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As Alex walked towards his guest bedroom to hear Christine better, he laid his phone down on the bed and put it on speakerphone. "What happened?" Christine's voice comes choppy through the phone. "I went to the penthouse to drop off the food and he was gone, all of your stuff is not in the penthouse anymore." Alex stopped in his tracks, he's started pacing when he placed his phone on his bed.
"Everything's gone?"
Alex hated the way his voice cracked but Christine didn't seem to notice if she did she didn't say anything about it. "I don't know where he is Alex, he isn't answering his phone either."
Alex sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "Should I go try to find him?" There was a pause from Christine. "If you want to, If he isn't answering my calls I'm not sure if he'll answer yours if I'm being honest." Alex knows it was true but it still stung.
"It doesn't hurt to try Christine, I'll keep you updated okay?"
Alex picked up his phone but he doesn't take it off the speaker. "I'll keep an eye out and let you know if I hear anything okay?" It doesn't go unnoticed that Alex knows what she means if he gets hurt but it's good just in case.
He nods before he remembers Christine can't see him. "Thank you, I'll let you get back to Rumer now. Wish me luck." Alex huffs a little laugh and ends the call.
Alex is painfully aware of the clothing he has on when he walks by his mirror on the way to his door, he rolls his eyes and quickly changes his clothes. Slipping his keys into his pocket he goes to the kitchen where Misty and Veronica were waiting with identical looks of worry.
He coughed and sat on the bar looking at the couple. "What happened?" Veronica asked gently. "Stephen is missing." Alex twiddled his fingers on top of the bar ignoring the gasps from the couple and continued speaking. "He sold everything in the penthouse, he isn't picking up any of Christine's calls so I'm going to go try to find him." Veronica shook her head before speaking.
"I hope you find him, Alex, I really do. He isn't your responsibility anymore though."
Alex slapped his hand on the counter making Misty take a step back. "No, but he's my boyfriend!" Alex yelled standing up quickly that the chair wobbled but didn't fall over. "Yes we fought, but I love him. I will never stop loving him, we can fix this but I need to find him to fix it."
"Don't yell at me Alex, I know you're stressed but you scared Misty and me."
Alex tilted his head down ashamed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry, you're right I am stressed. I have to go find him."
Veronica nodded with a smile and patted Alex on the back, he ran towards the door and rushed to his car. Alex had to calm himself to stop thinking about all the scenarios about where Stephen could be or if something his wrong.
He didn't notice his hands were shaking until he got into his car and wrapped them around the steering wheel, Alex broke. He hit the steering wheel and broke down crying.
Through his blurry tears he turned his car on and wiped his tears, he drove towards the place he knew so well. He was afraid of what he would find.
Alex gulped as he pulled into his parking spot, he let his body guide him as he went into the elevator. When he stepped into the penthouse he was shocked, he knew that all the furniture was sold but it was much more than he was expecting.
The only thing left was the file that Alex had seen earlier in the week, this was left here for a reason. Stephen wanted him to find it, Alex took a tentative step towards the bedroom.
His hand hovered over the doorknob, he gulped harshly as he turned the knob and opened it, nothing he was expecting it but it was like no trace of anyone ever living here and it broke Alex's heart.
Alex knew he would find the same emptiness in all the other rooms but he had to see it for himself. He took a deep breath before walking to the bathroom, the door was open as he suspected the cabinets were empty. He ran his hands along the countertop he had to close his eyes tightly to get rid of the memories and tears that were about to flow.
He didn't cry until he went into what used to be Stephen's office that Alex has always wished would be turned into a child's room one day, all Alex wanted now was for Stephen to come back. He wanted Stephen's arms to be wrapped around him again, he wanted Stephen to kiss him on the head and tell him that everything would be okay.
Everything isn't okay Alex thought, he clenched his hands and kicked the wall luckily it didn't put a hole in the wall. Alex turned around and slid himself down the wall, he put his knees up to his chest and cried.
Alex cried for everything that they should've had together, now Stephen was out alone somewhere Alex just hoped he wasn't dead or Alex wouldn't know how to go on anymore.
He blinked slowly, his body was sluggish as he had to use the wall to help him stand up, but Alex wanted to find Stephen but to do that he had to dry his tears and do something about it. The place that would be a good place to start is to look at the file on the table.
His feet felt heavy as he walked towards the kitchen counters, he flipped through the file and he was almost about to give up but he saw something that wasn't there before.
The name Jonathan Pangborn was circled. Alex gulped harshly, he had to find Jonathan Pangborn.
If he found him he would find Stephen.
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