Unexpected

from answering his question. He then went on to tell me that it was all part of his training to ask such questions. He continued to tell me that in situations like this, it was usually one or the other.

  I could hear some of the counter staff around us also starting to make silly sarcastic remarks like, she has probably run off with his brother. Look how he is acting, he is so possessive that she just wanted to get away from him. Along with a few more that, I could not quite hear as I was out of earshot. A crowd of people had started to gather around the police officer, the store manager, and myself. To most, I was already beginning to look like the villain or at least the reason for Anne’s disappearance. This line of thought hurt me, if only I could have put into words how much I loved her, I’m sure they would have thought different of me.

  About two hours later the supermarket along with the shopping complex closed its doors. I had no idea what to do, as I was escorted from the property. After all, where do you start to look next? I spent some time just walking around the very large car park, until it was completely dark. I then returned home to the flat, wanting to find her sitting in front of the fire warming her feet. While deep inside, I knew that I was going to be wrong, because as I approached the flat I could see that there were no lights on the whole house was in complete darkness.

  That first night of being alone for the first time in our relationship was a nightmare for me. I did not know what to do next. I have to admit that I had to wipe a few tears in my eyes on more than one occasion. I was utterly devastated and could not get my inner thoughts around the fact that she had just disappeared.

  While my instincts kept telling me to go out and to start searching the streets, my brain wondered where would I start or where would I go. I spent the whole night going over the events that had led up to her mysterious disappearance. Trying to think of any little thing that I might have missed that would shed some light on what might have happened, or where she might have gone. It's funny but at times like this your brain plays tricks on you, and the imagination really runs riot, with some wild scenarios.

  The next morning I went along to the police station to find out if there was any news of her. I became very upset as I was informed once again that they could not do anything for the time being. They did tell me that they had logged the incident and that they had circulated her description and were keeping an eye out for her.

  I spent the rest of the day in or around the area of the supermarket, in the vain hope that she might return. I was beginning the think along the lines that just maybe she might have lost her memory. If that were the case, there was a chance that when it returned she might just return to the shop looking for me. I became a little confused, after all if that were the case, would she not return to the flat. I just did not know what to do. Thinking along those lines, I thought that maybe it might be better for me to return to the flat.

  By this time the story had been well circulated around the shopping centre by the supermarket employee’s. Wherever I walked, I could sense people pointing and talking about me. I did not mind because at least they were highlighting my problem and in this way, there was a possibility that it might jog somebody into remembering something. However, it was all to no avail, it was as if she had just been swallowed up and disappeared from the face of the earth without leaving a single clue.

  The second day Anne was officially listed as missing by the police. I was also told that until they had some evidence as to what might have happened to her, then that was all they could do. I spent the rest of the day making up posters high lighting her disappearance that included a photo. I then went to the local printing shop and had hundreds of them made up, so that I could flood the area with them. I just had that feeling that somebody out there had to know something and that I would not give up until I found her.

  I went into all of the shops, and most were very happy to help and place a copy in their window. A few of them told me that it was company policy that they do not show posters in their shops. I also handed out small hand flyers in the shopping mall to anybody passing who would accept them.

  Work was no problem as I rang in and took my three week summer leave, the last thing I needed to happen now was to lose my job as well. Some way or other I needed to have some money coming in to survive.

  The days started to run into weeks and in that time, I never found a single clue, of what might have happened to her. The police had also drawn a blank but had invited me to the station on more than one occasion, for further questioning. Once it was put to me that, I had staged her disappearance and another, time I was asked if I had in fact killed her. The officer went on to tell me that in many so-called disappearances, it usually ended up with a body being found. The end result being that a member of the family was later charged with the murder. They kept reminding me that most murder victims know the identity of their killer.

  By the time a month had past the police had started to class me as a bit of a joke and just left me handing out leaflets wherever I went. To me it was no joke, I had lost the only person I had ever had a long relationship with. My whole world had come crashing down around my ankles and I did not know what to do next. It would not have been so bad if only I could find out what had happened to her. It was the not knowing that hurt me most. If she had gone off with somebody else, then after a short period I could have come to grips with the situation. It was the not knowing that hurt me the most. There was not a day I woke up and wanted to call off my search, but to me that was out of the question. It became my aim in life to come up with an answer, even if it took me the rest of my life.

  It was the nights that I dreaded most, and on many occasions I had tears in my eyes. The loneliness that I had to endure, especially after spending so many nights with her warm body lying beside of me. Then there was the vivid imagination that I possessed, it would conjure up some of the most wired of explanations of what might have happened to her.

  Slowly the weeks turned into months, and during this time, there was not a single person in town who did not know my quest or me. I spent every spare moment of my time devoted to the finding of Anne. Her disappearance had left me with nothing. To the rest of the town I was somebody whose partner had walked out on him and that I could not accept it.

  Then before I realised it the months had turned into a year, I could hardly believe that I had been searching for her for twelve months, and sadly in all that time I had never found a single clue as to her where a bouts. To the public, I had become the guy whose wife had walked out on him, after a row over a box of Corn Flakes. A typical reaction from people who had no idea what they are talking about, but loved to fuel the fires of hurt upon their fellow man.