03 May 2022, New York, USA.
12:56 AM
In the twentieth floor, the highest floor of the company Cox, in the office of the CEO in the black leather chair sat Matthew, intent on signing and reading documents before him on his desk.
But a nagging beep-beep interrupted him from his work. It was the phone on the luxurious mahogany desk. Matthew picked up the phone and accepted the call, it was his personal secretary - Lily.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I wanted to know how you were" Lily paused for a second to catch her breath and continued, "This morning you didn't even say goodbye to me, are you mad at me?" she asked.
Matthew put the phone on his desk and rubbed his temples. He knew he wouldn't be left alone today, Lily as kind and amiable as she was lacked understanding. Matthew had made it clear he didn't want to talk about it, he wanted it all back to before that call - to the boring life he had.
"Lily.... This is not the time, I'm working. Our deal was that we don't talk about our personal life at work. Okay?" he said, slightly irritated by the situation.
"No, Matthew don't change the subject!. You've been ignoring me since this morning. Why?" Lily just didn't want to end the call with him.
"It's her again, isn't it? How long will I have to wait.... when will you decide to ask for a divorc-" Lily's ranting was interrupted by Matthew who ended the call.
"*Uff*" Matthew snorted and rubbed his temples for the umpteenth time, he was tired of Lily's continual demands and accusations against him - he still didn't feel ready to divorce Elizabeth - this would make him like his father - a man who had had so many divorces that it became a habit for him to use and throw women once they had lost value.
But there was yet another reason why he still didn't want to get divorced - deep down, a small part of him wanted to cling to the slightest chance that he and Elizabeth could one day reconnect and everything would be back to normal, in which one lived for the other and the problems did not yet exist
***
21:55 PM
Darkness fell over New York City, and in Matthew's office it was still heard the sound of the pen scratching the paper.
He was still working, although it was evening and all the employees had gone home to their respective families and were probably having dinner. Despite all this - he, Matthew was still there, quietly signing the papers.
After a few seconds Matthew looked up from his desk to look at the electronic clock on the wall.
'It's getting late...I'd better go home, I'll finish tomorrow.' he thought.
Matthew was getting ready to go home, he was almost done with the paperwork and putting it in the desk drawer, but something interrupted him.
His attention shifted to the illuminated screen of his phone that was on the desk to his left.
Matthew took it and noticed all the missed calls and unread messages - he was so immersed in the work that he didn't realize what was going on around him.
From the endless texting and missed calls always stood out the same name - Lily.
Matthew did not even check them, he put the phone in his pocket and finished fixing the documents, locked the drawer and walked to the door, went out and locked that too.
Matthew looked at the time on the screen of his phone for the last time - 22:12. Then he took the elevator and went down to the ground floor, once outside he was greeted by security guards outside the building, he returned the greetings and headed towards the direction where his car was.
Matthew entered the Jaguar, closed the car-door and was about to start the car, but the phone in his pocket rang.
He thought it was still Lily, so he didn't answer the call and let it ring in his pocket, but the phone rang again, which angered Matthew - the caller was very persistent.
So Matthew took his cell phone, and checked who was calling him, it wasn't Lily, it was an unknown number.
Matthew accepted the call and answered.
"Hello" he answered the call.
"Good evening, Mr. Coz, I'm sorry to bother you at work again, I'm Detective Eric Jones of the New York City Police Department, Homicide and Missing". The caller was the detective who called him this morning.
"I wanted to ask you a few questions..... Would it be convenient for you to give me some of your time? As long as it doesn't bother you." asked the detective.
"I'm sorry, Detective Jones.... I was going home, would you mind calling me later?" replied Matthew with a tired voice.
"Excuse me, Mr. Cox it will only take a moment, I will not take much of your time" the detective did not want to wait, it was an important call - it could not be postponed.
Matthew hearing this took his free hand up to his face and passed it through his hair, then brought his attention elsewhere - there was a couple of teenagers walking on the sidewalk, the boy; with his right hand he held on to himself the girl, while with his left hand he held the umbrella, sheltering them both from the rain - It had started to rain and it seemed that it would not stop immediately.
"All right, but I don't have much time." Matthew had resigned himself, he had understood that this night would be another sleepless night.
"I just wanted to ask you a question, Mr. Cox. Any idea where your wife might be? For example, at a friend's house, at a relative's house, or perhaps at an acquaintance's house. " the detective asked.
"N-Not that I know detective. I just know she has friends at the workplace, but if they don't know where she is.... then I don't know how to reply at this question." At this question Matthew's shoulders stiffened and his voice trembled for a split of a second - it was clear he was hiding something.
The detective noticed Matthew's mistake, and he didn't want to miss the opportunity to question him - it was vital to find Elizabeth. Dead or alive - She had to be found.
"Mr. Cox, what can you tell me about Mrs Cox's parents? Do you know anything about them? Where they live or if your wife is staying at their house?" The detective asked the most feared question by Matthew.
"All I know is that they died in a car accident about five years ago - but about my wife's other relatives... My wife never told me anything about them." This topic unlocked another of the memories buried by Matthew - the night of the accident five years ago.