No Body, No Crime

' 2: Not My Merlot '

Este found herself laying on the sofa. She fell asleep after reviewing the transactions, Este slept for five and a half hours. She positioned herself properly, looked out the window right above the television and saw the moon looking at her. Connotation: It was nighttime when she woke from her sleep. She turned on her phone to check what time it is, the digital clock shows 11 in the twilight. Este called her husband's name to see if her husband, Noel, is finally home.

 
"Noel!" she yelled, slumberously.
 
And there was silence, again. She was bothered by Noel not being home this late at night. In her perspective, it felt like it had already been a century since she last saw him. Este thought of a lot of possible things that could've happened to Noel. She thought of calling Jack, one of Noel's close colleagues from the office. It took three missed calls before Jack could answer.
 
"Hello. Who is this?" said Jack, dozily.
 
Jack sounded drunk, leading Este to think that Noel is with Jack, drinking together. Jack's sight cleared up a little, and viewed the caller's name. He then realized that he had answered a call from Este.
 
"Este, hi. Why are you calling this late?" said Jack, dormantly.
 
Este then came to the realization that he was sleeping and it's probably the reason why Jack sounded drunk, even though he was actually drowsy.
 
"Hey Jack. Pardon me for calling you this late at night. Were you sleeping?" asked Este.
 
"Yeah. I was awakened by the ringing of my phone; it turns out you were calling me," answered Jack. "Why did you call me anyway?" asked Jack, curiously.
 
"Noel is not yet home. By any chance, is he with you?" implored Este.
 
"Noel left the office ten minutes before I did. I'm now at my house, nowhere near him," answered Jack calmly.
 
"Is that so? Thank you for telling me and once again, I am very sorry for disturbing your sleep," apologized Este.
 
"It's fine. Have a good night," said Jack.
 
"Goodnight," Este replied.
 
The phone call ended, leaving Este worried, thinking of even more possible reasons why Noel is not yet home: Was he run over? Did he commit suicide? Did he jump off a very tall thing? And et cetera. Este thought of calling Noel. And she then realized: Why did she not call Noel at first? She was about to call Noel's number, but somebody knocked on the door. She rushed over and opened the door without any hesitation.
 
"Hi, love! You answered and opened the door in a hurry!" said Noel.
 
Este is happy to see Noel, but she is also ballistic that he didn't give her another message about him going home later than 9:30 p.m.
 
"May I come in?" questioned Noel.
 
"Yes, you may," answered Este, with an annoyed tone. "Why did you come home this late?" questioned Este.
 
"Uh, traffic?" answered Noel.

"You're telling me that you were stuck in traffic for two and a half hours?" implored Este.

"Yeah," replied Noel, nervously.

"Hm, well that doesn't feel realistic but sure," said Este, suspicious of Noel. "Have you eaten yet?" asked Este.

"Yeah, no," answered Noel.

"Do you want to eat? I haven't eaten yet, too," implored Este.

"Yeah, sure. May I go change my clothes first?" asked Noel.
 
"Yeah, I'll be in the kitchen," replied Este.
 
Noel went upstairs to change his clothes. He chose an outfit for sleeping, of course. He dropped his used clothes in the basket for laundry. Meanwhile, Este was downstairs in the kitchen, preparing a quick meal for them. Good thing there were some left-overs on the fridge that just needed to be heated. Noel was still upstairs, getting unready for the night. He left his phone downstairs, near the entrance.

Suddenly, his phone started ringing, and he didn't hear it but Este did. She went there to check and looked at his phone. A woman named Estelle is calling him, in the middle of the night. Este didn't think much of it and placed the phone back to where it was. Maybe Estelle is a new officemate but why would she call Noel during nighttime?
 
Este went back to the kitchen to check on the food. Just the right timing, it had been heated up. She prepared the food on the table and went upstairs to tell Noel to come downstairs. 
 
"Noel, food is ready," said Este, politely.
 
"Great, let's go!" asked Noel.
 
"Uh, I'll go later. Let me just get unready first," answered Este.
 
"Alright," replied Noel.
 
Noel went downstairs. He saw his phone and took it. He walked to the dining area and sat in his seat. Noel waited for Este to come down before eating. He opened his phone and saw a missed call from Estelle.

Este is still upstairs, at the closet to change her clothes to something comfortable for sleeping. She went to the laundry room to put her dirty clothes on the basket. Este saw Noel's suit, picked it up and sniffed it. Aside from the merlot that she never bought, She also smelled a feminine scent that she doesn't own.