Author's Note: Please see previous notes.
Let me know what you think!
xxxxxx
"Hi Mateja, sorry to bother you, " Trip apologized into his phone. "Les isn't answering her comm and I was wondering if you heard from Petra."
"I'm sorry?" Mateja asked confused.
"Leslie isn't answering her comm and ..."
"No, I realize that, but Petra is in her room, " Mateja said. "She didn't go with Leslie tonight. She's packing for..."
"Wait, I thought Les was meeting up with her and some other girls at the mall and then the movies, " Trip said, his voice betraying his worry.
"How long has it been since you've heard from her?" Mateja asked as she walked through her home toward Petra's room.
"She's all packed for tomorrow so I let her go at...2ish?" Trip said as he started to pace. "I've got to call the police and…"
"Just a second, I'll ask Petra," Mateja said before she opened the door to her daughter's room.
She walked into the silver and yellow room and walked around Petra so she wouldn't scare her as she packed.
"When did you last hear from Leslie?" Mateja asked her.
"This morning, " Petra said. "Why?"
"Her dad can't get a hold if her, " Mateja said as she watched net daughter walk to her comm and immediately text Les.
"She's texting Leslie," Mateja said into the phone.
"Thanks. I'm hoping she's just ignoring me, " Trip said. "It's ten o clock and ..."
"Where was she going?" Mateja asked her daughter.
"To see Fifth Domain and then to Benas," Petra said as she texted her friend again. "Before that, in the afternoon, to the mall. "
"Did you get that?" Mateja asked Trip.
"Yeah, I didn't know she was going with that Bena girl..." Trip said as he ran a hand through his hair. "Does Petra know where she lives?"
"I don't think so, but I'll ask, " Mateja said unto the phone. She asked her daughter and got a negative response. Still nothing came in from Leslie. Mateja got Petra to text any friends they had in common for information.
"You said you hope she's not ignoring you…Trip, did you get into an argument with her or...?"
"No, not at all. We had great day. She's excited about tomorrow and had packed early, " Trip said. "But that Bena girl..."
"Yeah, Petra doesn't like her and I suspect that's why she didn't go," Mateja said into the phone.
"Jesus Christ where is she?" Trip asked, his voice upset.
Petra then gestured fir her mom to look at her phone.
"Just a moment, " Mateja said as she walked toward her daughter.
"Leslie?" Trip asked, hopeful
"A girl named Wanda seems to think Bena lives on Leem street, but she's not sure the number..." Mateja read. "Do you know where that is?"
"By the main terminal isn't it?" Trip asked as he walked toward his keys.
"Trip there's got to be a hundred houses on that street, " Mateja said.
"And I'll knock on every door, " Trip said determined as he put his wallet in his pocket and locked his front door.
"Can you call me if Petra hears from her or figures out anything else?" Trip said as he got in his land car.
"Yes, I'll..."
"Thanks Mateja, I'm sorry for bugging you and Petra at this hour but I appreciate..."
"You'll find her. Go! " Mateja said before the call disconnected .
Trip drove downtown and found Leem street only to see Mateja walking down the steps from a house.
"Mateja?" Trip asked, confused as he parked in front of her.
"I'll do this side, and you do that one," Mateja said as she approached another house. "Quicker that way."
Trip nodded, grateful for the help, and walked across the street to start to knock on doors. A block later, they had both succeeded in annoying a lot of people.
"Trip!" Mateja yelled, suddenly.
He bolted across the street to the house she was at. He hadn't ran that quickly in years. She was standing at a door with Bena in the other side.
"She says Leslie left an hour ago, " Mateja said as she looked at him.
"Where'd she go?" Trip asked Bena.
"How am I supposed to know?" Bena asked annoyed.
"Didn't you ask?" Mateja asked her, equally annoyed.
"What do I care where she goes?" Bena asked. "Are we done here?"
"No we are not!" Mateja snapped before Trip even opened his mouth. "She was here until 9pm?"
"I said that," Bena sighed.
"And she left without telling you? Or did she leave with someone?" Mateja asked.
"No one else was here so unless she was meeting someone ..."
"Are your parents home?" Mateja asked as she looked around Bena.
"What's it any of your business?" Bena asked.
"Because I'd like to talk with them, " Mateja asserted.
"And you need to get a better attitude when speaking with people, " Trip added. "Why wasn't she answering her phone?"
"I don't know, I'm not her lame ass dad," Bena snickered.
Trip took a threatening step toward the young girl and Mateja turned and placed a hand in his chest to halt him. She knew he'd never harm a child, but his nerves were on edge and she needed him to not make the situation worse.
"Have you heard from her since she left?" Trip asked over Mateja's head.
"I gotta go, " Bena said.
"Have you heard from her? " Trip repeated, insistent.
"No," Bena sneered before she shut her front door.
"What the fuck?!" Trip yelled as he looked at Benas closed front door. "That girl needs..."
"It's probably a long list of what she needs," Mateja interrupted him.
Just then the door opened again and Bena threw a purse at Trip.
"She left her purse, " Bena said before she slammed her door shut again
Trip and Mateja looked through her purse to find Leslie's comm, wallet and keys.
"How the hell is she getting home?" Trip asked as he looked at Mateja and then up and down the inner city street.
Mateja took the purse from him and looked through the wallet, Leslie's transit pass was still inside.
She looked down the street in the direction of Trip's house.
"I bet she walked, " she said as she closed Leslie's purse.
"That's a 50 minute walk, and it's dark now, and she's alone and..." Trip said, his mind staring to picture all the threats to his little girl.
They started to walk back at a fast pace towards their cars parked down the street a block away.
"You drive the main streets to your house and I'll scoot around the side streets in case she's on them and we'll meet back at your house " Mateja said.
"Why would she leave without her purse and why wasn't she answering texts earlier?" Trip asked her.
"Trip, she's probably home already, " Mateja said reassuringly as she touched his arm.
He nodded and they both quickly got into their cars.
Trip called his neighbors, the Perez family, and no one answered. He drove directly home, looking in the streets as he did and couldn't see Leslie anywhere.
His mind raced with worry and he started to remember news items about gangs, robberies, shootings, sexual assaults... He and Leslie lived in a nice area, but she had to walk back through some not so nice areas to get home tonight. She was supposed to call him so he could pick her up.
He pulled into the driveway and was inside frantically looking around his house when Mateja walked in.
"She here?" Mateja asked, out of breath.
"No," Trip replied, sadly as he reached for his comm to call the police.
Mateja looked around worried, trying to think of where the child would be when she noticed something.
"Trip, " Mateja said as she pointed outside and walked toward his sliding door to open it.
"Les!" Trip yelled as they ran outside to the girl crying in a lounge chair by the pool.
Trip gathered his little girl in his arms and she cried even harder.
"Oh my God, Leslie. Are you alright?" Trip asked as he pulled back to look at her better. Her face was red and blotchy and she'd obviously been crying for a bit.
"She lost my purse and then she wouldn't let me..." Leslie said as she wiped her nose with the back of her hand. She was beside herself hiccoughing as she spoke.
"We have your purse, she said you left it at her house " Mateja said as she produced Leslie's purse for her to see.
"My purse!" Leslie said as Mateja handed it to her. "She said she lost it at the cinema and…"
"Your comm is inside, " Mateja said. "And your house keys, wallet..."
"She lied!" Les yelled as tears started anew.
"Sweetie, what the hell happened?" Trip asked.
"She said she liked my purse and would carry it for me at the mall, " Les said. "We went to the movie, and then she asked to carry it again after I paid for my ticket. Then when we got to her house, she said she lost it!"
Trip nodded and rubbed her back. He wanted to kill that Bena girl for the obvious distress she put his daughter through.
"I asked to use her comm but she wouldn't let me. No one else was there but her and she was being so mean all of a sudden. I couldn't call you and I didn't have any money so..."
"Les, you can ask someone who works at a shop if you can .." Trip started.
"Dad, I didn't know what to do, " Leslie cried again.
Trip pulled her into a hug and held her tight.
"It was getting dark and I was getting scared, so I just left and...and... we live farther away than I thought."
"It's okay pumpkin, you're home and you're safe now, " Trip offered as he hugged her.
After more explanation, and two adults comforting her. Leslie went to her room to change and wash up. She'd been really scared tonight, frightened by some of the people she encountered on her walk home, betrayed by someone she thought was a friend, and worried about her dad being worried for her. It had been a mess of a night.
Trip walked Mateja to the door, he felt suddenly exhausted from the events of the evening and the emotional roller coaster everyone had been on.
"I can't thank you enough for, well, for everything tonight. I don't know what I would have done without you, besides possibly wring that Bena's neck. But it was your last night with Petra before camp and instead you were..."
"I couldn't have stayed home, I was worried about her too, "Mateja admitted honestly. "If that was Petra,I too would have been beside myself and I would hope someone would help me. I also live closer to Leem so… "
Trip smiled at her and nodded. She was a good woman, a great woman, actually.
"I better get home, " Mateja said as she gestured toward her car.
Trip followed her outside. He was feeling a whirlwind of emotions. Happiness his daughter is safe, worry about what happened, and incredible attraction to the beautiful, selfless woman who helped him search for Leslie. If he thought Mateja was attractive before, her behavior tonight made her seem almost God-like in his eyes.
"That Bena is a piece of work," Trip said, trying to make conversation while his mind whirled.
"From one parent to another, I wouldn't let Leslie hang out with her anymore," Mateja offered.
"Oh yeah, " Trip said as he opened her car door for her and Mateja stepped behind it. "That girl is history. "
"She was a piece of work, " Mateja chuckled "Calling you a dumb ass dad "
"Stealing Leslie's stuff, not allowing her to call, lying that her comm was lost, letting her walk across town penniless at night? Yeah, that is one friend Leslie can afford to lose."
Mateja laughed.
Trip wasn't sure if it was adrenaline or fatigue or that he suddenly realized something, but he leaned in and kissed Mateja softly on the lips, surprising even himself that he'd made contact. She softly kissed him back and it suddenly felt like his entire body experienced a rush of life. There was no other way to explain it.
They pulled back at the same time and smiled at each other.
"I'm sorry I've been sending mixed messages, " Trip said, honestly. "You are the first woman I've gone out with since my wife died and I'm feeling very torn. "
Mateja nodded, she could feel their bodies being pulled together, but a car door stood between them.
"I think you're amazing," Trip said honestly. "And I'm not sure if there's some rule book that says I'm not supposed to tell you that..."
They both laughed at his joke.
"I don't generally follow rules," Mateja chuckled.
"Well good, because I don't know them," Trip laughed. "Can I take you to dinner Friday? And this time I promise to call. "
"Good, " Mateja smiled at him. "Send me the plan and..."
Trip smiled. "No meeting, I'm a proper Southern gentleman and I'll pick you up. This is an actual date, after all."
"Okay, " Mateja smiled.
They just stood smiling at each other like idiots and Trip felt as if he was being magnetically pulled toward her.
He started to lean in again and then stopped himself before he kissed her again. He was acting way too forward and needed to pull himself back.
"Any preference for restaurant of type of food?" Trip asked casually.
"Surprise me, " Mateja said with a smile.
"Okay, "Trip nodded before he stepped back and allowed her door to close.
Mateja got inside her car and pressed the start button.
"Are you still sending Leslie tomorrow?"
"I'm going to see how she is at breakfast," Trip said. "I may delay her start by a day or two."
Mateja nodded and started to back out.
"Night!" Trip called to her. He knew he was grinning like a moron but he couldn't help himself.
"Good night!" Mateja called to him before she programmed in Home and the car started to drive away. In that moment she was grateful for guided systems in land cars because she couldn't have found her way home if she tried, her head was so in the clouds.
xxxxxx
TBC
