Round N Around We Go (Has Cupid Gone Mad?) (8 page)

Signing off with a lip print,
she leans back in the chair and
review her words. Biting her
lower lip while reading, she
feels hesitant and uncertain
that she should send out the
letter. Changing her mind, she
lets out a saddened sigh and
crumbles the letter in her
hands. Aiming for the waste
paper bin, she tosses it over
but misses it by an inch.

“Nay.” She whispers to herself.
“It’s probably not a good idea.
He won’t appreciate it anyway
and does not deserve to know.”
************

Juggling with three tubes of oil
paintings tugged under her arm,
a briefbag over her shoulder and
two bags full of delicacies from
the Whole Food Market, Karina
opens the gallery and heads
towards the office to get
organized for the day.

Accidentally she knocks over a
bowl of decorative glass marbles
on the coffee table and gasps at
her own clumsiness.

Leaning the tubes against the
wall, she places her briefbag
and groceries on the desk and
bends down on all fours to
collect the scattered marbles.

While scooping up the marbles
with her hands, the reflection
of a metal object under the sofa
catches her eye. She reaches
under the sofa and pulls out the
object. She studies it in detail
then narrows her eyes. She has
seen something that resembles
this object in a spy movie.
Quickly she turns on the
computer and searches for images
on listening devices. She stares
at one of the imagines on her
screen and compares it with the
object in her hand. There is no
doubt in her mind, that she is
holding a listening device.

Sinking into her chair, she
backtracks along memory lane and
all of a sudden, it strikes her
to remember that only one other
person besides herself has been
in Theo’s office.

She narrows her eyes into a
frown and becomes baffled.
Nothing seems to make sense to
her anymore. If he desires to
learn more about her, then all
he has to do is ask. Why plant a
listening device? It’s not what
people typically do when dating.

Cautiously and soundlessly, she
places the device on top of the
pile of glass marbles in the
bowl and puts the assortment of
salads from Whole Food in the
mini refrigerator.
Expecting Keith for a ‘picnic’
in the office for lunch, she
prepares a fresh brew of coffee
and is anxious to see him. She
needs an explanation.

Having endured an uneventful and
rather monotonous morning, Keith
arrives promptly at noon and
greets Karina with the warmest
embrace. Surprised by her cold
return, he notices something
different in her behavior.
Patiently, she holds her breath
while leading
him into her
office and tries to control her
temper. Not yet, she says to
herself, just a moment longer.

She serves him a fresh cup of
Café Au Lait, made exactly the
way as he likes it and seats him
on the sofa inside her office.

Innocently and unaware that the
listening device has been found,
he places his hand on her thigh
and tries to pull her closer.
Swiftly she leans forward, picks
up the listening device
and
waves it in front of his face.
Karina clears her throat, raises
an eyebrow, speaks softly to
manage the anxiety that she
feels and sincerely hopes that
there is an amiable explanation.
“Before we get any closer,
please explain this listening
device to me. How does it work?
Is someone listening to us right
now?” She pretends to be naïve
and watches him pull back.

Caught off guard and unsure of
how to react, Keith pretends to
be baffled. “What’s that?”

“Keith,” Karina presses for the
truth, “Please do not insult my
intelligence. I know what this
is and you are the only person
who has been in this office. You
are the only person who could
have planted this so tell me,
how long have you been spying on
me? And for what? I don’t get
it, I’m not even rich so you
can’t hold me for ransom.” She
babbles on, “Who are you? What
are you hiding from me?”

Cover blown, Keith grabs the
listening device from Karina and
begins to leave hastily.
“And I thought you like me!”
Karina bursts out. “You used me
to plant the listening device
for I don’t know what. How can
you walk out without explaining
and leave me like this?” Her
feelings are hurt and she
demands to know the truth. “So
everything is a lie and a giant
cover up?”

Keith pauses at the door and
turns around to look at Karina.
Seeing how upset she is, he
feels guilty of causing her
pain.

Stuttering and trying to find
the cleverest words, “Karina,
it’s really not like that! I
never meant to hurt you. You
must believe me.”

Karina raises her voice just a
little, “Fine, if it’s not like
‘that’ as you imply, then what
is it? What have you done to
me?” Near tears, she presses her
lips together and refrains from
crying.

Evasively, he tries to escape
the agonizing truth by smooth
talking to her. “I was asked to
keep an eye on you.”

Before he can mutter another
word, she cuts him sharply to a
halt. “Wait a minute, you’re
scaring me. Someone hired you to
spy on me? How long have you
been watching me?”

He steps forward and tries to
move closer to her but is
stopped by her hand gesture.
Holding out her palm, she
ensures a comfortable distance.
“The night we met, when you
found me lost in midtown, was
that staged? Is that how you
schemed to meet me so you can do
your job?” Karina rubs her
forehead and begins to feel as
if she were an idiot.

“Yes,” Hesitantly he tries to
explain but quickly corrects
himself, “but no! I was just
following you and didn’t expect
to find you lost with a flat
tire. I just had to come to your
rescue. That part of it was
personal.” He continues quickly
before she could stop him again,
“Meeting you in person and
getting
to
know
you
was
unintended. It just happened
that way and I truly have
feelings for you. I’m not lying
Karina.”

The more he attempts to explain
and justify, the more repulsive
she becomes and the worse he
begins to feel. Dropping the
listening device on the floor,
he steps on it and crushes it in
front of her eyes.

The truth beholds and he finally
caves in. “Karina I’m sorry to
have lied to you. I’d like to
make it up to you by telling you
the truth. I hope you’ll forgive
me. I am a private investigator
for an art insurance company,
and the tap is not on you. The
mark is Theodore Risso.” He
tries to be as
evasive as
possible and conveys the bare
minimum. “My only advice for you
is to be careful. I know you
have nothing to do with the
trail, just don’t get too
involved with Risso’s business.”
He pauses for a moment. “I do
like you. I’m not supposed to,
but I do. If there’s a way for
you to forgive me for doing my
job, maybe we can ..”

Karina cuts him short and
answers bluntly, “No we can
NOT.” Though livid, she manages
to control her temper with
verbal expressions.

Brokenheartedly she orders him
to leave. “I don’t want to see
you again, you used me and I
detest liars. The way we met
isn’t fate as you suggested. I
see it’s merely a seamlessly
orchestrated setup and I was
stupid enough to believe it. Oh
my God, and all that cuddling,
hand holding, eye gazing moments
and sweet gentle kisses, you
were just doing your job to get
closer to me so you can get more
information on Theodore? Please
leave before I lose control and
throw something at you.”

“Karina.. I already told you
that it’s not like that! You
have to believe me!” Guilt
consumed and feeling horrible,
he knew this moment would arrive
one day and have dreaded the
thought of losing her.
“Don’t say a word,” Karina
bursts,
“they’re
all
lies
anyway. Now that you’re busted,
you don’t need me anymore. Go
file the report and you can tell
your client, whoever it is, that
I am livid.” She moves near him
and pierces him with her sharp
stare. Speaking slowly and
meaning every word, “You – are –
an – asshole.” She holds her
breath and backs away. “You know
where the door is.”

She watches him walk out the
door and all of a sudden, the
attraction that she feels for
him completely dissipates. She
feels deceived and is raging
with anger. Mixed emotions flood
into her mind as she watches him
disappear into the street. She
heads over to the wet bar, gulps
down a shot of vodka and toggles
between the thoughts of Theodore
and his whereabouts, of Keith
and the feelings that she has
for him, of like and dislike, of
trust and mistrust, of truth and
deceit.

Sighing with the sour taste of
displeasure, she recalls
his
words and begins to wonder what
‘trail’ is he referring to.

She looks around his gallery and
all of a sudden, she feels
astray and doesn’t know what to
do anymore. Running his gallery
is becoming too complicated for
her simple mind.

Karina trusts Theodore with all
her heart and knows that he is a
renowned painter and legitimate
art broker. He will never do
anything to jeopardize his own
integrity and would never put
her in harms way.

Keith has entered into her life
recently and she does not know
much about him. Having met him
under
the
most
mysterious
circumstance, she should have
known to be wary. Now that she
has proven him to be a liar, she
knows she cannot trust a word he
says.

Deadly silence creeps through
Amber’s condo and is interrupted
by the ring tone of her cell
phone. Ringing continuously and
vibrating on the kitchen counter
top, the screen of her iPhone
indicates eighteen missed calls
and half a dozen of
the
unanswered
calls
are
from
Conrad.

Beginning to feel worried,
Conrad sits on his sofa inside
the study of his condo and
impatiently dials Amber’s number
again. It is uncustomary for
Amber to leave missed calls
unreturned and Conrad cannot
find one single reason why she
would avoid talking to him.
Relentlessly, he leaves her
another voicemail and asks for
her return call.

In his mid forties and standing
slightly over six feet two,
Conrad has seasoned youthfully
and
his
attractiveness
is
undeniably obvious. He sweeps
back his short black hair and
steps out onto balcony of the
highrise. Admiring the panoramic
views of Biscayne Bay while
sipping his morning coffee, he
begins to wonder why Amber is
not returning his calls. He has
been trying to reach her over
the past two days to no avail
and misses her presence. He
contemplates the idea that she
has lost her phone and is eager
to see her at the full rehearsal
in a few hours.

Patiently distracting himself,
he flips through a stack of old
magazines and spends the rest of
the morning idly in the comfort
of his luxurious condo.

Counting the hours and minutes
edgily, he watches the clock
tick away and sharply at noon,
he leaves his home and hurries
to the rehearsal. He needs to
see Amber and to know that
everything is fine.

Sylvester is the first to arrive
at the hall, followed by Lizzie.
The rest of the cast begins to
fill the stage and warms up as
Conrad instructs. Thirty minutes
into the rehearsal, Amber is
still nowhere in sight.

Conrad frowns and sinks into the
producer’s chair. Rubbing his
chin apprehensively, he dials
Amber’s number once more and
unenthusiastically leaves yet
another
message, “Sweetheart,
you have never ever missed a
rehearsal before, where on earth
are you? Please call me back. We
are all waiting for you.”

Trying to refocus on the cast,
Conrad speaks loudly onto the
stage. “Alright, let’s take it
from the top. Act one scene one,
we’ll have to rehearse the
scenes without Amber’s part in
it.”

Conrad appears to be focused and
in control but deep inside,
thoughts of Amber flood his mind
and he is worried. He knows that
something is not right but there
is little that he can do about
it. Certainly, the police would
not entertain his distress call
solely based on the fact that
she has not returned his calls
for two days and has not showed
up at a rehearsal. Unnervingly
desperate, he begins to think of
different options to track her
and is startled by a tap on the
shoulder.

He turns around and is ecstatic
to see
Karina and Taylor
settling in and sitting down
behind him.

“Oh my God.” Relived to see
them, he whispers to them
audibly, “Where have you girls
been? Where is Amber?”

Karina settles on her chair and
leans forward towards Conrad.
Not to disturb the rehearsal,
she whispers back, “What do you
mean where is Amber?” Karina
seems baffled, “Isn’t she here
for the rehearsal already?”

“NO!” Conrad raises his voice in
concern. “She hasn’t answered
her phone in two days and hasn’t
showed up today!” He exclaims.
“She has never missed any
rehearsals before and has never
left calls unanswered like
this!”
Karina looks blankly at Taylor,
who seems to be as baffled as
everyone. Raising an eyebrow,
Taylor questions out loud. “That
is odd. She told us a few days
ago to join her here at the
rehearsal and we’ll have dinner
afterwards.”

Taylor pulls out her phone and
attempts Amber’s number. She
shakes her head and looks at
Karina then at Conrad. “She’s
not answering. It’s voicemail.”

Taylor rolls her eyes. “What
makes you think that she’ll
answer you and when she hasn’t
answered him or me?”

Conrad
appears
frantically
worried. “Something is terribly
wrong. Maybe she fainted and is
unconscious?”

Taylor pulls to a stand and
announces hastily, “Something is
wrong, we’ll go check on her. I
have the key to her place.”

“Wait, I’m coming with you. I
just need a few minutes to wrap
up the rehearsal.” Conrad stands
and faces the stage, interrupts
the music and sends everyone
home. “We’ll resume rehearsal
tomorrow.”

He turns around and finds the
girls walking up the steps
already. He hurries out and
shouts from behind. “Wait for
me. I’ll meet you in the lobby
of her building!”

The twenty minutes drive over to
Amber’s condo is torturously
unbearable. Worried the entire
way, he wishes that all the cars
on the road would vanish and
leave a clear passage for him to
drive faster. His heart pounds
heavily and he finds his palm
covered with a layer of cold
sweat. He regrets having waited
this long. He should have
checked on her yesterday and not
today. He should never have let
her out of his sight.

Tires screech as he pulls up
sharply at the valet of Amber’s
building. Hastily, he tosses the
keys to one of the attendants
and hurries into the lobby to
find Taylor and Karina waiting
impatiently for him. They head
over to the front desk and
Taylor gives the receptionist
her name. “Taylor Gibbons. I’m
on Amber Winters’ permanent
guest list. Apartment 1808.”

Expediently, the receptionist
checks the record on the
computer and lets them in.
Silence fills the elevator as
they ride up to the eighteenth
floor.

Taylor reaches into her oversize
Prada bag and brings out Amber’s
key.

Stuttering in embarrassment, she
explains slowly while watching
the floor indicators blink as
they ascend. “Well as you know,
currently I am homeless. Amber
was with me on the first day I
crashed at your loft, remember?
She gave me a copy of the key,
just in case I need a second
place to hideout. She thought
you might need some time alone
with Keith.”

“Oh.” Karina sighs. “I haven’t
told you anything about Keith
yet.” She laughs to cover up her
own set of embarrassment.

Conrad endures the conversation
and is ecstatic when the
elevator door opens on the
eighteenth floor. He rushes to
her door and knocks on it
loudly. “Amber?” He knocks
again.

“Hold on.” Taylor pushes him
aside, inserts the key and turns
the doorknob to open.

Taylor checks inside the bedroom
and finds no traces of Amber.
Karina heads into the kitchen
and finds Amber’s bag; she
inspects the items contained and
finds her wallet and other
essentials in it. She sees the
phone on the kitchen counter.

“Now THIS explains why she
hasn’t answered any of our
calls!” She picks up the phone,
waves it in the air and joins
Conrad in the living room. “Not
in a million years would she
leave home without her phone!
Conrad, something is wrong.”

Conrad looks at the displaced
coffee table and all the photo
frames scattered on the floor,
“I know. This does not look
right!” He sees a small brown
prescription bottle on top of
one of the frames and reads the
label. “Neyo St. Pierre.” He
reads the label out loud.
“Latuda. What the heck is Latuda
for?”

He stands motionless for a few
seconds and an ugly mental
picture plays out in his mind.
He comes into one unimaginable
conclusion. “Oh God. I think he
has kidnapped her!”

Karina brings out her phone and
taps on the Goggle application
to research on the brand Latuda.

“Shit.” Karina mumbles and
continues reading the contents
displayed on the screen of her
phone. “He’s either psychotic or
bipolar.”

Conrad wipes off a drop of cold
sweat trickling down on his
forehead.

Taylor comes closer and asks,
“What’s the difference anyway?
Isn’t bipolar a psychiatric
mental condition?”

Karina tries to explain the
difference and is hushed by
Conrad, “It doesn’t matter what
the difference is between the
two, the only thing that matters
is that Amber is missing and I’m
sure that he has kidnapped her.
If Neyo should be on medication
and
he’s
not
taking
his
prescription, ‘cuz obviously the
pills are here, then we have a
serious problem!”

Conrad pulls out his phone from
the inner pocket of his jacket,
“We need to call the police.
Damn it!” He dials
911 and
places a distress call.

Karina appears panic stricken
and Taylor covers her mouth in
shock. Conrad grabs the bottle
from Karina’s hand and reads the
address to the operator on call.

“Am I sure that Amber Winters
has been kidnapped and is being
held involuntarily at this
location by Neyo St Pierre?”
Angrily
he
repeats
the
operator’s question out loud and
answers affirmatively. “Yes I am
sure ma’am.” He rubs his
forehead impatiently and listens
to her over the phone. Taylor
and Karina listen in and after a
few seconds, Conrad appears
annoyed and speaks assertively
into the phone, “Amber Winters
has disappeared for a few days
and there are signs of struggle
in her condo. We are looking at
a bottle of prescription left
behind by the kidnapper. That’s
proof correct?” He pauses for
another moment to listen, “No
don’t send anyone to Amber’s
home here, you have to dispatch
the officers to the kidnapper’s
home before it’s too late!”

Conrad fumes in disbelieve and
blurts into the phone. “I give
up,
dispatch
whomever
to
wherever, I can’t dispute your
protocols. The address here is
16018 Collins Avenue, apartment
1808, missing person’s name is
Amber Winters.” Angrily he hangs
up on the police operator.

Looking at Taylor and Karina, he
vents furiously in incredulity.
“This is absurd and the most
ridiculous
thing I’ve ever
heard. They have protocols to
follow. She is dispatching the
cops here and not there. What
stupid protocols!”

Finding the situation hard to
believe, Conrad decides to take
matters in his own hands. “I
have
an
idea.”
he
looks
seriously at them. “The three of
us will go to Neyo’s building.
I’ll go up to his place while
both of you wait downstairs in
the car. If Amber is not there
and we are wrong with our
judgment, then we will leave and
try to figure out another way to
locate Amber. But if you don’t
see me coming down, that means
something is wrong. You can call
the police from there and tell
them you hear gunshots. That
would bring them out right
away.”

Looking confused as ever, Karina
stutters and tries to digest the
situation. “Wait, aren’t the
cops coming here? Shouldn’t we
wait for them?”

“No Karina.” Taylor looks at the
bottle of Latuda and agrees with
Conrad. “We need to find Amber
now and not a moment later.
She’s been missing for two days
already. Let’s hope it’s not too
late!”

************
Parked outside Neyo’s shady
looking condo building in North
Miami, they look around the
neighborhood and feel extremely
uncomfortable. Fortunately there
is still daylight which makes
them feel a little safer than
they would in the darkness of
the night.

They discuss the strategy again
and Conrad repeats himself,
“Remember, if you don’t see me
coming back in maximum fifteen
minutes, then that would mean
something is wrong and you can
call the cops.”

Karina is reluctant for Conrad’s
risk. “Are you sure about this?
It sounds dangerous to me.”

He assures her that everything
will be fine.
“I’m certain
Karina, Neyo knows me and it
wouldn’t shock him to see me at
his door. I wasn’t the one who
fired him so he shouldn’t have
anything against me. I’ll be
alright.”

Nervously speechless, Taylor and
Karina watch Conrad disappears
into the building. Breaking the
silence, Taylor couldn’t help
complimenting Conrad’s courage.
“Look at what he’s willing to
risk for her safety.” She speaks
truthfully from the depths of
her heart. “My man sent me on a
ninety
days
hiatus
over
nothing.” She fights against her
tears and is genuinely touched
by the love that Conrad has for
Amber.