The Misguided

Mental freeze

Chapter 4 - Mental Freeze

Lilian knew his company would never mandate work phones; it's a traditional book publishing business owned by a 60-year-old widowed lady, who believes technology disrupts the natural rhythm of life.

Lilian could not recognize herself as she flipped his room upside down, probing for evidence the second he left the house for work- unsure what she was looking for in a room filled with lone pairs of socks, crumbled sheets of recited work papers and a library of unboxed lego figurines, but she needs evidence. Who is she, but more importantly, who is he?

After what felt like hours of fossicking through the ocean of clutter, coating her fingers with a thick collection of dust, she was on the verge of giving up. She cleaned her hands with a piece of scrap paper and dove into his bed facing the ceiling when she saw a tile with loosely screwed nails that looked as if it would plummet any moment. Not another one, she thought. She noticed one in the bathroom a few weeks ago, which Daniel immediately fixed.

Lillian climbed onto his office chair and grabbed a spare screwdriver from his toolbox. When she tugged on the edge of the tile, she quickly realized it was utterly detached as all the nails were taken out, and it wasn't even the correct size as it lifted and slid over. Lilian shunned her phone flashlight into the moulding plenum space, revealing a pristine plastic storage box, almost holographic. The package was quite heavy, as she nearly tripped climbing down; it had a classic padlock on it, except the key was nowhere to be found.

One thing Lilian learned in her adulthood was how to pick a key lock after being locked in the closet at a ceremony, by someone she has yet to find out. The waves popped open despite a few nudges by a hairpin as clutter fell out: a notebook, a folder and a paper bag. She first grabbed the notebook, which she assumed was a diary. It has what an ordinary journal would- random numbers, contacts and to-do lists, despite a recent journal reeled of vulgar language related to his brother, Xavier Woods.

Lillian was always aware of their complicated relationship, initiated when she began dating Daniel in high school, a month after she and Xavier's brief freshman romance ended. Lillian felt guilty about it sometimes, but she has liked Daniel since grade school. She got into a relationship with Xavier purely for the prospect of getting closer to Daniel, which was a messed up thing to do- but it worked as they got to speak to each other occasionally with him around. Lilian eventually ended up developing a slight crush on Xavier, too- he's repulsively intelligent despite being a year younger, funny and had the shoulder-length slick-back hair everyone raved for. However, she had to call it quits after he became overly controlling and borderline obsessed with her. Their brotherly relationship quickly began to deteriorate after that. Xavier accused Daniel of manipulating her into breaking up with him so that he could be with her; there's another rumour that Daniel allegedly abused her into the relationship just for the sake of one-upping him. Daniel believes Xavier still hasn't moved on, as he hasn't seen anyone since, despite him and Lilian being married for four years. Xavier occasionally sends Lilian texts checking up on her with an excuse of "They ended on good terms." She suspects the user "loveofmylife_3", who regularly sends her gifts and praises through her blog, is also him. But as far as Llian knows, they haven't been in contact for quite a while now, which is odd for his hatred to brew so strongly.

A brown folder then caught her eye. She reached over and dragged it as a mountain of files spread across the carpet, primarily stacks of legal documents, and certainly the ones he didn't want anyone to see based on the secrecy. Lilian grabbed one, which seemed like an employee contract from his company. She always bragged about where her husband works to Camila- working at a book publishing company sounds straight out of an 80s romance movie, yet the more she read, the louder the alarm submerged her mind. It was an employment termination contract- Daniel quit his job as a developmental manager over a year ago, and the reason was due to the alleged "lack of time in the personal schedule." If he doesn't have a job, then where does he go during the day? He must've gotten a new job he never told her about, recalling his recent surge in exhaustion after work. But she had an eerie feeling about this.

Immediately when she opened the paper bag, a metallic smell scorched her nostrils. It had a collection of expensive jewellery, alongside a pair of designer sunglasses, twisted around it was a long strand of auburn brown hair with a brown metallic stain coating the strands. It was a document released by the London police department, alongside a stamped mugshot that looked exactly like her husband- with dark, ebony hair.

"Marc Aubert, 34M, arrested for first-degree murder and larceny of Rose Adams, July 5th, 2008, served 3-month sentence, released on bail of $100,000." Lilian read, recalling her husband had left for an emergency business trip to eastern Europe during that period, and she confirmed it by swiftly sweeping through her blog post "find solitude." Was he lying about the trip and was serving a sentence in jail the whole time? She felt the blood drain from her face. Who's Rose Adams, and why did he kill her? How many more lies has her husband told? This had to be a mistake- her head began to swarm with questions, could not help but feel that her whole life was crumbling down in the atmosphere of a fever dream. The July warmth on his face seemingly began to fade the longer she stared into his unrecognizable, melancholy eyes, the eyes that witnessed draining the last ounce of life without solicitousness, unveiling a man with fiery animosity. Who is he? How could he lie?

Just as she thought it was the end, a piece of paper flew out of the box; a crumbled, coffee-stained paper - the same letter that told her not to drink Harold's coffee.