But even that doesn’t make any sense. She seems too loyal to him to talk behind his back or meet me if he's deliberately avoiding me. I hope Bec can give me some answers later when we meet.
It's early evening when I walk into the bar and see Bec has already arrived. She's sitting alone at a table sipping on a glass of red wine. I wave to her then head over to the bar to order a glass of wine for myself before joining her.
We hug briefly in welcome before sitting down. I may not have known Bec long, but the few times we have met, I feel like she is one of my people. Her friendly, open smile and intelligent quick wit makes me feel comfortable chatting to her. She's a beautiful, smart, independent woman who knows what she wants in life and is not afraid to make it happen. We are on the same wavelength.
After the usual pleasantries are exchanged about the weather and work, I jump right into the problem.
“How is Luke doing? I haven’t heard from him for a week now.”
For the first time, Bec appears uncomfortable. “Well, that’s a very good question. Honestly Cassie, I have no idea. I haven’t seen him or heard from him for a week either. I can’t begin to tell you how tough it’s been handling his calendar when I have no idea where he is or when he'll be back.”
I’m visibly shocked by what Bec has said. I wasn’t expecting her to be so open with me or as much in the dark about Luke’s whereabouts as I am.
Bec’s frown emphasizes her concern as she leans in, saying, “Truthfully, I don’t know if I should be saying this to you, but I’m worried about him. Luke’s a good guy who seems to have gone through some bad times in his life. Not like I know for sure, but that's what I've gathered over the years. Anyway, like you I want to know he's okay.”
This gets more intriguing and quite honestly more worrying by the minute. “So, did anything happen a week ago or whenever you last saw him?” I ask her, hoping between us we can figure out what is going on with Luke.
“All I know is last Monday after lunch, Blake stormed past my desk and straight into Luke’s office. He seemed upset and unusually, he didn’t stop to speak to me as he went past… and Blake never passes my desk without stopping to talk to me.” She takes another sip of her wine before leaning in closer and continuing.
“Anyway, they were in there probably only about fifteen minutes before Luke stormed out, slamming his door and leaving. I hadn’t heard any shouting or even raised voices, so I don’t think Blake and Luke had a disagreement. I can’t imagine them having a huge argument anyway as the guys are really tight.”
I’m now totally confused. This is not at all what I expected to hear. “So did Luke return?”
Bec shakes her head. “No, I haven’t seen or heard from him since.”
What the heck. I’m becoming increasingly concerned about Luke. If this all happened Monday afternoon and Wednesday was when I got his text, at least I know he was still somewhere contactable. I tell Bec about the text I got from Luke Wednesday.
Scrolling through my phone I find the text and read it to her.
Looking back up from the screen I sadly admit, "I’ve not heard anything from him since.”
Bec nods reaching out to pat me on the arm. “But at least we know he was okay on Wednesday, and he isn’t in Manhattan.”
“True, but what about Blake? What did he say after Luke walked out of the office?”
Blake must know where Luke is, especially as Luke leaving doesn’t seem to be due to an argument between them.
Bec withdraws her hand, again looking uncomfortable as she fidgets with the stem of her wine glass. She seems to be carefully considering the question before she admits, “Well, after Luke left, Blake stayed in his office with the door closed, which was a bit odd. So after about half an hour, when I had packed up and was ready to leave for the day, I knocked on the door. I didn’t get a response, so I opened the door a crack and… he was in the visitor’s chair bent over, his head in his hands.”
Bec appears to be struggling to hold back tears as she tells me. “I think he was crying. I just didn’t know what to do. Such a strong giant of a man brought to his knees. So, I quietly closed the door and left him.”
Bec raises her watery eyes. “I wish I'd gone to him. I really like Blake, but I’m not sure he would have wanted me to see him like that.”
This time I try to comfort her. “I think you did the right thing. Luke and Blake are probably similar in how they don’t like to share their emotions with others. I can’t imagine what has happened to upset them both. Is Blake in the office? Maybe I could talk to him?”
Bec shakes her head, obviously trying to bring her emotions under control so she can continue. “Blake was working from home on Tuesday and sent an email asking me to cancel all Luke’s meetings till further notice. He was in the office briefly last Wednesday and Thursday but stayed pretty much locked in his office in meetings. I didn’t get a chance to speak with him privately. When we did speak, it was all work-related instructions around rescheduling Luke’s critical meetings with him later this week. He was most definitely not his normal self. He wasn’t in the office Friday and today, but he was working as he sent through a few emails.”
We both sit silently, lost in our own thoughts for a few moments, as we sip our glasses of wine.
Bec puts her glass down abruptly with a bang against the wooden table, saying excitedly, “Hang on, I think I know where Blake may be... one of the HR girls, Liz, asked me last Thursday about booking a flight to Miami through the company’s preferred travel agent." Tapping her fingers on the table, she continues, "We don’t have any clients in Florida, as far as I know. Let me text her and see what dates she booked the flight for.”
Bec’s fingers fly over her cell as she sends a text to the HR girl. I jump up to order us another glass of wine, unable to sit still while we wait for a response.
When I return to our table with the wine, Bec is smiling broadly. “Bingo. Liz confirmed the flight to Miami was for Blake for Friday morning. She also told me he'll be returning this coming weekend on a Saturday afternoon flight. I asked her if she booked him any accommodation and she said he didn't want any. He must be staying with someone. So my guess is it’s Luke.”
We clink our glasses together. It finally feels like we're getting somewhere. Then as I sit thinking what next, it occurs to me that I may know where they're staying.
“Hey, Luke mentioned to me they have a friend they served with who lives down near Miami. Scotty an Australian helicopter pilot who now has a company in Florida making surfboards or something like that. Luke is close to the guys he served with, so I bet he's staying with his friend.”
