“Yeah I am almost to the car. How was your meeting?”
“Good,” she said. “You are taking your car to lunch?”
“Yeah I am driving everyone. Don’t worry, I haven’t picked up the dry cleaning so there is no way for it to get messed up.”
Cheryl didn’t point out that their only dry cleaning involved his clothes. The call ended as he told her they were heading out. She hung up, looked at the empty parking spot and drove home. She had the rest of the day off. Not knowing how long her meeting would take, she felt it was better to have the time even if she ended up not using it.
Now, she occupied herself with chores. His laundry he always sent out, all of it. From his underwear to his work suits and even his pajamas. He believed it was better to let the professionals handle it. She pointed out his underwear didn’t need to be drycleaned and could just be washed in the machine at him and he had been horrified. He bought designer underwear and it apparently deserved the best.
Now as she tried to puzzle out what Doug was up to, she did her laundry. She cleaned the kitchen. She even emptied the fridge and wiped down the shelves before moving to clean the bathrooms. By the time Doug arrived home, the house was spotless, her clothes were all back in the closet and drawers and she was working on a preliminary report she had planned to start the following morning when she arrived at the office to start her day.
When she asked Doug about meeting him for lunch and driving to the office, he told her they must have just missed each other. He didn’t meet her eyes when he said it. Once he thought she accepted it, he left the room.
Cheryl finished her report and decided that while she did not like to snoop, believing everyone deserved privacy and respect, a little investigation might be in order.
Ten til Midnight 