Filthy Beast(100)

At first, I figure it’s just because she’s busy, or maybe because her family is pressuring her to stop seeing me. But her phone goes straight to voicemail and my messages are ignored. I try writing her, and I even send her another present, this time a box with a new computer inside of it, but everything is ignored. There’s no reply. She never comes back on Skype, and she never answers any of my written letters.

I don’t know what the fuck to think.

“Seems pretty obvious to me,” Chuck says. We’re out to lunch exactly one week after I last saw Sadie.

“I’m sure it does,” I grunt at him.

“She got sick of looking at your ugly face.”

I sigh, shaking my head. “Too soon.”

Chuck frowns, sipping his whisky. “Damn. I’ve never seen you like this before.”

“Like how?” I ask.

“Acting like a heartbroken little girl.” He grins at me.

I glare at him. “I’m not fucking heartbroken. I just don’t understand.”

“I don’t know, it seems obvious to me. The girl’s family hates you with a passion. And she’s clearly being controlled by them.”

“Yeah,” I say, shaking my head. “The fucking Tillmans.”

“That’s right. The fucking Tillmans.”

I sip my beer, not in the mood to be out right now, but Chuck insisted. I’ve been moping around too much, or at least according to him I have been.

I’m not fucking moping. I don’t mope. I just want to understand why Sadie disappeared after sending me that text in the morning, just a single word. The night before was so damn good, and things felt really perfect, and then she suddenly just disappears on me like a ghost.

“You have to admit,” Chuck says. “There’s a little irony in this.”

“Guess I don’t see it.”

“I mean, you’ve done this to plenty of girls.”

I can’t help but grin a little bit. “No way. I’m more tactful.”

“More tactful?” Chuck laughs, shaking his head. “Remember that Slovenian model you were dating for a little while?”

“Oh yeah,” I say, grinning back at him. “What was her name?”

“Who cares? She was hot as fuck. But when she wanted you to meet her family back in her country, what did you do?”

“Shit,” I say. “It’s not like that.”

“You didn’t call her again. Cut off all contact. You ghosted her ass so fast.”

“She was asking me for money,” I say, but Chuck isn’t having it. In my defense, that is true. She was asking for a loan so she could start her own modeling company. Plus, she was something of a head case. I definitely ghosted her, but for good reason. I was afraid she’d try and stab me.

“You’ve done this to countless women,” Chuck says. “Not just one crazy model.”

“They all know the score,” I say. “They know they get one night and that’s it. I thought it was different with Sadie.”

“Maybe,” he says, a little softer. “Maybe it was supposed to be that way. But look man, she’s not answering you anymore. She’s gone. Let it go.”

I glance down at my drink, not sure what to say.

I can’t accept that. I’m not some heartbroken little puppy dog blubbering into his beer, but I’m not just going to roll over and die either. Chuck thinks I’m moping, but the truth is, I’m trying to figure out my next move.

Clearly, I’m not getting anywhere trying to contact her through traditional methods. I’m betting her family has her on lockdown. My current theory is that she got caught coming home that night, but didn’t know it until the next morning, after she texted me. That’s when she disappeared. Her family hates me so much that maybe they sent her away, out to a convent or some shit like that. The Tillmans have enough money to make their daughter disappear.

Which is actually terrifying. But fortunately, I have enough money to make her reappear, I just have to figure out how.

Chuck thinks that’s a bad idea. He thinks I should just swallow my own medicine and move on. But he never really thought this thing was a good idea to begin with.

He’s afraid of the Tillman family, and for good reason. They practically own this city, or at least have politicians in their pocket. If they wanted to go after my business, they absolutely could. Their businesses are strong and deep, and they have a lot of ties in the community. They could hurt me if they really wanted to.

I just can’t worry about that stuff. I’ve been through so much in my life that I can’t imagine letting some rich assholes push me around. Besides, I know Sadie wants me, it’s her piece of shit family that’s holding everything back.