Chapter 78: Chapter 78

Chapter Seventy - Eight

Jasper's POV

The whole day I remained busy with meetings and work. Right after I had talked to Ava and sent a message in reply to Daniel, I had been busy with work. The International Textile meeting was only two days away, so the work was getting too much. I had to complete it in a short amount of time. Almost everything was done but the rechecking of all the things still had to be completed.

I had made a short board commission who would look over all the work that needed to be done. It was directly supervised by Charlotte. She was officially the head of the commision. She saw that all the work was going smoothly and was getting done in time. She got the things done that were supposed to be done already and made sure that nothing was getting behind.

She reported all the stuff right back to me but still she kept her distance. After our last confrontation about marriage, she had kept her distance. She only talked about work and never talked about what was going on between us. Charlotte was ignoring it to the best of her abilities. She did not even answer me, when I asked her a simple question like, "How are you doing?" I felt bad. However, it had begun fading away. Our friendship was getting lost but maybe it was for a good cost. If her silence meant that she would not bring the topic about marriage then I was up for it. Even if it hurts me.

It would have done no good, if I had agreed to marry her. In the future, she would have seen it for herself. I was just saving her the trouble.

Nevertheless. The work hour was over and I was ready to go home. From the time when I had seen Ava in my office today, I had not been able to get her face out of my mind. Her soul lifting smile was still in my head and I was eager to see it again.

I took the elevator to the ground level and then began walking to the parking lot. Suddenly, my phone began ringing. I pulled it out of my pocket and received it without bothering to pick it up.

"Hello." I said, receiving the call. A bit irritated because I was over the working hours and did not want to think about it for once again.

"Hello, Sir." Maria's voice rose through the speaker. I stopped in my tracks. I had walked into the parking lot and saw that Mark was waiting for me near the car.

"Maria?" I asked.

"Yeah. Umm ... I called Ava throughout the afternoon to ask her if she wanted something special for dinner tonight but she did not pick up her calls. Even now. But, only this time her phone is switched off. I know she must be busy but I just got worried. She is still not picking up my calls. Is she with you now? Are you both coming home together?" She asked. My brows furrowed in confusion.

"She is still not picking up?" I asked.

"No. Are you with her? Are the two coming home together?" She asked me.

"Sure. I will call you later. Okay, Maria." I told her.

"Oh. Great. Good. Yes, sure." She said,

"Okay." And I cut the call. I looked at Mark. He got a look on my face for once and he knew that something was wrong. He walked over to me. I explained to him the reason for my concern. He called the hospital where she went for her regular check up while I called the Ava's office. One of the employees picked up the call. When I asked him about Ava, he told me that Ava had left the workplace after a call and then he tried to complain about how unprofessional she had been. Being rude for once, I cut the call while he was complaining.

I called the front desk and asked when Ava left from work and they told me the same thing. She left in the afternoon and has not returned since.

Now, I was starting to get worried. I tried to call Ava but, like Maria told me, her phone was switched off.

"Shit!" I muttered out when on the fifth time her phone was called switched off. I glanced at Mark who shook his head, telling me that Ava was not at the hospital either.

"Should we involve the police?" I asked Mark. Not sure if this was serious or not. I mean, Ava had never done that before. He shook his head.

"No. I don't think we should call the cops. Let's not panic. There is a possibility that she had something going on with her parents or friends." He suggested. Man, that was where the flaw entered.

"Her friends left her and so did her parents. I don't think that she had anyone that would require her work or time." I told him, clearing out that doubt. At the moment, I was hoping that she had her parents or her friends. Just for the sake of having options to look at.

"There's a possibility that something came up and she had to go. And then maybe her battery died." Mark suggested. I wish it was true. I didn't even want to think about the possibility of something going wrong.

"But, I couldn't just wait for her here." I argued.

"Alright then. Just wait for a few more hours. Or maybe for tonight. There are times when you did not go home for the night. Maybe she's doing the same." Mark told me. Maybe. Maybe, he was right. I was overreacting.

With a sigh, I nodded.

"But we will call if she has not returned by the morning." I told him. Mark agreed. We got in the car and drove towards my house.

I reached home in thirty minutes.

I did not wait. I could not wait. Thus, I called the cops. As soon as I was inside my house, Maria came outside to see me and Ava. When she did not find her with me, she freaked out and started asking questions. Mark calmed her down and assured her that everything was alright. Of course, she did not hear him.

Her panic was sending me on the edge therefore I got out of the place to report the missing person.

I had connections on higher posts. It wasn't hard for me to get them searching in no time. They told me that they would inform me as soon as they hear about her. They asked me to send them a picture and I did. They soon called me back and asked various questions. When they learned that she had gone missing only this afternoon, they told me the same thing that everyone did.

Give it some time, maybe she will return in the morning. And to give it some time. They suggested that she might have come up with some work and her phone battery would have died. Basically everything that Mark had told me. Ava was more than old enough to handle herself and I should not worry about her that much, they told me. Even their tone suggested that I was overreacting.

I tried to reason with them. I told them that she never leaves like that but again, I was told to calm down. They told me that they would start looking for her if she did not turn up home by the morning. So, I agreed to wait until the morning.

Hearing their scepticism, I also began to think that maybe I was overreacting. What if she had gone to a pub or bar. Or maybe made a new friend? Or just simply had some work. Perhaps, I was over analysing things. But, for some reason, I had a bad feeling about this. Something in my gut was telling me that something was wrong.

At last, I told myself that if by the morning, there's still no sign from her then I would go start looking for her myself. And with that thought, I went to bed. Telling the same to Maria.

To wait until the morning.