Chapter 4: Search Failed

It's been weighing me for such a long time. Laia's identity was extremely mysterious. Even though we attended the same grade school. No one could actually identify which family she came from. Also, her parents or relatives never participated in any school activities. She was exempted from those activities for some reasons.

Despite being a loner, no one tried to bully her except me.

"I was really a j*rk back then," I whispered while I was in front of my office computer.

"You're still a j*rk though," a coworker and friend, Eric, sitting beside me said while tapping my shoulder and bursting into laughter.

"Sh*t!" I exclaimed, realizing I was talking aloud.

Eric laughed as he looked away and continued with his task. I also did the same, but I couldn't focus on my work.

************************

A week has already passed and Carlo hadn't gotten back to me regarding Laia's information so I decided to drop by his house.

I rang his phone when I was already around the area.

Ring!

Ring!

Ri—

"Sup, bro?" Carlo greeted upon answering the phone.

"Dude! How's the search going?" I asked.

"Give up, dude! It seemed like her identity was hidden. I've already done my best to track her location. It's as if she doesn't exist," Carlo replied.

"What?! What do you mean she doesn't exist?! You also saw her last Friday at the pub," I jolted in disbelief.

"I know, bro! Chill! It's just a metaphor. She doesn't have any social media accounts," he replied.

"How can a person have no social media account at this age and time? Have you tried checking for other possible names she's using?" I asked.

"I know right. I already tried. Unless she used a fake name on all her social media. I'm not a black hat hacker you know! Want me to access the dark web and hire one?" he asked.

"No! I can't afford a black hat," I replied.

"She still hasn't used your card even once?" he asked.

"Nope! Not even once," I replied.

"Haha! Maybe you didn't satisfy her, that's why she's hiding from you!" he teased.

"F*ck off! I doubt that, Dude!" I exclaimed while remembering the night I spent with Laia.

I felt my heart beat fast like crazy.

"Woah! For real?!" he scoffed.

"Dude, open up! I'm in front of your door," I said upon arriving in front of his apartment.

"Sh*t! You should have said earlier you were going here! Wait. I'm just gonna save my files," he said before dropping the call.

A few minutes later, he opened his door with his extremely messy look.

"Man, have you forgotten to take a bath for ages?" I taunted him.

"Pi** off!" he grunted.

He looked annoyed and slammed the door on my face. I chuckled as I turned the knob and opened the door for myself.

Upon entering his messy apartment, he led me to his working area and asked, "Did you have dinner already?"

"Not yet. But I already had some burgers along the way," I replied as I sat on the chair beside his computer chair.

He suddenly pulled a pizza box next to his table upon sitting in his computer chair and handed it to me, then said, "Help me eat these. I feel like I'm gonna explode from eating."

"Did your girlfriend send this again?" I asked, before taking a slice and eating it casually.

"Yeah! Grab yourself some soda or beer in the fridge. I'll just finalize these codes," he replied.

I placed the box on a messy table beside me and went to grab some canned beers from his fridge in the kitchen.

On my way back to Carlo's working area, I saw a photo book when we were in grade school. I became curious because I remembered him secretly taking photos during class.

Opened the book and saw a few photos of Laia.

"This a**h*le never mentioned he had a crush on Laia even once. F*ck! Does he really like her? Was that the reason he remembered her instantly when we saw her in the pub," I mumbled while flipping through the images.

I rushed back to Carlo with the photo book in my hand. He. Was still finalizing his codes, then took a quick glance at me.

"What took you so long?" he asked.

"Just saw something quite interesting," I replied, then tossed a beer on him.

He looked baffled, but he caught the beer and said, "Thanks. Wait... Is that my photo book?"

"Right. I was about to ask you why you have pictures of Laia in grade school," I asked bluntly, irritated as I opened the can of beer in my hand.

"Ah! That... Sorry, Bro! I had a crush on her before, so I used to take pictures of her when we were in the class," he answered nervously.

"I didn't know," I said while sipping the beer.

"I didn't mention it because you were so irritated with her back then. You even cursed her daily behind her back for being a brat," he replied while closing the software on his computer.

"Oh. Right. I did. I don't even remember now why I was irritated with her even before she slapped me," I mumbled.

He chuckled and said, "I don't know either, but I really thought back then that you deserved that slap."

His tone was so sharp that I almost choked on the beer.

"Do you have a grudge on me, man?! Just because of a girl?" I asked in disbelief.

He laughed and said, "No, dude! But you were extremely embarrassing back then. There was one time when we were playing in the school during first grade, you and Laia had an argument and then you bit her on her arm like a dog and made it bleed."

I suddenly choked on the beer that I almost spit-take due to shock, hearing Carlo's words. I coughed a few times before responding, "What the f*ck?! Me?! I really did that?!"

He laughed hysterically while handing over a box of tissue.

"Man! You were supposed to get kicked out back then, but Laia forgave you after your parents took her for treatment. You really don't remember?" he continued.

"Did I really do that?! I do remember an instance when my parents had to bring her to the hospital. They were strangely fond of her for some reasons and I found it quite outrageous," I replied.

He almost spit-take his drink hearing my words and said, "You're such an a**h*le back then."

"Do you still have a crush on her?" I asked seriously.

"Nah! That was ages ago," he instantly replied.

"I'll take this book. You don't need it anyway," I said while waving the book.

"Geeze! Have you already fallen for her?" Carlo teased.

"Shut up, man! I just want to check on something," I reasoned out while slipping the book in my bag.

"Oh! Right. I've also tried to track everyone on social media who might potentially have any idea about Laia's whereabouts, but for some reason I couldn't find anyone," he said while showing me all the search results he got.

"Sh*t! Then never mind! If she doesn't want to contact me then fine with me," I blurted in irritation.

"Chill, man! I'll try contacting our grade school classmates to check if someone knows her whereabouts. Maybe she's just around the area," he said while checking his phone.

"Don't sweat, man. Wanna grab some more drinks? I want to chill for a bit. I'll be quite overloaded starting next week, the international event is around the corner," I asked.

"Nah! Lisa is coming over later and she might stay here for the night. You better go soon. I still have to clean up the mess," he said, grinning while waving his phone on my face.

"F*ck you, man. Fine! I'm leaving!" I whined and walked away.

"Love you, Man!" he mocked.

I turned around, looking back at him with disgust and gave a dirty finger before slamming his door shut.

I stopped by the convenience store and grabbed a few bottles of booze before walking back to my flat.

On the way, I suddenly saw a familiar figure crossing the pedestrian at the intersection a few meters away. I ran towards her direction without calling out her name just in case I might be mistaken, but I became sure it was really her as our distance gets nearer.

"Laia!" I finally shouted as I reached the intersection, but she was already on the other side of the road.

The stoplight for the pedestrian already turned red and the cars were already running in front of me. I waited until the stoplight turned green while observing which direction she went.

When the stoplight turned green, I started running again, trying to catch up, but the paper bag I was holding in my arms containing the booze suddenly got torn apart. The bottles fell on the ground shattering into pieces.

"Sh*t!" I exclaimed as I looked at the mess, losing my sight of the girl I was following.

When I looked back in her direction, she was already gone and people were looking at the mess I made. I had no choice but to pick up the shattered bottles and throw them in the trash can nearby.

When I looked back in Laia's direction, she was already out of sight.