Chapter 7

Aldo awoke, as he did every morning, at 4:30AM. He shuffled to the shower, brushed his teeth, and dressed as was his daily routine. He stumbled down the stairs to the restaurant and poured himself a cup of coffee. After taking a few sips, he began to tidy up the kitchen in preparation for the coming day. After cleaning the kitchen, Aldo started into the dining room to set the tables.

Aldo opened the door to the dining room and stopped short, noticing a figure in the window. Grabbing a nearby broom, he walked over and tapped on the glass, "Hey! What are you doing? Get out of here!" Aldo shouted through the window.

The face that stared back at him caused his heart to leap in his chest. He quickly ran to the door, unlocked it and threw it open.

"Eric! Come in here!" Aldo pleaded. When Eric didn't move he rushed to his side, trying to pull him inside. "Eric! My God, what happened? You are soaked to the bone! Quickly, come inside, please!"

Aldo hooked his arm across Eric's shoulders and guided him inside. Eric moved like a zombie, his feet propelling his body forward to keep from being dragged inside by Aldo.

"Allegra, vieni presto! Eric ha bisogno di noi!" Aldo yelled up the stairs as he pulled Eric inside.

Rain sat at the bus stop impatiently waiting for Eric to show up. She glanced at her watch for the umpteenth time, "Where is he?" she muttered. Sighing heavily, she boarded the bus and sat heavily in a seat. She opened her purse and dug out her cell phone, sending him a quick message.

Eric, I hope you're OK. I missed you at the bus stop this morning; I'll see you this afternoon. Have a good day.

Rain sat through a very monotonous day of work, all the while worrying about Eric. His silence worried her more and more as the day dragged by. As the end of the day approached she made several more attempts to reach him, meeting with the same results as Eric's voice mail answered again.

The ride home on the bus was unbearable; and when she didn't see him at the stop, she began to walk towards his apartment. When she arrived she found the door slightly open, she knocked and called out, "Eric? It's Rain, are you home?"

Silence returned her call. She frantically dialed his cell phone, and heard it ringing inside the darkened apartment. She tentatively walked in, and began looking for him. When she had looked through the rest of the apartment, she knocked softly on his closed bedroom door.

"Eric? I'm coming in." She announced.

As she pushed open the door, she noticed the bed wasn't made and his phone sitting on the nightstand. She checked the bathroom and then returned to the bed, sitting on it. She jumped back up when she sat on something hard, turning to look, she gasped as she noticed the pistol lying on the sheet.

She grabbed his phone and immediately began scrolling through Eric's contacts until she found Aldo's number and called him. As the phone rang, she quickly searched the apartment again, desperately trying to find Eric.

"Aldo's Kitchen..." finally came the tinny response from the phone.

"Aldo! This is Rain, Eric's friend," she responded quickly, "have you seen him today? I'm at his apartment, and the door was open and his keys and phone are here and there was a gun in his bed!"

"Rain, please calm down. He is here with us." Aldo replied, calmly.

"Oh thank God, I was so worried ... I thought..." her voice caught in her throat, as tears came to her eyes and she sunk to the floor.

"It's OK Rain. Please gather his things and a change of clothes for him. Lock his apartment and come to my place. Everything is fine; I'll explain when you get here."

"Thank you Aldo, I will. Tell him I'll be there soon." Rain said after calming down and taking a deep breath.