Back Better Than Before

[9] Files and Secrets in the Study

Stephen nodded to the workers as he walked to Adrian's office. He had been to Adrian's office enough times that all the workers knew him. Unlike his office, Adrian's office had a more cheerful atmosphere, like Adrian's cheerful vibe. Adrian's secretary quickly stood up as Stephen approached her. "Good morning Mr. Collins. How may I help you today?" She asked smiling.

Stephen gave her a polite smile back. "I'm picking up some files for Adrian. I need his office keys." Stephen replied, holding out his hand for the keys. The secretary, whose name Stephen never bothered to learn, handed him the keys and started to open her mouth to start another conversation but Stephen ignored her, opening the office door and walking in. No matter how chill and cool Adrian was. He was very particular about how his office and room were organized. Completed works were on one side of the room, organized by date the project was finished. On the other side was a bookshelf with files of projects that Adrian was currently working on, organized by most to least important. Stephen went to the second bookshelf and grabbed a couple of files from there. He was about to leave when he remembered that Adrian had specifically asked for a red file. Looking through the bookshelf, Stephen couldn't find any red file. There were so many different colored files, but no red. Stephen went to the other bookshelf and looked but there was no red file.

Where can it be? Stephen wondered looking around the office. He spotted Adrian's desk and rushed over there. There were stacks of files and papers all over the desk. Stephen moved some files around, looking for a red file. All the files and papers were sorted in a specific order and normally, Stephen would be worried that Adrian would be mad but he felt that Adrian was worrying about more important things other than his OCD. Finally after creating a messy mountain of papers and files, Stephen saw a red file on the top of the desk, underneath a couple of big files. By now, Stephen was trying to hold on to the big pile of files and grab the red file and he almost accomplished the task when it slipped from his hand and fell to the floor. "Damn it." He cursed.

Stephen quickly fixed the files and bent down to pick up the file and the papers that fell out of it. Upon closer examination, the papers looked more like photographs. Stephen knew he shouldn't be looking at Adrian's private stuff but he was curious. He flipped over the picture and saw it was a picture of a baby girl with a very light shade of blond hair and blue eyes that were staring at a garden, with excitement in her eyes. She was wearing a dress that looked slightly worn out and had a beautiful smile on her face. Stephen flipped over another picture, of the same girl but a little older. She was wearing a dress that was a size too small on her and was worn out. She was once again looking at the garden, but this time at a specific flower. Bird's-foot trefoil. A flower representing revenge. The girl in the picture couldn't be older than 5 but she had a book, a guide of some sorts, in her hand. The excitement in her blue eyes had dimmed and her smile was smaller than before. As Stephen flipped over the photos that had fallen on the ground, he noticed that the girl got older, the excitement in her eyes got dimmer and dimmer, and her smile shrunk until it was nearly nonexistent. Stephen realized the girl looked more and more familiar and he had a suspicion on who it was. His suspicion was proven correct when he flipped over a last picture, of the girl all grown up.

Adrianna.

Stephen stared at the picture of a couple of minutes in shock. The picture was the same one that was published in the newspaper when the article of Adrianna missing. Stephen opened the file and pulled out the papers from it. Skimming through the information on the paper, Stephen realized that the information were details about Adrianna, like Stephen had asked from the detectives, but these were more of a month to month details starting from when Adrianna was two.

This obviously means Adrian's father had been keeping tabs on Adrianna since she was two, the year she went missing. After that, Adrian must have been asking the detectives to keep tabs on her. But why?

There's only one way to find out. Stephen thought as he rushed outside, grabbing the files before leaving. Adrian's secretary quickly got up but Stephen ignored her as he rushed out. He wanted answers and he wanted them now.

It was a forty minute to Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez's house but Stephen made it there in twenty. Saying "house" would be an understatement. It was more of a mansion with five floors. Instead of admiring the mansion as every person did when they saw it, Stephen rushed outside. A maid answered the door, looking a bit hesitant. "Hello, Mr. Collins..." The maid started to say, looking back inside.

"Hello Lucy. Is Adrian here?" Stephen asked. He already knew Adrian was there but it seemed like Lucy didn't want to let Stephen in.

"Yes... but... it doesn't seem like a good time. Mrs. Hernandez isn't feeling well. Everyone is worried." Lucy hesitantly tells Stephen.

"Yes, I know." Stephen lies. "Adrian called me and asked for these files."

"Oh." Lucy opened the door slightly wider. "Then I guess it's okay. Do you want me to tell them that you are here?" She asked.

"No, it's okay. Don't disturb them. I'll go. Where are they?"

"In Mr. Hernandez's study." Stephen nodded and walked in from the now wide door. He knew his way around the whole mansion after being there so many times and spending so many summers there with Adrian. As he neared the study, he heard voices.

"Maria, stop panicking. Please calm down. She's probably safe wherever she is." Xavier, Adrian's dad said.

"Yeah mom. And I'll find her. This time, she will come here and we won't let her leave."

Stephen already had an idea of who they were talking about. He opened the door and walked in. 

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Hi guys!

Here's a new update. Thanks everyone who voted, commented, and added Back Better than Before to their reading lists!

Keep reading,

-R