The Case Of Ali

Chapter 10. Say It Isn't So

After Alex left that day, Ali tried to take a nap; she had not been sleeping well since Jake left. She was tired but could not fall asleep. She thought of the old woman Jake wrote about. Was that really her? If that was her that would mean she lived way pass 100 years old. She recalled the dream she had of Alex in the future.  She still wondered if that was really a dream or did she actually experience it.   Was she losing her mind?  Maybe this was all a dream but why wasn't she waking up?  

There were times Ali wondered if this was all an elaborate scheme by someone to render her incompetent to get the almost two billions  dollars her grandfather left her.  That was a lot of money to give people  bad ideas.  And the only people that came to mind were her parents. And what if Jake was not somewhere in the future but dead somewhere? And again the only people that came to mind were her parents. 

Her father knew of the fight she and Jake had that morning. Could her parents be that ruthless? Ali wondered. But they knew nothing of the conversation she had with that strange woman about the ugly mailbox, only Jake knew of it and he mentioned it in his letter, she thought.  And what of the the letters Jake sent her; they were written in Jakes's hand writing....If they were not from him then they were a pretty  good forgery.   Ali did not know what to believe anymore.  

Ali got up and pulled out the ultrasound of her baby. Your dad knows of you she talked to the piece of paper. She decided to put it in an envelope with Jake's name and leave it in the mail box. She went back to bed and fell asleep almost instantly. She dreamt of green eyes watching her.

Ali felt that although Jake was a hundred years away, he was still watching over her somehow. She slept through the night and was awaken by her phone at 5:30AM. She looked at her phone and see that it was Cynthia. She was worried that Ali hadn't answered her phone, Ali assured her that she was ok. She was just so tired that she took a nap in the afternoon and slept right through to next morning. she noticed that there were several missed calls, a few from Alex. she dialed his number immediately. He picked up on the very first ring.

"Looks like you are an early riser," Ali said.

"Well I got little sleep, I was worried about you; you did not answer my call last night," he said.

"I fell asleep after you left and I just wake up," Ali told him.

"Hmm you were that tired?" he asked.

"I guess....I haven't been sleeping well since Jake left," She told him.

"You need to try and rest when you feel tired though; you need to do this to ensure that you and the baby are healthy," Alex said.

For a split she Felt as if she was talking to Jake. He sounded just like Jake and that was something he would have said to her. She began to tear up.

"Ali? did I say something wrong?" he asked.

"No you said all the right things," Ali said.

"See you later?" he asked.

"Yes, and thanks for everything," she said.

"No problem kiddo," he said and hung up.

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Ali headed out to check the mailbox, a part of her daily ritual. Anyone seeing her at the mailbox at all hours of the day must think she was crazy. The envelope she left there was gone and replaced by a gold one....from Jake. Ali could not contain herself, she was so happy.  Its been a while since she heard from him.  Ali could not help it; she broke down and cried. She hurried inside and opened the letter from Jake.