As he drove up to the gate of the residential complex, Seth Quinn found himself getting nervous. He glanced over at the takeout bag of snacks sitting on the passenger seat.
He had planned to take her out to eat after he got back, but he was worried she might be starving, so he’d picked up so snacks to tide her over.
His eyes lingered for a mont before he looked back at the road, then glanced over again, this ti toward the glove compartnt. A beautiful, square red velvet box was nestled inside.
He had passed a jewelry store earlier and, on a sudden impulse, parked the car and went inside. When he ca out, he was holding this small, red velvet box.
’Don’t all won like this kind of thing?’ he thought. ’If I give this to her, maybe she’ll be so happy she won’t be mad at anymore.’
Seth Quinn’s gaze softened as he looked at the box.
If he had looked up at that mont, he would have seen a small, stumbling figure run past his car. But he was lost in thought and never raised his head.
...
Clara Grant was in luck; she managed to hail a taxi just as she ran out of the complex’s gate. She didn’t dare go ho, afraid of startling her mother in the middle of the night.
But she also didn’t dare take a taxi back to the film set alone. It was nightti, after all, and a long drive.
After a mont’s thought, she decided to stay at Sarah’s place for the night and head back to the set first thing in the morning.
She gave the driver the address, then sent Sarah Shelby a ssage telling her she was coming to stay the night.
Sarah Shelby replied almost imdiately, first with a wide-eyed shocked emoji, followed by the text, "What’s going on?"
Clara Grant gave a bitter smile and texted back, "I’ll tell you when I see you. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes. Can you bring so cash and wait for downstairs?"
This ti, Sarah Shelby replied with a single word: "Okay."
...
Seth Quinn went upstairs, carrying the food in one hand and the velvet box in the other. He imagined Clara Grant’s face lighting up the mont she saw the gift, and a small smile tugged at his lips.
But when he walked in and found the living room empty, then went to the upstairs bedroom and found that empty as well, the faint smile on his face froze.
Refusing to give up, he searched the house from top to bottom, checking every room and corner, but there was no sign of her familiar figure.
Only then did he have to accept it: Clara Grant was gone. His expression darkened, and a flicker of disappointnt crossed his deep eyes.
Seth Quinn returned to the living room. He tossed the bag of snacks onto the coffee table and tugged at his tie in frustration.
’Clara Grant, you’ve got so nerve!’
’And here I thought she would actually listen and wait for to get back!’
’To think I was worried she’d be hungry, so I bought her snacks! I was even planning to take her out for a real al!’
’To think I went out of my way to stop at a jewelry store and buy her a gift, just to cheer her up!’
’And what does she do? She just runs off without a word!’
But even as anger flared, he couldn’t help but worry. ’She doesn’t have any money. Where could she possibly go?’
’It would be one thing if she’d left during the day, but at night? What if a young woman like her, all alone, runs into trouble?’
Seth Quinn pulled out his phone and called her.
Clara Grant was sitting in the back of the taxi, lost in a daze, when her phone started ringing. She instinctively glanced down at the screen.
When she saw the na "Seth" on the screen, she hung up without a second thought.
On the other end of the line, Seth heard the sharp beep indicating the call had been disconnected.
Seth Quinn’s brow furrowed, and his grip on the phone tightened.
’That woman... she actually hung up on ?!’
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