We were then hungry and it was already going to six in the evening, I asked Jaime to help us order dinner which he gladly agreed; we waited for him to place the order and the delivery address. After dinner at around 9 in the evening, we talked briefly how things were going the first three weeks of school. It was only September and already we were doing quizzes, group and individual presentations and mid-terms were scheduled for October. As it was the weekend, we were allowed to sleep late, so we ended up watching movies at my place until mid-night when the boys returned to their rooms. We planned to meet over the weekend for lunch and dinner. After they left, I sent three voice messages to my parents' letting them know I was doing well and all was well in school, told them about the bank incident and finally expressed concerns of their whereabouts and how worried that I had not heard from them, and requested if possible to call or video call as I would not only be able to see them but also know that they are well, healthy, safe and to confirm that what they had said in their previous voice messages was true.
The weekend was quite busy for us as we were working on our assignments, cleaning our rooms and doing laundry. We did meet for lunch and dinner at Anderson's room on Saturday and Sunday. I mentioned to the boys that I had sent three voice messages to my parents as they had suggested, all we had to do was now wait and take it from there. I spent the weekend at Anderson's place, we not only relaxed, watched movies while cuddling each other, but also did some work and preparation for our classes next week. On Sunday night around 10, Anderson escorted me back to my room, as we were walking, he tried to calm me down to not worry, that everything will be OK with my parents and that we shall figure it out if anything is wrong. He assured me with a kiss and hug wishing me good night and to sleep well. As I entered my room, I lay on my bed just thinking about everything. I finally decided to get up, shower and get ready for bed, and allow myself to only think positive thoughts and that everything will be OK. Despite all that had happened, it had been a wonderful weekend and one well spent not only with Chris and Jaime but with Anderson as well.
October had kicked in real quick and the weather in Boston was changing almost like winter was starting early, the nights and mornings were getting quite cold. Luckily I had extra blankets and bought a heater to keep the room warm before the heating was turned on in November. This was the month when the mid-terms, individual presentations and mid-term essays were to be done and submitted. It was quite a stressful month as well because everything was on a tight deadline and our professors were not as lenient as expected, unless with a valid reason, late submissions were automatically given a fail and no second chances!! All my courses required a five thousand word essay; topics and questions were given so all we needed to do was research, write about it and make sure references and citations were well written. In addition to the mid-term essays, individual and group projects and presentations were also to be done during the week of the mid-term exams. I had no problem with the individual and group projects and presentations, what really frustrated me was the mid-term essays, spending countless hours researching, reading tons and tons of articles and then having to ensure the essay had facts, evidence, details with citations, your opinions and conclusions and finally adding the references; that was a total of ten essays!! I told myself "God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can and Wisdom to know the difference." I needed 'Serenity, Courage and Wisdom' if I was to get through the month of October without going mad. In order to ensure I didn't miss any deadlines for the mid-term essays, project and presentations, I gave myself a week head start, spent the evenings and weekends working and completing my mid-terms. By the time the week was over, I had completed and submitted all my projects, six essays and all my presentations were done in class; was now left with five more essays and would be done with my mid-terms. During the week of the actual mid-terms which started from Monday October 17th to Friday October 21st, I worked on my last four mid-term essays. The deadline was Sunday October 23rd. By Saturday afternoon with the help of Chris, Jaime and Anderson, all my essays were written; edited, reedited, changes were made and finally submitted at midnight on Saturday October 22nd. My brain and body were completed fried, wasn't even thinking straight, the only thing that was going through my mind was shower and bed and that was exactly what I did, showered and went to bed, didn't even bother setting my alarm, checking messages, I couldn't, I was just too tired. I was glad it was over, the mid-term exams were finally over and I could relax and await the Halloween celebrations on October 31st, and although was not a huge fan of Halloween, it was nice to just relax and not have to feel the pressure of uncompleted essays, projects and presentations that would result in a failure.
The mid-terms were over, Halloween celebrations were over, and November rolled in and winter was soon knocking on our doorstep. Classes continued and it was not long the professors were already talking about the final exams scheduled in December two weeks before the winter vacation. Just when I was beginning to feel relaxed and could take a break to focus on my personal stuff, professors are talking about exams, seriously!! "I will not go mad, I will not go mad", I told myself, "I am fine; I am good, all will be OK," I continued telling myself. I needed a breather and the only way out was to take my bows and arrows and head over to the archery club straight after my five o'clock class. In the first week of November every day after my five o'clock class I went straight to the archery club to practice and shot some arrows, I needed to blow off some steam and this was the perfect place to do it. I had sent a message to the boys telling them I will be at the archery club for the next one week after my five o'clock classes and shall not be joining them for dinner. They had understood the stress, pressure, worries and frustration I had been going through and knew I needed to be alone to get myself together. They also knew that archery was one of the ways to help me relax and calm down. They were very understanding and replied "cool, no worries, take care, be safe and shall see you when you get back, love you."
It had also been over a month since September I had not heard from my parents after sending the three voice messages and this was getting quite alarming and was not sure how I was going to handle this situation. I decided to start shooting the arrows maybe it might help me think straight, think what to do, come up with suggestions of what I should do. I had already been shooting for over an hour and nothing; nothing was coming up in my brain, my mind was completely blank like a piece of paper. I was beginning to get very irritated, that I placed my bow and arrows on the table and sat down facing the target for a minute. For the next fifteen minutes, my mind started racing backwards, flashbacks of my parents, our phone conversations, my summer internship programs, my summer holiday, the bank incident, the voice messages and the suggestions and advice from Chris, Jaime and Anderson and their parents, I could feel my eyes heating up and had changed color because of the frustrations, the stress and anger and not being able to think or focus, everything was coming up empty, blank. I closed my eyes and started saying 'black hood' "where are you when I need you? I am losing control, something is blocking me, I am trying to get answers but I can't seem to fight whatever it is that is blocking it." I opened my eyes, stood up, took my bow and arrows and started firing the arrows, it was then I felt the presence of 'black hood' next to me as I was firing my arrow non-stop. "You summoned me," said 'black hood.' I replied, "Where have you been all these months, what happened to you?" There was a long silence, then a reply "I have been busy," I asked, "Busy with what?" another silence. I continued, "I need your help, I can't get in touch with my parents, I think they might be in trouble." 'Black hood' replied, "why do you think they would be in trouble?" I explained everything that had been happening including my mum's weight gain, my meeting with Uncle Kim (dad's brother), the bank incident and the voice messages, and told 'black hood' that nothing is making sense, something is clearly wrong. "Will you be able to help me or not?" I asked 'black hood,' "I will see what I can find and get back to you," replied 'black hood.' Before I could utter 'thanks', 'black hood' had already disappeared. I continued shooting my arrows until 8 in the evening and decided it was time to head back to the university.
Once back in the university, I headed straight to my room, showered, changed into my pajamas, got a snack and a drink and lay down on my bed. I checked my phone and there were neither texts nor voice messages from my parents. I checked in with Anderson, letting him know I was back, he asked how archery was and whether I was feeling better, told him was feeling much better; he laughed saying "that's good you are feeling better, glad archery helped, we missed you at dinner." I replied, "I missed you guys as well especially you, but I needed to do this otherwise was going to go crazy, and I thank you for understanding and support Anderson." He replied, "Anytime my love, anytime." I smiled and we talked about his day, week and about his mid-term exams. He had also gone through some frustrating days and times preparing for his mid-term exams, especially with the group projects and presentations. Despite it all, he managed to complete all his individual and group projects and presentations. He did have essays to complete which were submitted before the deadline, and there were other courses where it was a full on two hours of writing exams which were tougher and harder. I asked how he felt he did in his exams; he believes he passed and was not quite concerned. It is funny because when I spoke to Chris and Jaime they told me the exact same answers as Anderson about their mid-term exams. The results were scheduled to be posted the second week of November, which I am sure we were all eagerly awaiting for them. After speaking to Anderson, it was bed time, it was my hope that after a full week of archery, blowing off steam and speaking to 'black hood' and having a good rest, that I shall be able to focus, relax, be calm and figure out all that is and has been going on and hopefully get answers.
The second and third week of November had started and ended quite smoothly, classes were going quite well and the results of our mid-terms were released. Jaime, Chris, Anderson and I got A pluses for all our courses, with a final score of an A plus. It had been the best news ever received since the beginning of this semester with regards to my studies. We celebrated with a great dinner at one of the finest high class restaurants across town on Saturday November 19th ; Jaime made the reservations and all we had to do was show up for the dinner, we were sharing the bill which we had no problems at all. We enjoyed ourselves, had a very long night, arriving back at the university shortly after two in the morning; we did drink some alcohol, but very minimal as we wanted to get back to the university sober. On Sunday we were all indoors for the entire day recovering after last night, we checked in on each other via text and phone calls. Next week we were having three days of classes as Thursday November 24th and Friday November 25th was US Thanksgiving Day; we were having another long weekend. This gave me time to work on our assignments, finish the readings and pre-readings and have extra days to get some rest and sleep.
The festive and celebrations of Thanksgiving had finally arrived and we were having a long wonderful weekend break. Chris, Jaime and Anderson's parents flew over to Boston to celebrate Thanksgiving with their sons and I had the pleasure of joining them to celebrate Thanksgiving. Mr. and Mrs. Anders, Jaime's parents had arranged for us to have dinner at the Boston Marriot Cambridge Hotel on Thursday November 24th the day of Thanksgiving. This was the same hotel Anderson and I celebrated his birthday back in September. It was definitely a great choice to have Thanksgiving as they had the best meals, desserts and drinks, was definitely not a miss. It was having such dinner and events that made me miss my parents' very much, this was the first time we were not celebrating Thanksgiving together, something my parents' never ever missed in their lives. I tried not to focus on the misery and sadness but to try and have a good time and know wherever my parents were they were also celebrating with me Thanksgiving in spirit. I also had the pleasure of spending the weekend with Chris, Jaime and Anderson's parents for lunch and dinner. They left late Saturday afternoon as they wanted to give us a day to prepare for our classes next week. I thanked them very much for flying all the way to Boston and inviting me to join them for the Thanksgiving dinner, weekend lunch and dinner. I was truly blessed to have such supportive, loving and caring family friends, wonderful friends Chris and Jaime and a wonderful and amazing boyfriend Anderson.
The end of November was rolling by so quickly and winter had already kicked in, which was quite cold especially at our university area, thank goodness the heating was on and the rooms were very warm. There were times it was just very difficult getting up in the morning as it was not just cold but dark as night. I used to laugh and say, "We go to school in darkness and return home in darkness." So the only time we ever got to see the light was over the weekends as it was when we didn't have to wake up in darkness to go to class.
Once November ended, it was the final month of the year December, the month where we were preparing for the final exams, the month with two most important festivals Christmas and New Year's Eve, and the close of universities for a three week winter vacation. Since I had not heard back from my mum and dad, I contacted Cynthia the HR Supervisor and requested to meet with her on the weekend of December 3rd and I needed to fly back to Chicago for this meeting. She agreed and we scheduled to meet up for dinner at a downtown restaurant near my dad's company at 7pm. I booked my flight to fly out to Chicago on Friday evening at 7pm and returning to Boston on Sunday afternoon at 3pm. After confirming my appointment with Cynthia, I informed Chris, Jaime and Anderson of my plans to return to Chicago to meet Cynthia to discuss about my parents' whereabouts. They wanted to come with me but I told them not to worry that I shall return on Sunday afternoon and will tell them everything. After my classes on Friday afternoon December 2nd, I had arranged for a car to pick me up from the university at 4:30pm to take me to the airport for my 7pm flight. I had planned to stay downtown near my dad's office and near the restaurant where I shall be meeting Cynthia for convenience. I had to keep in touch with Chris, Jaime and Anderson every step of the way, as they needed to know everything that was going on in details.
When I arrived in Chicago, was driven straight to the hotel, checked in and went to my room. I checked in with Chris, Jaime and Anderson, and then showered, grabbed something to eat and drink before calling it a night. The following morning I mainly hung out at the hotel, chatting with Chris, Jaime and Anderson, I confirmed our dinner reservations with Cynthia at 7pm which she confirmed. I had breakfast and lunch at the hotel, then a nap in the afternoon until 5pm, got up and begun dressing up for my dinner appointment. At 6:15pm, left the hotel took a cab to the restaurant; there wasn't much traffic, so it was an easy thirty minute ride to the restaurant. When I arrived, confirmed my reservations and was shown to my seat and was presented with the food and drink menu. I mentioned that was waiting for a friend and would order once she arrived. As I waited for Cynthia, I sent a quick message to Chris, Jaime and Anderson informing them that I had arrived at the restaurant and was waiting for Cynthia. They replied, "OK, no problem, be safe and shall talk once you are back in your hotel." As I was about to reply, Cynthia arrived sharp 7pm, we greeted each other with a hug and sat down. We decided to order food and drinks before getting into our discussions. After we ordered, we started talking about her work and how things were going in the company, then about my life and studies in Boston. We were both doing relatively well but it was good to see Cynthia again and catch up.
Now I got to the serious business, I asked her about the CEO and Director, she mentioned they have not returned to the company and people were beginning to get quite anxious and worried. I asked if she knew of their travel itinerary, she replied, "The last travel plans she knew were Europe and Asia," and had not heard from them since August. I asked her who the Director of the company was when she replied it is the wife of the CEO; Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. I was quite shocked to find out that my mum was the Director of the same company my father was running. I asked Cynthia how it is possible and she explained that Mr. Johnson had set up the company some twenty or twenty five years ago, when he started the business it was not running well until Mrs. Johnson helped out with getting investments, clients from the around the USA and Europe, soon their business started picking up, their clients also increased not only from within the USA but also from Canada, Europe and Asia. That's how Mr. Johnson became the CEO and Mrs. Johnson the Director. They had been looking to expand their company in other countries around the world hence the frequent travels and long travel days which turned into months. "Was the company experiencing any financial difficulties?" I asked. "Not that I know of, the company has been doing very well; in fact we have been receiving quite a number of contracts, which cost millions of dollars," replied Cynthia. She continued, "Why are you asking these questions, Diana." I finally told her my relationship with Mr. and Mrs. Johnson; she couldn't believe it, almost chocked on her food. I told her every since the summer holiday they have been away from Chicago for over six months and it was not like them to be away for such a long time. I fear for the worst and my gut feeling is telling me that something is very wrong, and they could be in some kind of trouble. Cynthia asked when was the last time I had heard from them, I told her it was back in September via voice messages again which was very strange because every time they travelled we would always keep in touch via video calls and the conversations lasted for almost two hours. I did send them three voice messages in response to their voice messages but haven't heard back. I asked Cynthia if she could help me track down their travel itinerary and help me track down their last known destination, address and phone number. I asked her to keep this information and her investigation private, to not even let any of the board members suspect anything. I informed her should any of the board members ask of my parents' whereabouts, just be cool and calm and tell them, "They are still on a business trip in Europe and will be returning in the next three weeks." "We have to keep them calm because if they find out anything, things will not look good for the company," I told her. I will do my part and investigate from Boston and we can cross reference the information. I told her, "You can call me anytime, also if you see or hear anything suspicious let me know." We continued eating our dinner, when I asked her about 'Uncle Kim.' She gave me a look like she didn't want to answer the question. She asked my relationship with him. I replied, "He is my father's brother." There was a long silence, and then she said, "He is not a very nice man, and should not be trusted." I looked at her in shock, "really, how come?"I asked. "Every time he would come to our company, he would always threaten your father, and they would argue," she replied. "Do you know what they argued about," I asked. It was mainly to do with the company, the company shares, expansion of the company," She said. "But I don't understand if my parents started and grew the company on their own, how or where does Uncle Kim fit in?" I asked. "In my opinion, I think he wants to take over the company." She replied. I shook my head in amazement, went into deep thought and started rewinding the conversation I had with him last summer when he came to the company. I think he had already known my identity and who I was to the CEO of the company. One last question, "How often had Uncle Kim been coming to the company," She replied, "Oh he has been coming almost every month," then I started thinking and asked Cynthia for a favor. "I need you to keep an eye out for all the board members," "Why?" She asked. "I think some of the board members must be working with Uncle Kim and I think they are behind everything that has been happening." I replied.
The dinner was lovely and we were able to exchange and share valuable information while I was able to get enough information that would be a good start into my investigation. I paid for the dinner and thanked Cynthia for taking her time on the weekend to meet with me. We agreed to keep in touch via phone, and suggested best to contact each other after work when she is at home to avoid any suspicions. She offered to drive me back to the hotel which I happily agreed with a big smile, it was a half hour drive and it was already going to 11pm. When we got to my hotel, we gave each other a hug and she drove off, I asked her to let me know when she reached home. Once I returned back to my hotel room, I took a shower as I needed to cool off and digest everything I heard today evening from Cynthia. As I was getting ready to sleep, I received a message from Cynthia that she had arrived safely home. I sent a message to Chris, Jaime and Anderson informing them about the dinner and had returned back to my hotel, as it was already pretty late, I didn't want to wake them up, decided that I will tell them everything when I returned to Boston.
On Sunday morning after breakfast at the hotel, checked out before midday and sat at the lobby waiting for my ride to the airport; my flight was scheduled for one o'clock in the afternoon. My ride arrived shortly after 12pm, and since there was no traffic arrived in twenty minutes, checked in, got my ticket, went to immigration which took ten minutes, then went to my boarding gate and waited to board my plane. As I was waiting, checked in with Chris, Jaime and Anderson informed them that I was at the airport getting ready to board my flight and would fill them in on everything when I arrived at the university. We boarded our flight on schedule, took off and landed in Boston right at 3pm. After getting my luggage, got a taxi and headed straight to Boston University. Upon arrival, thanked the driver, tipped him and went to my room. I texted Chris, Jaime and Anderson to let them know I had arrived safely and was already in my room. In about ten minutes, they showed up at my door, knocking and knocking, when I opened the door, it was hugs after hugs from Chris and Jaime, kisses after kisses, hugs after hugs from Anderson; "we missed you so much Diana." "I was only gone for a day and a half," I replied. Yeah, but it felt you were gone for a lifetime," said Jaime. I laughed and smiled at them. I filled them in on the conversation I had with Cynthia while at Chicago including all the details and information I got from Cynthia. It was pretty shocking to them, as I was shocked as well. They were all looking at me with the questions of 'what will I do next?' I told them I am waiting till the end of this month, while working with Cynthia to get more information as I do my own investigation while in Boston, and then we will see what to do and take it from there. Chris, Jaime and Anderson were ready and willing to support in anyway, all I needed to do was let them know and they will take it from there. "I will definitely keep you guys posted and if anything comes up and will need your help will let you know," I told them. They could see I was looking very worried and helpless, but with their hugs, kisses comfort and support I knew they would be there for me and all would be OK.
It had been already over two months and had not heard from my parents' and we had two more weeks remaining before the first semester of my third year was coming to an end. With a lot of reviewing, studying and preparations for my final exams, I was not sure that I had the strength to concentrate or focus on my studies with the ongoing current situation about my parents. Regardless, what I needed to do was to first focus on completing my first semester, concentrate and focus on my studies at the same time working with Cynthia on finding more information about my parents. My final exams were scheduled for the week of December 12-16, 2022; I had this week to prepare, the good thing was that I had only two final written exams, while for the remaining eight courses there were no exams but had to write final essay exams which were to be submitted by Friday December 16th 2022 at 3pm.
During the week of December 5th through the weekend of December 11th, we were busy preparing for our final exams, since most of us had completed our classes for the semester. I had spent most of my time after class in the library preparing and getting resources for my final essay exams, while most of the evenings in my room reading and writing my essays. I was determined to complete all my exam essays on or before Friday December 9th even if it meant sleeping at two or three o'clock in the morning, I didn't have classes the next day and so didn't need to wake up early. As I was completing my final exam essays, was also studying for the two writing exams which were scheduled for next week Tuesday December 13th in the morning and Wednesday December 14th also in the morning. For these two exams I was not really worried about them as the review content we were given by our professor was pretty straight forward. We were not only given the review content questions for the exams but were also given the exact pages and information we needed to read and review in preparations for the exams; how straightforward could that be, all the information given to you, almost as if we were given the exam paper itself to study and review it, then all that was needed was to memorize the answers and produce them on the exam paper. I decided to use the weekend and Monday December 12th to study for the two exams, while the remaining days to complete my essays. On Wednesday December 7th at 2pm, since we were not having classes, I summoned the boys to my room, ordered their favorite lunch meals; the reason was to have them help me go over all eight of my essays, edit, reedit, make suggestions, give advice and any changes needed. This was going to be a very long afternoon and evening. As always they happily agreed, they even brought their reading materials, laptops and other documents for their review and preparations for their exams, toiletries and pajamas just in case they would be spending the night at my place. Once they arrived, the pizzas were already delivered; they were eating and reading my essays, while reading the requirements and expectations for the essays. As they were reading, I was busy studying for my two final exams, and helping them out with their Power Point presentations for some of their final exam projects they were working on; it turns out from their perspective that I was good at preparing and putting together wonderful Power Point presentations since middle school and high school. I happily agreed to assist them with their projects which were a great experience as I was learning a lot of information about their courses, content, subject matters related to their courses and real life that I never knew about in my life; was like an eye opener for me, but was a good experience and truly enjoyed it. By 10 o'clock at night, all essays were done, and all their Power Points were completed. We exchanged the work, while I went through my essays reading all their edits, changes made with comments, they were looking through the Power Points I had prepared for them for their projects. It was a beautiful contract exchange, a well signed deal and we were all proud of our work. The boys decided to spend the night at my place, and since we had plenty of pizza and drinks, we were set for our midnight snacks. We all spent the night editing, refining our works, asking questions on content we didn't understand, asking and getting advice, suggestions and feedback. We did eventually get some sleep at 2 in the morning, waking up at 7 in the morning with a full pot of coffee made with pastries and cereal for everyone. Once we had breakfast, freshened up, we got back to our studies, projects and essays and continued working all the way till one o'clock in the afternoon. By 2pm on Thursday December 8th, Chris, Jaime and Anderson were done with their Power Point project presentations, while I was done with all my essays, was just working on my references. We all submitted our refined and completed work on Moodle, and then just lay flat on the ground exhausted and brain dead but relieved to have finally completed all the final exam essays and project presentations. To celebrate our victory of completing our essays and project presentations, we decided to take a long nap followed by treating ourselves to a fine dinner at 7:30pm at our favorite Grill and Steak restaurant. The boys returned to their rooms to have a nap, we planned to meet at 6:50 in the evening, and then head on over to our favorite Grill and Steak restaurant to celebrate.
After enjoying and having such wonderful celebrations, it was back to serious business as we still had the writing exams to take next week. The good thing was that I had only two exams finishing on Wednesday December 14th, while Chris, Jaime and Anderson had four exams finishing on Thursday December 15th. We decided to take Friday December 9th and Saturday December 10th to relax and recharge our body batteries, and then hit the books on Sunday December 11th. For these two days, I decided to have some fun at the archery club practicing my archery. I spent five hours on Friday and another five hours on Saturday, practicing from two in the afternoon until seven in the evening. This would not only help relax and calm my mind, but also help me to think about my parents' situation. On Friday during my practice all was going well, the boys accompanied me to the archery club and they also had joined having fun shooting a few arrows for entertainment. It was funny just watching them lift the bow and try shooting their arrows; it didn't matter where they shot as long as they were having fun was all that mattered. After an afternoon and evening of fun at the archery club, we had dinner at a restaurant near the club, and then returned back to school.