The Flower You Didn't See | Mystery

Chapter 6

"Yes. She is in the hospital and unconscious. I desperately need your help. Please help me."

There was silence from the other side.

"Please Maya," he said, almost pleaded over the phone.

There was a sigh. And then she said, "Alright sir. I'll talk to the other girls too. We'll decide on a time and tell you."

"Thank you so much," John said as he breathed a sigh of relief. 

A few hours later, Maya texted John with the location and time of their meeting. Without wasting any time, John set off to May Flower.

When he had called his office to inform them that he'd be taking another leave of absence, they were a bit reluctant. John had a lot of pending work and the office pressured him to return to the office immediately. But John had only one agenda in his mind. His first priority was his daughter. Apologizing profusely, he promised that he'd definitely make it to work the next day.

The drive to May Flower was a long ride. Travelling back and forth everyday was time and energy consuming. If it wasn't, John would definitely have had Ruby stay at home during her college years. Plus there would be such a large number of bad influences in college, and he didn't want them affecting her studies. But of course he trusted her and he trusted May Flower for the education they provided. Hence, he let her go.

He waited in an almost empty, unknown café hidden in a corner of the town. Maya was the one who had sent the address to this place, but she still hadn't arrived. It was a dull, boring café that John was sure nobody would ever almost choose to come.

A small TV showed local news that nobody listened to, the display held nothing that could work his appetite and the lack of cleanliness had to be taken into notice. The waiter had already approached John twice and had to walk away rather disappointed. From the condition of the café she called John to, it was evident that Maya did not want anyone to know that she was meeting John.

It was almost half an hour past the decided meeting time and John wondered if she would ever show up. That's when the door swung open and walked in Maya. According to John, she did not look all that different from what she had looked like two years ago.

But she wasn't alone. She was followed by two other girls. John recognized them as Hannah, Ruby's other ex-roommate and Sheila.

"Hello girls," he said as they pulled out the chairs and took seats in front of him. The girls gave him a reluctant smile as they sat down, inspecting the seats.

"Would you like something to drink?" Asked John, offering to buy.

Maya immediately turned to the waiter, who was busy watching the news, and said, "Two Caffe Latte please."

"Two? You can order all four. I'll pay," said John.

Maya leaned in a bit and said in a low voice, "It's not for drinking. Nothing is good here. They were caught by health inspectors last year. But you need to order something or they'll kick you out."

Hannah nodded her head knowingly.

"About Ruby... Is it true?" Asked Sheila and John nodded.

"She had an accident a few days ago. Has been unconscious since."

"I'm sorry sir," said Hannah. "But I don't understand how we can help," said Maya.

"I just need to know where she was that night before the accident happened. As her best friends, I wanted to get some details from you about her that would help me."