Out of Character

Punk gave it a few more hours, wondering if his wife had perhaps taken a detour after work, not that she usually did. But the more he let time go by, and the more he called AJ without her picking up, it left a bad taste in his mouth and he immediately left the house.

He called both his daughters on the way to AJ's office, who both confirmed their mother was not with them. He made it seem casual so not to give them a fright.

He got out of the car and headed into the building, taking the elevator up to AJ's office and walking through the corridor, spotting her assistant filling up one of the printer trays. The rest of the office seemed empty.

"Hey…" Punk paused, forgetting her name for a moment as Lucy looked up.

"Lucy." She nodded.

"Lucy, sorry." Punk shook his head as she just smiled. He'd only saw her a handful of times around the office whenever he'd come by to see AJ.

"What are you doing here after hours?" Lucy smiled.

"Hoping to find my wife." Punk laughed a little, "Is she still in her office?" He asked. He could only assume. There was nowhere else for her to be.

"Uh… no, her office is in darkness." Lucy shook her head, "April never stays past her time. She prefers doing any other work at home." She said as Punk nodded.

"I know." Punk said quietly, "She's really not in her office?" He asked.

"No, everyone is gone." Lucy said, "I just come in for a few hours at night to do boring secretary stuff." She said, holding up the paper she was putting into the printer.

"Hey, without you this place wouldn't function." Punk nodded to her, "I'm gonna go check her office. See if she's left her phone in there. She's not been picking up."

"Sure, go ahead." Lucy waved her hand as Punk walked down the rest of the corridor, opening up AJ's office and turning the light on.

He walked over to her desk, noticing there was a letter on her very tidy desk. He picked it up and read it. He then read it again. And again. Until his eyes got sore of looking at the words. It wasn't words that would have come from his wife, but he knew it was her handwriting.

Phil

I need a little bit of time on my own right now. I'm sorry for springing this on you without talking about it. Work has been stressful and I just need some space. I love you.

April

Punk sat the letter down on the desk, placing his hands on his hips and taking an unconvinced sigh. He knew his wife. Better than anyone. This wasn't something she would ever do.

He checked the drawers in her desk, noticing they were all empty, slamming them shut angrily as one of the picture frames fell over on her desk.

He picked it up, the picture of both of them from Cassie's wedding. He ran his hand through his hair and picked up the letter, leaving the office and heading back to find Lucy.

"Hey, Lucy." Punk said.

"Yeah?" Lucy looked up, still filling the printer.

"Did you see April at all today?" Punk asked her.

"Uh… I saw her this morning, yeah. She was on phone calls all day. I finished early, though. When I got everyone was done for the night." Lucy nodded.

"Did she say anything to you about being stressed or… needing to take a break?" Punk asked.

"Yeah well… she said she was super glad about having a break next week." Lucy nodded, "I told her it was well deserved and she should just switch her cell phone off. Relax." She said as Punk nodded.

"Was she… upset or anything?" Punk asked. He was trying to make sense of this. He was trying to understand why his wife of thirty years, his best friend who spoke to him about everything, had just taken off because she needed time alone. It made no sense to him.

"No, she seemed fine." Lucy said, "Is everything ok?" She questioned, wondering what all the questioning was for.

"I found this letter in her office." Punk showed Lucy. He knew she was as close to a work friend as AJ had.

"Oh." Lucy read it with equal confusing, "Doesn't really seem like her." She shook her head.

"I know." Punk said, "A lot of her things in her drawers are gone, too." He nodded.

"And she hasn't called you?" Lucy asked.

"No, nothing." Punk shook his head.

"Maybe she's with her daughter's." Lucy shrugged.

"No, I've called them. She's not there." Punk said, "Why would she leave this note at her office and not at home? Or… Why wouldn't she just call me about it?" He questioned as Lucy looked at him, not having any answers.

"I kinda wanna redecorate." Cassie said, lying on top of Theo naked in bed as he rolled his eyes.

"Why you gotta ruin a perfectly good mood?" Theo questioned.

"What? I get sick of things after a while." She said, resting her chin on his chest as Theo chuckled, "Only certain things." She grinned, leaning up and kissing him as he kissed back, turning them around as she smiled against his lips, rolling onto her back as he disappeared between her legs, pulling her to his mouth by her hips as she put her legs over his shoulders.

She was in all the ecstasy and pleasure in the world until she heard a knock at their door. She lifted her head, screwing her eyes up as Theo didn't stop.

"Stop." Cassie laughed.

"It's probably just some kids." Theo scoffed until there was another knock at the door.

"God dammit." Cassie shook her head, sliding off the bed.

"I'm trying to eat here." Theo shook his head as Cassie laughed, running over to the window and looking out the drapes, rolling her eyes.

"It's my dad." Cassie said, reaching over for her shorts and t-shirt.

"Let's just ignore him." Theo shrugged.

"No." Cassie laughed, "He's obviously here for a reason." She said curiously, putting a hoodie on and running out of the bedroom, heading downstairs and unlocking the door, opening it up.

"Hey." Punk walked into the house right away.

"Hi." Cassie shook her head, "It's late." She said, fixing her hair.

"Your mom hasn't come home tonight." Punk said, looking across at her as Cassie made a strange expression.

"Huh?" Cassie shook her head.

"She hasn't come home." Punk said, "I went to her office and… she left this for me." He passed over the note to her, wandering into the living room whilst Cassie followed and read the note with confusion. It was her mother's distinctive handwriting for sure, but it was never something she could ever imagine her mother sitting down and writing.

"What the hell?" Cassie shook her head.

"I know." Punk nodded.

"She wouldn't do this. I know my mom." Cassie scoffed, "She wouldn't just take off. Even if things were really bad and stressful."

"I know that." Punk shook his head, "I checked in with Thea, she's not there. Checked in with Dean and Renee. Not there. I even called Jude to see if maybe your mom bought a flight out to go spend time with her but… nothing." Punk said, "I ran into her assistant at the office and she said she was fine this morning."

"Weren't you two supposed to be going on vacation next week?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Yeah, supposed to be." He said, "I don't know, have… have I done something wrong?" He questioned, "I feel like I'd know."

"No, of course you've not. I spoke to mom yesterday, she was… she was absolutely fine." Cassie shook her head. It was just so out of character for her mother to take off on the basis that she needed some time on her own. That wasn't who her mother was. It was very puzzling.

"It's definitely her writing." Punk said as Cassie nodded in agreement.

"Have you tried calling her?" Cassie asked.

"Like fifty times now." Punk nodded, "You try, in case for some reason she's mad at me. Maybe she'll pick up if it's you." He said. He could only think that his wife was upset or mad with him because her taking off so randomly had no other explanation. But he knew himself that they had no issues. And if they did, they always spoke it out.

"Ok." Cassie nodded, "My phone is upstairs." She said, running back upstairs to collect her phone whilst Punk paced in the living room, nervously shifting some of Chase's toys out of the way.

"You don't tidy this up?" Punk said fatherly as Cassie came back into the living room.

"Ok, I'm calling her." Cassie nodded, keeping her phone pressed to her ear. She suddenly felt desperate to hear her mother's voice.

"Nothing?" Punk asked as Cassie shook her head, listening to the phone ringing out.

"What about her car?" Cassie asked.

"Not at home and not at work." Punk shook his head as Cassie looked across at him.

"I mean… have you guys been fighting or something?" She asked.

"No." Punk shook his head, "We haven't. We've been fine. That's why I don't understand this."

"Where would she even go? She's such a home body." Cassie said.

"I have no idea." Punk sighed, "I mean, I'm worried. Why would she do this?" He shook his head.

"Ok, maybe work has just been getting really stressful and… she didn't wanna bring it home with her and she just… needed a night on her own. I mean, sometimes I come home and I just wanna be on my own. It's not abnormal." Cassie shrugged.

"Well it is for us. Neither of us would ever just disappear and leave a note. That's bullshit." Punk said, "She was absolutely fine this morning." He shook his head as Cassie looked across at him.

"I doubt she's gone far. Maybe we could check the local hotels." Cassie suggested as Punk nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah ok." Punk nodded to her.

"I'm sure she's fine." Cassie nodded, "We can all hit a wall. Maybe she's just needed a night on her own."

"Maybe." Punk nodded. He just wanted his wife to be safe, especially when she'd done something so out of character.

"Let me go get changed quickly and we can have a look around." Cassie told him as he nodded, watching her head upstairs as Punk sat down on the couch, sighing to himself.