\'\'Theo!\'\' I yell and run towards him. People start looking at me weirdly but I don\'t care. I spotted him from afar, tapping on his phone and looking as handsome as ever. I caught some other women staring at him too but either he chose not to notice it or he\'s completely oblivious to the fact that he\'s a babe magnet.

He is clad in a navy blue coat and has a similar coloured cap on his head dipped so low that you could barely see his face, but I can recognize him from a mile away. I told him that I wanted to see him because we have a few things to discuss. We agreed to meet up at Aunty Fiona\'s bakery and that\'s where my boot clad legs are currently running to.

Snow doesn\'t last too long here in Bridgewood. It\'s January now and it left like it never came. The only evidence that it did actually make an appearance is the chilly weather. It\'s not freezing cold, but it\'s not warm and fuzzy either.

I give him a hug, nearly knocking him over. I haven\'t seen him since the Adelaide charity event and I won\'t lie, I did miss him.

Why? Because he has officially been upgraded to second best friend status.

\'\'Hey, kiddo.\'\' he laughs and releases me. \'\'You missed me that much?\'\'

I let the \'kiddo\' comment slide. \'\'You wish,\'\' I sass but it\'s laced with a smile.

\'\'Come on.\'\' he says and holds the door out for me as we make our way inside the bakery. Unlike the first time we visited, the place is filled with people having a pastry or two and chatting. We walk forward to the counter and I ding the bell on top.

\'\'Aunty Fiona,\'\' I say in a sing-song tone. She turns to face us and her smile grows wider. She\'s dressed in a knit green sweater and jeans, the usual apron tied on her waist.

\'\'Melly Mel,\'\' she answers warmly. \'\'You\'re back.\'\' Her gaze turns to Theo who greets her. \'\'and you brought the boyfriend.\'\'

I don\'t even correct her and neither does Theo.

\'\'Yes, aunty.\'\' I glaze over the menu. \'\'How are you?\'\'

\'\'Good, good. Nothing much. Just running the bakery and taking care of Joe.\'\'

Joe, or Uncle J, as I like to call him, is her husband. They\'ve been together for forty years if I\'m estimating correctly. I remember he\'d always help out in the bakery whenever he could back when I was younger, but I guess he can\'t now because of advancing age. He\'s older than Aunty Fiona by ten years which is mind-boggling. I can do the age gap love thing, but ten years is where I draw the line.

I\'ve always wondered how they managed to be together for such a long time given the massive age difference but I guess they\'re really in love and love has no age limit. She speaks highly of him and it makes me smile to see that despite the high rate of divorce in this country, there are still couples that have that happily ever after shit Disney movies talk about.

\'\'Is he sick?\'\' I ask with concern. Her smile dips and a hooded expression clouds her face. \'\'A bit,\'\' she responds. \'\'Prostate cancer.\'\'

Shit.

\'\'I\'m so sorry,\'\' I say. \'\'I didn\'t know. If I did, I\'d have come to visit sooner.\'\'

\'\'It\'s not your fault,\'\' she waves me off. \'\'It\'s sadly one of the perks of growing older. He had chemo a month ago and he\'s responding well to treatment.\'\'

That\'s good.

\'\'I\'ll swing by sometime,\'\' I promise.

\'\'He\'d be happy to see you. I told him about how big you\'ve grown and he couldn\'t believe it,\'\' she smiles weakly. \'\'I still can\'t believe it either, but I guess the young shall grow.\'\'

I nod and she changes the subject. \'\'Enough of the sad talk. What can I get you both?\'\'

I look up at Theo and he points to the croissants in the showglass.

\'\'I\'ll have lemon cake.\'\'

\'\'Coming right up. Any drinks?\'\'

\'\'Water for me,\'\' I answer.

\'\'Coffee. Black,\'\' Theo says. What is up with him and black coffee?

\'\'Alright\'\' She punches the machine in front of her. \'\'That\'ll be $8.99.\'\'

I bring out my wallet with the intent to pay for both of us but Theo beats me to it. I\'m about to protest but I keep my mouth shut when Aunty Fiona wiggles her eyebrows.

\'\'You two are just the cutest,\'\' she gushes. \'\'Let him pay for it, Melly Mel.\'\'

\'\'Fine,\'\' I agree, albeit grudgingly. I did call him here so it\'s only fair I pay for our stuff but whatever. He looks smug and I roll my eyes at him.

\'\'Let\'s go.\'\'

We find an empty spot next to the window overlooking the side walk and settle in. He looks at me expectantly, wanting me to open the realm of conversation. I clear my throat and shrug my peacoat off.

\'\'How was your Christmas?\'\' I say conversationally.

\'\'Good. My parents came to visit so it wasn\'t lonely.\'\'

\'\'Great. I spent Christmas at Biestro.\'\'

\'\'I know.\'\'

Huh? I didn\'t tell him that. We didn\'t even communicate much except on Christmas day when I sent him a \'Merry Christmas\' and vice versa. I was a little too consumed with a certain boy named Jason Blunt.

I raise an eyebrow. \'\'Surveillance. They report back to me on you and your family\'s whereabouts.\'\'

\'\'Oh.\'\'

And just like that, I\'m thrust back into the reality that is my life: a never ending soap-opera.

\'\'I have eyes and ears everywhere, kiddo.\'\' He gives me a lopsided grin. \'\'You\'re always on my radar even when I\'m not there physically.\'\'

\'\'Cute,\'\' I say cheekily. It\'s nice to know that someone other than Paris and my family have my back.

\'\'So I called you here because something did happen on Christmas and you didn\'t know about it.\'\'

His grin is immediately wiped off and his expression turns serious. \'\'What is it?\'\'

I dig into my purse and hand him the folded note. \'\'This was in the mailbox and it was addressed to me.\'\' He eyes it curiously and then opens it. \'\'It\'s from Bob.\'\'

He takes a sharp intake of breath. \'\'Really?\'\'

I nod. \'\'At first, I couldn\'t believe it but I guess it\'s from him.\'\'

\'\'You guess?\'\'

I had time to think things through with a clear head. I find it weird that after he has been MIA since September 7, he\'d just drop a letter in my mailbox out of the blue. It doesn\'t make sense and if it doesn\'t make sense, it\'s probably too good to be true.

\'\'Don\'t you find it strange that he\'d just drop a letter randomly into my mailbox after disappearing like that?\'\'

Theo scans the contents of the letter. \'\'He says that he has gone far away,\'\' he muses. \'\'How convenient.\'\'

\'\'Theo,\'\' I whine. \'\'Listen to me. I think someone is trying to fuck with us here. For all I know, this could be a hoax sent by the person who attacked us that night. What if that person actually kidnapped Bob?\'\'

\'\'Another thing,\'\' I continue. \'\'This looks like Bob\'s writing but I have a nagging feeling it isn\'t.\'\' That\'s one more thing I noticed. I read the letter like I was reading for the fucking bar exam and I observed a few things. \'\'I know this may sound crazy, but hear me out.\'\' I lay the letter flat on the table. \'\'The letter is written in blue ink. No one knows him as much as I do,\'\' Although that part is relative, but folks, you know what I mean. \'\'He always uses black ink when writing and signing stuff like cheques.\'\'

\'\'Go on.\'\'

\'\'See the places I circled with red ink,\'\' I point to the part where he allegedly wrote \'I\'m fine\'. \'\'His letter \'f\' is usually curled at the tip. This one isn\'t.\'\'

\'\'Hmm.\'\'

\'\'And his writing is a tad bit smaller than this.\'\' I slam my hand on the table. \'\'Something is very wrong here. I know I\'m just speculating but something tells me he didn\'t write this letter.\'\'

I close my eyes and open them back. \'\'It may be the killer and we don\'t know who the person is and what if-\'\'

\'\'Breathe,\'\' Theo says softly. I slowly inhale and exhale. \'\'Calm down.\'\'

\'\'You may be on to something here.\'\' See, I\'m not crazy. \'\'I don\'t know how Bob Stewart\'s handwriting is but I\'ll tell you what? I\'ll take this letter to Detective Anderson and Officer Louis and I\'ll tell him all that you said.\'\'

\'\'Sorry for being late, lovebirds,\'\' Aunty Fiona interrupts and places our orders on the table. \'\'Crowd got a little too crazy.\'\'

\'\'Maybe I could help?\'\' I pitch in. I am currently unemployed and school is starting soon. I need all the income I get. \'\'I mean if you don\'t mind. I\'m looking for a job and you could use the help.\'\'

\'\'You\'re right!\'\' she says brightly. \'\'I actually do need the help. You know I\'m not getting any younger and the crowd gets a little too much for me to handle alone. You\'re hired.\'\'

\'\'Really?\'\' That was easy. I just thought I\'d try my luck and hope that God answers my prayers. \'\'Thank you, Aunty.\'\'

\'\'Don\'t sweat it. I trust you more since I\'ve known you since birth.\'\'

I look at Theo and he gives me a thumbs up. \'\'When do I start?\'\'

\'\'How does tomorrow sound? We\'ll talk some more and I\'ll show you the ropes.\'\'

\'\'That sounds awesome.\'\' I respond, trying to contain my excitement. \'\'Thanks, Aunty.\'\'

\'\'No problem.\'\'

With that she leaves and I look at Theo who has a smirk on his face. \'\'New job, huh?\'\'

\'\'I didn\'t think it\'ll be that easy.\'\'

\'\'Me neither,\'\' he admits. \'\'But you do know that we have to talk about your schedule and re-arrange our arrangement right?\'\'

I actually didn\'t think about that.

\'\'Oh,\'\' I say dejectedly. \'\'We\'ll work our way around it.\'\'

He hums. \'\'Back on topic, we\'ll consider all that you said and get the letter examined.\'\' He folds the letter and puts it in his pocket. \'\'Do you have anything with you that has his writing on it? Like a previous letter? Signed cheques? Diary?\'\'

I shake my head in the negative. \'\'Not on me, no. But I can get it for you tomorrow.\'\'

\'\'Please do.\'\'

Something ominous is going on.