Cherry had been packing her clothes for hours now. It was good she had come home early from work to finish up everything. Burdening Swalha to help her out again was something she didn't want to do. It felt reassuring having a fried she could rely on in times of need, unlike Kind who had kicked her out last time from his place in the middle of the night. She hadn't spoken to him since then and she had no intention to rekindle the closeness they once shared before. Things were better this way.
Looking at the time, it was quite late and Swalha had not returned yet. Maybe she was working late today again. She understood running a business was demanding so she didn't want to bother her friend, checking up on her or what time she was coming home, it was already enough allowing her to say here for a month. She was convinced it was time she moved in back with Wale and she wanted to surprise him tonight. Even if Wale had cared for Kind more, it was great he kept his distance from Kind as promised and as long as Wale never discovers Kind's true feelings, things should go smoothly right? They had to this time. No more fighting again, she wasn't going to get jealous too. She planned to endure everything until they had gotten married. "Right, I have to plan that on my on now that Wale hasn't said a word in a while. Knowing him and his complacency, he'd always thrown everything at Kind." Reassuring herself, Cherry became convinced everything would turn out just fine with Kind out of the picture.
She heard Swalha calling her from the living room. She must have just gotten back. "I'm in here!" She responded as she kept stuffing her suitcase. "I'm almost done with the packing." Swalha walked in and scanned the room. "Too bad you're leaving, I had gotten so used to having you around." She watched Cherry struggle to close her suitcase which had been fully stuffed. "Need a hand with that?" Swalha asked but didn't wait for Cherry to respond. She sat on the suitcase to compress its contents and finally they managed to zip it up.
"This reminds me of collage, when you graduated and left the rest of us to fend for ourselves." Swalha said. "You were so hardcore, other students often asked how we became friends but then you and Wale started dating publicly and all of a sudden, the formidable couple was born!" Swalha's hands were in the air excitedly. Cherry was like her big sister, three years ahead of them in collage made her everyones senior in the class they shared with Wale and Kind. An additional unit had been added that year that forced her to sit in the same class with first years. "I'm glad you still remember I'm your big sister...thank you for letting me stay here...and not try to stop me from going back to Wale." Cherry said as she looked at her friend and let out a smile.
Swalha suggested she leave after dinner to which she agreed since she had already made dinner for them both. "By the way, have you gotten in touch with Wale lately? I can't seem to reach him." Cherry asked. Swalha seemed surprised she was asking her that yet she was the one doing the packing off to Wale's. "I thought Wale knew you were coming?" Cherry leaned back on the chair and explained. "We've been talking for sometime now, we've met a couple of times too so I wanted to surprise him tonight. He seemed optimistic about our relationship and was willing to compromise a couple of things for the sake of our us so of course I had to give it one more chance, our relationship that is. Ten years together just to break up, what a waste that would be don't you think?"
"I agree. Ten years is indeed a long time." Cherry said then continued indulging in her meal. "This is really good Cherry, I'm going to miss your cooking the most. Back to takeaways I guess, unless I invite Kind and his boyfriend over to make me a meal for the whole week." Swalha joked and kept at her meal. Her statement had been intentional. She looked up to find a stiff Cherry. "Dont do that Swalha please. Mentioning Kind's name as a passing statement when you know we are not in good terms." After a long silence, Cherry added. "I'm just fighting for my relationship. You may not support my decisions or how I handle things but don't psychoanalyze my choices."
She'd been caught, Swalha thought to herself. "I'm sorry, I guess a part of me wants you to stay and the other wishes you to be happy but if you find happiness being with Wale, it is your decision and I should respect it." She extended her hand to hold Cherry's and was glad she welcomed it. "It's all good. Your intentions are pure." Cherry responded smiling back. They ate in silence for a while before Cherry asked again, "I take it you've also not heard from Wale lately?"
Swalha pushed her plate away then leaned back on the chair before she responded, "No. I met him two weeks ago at Yummy Yum restaurant for a drink but that's the last of it." Glancing at Cherry's suitcases in the living room, she couldn't understand why her friend was up and ready without informing Wale first. "When was the last time you spoke to Wale?" Cherry immediately replied, "When he dropped you off from Yummy Yum two weeks ago. I told him I'll contact him first for my decision when I escorted him to his car." Swalha picked their plates and walked to the kitchen. "That is strange indeed," she concluded.
"Do you mind calling Kind please, I know they talk behind my back." Cherry said accusingly. Swalha didn't want to argue again with her friend and did as she had requested. She exchanged pleasantries before asking after Wale. According to Swalha's facial expressions, Kind seemed unaware of Wale's whereabouts. After some time she hanged up then shook her head. "He hasn't spoken to Wale since two weeks ago and I can confirm this since Kind had resigned two weeks ago too. His story matches not to mention, he still seems pretty upset with Wale over what happened a month ago.
Cherry looked at her bags, ready to be strolled away then looked back at Swalha. Wale had kept his word and not contacted her so she assumed he was living up to his promise. She hadn't been aware of Kind's resignation which was good, at least that was one more place for Wale not to bump into Kind. However, the issue at hand was Wale's whereabouts. He'd always come home straight from work, he didn't have any friends apart from them, no family he was in touch with, it was obvious he'd be at home right now. She reached for her phone and called Wale. It didn't go through. "This is strange," Cherry stated. "Wale has never been offline this long."
Swalha begun to feel concerned. From her last conversation with Wale, he didn't seem upset, rather, he appeared more relaxed when they were together laughing over milkshakes at Yummy Yum restaurant. In fact, she hadn't had a great time with him in a while, he even dropped her home. She reached for her phone and called him only to get the answering machine. Picking up her handbag, she raced to the door, calling back at Cherry to follow her.
They didn't live far from each other so in about fifteen minutes, they were at Wale's. "Did you remember to carry the keys?" Swalha asked Cherry to which she quickly handed them over to her and rushed into the apartment. Cherry couldn't understand why Swalha was overreacting, however, she admitted to herself she was feeling anxious too. They checked both rooms, the bathrooms included, the balcony but no one seemed to be inside. Wale wasn't there and from the looks of it, he hadn't come to the apartment for sometime. The stench from the trashcan in the kitchen filled the room. "I thought Wale was a neat freak?" Swalha asked Cherry to which she responded, "Not entirely but he did love cleaning up. He'd never stand the stench that's for sure." Looking at the bin, Cherry continued, "From the looks of it, he hasn't been here for a while."
Cherry could feel panic calling from a distance and before she could fathom the situation, she was on her knees, tears falling from her eyes. "No! It can't be! Wale has never done this before he could be in danger! We must find him! Call the police!" Cherry cried, unable to stop the thoughts that ran in her mind. Swalha rushed to her side and lifted her from the floor. It was indeed strange but she needed to calm down. They both did.
"I'm sorry Cherry, you might not like this but we need to get in touch with Kind before we call the police." Swalha could clearly see Cherry disagree with her by the way she shook her head vigorously. "Why him? How could he possibly help find Wale when he hasn't spoken to him as you said? The police are much more effective in this situation since he clearly has been missing for more than 24hours!" Pushing Swalha away, Cherry reached for her phone to call the police.
Swalha understood why Cherry was panicking, after all, she was the one who had been in touch with Wale's family. She decided to make her phone call privately as she walked to Kind's former room. Luckily he picked up immediately. "Kind, we are at Wale's and it appears he hasn't come home for sometime. Could you know where he may have gone to or if he left a message for you?" She could sense the panic in her voice but struggled to remain calm. Kind offered to come over and hanged up immediately.
In half an hour, he knocked at Wale's and Cherry quickly ran to the door. She wasn't surprised to see him. She concluded it had to be Swalha's doing. He acknowledged her only to get a glare back as he walked in with Todo. "You can't be here Kind," Cherry declared then demanded pointing at Todo, "Who is he?" Kind turned back and apologized to Cherry, "You two had met briefly when you got engaged so you may not remember but he is my boyfriend, however, we are not here for pleasantries. Todo here has offered to help us with his networks to find Wale. On our way here, he has requested we keep the police out of it since they will interfere with the search."
Cherry scoffed at Kind's suggestion but he ignored her and looked at Todo. He nodded his head and Todo understood what he meant. Todo left the living room to the open kitchen to make a call. They watched him converse with the person at the end of the line. He seemed to be giving instructions from the choice of words he used, and his body language. Everyone was looking at him yet he seemed engrossed in the conversation. After a few minutes, he walked back to the living room. Looking at Cherry, he explained. "My family owns a security company so I managed to pull a few strings here and there. Your call to the police has been canceled since my team will take over this. I hope you don't mind." Cherry glared without a word. Seeing that she did not respond, Todo continued his explanation to the rest. "As we were coming here, Kind gave me Wale's details so we started off the search earlier and that is how we got the police report. We must all therefore keep our phone's on incase Wale tries to get in touch. In the meantime, if any of you are in touch with his family, any information you provide will come in handy?"
Kind and Swalha both turned to look at Cherry at the same time. She never uttered a word but shook from anger and walked to the balcony, closing the door behind her. Swalha interrupted Kind's and Todo's surprise at Cherry's behavior, "She hasn't been in contact with them for a couple of years now from what she told me." Sighing, she continued, "There has to be another way apart from his family since he's never been close to them." Looking at Kind, "You're the closest to him, you know Wale well enough to mirror his thoughts. Was there a place he may have gone off to to think?"
Kind looked at Todo then to Swalha, "at his parents house..." He hesitated then added, "at their graves too."