Chapter 6 Chris Cao

*The next morning*

Ivy woke up at 5:00 am and did some stretching and breathing before going to the gym. She arrived at the gym at 05:30. She got on the treadmill for a 30 minutes intense intermediate run, fellow by a lightweight shoulder and back workout.

She then joined the 06:30 combine yoga and Pilates class, which went for about 30-45 minutes.

After the class she went back to the locker area, and picked up her bag and keys, as she was driving home she was enjoying the beautiful sunrise and the calm of the city just before rush hour, 15minutes later she was home.

Ivy lived in a modern luxurious apartment with 3 bedrooms, right in the heart of the city. All 3 bedrooms have an ensuite, but the master bedroom had the biggest ensuite. A beautiful walk-in with a bags section, a shoe section, clothes organised from formal to causal as well as white coats and scrubs. The walk-in was a contrast of grey/white marble and white everything, a big centrepiece on a white fur carpet, a glass watch and a jewellery holder on top of one side of the table. Important documents in a sensory activated pull out draw, in a safe only her fingerprint could access.

After she had a shower, she went into her walk-in and changed into a white lounge set, slipped on her furry slippers and went downstairs to her massive kitchen, although she lived in an apartment, she had high ceilings which made the apartment look bigger.

Since moving back 6months ago, she's had a housekeeper that prepares her meals beforehand and cleans her apartment, last night she messaged her not to make breakfast as she would be having breakfast out. She turn the coffee machine on, and waited for it to heat up while checking her phone:

one message from her mom wishing her a safe trip.

Another message from a colleague wished her a safe trip too.

8:15 am still no message from Abby, She had a quick look through her email while putting her cup under the coffee machine, she had a few emails about her living arrangements for when she arrived at her destination.

While drinking her coffee and watching tv, she started to feel like she might of being stood up and was wondering whether to order breakfast for delivery.

9:30 am still no message.

9:45 am- still no message, so she decided to make herself an açaí bowl luckily she had 1 last banana left, bananas are her favourite followed by mangoes. She used the frozen fruits to make a thick smoothie with oats and protein shakes. She sat outside on the balcony and ate her açaí bowl while people watching.

10:30 am still no message, Ivy knew now that, Abby was probably not coming or she was still asleep, so she went to her study and continued her research paper, she read over a few notes from her colleagues. One hour and 15minutes later she receives a call from Jin asking her if Abby was still with her, confused by the question, she informs Jin that she never messaged her or met with her. "Is everything okay? Was she supposed to be at work now?" Asked Ivy

"She has been having some family problems lately from what James tells me, and she is usually here at this time to pick up extra hours, but if she can't come usually she lets one of us know but we haven't been able to get in touch with her, and I only found out about her meeting you today from the chef who overheard the conversation between you two"

Ivy thought back to what June said about those guys at the restaurant and instantly had an eerie feeling.

"Jin can you please send me her number and address, I'll check on her before I head to the airport"

Soon after Ivy received a message with Abby's number and address, she tried calling her number 3 times and no answer. She got changed before heading to the basement and getting in her car and headed for Abby's neighbourhood.

40 minutes later she arrived in front of a cluster of apartments, while trying to find parking she spotted a very old moving truck almost fully loaded and blocking the entry to the underground car park, she parked one street ahead and used the GPS to find Abby's apartment.

When she went past the truck she saw a teenage boy about 13-14year old with blonde curly hair. He had this expression on his face that was hard to decipher, she paused for a second wondering whether to ask him for help or to keep looking but she saw the time on her phone and decided to ask him.

"Excuse! would you be able to point me in the right direction, I am looking for apartment 214b?"

He stared at her for a second and his face distorted in anger, he thought she was the new owner of their apartment who just kicked them out and the more he thought about it the more furious he became.

Thinking about his sister and grandma on their knees desperately begging the landlord to give them time to find another place and their pleas falling on deaf ears. He thought to himself how could a person be so cruel, 24 hours to pack up 3 years of our lives in this home, now we are homeless. My poor sister works like a dog every day supporting grandma and me. We don't even have money for a new house deposit, what are we supposed to do, lost in his thought he forgot about the lady in front of him.

Ivy observed the distant look on his face, and waved, trying to get his attention. When he saw her waving he came back to his senses and the angry expression returned.

"You must live here, so you might know who I am looking for...

Before Ivy could finish what she was saying he interrupted.

"Do you think everyone in this building knows each other, do you know everyone in your building?"

She was stunned for a moment but the boy had a point.

"Okay kid that's fair, where can I find apartment 214b, I am in a hurry and here to check on my friend Abby."

He was surprised for a second but regained his composure, looked at Ivy curiously and thought, my sister has never spoken about this lady before and she doesn't have a lot of friends, so who is this lady and what does she want.

"There is no one in apartment 214b they moved out"

"What! How can that be, her manager Mr Jin called me about her not showing up to work today and said this was her address"

"You work with my sister?"

Sister? Ivy thought for a bit and asked

"Are you Abby Sullivan's brother? Why did you just say she moved out?"

"Actually we are in the middle of moving out, I thought you were the person who bought the unit and kicked us out, sorry for being rude"

he said as he bowed his head.

"Huh! Where is Abby now?"