Chances Are

1 - The Letter

Ethan

"Hey, Ethan! Get up! You have a 10 am call time. It's already past 9." Mommy Lexie, my personal assistant since the very beginning of my career and my late mom's best friend, yelled as he shook me awake. Mommy Lexie is proudly and happily gay and has done a great job of taking care of me since Mom passed away.

"Argh! I'm awake!" I grunted. "Stop shaking the bed."

"Tsk! You feel terrible, huh? Good for you. You brought this on yourself. Who told you to get drunk when you know you have work the next morning?"

"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know I'd get so wasted. Just give me 30 minutes. I'll be right out."

"Fine. 30 minutes. If you're not out by that time, I'll have the driver drag you out."

"Jeez! I'll be out in 30 minutes, okay? I promise."

When Mommy Lexie left the room, I rolled face down on the bed and inhaled the sweet scent she left there.

"You're crazy, Ethan. You're still inhaling her scent? You must be addicted to her." I rolled on my back again and sighed wondering about her.

"i***t!" I exclaimed when I was hit by a sudden realization. "The car! She was in your car. She dropped something. That's it!"

I remembered something fell from her purse when she checked her phone but she couldn't reach it so she said to just leave it because it was not really important.

I grabbed a shirt and put it on then ran out of my bedroom.

"Oh! You didn't shower yet? Hey! Where are you going?" Mommy Lexie called after me as I stormed out of my condo unit.

The elevator was taking forever so I decided to run down the twelve flights of stairs to the basement parking. I took the steps two at a time, my blood rushed through my veins as my heart pumped furiously in my chest.

I can feel my head throbbing and my legs starting to ache but I didn't mind the discomfort. My goal was set on finding a clue about the woman who enthralled me last night.

When I finally reached the basement, I pushed the door with my shoulder and sprinted the distance to my car which was parked a few meters away, barely avoiding two cars I almost collided into. The angry drivers hit their horns but I shrugged their irritated shouts off. I had to get to my car as if any trace of her would be lost forever if I didn't get there in time.

I immediately opened the door when I reached my black Jaguar. I looked at the passenger seat but it was not there then I looked at the floor in front of her and the carpet but still I had no luck. In my desperation, I reached under the seat and felt for something... anything... I had no idea what I was looking for exactly but whatever it was, I knew that thing would lead me to her again.

And bingo! I got it! I felt a folded piece of paper on my fingers.

I was so excited. I immediately pulled my arm out, not minding the sharp edge that grazed my arm and elbow.

It was a letter written in a yellow sheet of paper. Probably a love note from one of her student admirers.

I opened it and read.

Somehow the other words appeared like a blur of letters to me except for the first three words.

I was so drawn to those letters that bore the first clue to who she was. Finally, I now have a name to that lovely face.

I faintly heard my dad parking beside my car and his concerned voice saying. "Ethan, what happened? Where'd you get that wound?"

I looked at him with a dazed expression and a silly smile as I muttered my story about trying to reach something under the car seat and accidentally hurting myself.

He told me to be careful next time.

As we rode the elevator back up to my condo unit, I was oblivious to the world as my mind kept repeating the words I just read "Dear Miss Daisy".

Daisy. That's her name.