And If there was a tomorrow

Chapter 4

Kimberly was at the central dispatch, waiting for a call to start moving when her cellphone notified her about a message coming in. She looked at the screen without much interest, until she realized who was the sender of the message. Her heart raced. She got so anxious to open and read the e-mail that she typed her password incorrectly a few times. Once she was able to get through, she read:

'Dear Kimberly,

Thank you for reaching out. Unfortunately, I haven't heard from Charles in a long time. He doesn't reply to my voice mails, nor answer phone calls or text messages. I don't know his current whereabouts, but yes, he was in Brazil. I can't assure you he is the person you assisted, but if you send me a picture, I can confirm.

Yours truly,

Christian'

Her first reaction was of surprise. He could only be kidding. How would she take a picture and send to him? Was he thinking that she made up the whole story? That she was trying to get information about the writer? And if he hadn't heard from him in such a long time, as his agent, shouldn't he be worried? Perhaps Linda would help her in this task? She didn't know but would have to ask. She asked for a colleague to cover for her and went to the hospital.

There, she didn't find the doctor in the ER. She asked about her, but no one knew where she was. A friend of hers said that she asked for some time to meditate, because she was facing personal issues. Kim could imagine where she was but didn't know how to get there. She thanked and started to follow the signs of the ICU. She would think of something after getting there.

She noticed a reception with entry control. It wouldn't be easy. There was only one person at the reception. Maybe if she waited and had some luck. She approached close enough to take advantage of an opportunity, but not too close to draw attention.

Because things seemed to be working in her favor, it didn't take long until the receptionist decided to take a break for some reason. In addition, it was in the exact moment that a cleaning clerk left a cart by the door, keeping it open. She sneaked in through that space. Now, she needed to find the box where he was. Again, luckily, she heard Linda's familiar voice, and only had to follow it. She put her hand on the doorknob but started listening to her and stopped.

─ Can you believe that after all this time, he decided to make up things about me? I did kick him out of my home, but he didn't have the right to call a locksmith and enter without my permission. I had been thinking about breaking up for a while. After the letter I received from his mother, I was almost sure. But the last straw was the invasion of my apartment. I brought the letter to read to you. I want to read it out loud, to find out if it will sound as bad as the first time. It was right before I came to assist you. ─ After saying that, she unfolded the paper, cleaned her throat, and started reading.

'Linda, there's a chance you were not pretending and neither using the excuse of not wanting to move to Paris nor losing your dream job at the hospital. But for me, it's clear as a crystal that you never truly cared about my son, and deep inside, you know that you don't plan to be with him. If you warned my son about that from the start, it'd be fine, because being phony to us is no big deal, but don't fool him. However, if you made him believe that you would go with him, then you deceived him. I don't want you to answer me whether it was one thing or the other. Keep it in your heart, for you, for your decisions. In my opinion, you are a hypocrite, a misleading person. I'm like Dante, hypocrites belong within one of hell's circles. If that's not it, then I'd rather believe that you need a psychiatrist. Only you can treat yourself. Afterall, this is hereditary. With no offense, but your mother, from what you've told us, is crazy too. By the way, if you seek help, it might also be good for your relationship with her. I noticed in the very beginning, from the first time we met, that you were a wreck. I'm being brave to write all of this. Specially because I'm very concerned with the fact that my son always thinks very ill of me, but time will show I'm right and who you really are. I warned him, but he didn't want to listen. He is suffering. I really hope you achieve professional fulfillment. I'm already praying for this situation to resolve soon. But I insist that you need treatment. I'm sorry if you feel like I'm offending you with these words. But, as a mother, I'm also suffering from this situation. Lastly: don't forget that I'm the one who loves my son the most in the entire world. You come from a sick family, you have a sick mother, so you have no means to visualize and notice that. I hope you make the right call and set my son free if you don't really want to be with him. I hope you don't get offended, but that's what my heart is telling me.'