night. It’s been six months, and I only met her once, but I feel like I know her face by heart.
I open to the first page in the folder and it’s a blown-up copy of a photograph of Ella. It is her. Tom must have found it on social media because it looks like a happy casual photograph with a group of people who are cropped out of the picture here. So I’m just staring at Ella. She looks a little younger. She has a big smile on her face. The sun makes everything look bright around her. It’s like she’s staring right back at me with her hazel eyes.
I feel lost for a few moments. I’m thinking about those kisses. How delicious she tasted, how I wanted more, and I know I will keep wanting more until I can have her.
I have to force myself to flip through the rest of the folder. I need to move on from staring at her face.
What I find literally shakes me. I can’t believe it. I have to re-read it several times before the truth finally sinks in. Ella lives in Chicago. She went to college here. Majored in history. Worked at some small firm in the city before she quit that job seven months ago.
She has a family comprised of parents and a younger brother. She grew up in a small town but her parents also live in the city now.
Tom has done good work. He’s given me enough information to paint a decent picture of Ella’s life.
I think I’ve ended up going through the folder at least a dozen times. I may not know every intricate detail of her life, but I feel like I know enough. It’s been over an hour since Tom brought the folder over to me, so I’m sure he’s gone home.
I step out of the study and at the end of the hallway, I see him scrolling through his phone. The light from the screen illuminates his face. He hears me and looks up.
“Yeah, it’s her,” I say, and he nods. I wonder how much he knows. How much he’s figured out. He has to have an idea that Ella is not a business associate.
I walk back into the study and I know he’s following me in there. I grab the folder off the desk and hold it up.
“That’s good work. I’m not going to ask you how you dug up all this.”
“It wasn’t very difficult. She isn’t overly protective of her information online.”
“But you couldn’t find an email address or a phone number?”
“No. I searched everywhere, Mr. Silvers,” he says. I nod.
I am pacing around the room with my hands behind my back. I need to come up with a plan to see her again.
“Do you know if she’s back in Chicago? As far as I know, she was traveling around Europe six months ago.”
“I saw some photographs in Chicago recently, on her social media pages.”
“So she’s here now.”
“That’s what it looks like, Mr. Silvers.”
There’s more silence in the room while I continue to pace around. Tom knows he is free to leave if he wants to, but he decides to stay.
“There is something else I was thinking about, if you are open to it,” he finally says.
“Something else?”
“If you don’t mind getting creative about getting in touch with Ms. Davies.”
“I’m all ears.”
“We could contact the college.”
“Her college?”
“From my research, I gather that she has close ties with the college. She was a star student and involved in the historical society pretty seriously. Maybe she is still in contact with them since graduating.”
I’m staring at Tom, but with pride and awe.
“Yes, that’s a good idea. We could get in touch with the college and hope they’ll be willing to part with her personal information.”
“They will if we can come up with a job for her. As you can see in that folder, Mr. Silvers, it seems like Ms. Davies is not currently employed.”
“She’s a history major.”
Tom says nothing.
“I’ll have to think about it. The last thing I want is for her to realize I’ve made up some bullshit excuse just to see her again.”
I’ve said the words aloud now. They’re out there. Maybe I shouldn’t have disclosed this much to Tom, but now I have. I know he will take it to his grave.
I’m lying awake tonight. It’s very late. I can hear a clock ticking somewhere in the house. I’m not sure if I need a house as big as this. Everything I