Chapter 123: Chapter 123
It was with a growing sense of urgency that Sebastian drove away from the hospital, Jessica's insults and curses trailing after him until he could no longer hear them. It was a sad thing indeed that she was now the way she was, but there was nothing that he could do about it. He had offered to help her, but she kept turning down his help at every turn, so there was nothing he could do for her anymore. He could not do the very thing that she wanted, which was to be with her as he did not love her anymore.
He stopped by a flower shop on his way back to the house to get some flowers for Carol, knowing that women loved things like that. Hopefully, she would forgive him, and even if she did not, he would keep trying until she did. He still did not know how she managed to wind up pregnant, if she was taking her pills like she had claimed, but he knew that sometimes, those things were not foolproof, especially if the lady who was taking them fell sick during the period. He remembered that Carol had fallen sick when they came back from vacation, so maybe that was why the pills failed. If only he had thought about it, instead of accusing her of stupid things like the jackass he was.
The closer he got to the house, the more the sense of urgency that gripped him. Something was not right, but he did not know what it was. The living room was eerily quiet, with no sign of activity, so he bounded up the stairs in search of Carol. She was not in his room, which was not a surprise, considering that he had asked her to leave there, so he hurried to her room to find the door slightly ajar.
Without thinking anything of it, he gave a short loud knock, the flowers in his hand and pushed the door wide open to find the room empty. She was not there, and at first glance, everything seemed to be in its proper place, but Sebastian, who spends as much time in this room as he did in his room, knew that something was off immediately.
He paused his tracks, trying to figure out what was wrong, alarm bells beginning to go off in his head. He walked around the room, touching things and getting a feel of them, as though that was going to help him find the missing puzzle. Suddenly, it became clear to him what was wrong. Carol was a very organised person, and so she always kept everything in her room orderly and neatly arranged.
However, now he could notice that clothes and some other things were strewn about, as though someone had ransacked through them a little.
"Carol?" Sebastian called out, wondering if she was in the bathroom, although he did not hear water running or any sign of any other activity at all.
As he had expected, there was no answer, so he made his way back downstairs to see if she was in the kitchen, although he did not see why she would be there. He met the Cook downstairs, who informed him that she had not set her eyes on Carol that morning. A quick search of the whole house showed that she was not around, so he borrowed the cook's phone so he could dial her number, but the phone rang several times, and she did not answer.
By this time, Sebastian was becoming really frustrated and out of breath with the running around that he had been doing. Why was he even so bothered? Apparently, she had gone out in a huff at his behavior and would be back in no time. The best thing to do would be to wait for her to come back so he could apologize.
With this resolve, he dropped the flowers on the dining table and sat there to await her return, ruing his actions. As he sat there and ruminated on his actions, something suddenly struck him. When he had parked his car in the garage, he had noticed that the red convertible that Carol always used was missing from the garage, but he had not thought anything of it in his haste. Perhaps one of the drivers had driven it to go get something or something like that, but thinking about it now, he also remembered that Carol's main driver had been there in the garage, and had been trying to talk to him, but he had waved the man off, promising to come down in a minute.
Why was Carol car missing and her driver downstairs? Without waiting to dwell on the what the answer to that question might be, knowing that it was not going to be anything good considering the circumstances, Sebastian got up and went down to the garage. The driver was nowhere to be found, so Sebastian hurried over to the drivers quarters and pounded on the man's door.
"Good morning boss." The man got as soon as he sighted Sebastian's expression, knowing that serious trouble was brewing.
"Morning. Where is my wife?"
"Um, sir. That was what I wanted to talk to you about when you got back. I'm sorry, but she took her car and went out by herself, even though I tried my best to stop her from going. She said something about you sending her packing." The man said hurriedly, trying to absolve himself from all blame.
"She said what?" Sebastian asked in shock, hoping he had not misheard the man.
"Yes sir. That was what she said. She was also carrying a very huge luggage and looked really upset."
"Oh no. You allowed her to leave by herself in such a condition?" Sebastian asked angrily, the implications of what the man had just said not yet hitting him fully.
"Boss, I had no choice in the matter. She looked ready to club me over the head."
Sebastian did not wait to hear more, but got into one of the other cars in the garage and drove straight to the gate to quiz the gateman, who like the driver, claimed that there was nothing that he could have done to stop Carol from leaving.
Sebastian knew that they were right. He had seem Carol angry before, and knew that as the wife of their boss, the men would have to do as she wanted of she insisted. He stood there like a dummy, not knowing what to do or what step to take next. Carol had thought he sent her packing? Why on earth would she think that he would do something like that? He had not even really meant it when he said that she should leave his room. That had been anger ... and fear, yes fear, talking through him. He had never even harbored the thought of being a father prior to that, and the fear of actually being one, not knowing if he would be any good at it, coupled with the grief and guilt he had been harboring these past weeks, had caused him to lash out. He supposed that that was the lamest excuse in the history of lame excuses, but that was the only excuse he could give for his behavior.
He had no idea that the pain of the grief and guilt that he thought was an accuse would be far worse than the crippling loneliness and the uncertainty about Carol's whereabouts that would grip him in the following months.