Page 63 of Shattered Veil

James 4:26 P.M.: No updates?

The message was left unanswered for only the amount of time that it took to return to the sink and wash both my dish and Cassie’s. The vibration caused my phone to scurry across the tile on the countertop, and I glanced at it as I stacked the two clean plates carefully beside the cleaned mixing bowl and pan that she had clearly used earlier. It read:

Luke 4:29 P.M.: Nope.

Luke 4:30 P.M.: Fucking hate this.

I was uncertain if no news was good news in a situation like this. No news meant that Colton was still missing; therefore, potential evidence was still out of our hands. No news meant that neither Cassie nor I had any means of speaking with him regarding the MIA dancers at Gas Lamp. But…no news also meant that the police hadn’t been back to ask questions about the break-in at 2D. No news meant that it was possible that, though he was missing, Colton and that laptop may not be in police custody.

The remainder of our conversation was lightning-quick:

James 4:32 P.M.: I know. Me too.

Luke 4:32 P.M.: I’ll call you if we hear anything.

I let out a rather loud breath, pushing the thought to the back of my mind by the time I was locking Cassie’s front door.

The blizzard had passed, leaving behind several inches of lumpy snow that would occasionally blow from the trees in large clumps, rapidly dissipating into the air in a glittering breeze. The roads were surprisingly clear as I drove, the warmth from the sun having melted whatever had stuck to the concrete below whilst I was sleeping. The apartment complex was quiet. I took a shower so hot that it blissfully stung my skin, and upon exiting into the steam-filled bathroom, I saw that my phone was glowing with a notification:

Cassie 4:48 P.M.: Made it to work.

I smiled softly, content that she had messaged as she had said she would, and it buzzed once more:

Cassie 4:50 P.M.: x.

X?

X?

The single letter made the butterflies swarm, and my eyes locked on the screen as if I were convinced it would disappear, but it remained. X as in the universal symbol for a kiss, right? Or…X as in her fingers fumbled and sent me a text typo? I picked up my cell and unlocked it, simply holding it in my palm as if that would settle my thoughts, and eventually began to type back:

X?

I deleted it, of course, and replaced it with:

You mean to send that?

I deleted that, as well.

That’s a nice letter.

That was fucking dumb, and I deleted it. What I finally managed to send was:

James 4:52 P.M.: Thank you.

Quickly, because I knew that I would talk myself out of it if I lingered on the notion, I followed it up with:

James 4:52 P.M.: x.

The moment that my thumb touched the screen and the x was sent off, I practically threw my phone back to the counter and bustled to my bedroom to clear my mind.

I dressed myself slowly—not for comfort, but just in my typical jeans and a t-shirt—and wandered back to the kitchen. I cooked the chicken breast that sat defrosted in my fridge, eating it with a bowl of pasta topped with canned vodka sauce.

I knew that it was okay. Not great, but okay—it was a go-to meal for when I just didn’t want to bother with slicing and dicing. However, despite the fact that I could taste the array of seasonings that I used on the meat, the buttery pan-sear had left a pleasant browning, and the pasta was just to my preference of al dente, it all sat in my mouth like cardboard. I ate it, regardless.

I washed my dishes with a pensive mind circling solely about all things Cassie, and when I returned to the bathroom to retrieve my phone that I had so anxiously ditched, there were no notifications. That made sense because it was after five o’clock, and her shift had started, but I felt a slight twinge of disappointed nervousness nonetheless.

I sat, watching television and absorbing very little of it for what ended up being hours on end, but naturally, my entire being was wide awake. My legs were restless. My phone was devoid of additional messages. The sheet of paper in my mind symbolizing the remainder of my night read various to-do items such as:

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