Page 105 of Craving Paradise

Wishful thinking there, Jasper.

My phone starts ringing, and it’s Ali.

“Hey, man, why the hell are you calling me? Shouldn’t you be on your date?”

“She hasn’t shown up, and I can’t get through to her on the phone. And all her social media has disappeared,” Alistair says, sounding panicked down the phone.

It takes me a couple of moments to understand what he’s said. “That’s fucking strange.”

“It is, isn’t it? Something’s happened to her. I can feel it in my bones.”

Think, Jasper, think. Your friend is freaking out. His date has disappeared, and her socials are gone too.

“What’s her handle?” I ask him, maybe there’s a glitch. He tells me, and I quickly do a search. The image of Lauren and Elle, with a group of friends, all smiles with their glasses raised high in the air pops up. The location has it down as Dorset. Why is she there and not here?

“That’s weird, I can see it. She’s down in Dorset with friends.”

“What? She’s in Dorset? There’s no way in the world she’s in Dorset.”

I send him the screenshot.

“Why the hell is she there?”

“Did you have a fight?” I ask him because I thought from what he said earlier she was all in.

“Nope. I spoke to her yesterday morning, and she was excited. Well, I thought she was, but I haven’t spoken to her since. What the hell does this mean?”

I feel for my buddy. I know what it’s like to have the woman you want more than anything disappear like that. To be fair, I think it’s callous of her to vanish the way she has if they have had a fight. Ghosting someone like that is fucked up. At least Lauren had the courage to talk to me after breaking my heart. This is the coward’s way out.

“I hate to say this, but I think she might be ghosting you.”

“Ghosting me?” He raises his voice.

The phone goes silent. I’m guessing Alistair is having a mental freakout, which I don’t blame him.

“You okay, man?” I ask.

“I’m so fucking confused. That’s what I am.”

“Look, I know you like this girl, but you know what she does for a living. She may have used you, and once she got what she wanted, she bounced,” I say to him, trying not to let my own heartbreak hinder my advice.

“What did she get from me other than my time? I never gave her money. I never bought her anything. I helped her in a fucking cupcake stall. That’s hardly gold-digger material.” Alistair raises his voice in frustration at me.

“I guess at least she’s in Dorset with her friends and not with another guy.”

“I need to message her roommate,” Alistair says.

“No, Ali.No,” I scream down the phone at him. “Do not do anything. She’s blocked you, dude. She has disappeared. What more do you need to know?”

“Why?”

“Does it matter why?” I ask him, letting my anger for him over the situation bleed through in my voice.

“Yes, it does. I want to know what I did to make her disappear?”

“You did nothing. You’re a fucking catch, Ali, and if she can’t see that, then she’s a fool.”

“I just want to know.” He sighs sadly.