Reality of Yearning (GxG)

17. Disappeared

Saying that Cameron was on the verge of a mental breakdown would be an understatement. Sasha's radio silence was provoking in her a never seen before anxiousness that she didn't know how to handle except by smoking too much.

Her distress and weird behavior had been subject to many questions from her friends and Carter but she never said what was troubling her. She had been going to uni to avoid drawing more attention to herself, but she had spent her whole time staring at her phone screen and biting her thumb, hoping Sasha would finally answer.

It had been over two days and Cameron was left with no news from the blond. No text. No call. No late facetime. No Snapchat. No sharing of a silly Facebook post. Nothing. It was as if Sasha had disappeared from this planet. The hot blond being dead or in serious trouble had obviously crossed Cameron's crazy mind but she preferred pushing these thoughts aside before truly losing it.

Cameron also questioned herself. She wondered if she was the reason behind Sasha's silence, but she perused and scrutinized all their conversations and couldn't find anything that could have upset Sasha. She also replayed their dinner, their walk, their calls, over and over, but she couldn't think of anything. In her head, the most plausible reason would be related to Sasha's mom who could have hurt herself or Sasha. Either would be disastrous, but Cameron felt herself breaking at the thought of Sasha being hurt.

She spent the whole morning of Friday isolating herself to cry, her nerves and worry getting the best of her. She was at the end of her tether. She couldn't hold on anymore. She needed to make sure the blond was okay. At least alive and doing fine. So without further thinking, Cameron decided to straightly go to the thrift shop and see for herself.

The first thing that Cameron noticed when she pushed the door open was the emptiness and heaviness of the place, something completely unusual. The store always felt welcoming and homey, and now it was feeling weird. Almost morbid. She approached the counter with light steps, looked around her, tried to hear any movement. Nothing.

Her first reflex was to take her phone out and text Sasha but there was no noise. She tried to call her but was directly sent to voicemail. After a quick glance around, Cameron discreetly walked behind the counter and peered at the back room. The only thing she found was Sasha's gray sweatshirt. Her favorite. Without thinking about it, Cameron stuffed the piece in her bag and zipped it before leaving the back room to wait at the counter.

The old lady, whose name was Bernadette according to what Sasha had told her, finally came back from upstairs. Cameron immediately thought that Sasha was there as well but Bernadette was alone, and Cameron couldn't hear any noise coming from the ceiling that would indicate a presence.

"Good afternoon, darling. Have you been waiting a while?", Bernadette asked politely as she came closer to Cameron.

"No, ten minutes to the most", Cameron smiled reassuringly.

"I'm sorry for this. What can I help you with?", Bernadette asked kindly.

"I'm looking for Sasha", Cameron answered frankly.

"Oh, she's not here today. But she should be back on Monday so you can leave a note and she'll see it."

"Why is she not here? And what do you mean by should? Is there anything that would prevent her from coming? And if so, what happened? Where is Sasha?", Cameron reeled off, feeling her panic kicking in again. Her eyes were threatening to water but Cameron didn't care. She just needed to see Sasha.

"Who are you?", Bernadette asked in a soft voice.

"I'm Cam. A friend of hers. We're close."

"I've never heard of you before", Bernadette said, obviously looking a bit skeptical.

"Do you need me to list her favorite desserts and chocolate brands to prove myself?", Cameron asked a bit jockingly.

"Look, Sasha had a long week and now she's getting some rest. I'm sure she'll contact you once she feels better."

"So she's not feeling well?", Cameron immediately asked.

"If she was she would be here", Bernadette answered with a tight smile.

"What happened though? Is she hurt?", Cameron asked, her voice fragile. "Please, you have to tell me. I haven't heard from her since Tuesday and I'm just... I need to know where she is", she quickly brushed her tears from her face and looked away to breathe.

"She's at my house", Bernadette revealed, making Cameron's cerebral machinery run at full speed.

"Why?", she simply asked with her trembling voice.

"I told you, she had a long week and needs to rest. And it looks like you do too."

"I won't rest until I know what happened. I'm freaking out. Do you know how many scenarios I imagined in my head? Enough to write five seasons of a TV show. I swear I'm going crazy. I just need to hear from her that's all."

"I wish I could help you more but it's not my place to display any information. Especially to people I don't know. I hope you understand."

"No, I don't. What do you need me to do to make you tell me? Seriously. I'll do anything", Cameron begged while asking Vanessa's god to bring some light into this woman's mind.

"If you want to leave a note feel free to do so. As for information on Sasha you'll have to wait until she gives it to you herself."

"I'll leave a note", Cameron nodded.

As Bernadette walked behind the counter, Cameron tried to think of an argument that would convince the old lady. There were many reasons why she didn't want to reveal anything, and Cameron respected that, but the fact that she was prevented from accessing news of Sasha that were right in front of her was infuriating Cameron.

The only things she was left with were a blank card, an envelope, and a pen. She didn't see a big difference between the hundreds of unanswered texts and the card that would hopefully be read a couple of days later, but she still grabbed what was in front of her. Worst case scenario, Cameron wouldn't hear from Sasha at all during the weekend and Sasha would get the card. Best case scenario, Sasha would reach out and still get a cute note to start her week.

... ,

Although I know you're close, you feel so far away from me. Between waves of sadness and worry, I only dream of hearing your voice and playing with your soft hair.

Please, be okay.

Cam.

After securing the card in the envelope, Cameron left the thrift shop completely devastated. The bus ride back home was a blur, her usual fear of the pooch was nowhere to be seen, and her hopes were all shattered. Her whole body was aching from worry. She knew Sasha was unwell, she knew something was wrong, but that wasn't helping. The only thing that would have helped was her presence, or even a small text.

In place of the real Sasha, Cameron had her sweatshirt. And instead of going out with the group, Cameron stayed in bed hugging the piece of clothing and slowly breathing in Sasha's lingering smell, calming her anxiety and hoping to have the hot blond at the same place some time soon.