Page 126 of The Accidental Wife

Shayla

If someone askedme to describe the absolute worst moments of my life— I would have told them about the day I lost my Dad. It was a moment I never wanted to live ever again. That is, of course, until the man you’re in love with tells you he doesn’t want to live anymore in the middle of the night and races off in his sports car. The way my hands and legs shook as I watched him speed off madly down the road. I call him on his phone to tell him to come back, but he doesn’t answer. Instead, he ends my call and turns his phone off. I drop to my knees, screaming in the middle of my living room, my head in my hands.

Aimee comes running out of her room when she heard me and kneels in front of me, followed by Jo. “Shayla! What happened?!”

“What the hell is going on?” Jo asks Aimee, who shrugs and shakes her head while she tries to calm me down. “Shay, shhh, shhh, what’s the matter, babe?”

“Cole’s going to do something stupid!” I sob hysterically into her chest.

“What?” Jo asks, looking at Aimee. “What do you mean?!”

“He’s said he doesn’t want to live anymore!” I scream wretchedly. “Do something! Find him, please!”

Jo wraps her arms around me as I continue to sob, “What do we do?!”

“I’m calling Josh,” Aimee says, taking my phone and dialling his number. “If anyone will know what to do, it’s him.” Aimee shakes her head, waiting for him to answer. “Come on, Josh, pick up!” She calls again, and he answers. “Josh, it’s Aimee, I’m sorry to call you so late, but we need your help. Cole and Shayla have had an argument, and he’s told her he doesn’t want to live anymore. Shay thinks he’s gone off to do something stupid. No. She’s hysterical. We don’t know what to do. She won’t calm down.” Aimee cries.

I take the phone from Aimee, “Josh, find him please before he does something stupid.”

“Shayla, calm down. Cole’s a sensible guy; he’s not going to hurt himself. I’m going to find him. Please calm down, okay.”

“I can’t! You didn’t see the state he was in; please find him, Josh. If anything happens to him, I won’t survive, I won’t!” I cry, and I hear Josh sigh on the other end.

“Don’t talk like that. Nothing is going to happen to him, I promise you. Just calm down; he’s probably upset and said it out of anger.”

I cry, shaking my head and hand the phone to Aimee, “Can you keep us updated,” She asks and looks over me. “We’ll try. Okay, we’ll wait to hear from you.” Aimee sighs and hangs up.

“Josh will find him, Shay, I’m sure he’s fine,” Jo assures me, and I shake my head sobbing into her chest.

“He’s not. He’s not fine at all. Neither of us is Aimee. I saw the look of defeat in his eyes.” I whimper. “If anything happens to him, it will be my fault. I drove him to this; it's my fault!” I exclaim, and Jo holds me tighter.

“Shayla, shh, none of this is your fault babe, you did nothing wrong,” Aimee assures me, and I shake my head.

“I did. I should never have agreed to come back into his life, he’d be okay if I just stayed away, but I didn’t. I didn’t!” Jo brushes her fingers through my hair. “God, please, please let him be okay. I swear I will disappear out of his life for good just let him be okay.”

“Shayla, how many times did you walk away? He wouldn’t let you go. You did the right thing and stepped aside how many times. You’re the last person to take any blame from any of this.”

“How can you say that? He’s hurting because of me! Because I told him I’m dating Josh. How could I be so stupid?! I would have reacted the same if I watched him dating one of you two.” I cry, burying my head in my arms.“What have I done?!”

“Shayla..”

“NO!” I shout. “It’s my fault if something happens to him. How am I going to survive? I won’t.” I sob weakly. Aimee wipes the tears that roll down her cheeks and looks at Jo, who shrugs helplessly.

“Shay, don’t talk like that. Cole’s going to be fine, I promise you. Josh will find him, babe.” She says, and all I could do was hope and pray that she was right. I will never forgive myself if anything happens to him. I wouldn’t survive. Walking away from him is one thing, but losing him completely, I’d never recover. They would have to bury me with him. Oh God, just thinking about it hurts like hell. I felt like I was slowly suffocating. Hours went by without a word, and with each hour that passed, my hope was diminishing. I kept calling his phone, and it kept going to his voicemail. “Cole, please, please don’t do anything stupid, don’t do this to me, please I’m begging you, wherever you are, come back.” I sob.

* * *

Twenty-four hours go by,and still no sign of Cole. I hear a knock at the door and race out of my room to the door, hoping it was Cole, I open it and see a tired and concerned Josh. I look up at him, hoping for some news, but he shakes his head sullenly. “No news yet.” I cry, and he wraps his arms around me. “I’ve looked everywhere I can think of. I was with his parents and Sophie; they’ve reported it to the police. They’re looking for him. They’ll need to come by and speak to you soon because you were the last person to see him.” He explains, pulling back and looking at me.

“Oh my God,” I whimper and collapse into his arms. Josh catches me and holds me tight against him. “He’s gone, isn’t he?!” I shriek, and Josh sighs, shaking his head.

“No, Shayla, don’t think the worse he could be anywhere, babe. I know Cole, and he would never do something stupid to hurt himself. He’s probably gone off to clear his head or something.”

“Why isn’t he calling me?” I wail as Josh closes the door and walks us over to the sofa. He sits me down and kneels in front of me, sweeping my hair away from my face. “He always calls me,” I whisper.

“He’ll be back. The police are looking for him, and it’s all over social media that he’s missing. Someone will find him, Shayla. I promise.”

“I don’t want promises, Josh! I want him back alive!”

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