(7 Days Later)

Elise

There.  That was the last of them. 

Posting missing person notices all over town had taken me hours over the last couple days.  No calls yet, but I had to keep trying.  I was relentless because I knew he was alive.  He had to be. 

It had been a whole week, and I was a wreck.  I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t study.  I barely ate. 

Mom was starting to get really concerned, but I couldn’t help it.  Every avenue I explored felt like another door closing on the possibility of getting him back. 

The police had finally started investigating his disappearance, but so far, neither their leads nor mine had gotten us any closer to discovering Alex’s whereabouts.

Arriving at home, I trudged through the front door. 

“Mom, I’m home!  I got the rest of the signs up!”

Her voice was faint from upstairs, “That’s great honey.  Dinner’s on the table.  I made a pot roast, but it might be getting cold.  Sorry I couldn’t wait.  You know I have my rally tonight.  I’ll be right down if you want to talk.”

Right, the rally.  I heard her makeup case click shut.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me, Leesie?  Might be good to get out of the house and focus on something else.”

‘Daughters of Moral Progress’, they called themselves.  Mom had started attending after Dad left.  I knew things hadn’t been going swimmingly between them leading up to the separation, so I wasn’t surprised when she didn’t seem too shaken up about him leaving. 

Soon, though, she came to realize how important he was to her.  Those were difficult times.

A friend of hers finally got her to attend a meeting.  Besides the rallies that advocated affirmative action measures for men and proposed mandatory safety measures, they mostly served as a support group for women who had lost husbands due to the virus – whether by their own action or otherwise.  Many, like my Mom, had neglected their marriages for a variety of reasons, ended up separated, and came to regret it.  Others had lost husbands to abduction or outright assault by other women. 

Their common goal was to reestablish a tenable social and marital standing between the sexes.  The current status quo, they asserted, could not continue indefinitely.  Their cause resonated with me, but I just didn’t seem to have the motivation to go along.

Sitting down at the dinner table, I found my meal cooling rapidly.  I ate just enough to quiet my hunger, picking at my food with a fork while I brainstormed on what else I could do to get Alex back.

The loud clacking of heels on hardwood announced Mom as she came and sat down next to me at the table.  Her look of concern was touching as she laid her hand on mine.

“So, how did it go today?  Any leads?”

“No, still nothing.”

“You’ll find him.  I believe in you.  I’ve never seen a woman with more determination and strength in the face of adversity.  Alex is very lucky to have you, sweetheart.  I’m proud of you.

“We have a diverse group of speakers at tonight’s rally, if you’re interested in coming with me.  Please consider it, honey.  They always allow a few walk-on testimonials; you could be a powerful voice, if you wanted to.”

Getting up to clean my dishes, I shook my head.  “No thanks Mom.  I appreciate you trying to look out for me, but I really need to catch up on my essay.  All this investigating has been time consuming.  I don’t even want to think about how far behind I am. 

“I guess I’d better get to it.  Tomorrow I’m going to be putting out more notices to expand my coverage.”

Her eyes were motherly, “Leesie, honey…you’re killing yourself.  I’m not suggesting you give up on Alex, but the police are on this.  Why not let those women do their work?”

It went right in one ear and out the other.  Giving up just wasn’t an option.

“I’ll be in my room.  Have a good time.” She sighed as I headed upstairs for my bedroom.

As I dropped my bag next to my bed, I heard the garage door close behind her.  Mentally, I tuned out the world to engross myself in what had become my evening ritual. 

Opening the bottom drawer of my dresser, I found Alex’s small duffle bag.  Reverently pulling it out, I sat on the bed and placed it on my thigh.  My fingers struggled momentarily with the tiny zipper, but eventually managed to open it, grasping a blue t-shirt from the treasures within.  Drawing it to my face, I inhaled deeply.  His smell was still thick on it – a balm upon my soul.  Studies showed that scent is the sense most intensely linked to memories, and the proof was right in front of me.  It was the last shred of contact I clung to. 

Not wanting to waste the precious notes that lingered within, I soon put it back and zipped everything up to prevent their escape.  As soon as I laid back down, my cellphone rang.  I didn’t recognize the number.

“Hello?”

“Can I speak with Elise Pierce please?”  

“Speaking.”

“Ms. Pierce, this is the police.  We believe we may have a lead on the whereabouts of the person you reported missing, Alex Gray.”

My heart hammered as I sat up. 

“Yes!?  Has he been found?”

“No ma’am.  But we did locate his vehicle at a physical fitness and treatment facility; Complete Fitness, on Mulver Drive.”

That was my gym!  Alex must have gone there to blow off some steam.  The thought stung, knowing that he didn’t wait for me.  I’d been pestering him to join me for weeks.

“I don’t understand.  That’s the gym I go to.  I’ve been there at least a few times since he went missing, but I never saw his car there.”

“Nevertheless, it was found there and impounded this afternoon.”

“Any clues as to where he might be?”

“Not at the moment, but we do have additional leads; as you may know, the gym happens to be a licensed treatment facility, so we should have access to video surveillance for the day of the disappearance.  We’re in the process of interviewing the staff and reviewing footage.

“Now, with that said, I have to remind you that to interfere with or subvert a police investigation like this is a criminal offense.  I know you want to see your friend again, and I can assure you that we are doing everything that can be done to get him back.  Please be patient.  We’ll keep you informed.”

“Thank you officer.”

Hanging up, my mind immediately started thinking about ways I could follow this lead without getting caught.  Hell with it! I hadn’t gone for my treatment in a couple days, and I could use a workout. 

Changing into my tight black workout pants and pink sports bra, I pulled my hair into a tight ponytail, suddenly feeling like I could run a marathon.

Twenty minutes later, I pulled into the gym parking lot, immediately realizing why I hadn’t seen his car before.  There was an adjunct lot for small cars around the side of the building.  It was partially hidden from the main lot where I normally parked.

I scanned my card on the way in and headed to the treatment room to receive my injection.  My anxiety must have been suppressing my libido, because sex had hardly crossed my mind in the past week.

With that done, I moved straight to the workout area.  It was packed, so I went for the weights.

Alex liked my soft but trim look, so I focused on high rep, low weight toning exercises in lieu of strength training for the next 40 minutes.

As I laid on the bench cooling down, I considered what I could do to follow up on the lead the police had provided.  Since it was evening, many of the folks here were unlikely to have been around when Alex came at mid-day.  Still, I figured I had a better shot on the men’s side at finding someone that might have seen him, so I headed in that direction.

The men’s weight room wasn’t nearly as busy as the women’s, of course; attendance wasn’t compulsory for the smaller sex.  Nonetheless, I spotted a guy that could have been a professional bodybuilder from his appearance.  His physique betrayed a many hours a day lifting habit, so I figured he was my best shot. 

As I came closer, a few of the men looked at me uncomfortably, swiftly moving to other exercises to keep their distance.  I had a glimmer of pity for them.  That a strange woman could instill fear from her mere proximity in such an ostensibly safe place.  My target, luckily, had no such compunction.

I had never spent time in the men’s weight room before, but from within, the equipment appeared toy-like.  Almost as if my slightest misstep would crush the diminutive steel the men struggled with.  It was difficult to take them seriously when their largest weights were smaller than the plate I ate dinner from. 

The man I stalked had just finished a set.  Clearly, with his rippling musculature and bulging veins, building his body was either a profession or full-time hobby for him.  He labored audibly with weight that I could easily have handled in sets of twenty or thirty, but I nonetheless admitted that my libido was stirring from its slumber as I approached him.  Whispering to me, it reminded me how long it had been since I had had Alex.

He finished his set and realized he was being scrutinized, so he sat up and removed his earbuds.  The fact that he didn’t cringe in my presence tickled a part of me that wanted to pick him up and tear the clothing from him. 

So close now, I smelled his sweat, and bent down to clamp my hands on the curl bar he had been using.  It was so tiny.  The width of my two-handed grip eclipsed a substantial portion of the bar.  I felt like tossing it aside with a single hand just to demonstrate my dominance.  To illustrate how his greatest efforts were but a trifle to me.

Looking up at me, he set his arms on the bench behind his body, forcing him to flex his torso.  It did strange things to me.  I wanted to touch that defined muscle clothed in taut skin.  To follow those veins wherever they led my fingertips… It was...

STOP!

Damn virus!  Get a freaking grip, Elise.  This isn’t you!  You’re panting over some guy who isn’t a footnote in Alex’s book.  My vibrator would be getting a workout tonight.  Clearly abstinence was affecting me more than I thought.

Confident or stupid – or perhaps both – he reacted to my apparent interest.

“Like what you see?”

Donning my most imperious attitude as armor against his naked sex appeal, I responded. 

“Little man, you really think you could satisfy me?”

Cool it Elise.  That’s no way to start a conversation with someone you’re asking for help.  Remember, you need answers.  I toned it down.

“Actually, I’m looking for someone who was here the other day.  He’s missing.  You look like you spend a lot of time here, so I thought maybe you’d seen him.”

After chatting with the body builder – Derek, he said his name was – for a few minutes, I learned that he hadn’t seen Alex, but he knew some women that had talked about a guy that met the description last week.  He claimed that one of the girls, a black girl named Alison, came every day in the early afternoon. 

Right then.  I’d see her tomorrow.

By the time I got home and pulled my sweaty clothes off – I detested public locker rooms – my suppressed sex drive had come back with a vengeance.  It made me feel guilty to think that it was Derek that put me in this state, not Alex, but I was flushed with desire regardless. 

Standing in the shower, I thought only of my love.  Those mornings when he faked sleep as I got up for work, sneaking into the shower while I pleasured myself so as to avoid disturbing him.  His mouth at exactly the correct height to replace my busy hand...

As the water coursed over me, soothing my aching muscles, I burned with need.  Eyes closed and breathing hard, I spread my legs and bent over, supporting myself with my left hand against the shower wall.  In my mind, his small hands ran over the slippery, wet slopes of my thighs and ass, exploring in infinite detail the curves he delighted in while his face attended me.

My hand was a poor analog for his pleasure delivering tongue, but I set to my sizzling folds with intensity born of my passion for him.  Before long my pleasure rose in a wave, growing geometrically with the thought that we’d soon be together to conduct these ultimate expressions of love.  Fingers dancing desperately, I quickly attained that state of superlative bodily bliss.  Without thought to my audience, a loud moan escaped, and my shout was reflexive.

“Alexxxxxxxx!!!”

Caught in the aftershocks of my intense euphoria, it was a moment before my rational mind returned to me.  It tantalized me with the knowledge that this was but a shadow of what Alex and I would soon be sharing again.  Hope was a powerful force, and its roots had been watered tonight.