Lover

Chapter 26. Imagining You

Taylor's POV:

It had been four days...

Full 4 days of trying to find Joe...

I was crying, dying and losing a bit more hope every single day. Joe was nowhere to be found. He disappeared after the phone call with Tree. We went and found all his stuff that I packed in his abandoned hotel room. It had his phone too which was out of battery.

I was heartbroken and there was no one to blame but myself. I had crossed the line. I had hurt him beyond repair this time. And I knew if something happened to him it would be the end for me.

I took all his stuff back with me to our house. I opened the suitcase and put all of his clothes back in the closet, in the right order. I noticed that the necklace was missing. He must have noticed it...

Shit! Shit! Shit!

I couldn't believe how stupid and selfish I was being! I remember that I snatched it off my neck and threw it in between the pile of his clothes just so I could hurt him more. Now I wished that he hadn't seen it. I knew how much it meant to him. I knew how much value it had for both of us but still... I will stupid enough to do this and hurt him this way...

His family had been contacting the police and keeping updates on things but there was no luck. I had searched for him everywhere and had contacted everyone I knew that could relate to him but nothing. It all started to seem unreal. All the time that I've spent with him felt like a fever dream. And he disappeared right after I opened my eyes...

Selena and Andrea had been staying with me at our house trying to make sure I don't go insane. I acted okay around them because I didn't want them to know the truth. Truth about the fact that I will lose myself if something happened to him. I was more close to being insane than they expected.

Abigail tried to catch a plan to London but the extreme weather had prevented all the flights. I convinced her that I was fine and I had other people taking care of me but she was still worried. She was also one of the few people in my life who knew how much Joe meant to me. She had seen us up close. She had seen the tears of joy in my eyes when I talked about him. It was hard for me to convince her that I was fine.

Elizabeth was worrying out of her mind. She talked to me all night explaining how she brought up Joe to lighten her heart. She said that he was a shy kid, always afraid of expressing his true feeling with people. He was insecure growing up until he went to college and found his true passion. She also told me that he had a pet tortoise and that was the first thing he ran to when he came back from school. I smiled imagining a small Joe running to his room so he could pet his tortoise. Silent tears slipped from my own eyes as I listened to her and convinced her that we were going to find him soon.

On the fifth day I decided to gear up and go visit our favorite hiking spot. I knew it was only one percent chance of Joe being there considering the extreme snowfall but I still decided to go since I couldn't think of any other place. I couldn't just sit at home doing nothing.

I went up to the hill that we used to go to every once in a while. By now I had memorized even the trees and big rocks in our path. Everything was covered in snow. The sunlight came in between the clouds spreading golden rays on the frozen leaves of the trees. I would have been extremely mesmerized by the sight if the situation was normal. If Joe was walking side by side with me. But he wasn't.

As I hiked alone on to the steep hill I realized how caring and loving Joe actually was. I remembered that he always walked behind me to make sure no wild animals catch us off guard. And whenever we were walking normally on the sidewalk, he would always walk on the other side facing near the road so if any car is accidentally swiped, I wouldn't get hurt. Once I had a nightmare and I accidentally fell off the bed hurting my elbow. After that he made sure to block the edge of my side with a rolled up blanket so I don't fall off again. I smiled and wept at the same time remembering all those little moments as my feet carried me around the hill.