8

Barry POV

She was gone. Without a fucking trace. I’ve been searching, calling, texting, and sending private messages on social media. That stupid bitch, Jessica, just had to come over that night. She was frantic all day, knowing I was moving forward with Missy since I told her I wouldn't need her anymore after Missy finally started opening up her legs. I decided to commit to her and her only. When Missy lied saying she couldn’t come over, claiming she was sick, I slipped again and texted Jessica back after ignoring her pleas all day.

I only wanted a picture or some shit to jerk off to. When she said she was on her way over, I gave into temptation. Again. 

If Missy hadn’t lied and just came over that night, not even to go all the way, I would have been happy with a hand or anything, none of that shit would have happened. 

I need Missy. I was always attracted to her. She was so small but had the most perfect ass and exotic features on her heart-shaped face. The way her thick black eyelashes fanned her olive cheek while reading a book captivated me from the first time I laid eyes on her in class. 

She was always blushing and had an observant, shy presence about her. I recognized that behavior from years of attending stiff social gatherings with my parents. That was the same observant, restrained gaze the sheltered, proper children of the wealthy held. The children who were not allowed to follow us privileged deviants out to the boathouses to drink in secret, or sneak away at the country clubs, hooking up in the dense foliage around the golf course. She had the presence of a sheltered, adored, only child, with a large trust fund and a majority shareholding in their parent’s company.

I was scared of that observant stare, but she didn’t hold judgment in her eyes, just curiosity, being away from home for the first time. She smiled up at a TA on the first day of class when he was placing the class roster in front of her to sign, and that’s when she got me. He was even stunned by her, which pissed me off at the time. She had a breathtaking smile that lit up her entire face. I felt like I won the greatest prize when I got her to smile like that. I wanted that smile for myself, but I was too scared of what gaining that smile would mean for me. 

Women were easy for me. I boosted my own ego by treating the women I messed around with like a game. I had rules so they didn’t overlap, and I thrived off the game I was playing. Missy was too naive and pure to be another side-chick for me, so I interacted with her at school, but didn't cross that line. Seeing that no other men were brave enough to try and breakthrough that reclusive wall she held up around herself helped me to keep a respectful distance. 

That was until she disappeared from school. I had no idea where she went or what she was doing. The few friends she made didn’t seem to know either. She stopped coming to class and I found out she had put in a leave of absence.

Not long after that, my parents cut me off. My dad found out I fucked his secretary the same week my mom learned I was a little closer to some of her married friends than she was. It was fucking. Nothing more. Just a carnal desire to get off and there was no emotion behind it. At least on my part. I didn’t see what the big deal was, but they did. 

Fuck them. My older brother was taking over the company anyway. The most they were offering me was a management position. 

Everything changed when I ran into Missy again. It had been months and she looked just as beautiful as the last time I saw her, but there was a deep sadness behind her eyes. I was on my way to get condoms for a meet-up with Jessica, but I blew that off to just be with Missy the rest of the day. 

When I heard her parents had died, it was like the answer to all my problems. Every fucking one of them. I knew she was well off. She told me about her father’s firm and multiple businesses in the Southwest. If they were gone, that left all of it to this beautiful woman I have been lusting after for the last few years. I could get the girl, and lead an easy life once again. 

Her naivety I didn’t expect to be so….extensive. I still had needs. I strung my co-worker along the entire time I was with Missy, thinking I could juggle both until Missy finally allowed me to fuck her. I’d done it countless times in the past; juggling multiple women so they never knew of one another. This should have been just as easy. 

I didn’t think it would take so long to get Missy to give into me, though. I was getting frustrated and became reckless. I never should have let Jessica come over. I always met her at her apartment or a pay-by-the-hour motel. I didn’t allow any woman to come over after I started to seriously date Missy. I didn’t want to fuck that up. She had a key to my place. I knew that but still allowed Jessica in, thinking it was so late at night and it would be fine. I’d kick her out after I got what I wanted from her and clean up so Missy would never know. I never thought Missy would still come.

The look on her face was betrayal and disgust. I don’t know how long she watched, but it was long enough. I lost her. She was going to be my everything and I lost her. 

I couldn’t even afford my apartment anymore without her helping to share the expense. I was forced to move to Oakland to make do, taking the train every damn day like a beggar. If she would just talk to me, if I could just see her face-to-face, I could get her back. I could convince her to come back to me. She had no one else. I was her only support. She needed me, just like I needed her. 

I’m scrolling through her social media again on my cracked iPhone, trying to ignore the rough edges on the screen as my thumb scrolls up. She hasn’t updated any of her profiles in over a year. Nothing. She had condolences and heartfelt messages posted by people from her hometown, but nothing indicating she was back home with them. The opposite. People were posting that they hoped she was doing well in California. 

I close F******k, then open I*******m, scanning her page for any change when I notice one. Her follower and following counts have changed. She has one new one on each. I switched to a friend's profile so I could see her private account. I’m on a mutual acquaintance's account from school. One of the few girls that she would talk to in class. I had to use my tongue to get her to log into her accounts for me, and I wouldn’t dare try to message Missy on here, losing my only means of monitoring her.

I click her following icon and scan the familiar names I’ve seen a thousand times until I come to a face I’ve never seen before. A blonde fucker in swim trunks, standing on the beach at the coast. I recognize the rocky shoreline and know it’s a California beach. Chris Finley. I scan his profile but find no references to Missy. Nothing to connect him to her. 

He lives in Northern California. Fort Jones is tagged in many of his photos. I exited the app to look him up on F******k. Typing ‘Chris Finey’ and ‘Fort Jones’ nothing comes up. I try every variation of ‘Christopher’ until ‘Christofer Finley’ finally pulls the same dude up; same beachside profile picture and all. His listed home is in Fort Jones and he works as a mechanic for a big company. His profile is completely public so I waste no time going through his photos, but I don’t have to search for long.

There’s one from 2 days ago at some dumpy restaurant. This dude is in a selfie with 4 other guys, the caption reading “Burgers before the bar. Come join us.” 

In the background, sitting in a booth beside a blonde girl is my Missy. She looks as radiant as ever. Her eyelashes are fully visible though she is in the background, and her whole face lit up with a smile. I can see the curve of her plump ass sticking out from the side of the booth. 

Following the trail of her eyes, I see a guy leaning down and smirking at her, his blue eyes staring into hers and I can clearly see the desire on his smug face and the amusement in hers. I slam my fist down on the seat next to me on the train, ignoring the gasps and hushed whispers of the other riders. She fucking walked out on me for something so minor as banging some random, but she runs right out and is eating dinner with some other prick? It hasn’t been that fucking long since she left. How dare she do this shit to me. 

Maybe I’m over-reacting? I try to control my breathing as I think about this rationally. The guy is sitting at the end of the table, not in the booth with them. It looked like Missy was eating with this family; the blonde chick, an old fuck, and some little girl, and the guy probably pulled up a chair to talk for a second. That’s got to be it. Missy would never be with some scruffy-looking fuck like him. 

He was probably trying to come onto her and she looked amused because she was telling him to fuck off. There is no other explanation, right? She would not do that to me. I’m her everything. She may be mad at me right now, but she needs me, just like I need her. This fucker means nothing to her, and never will. 

Fort Jones. I’ll have to find a way to scrape up enough money to get up there and search. Jessica has been hounding me to visit her. Maybe I can fuck her brains out and take her car for the week? She can go without it. I can’t afford to miss work right now, but if I get Missy back, money won’t be an issue anymore. I have to get her back.