The blonde sighed aloud as she looked around for any sign of Dana. When none was to be found, she carried her bag into her bedroom to unpack. Nothing was visibly out of the ordinary in there. It wasnt until Alice went to the bathroom to unpack her toiletries bag that she noticed it, or rather, its absence. Dana kept an electric toothbrush at Alices. The blonde would not have thought anything of it, except that Dana had two sets and already kept one at her own apartment. The unease that had crept into the pit of Alices stomact the moment she breathed the stale air in her apartment re-emerged with a vengeance. The journalist quickly ran back into her bedroom and frantically opened the second drawer on the right in her dresser.

Alice let out a sharp gasp and collapsed to the floor, sobbing violently while holding herself in the fetal position. Danas drawer was empty. That could only mean one thing, and Alice knew it. She knew because the brunette had made such a show of moving her things into the drawer the day Alice gave it to her. She wore that girlish grin all day. She even bought for her new home a French lavender toile patterned liner. That was the only thing remaining, its scent, Danas scent, long since faded.

She must have lain there for several hours. The room grew dark around her as day faded into twilight and eventually evening fell. The growling in her stomach broke through the numbness, reminding Alice that she hadnt eaten anything all day. She was in a hurry to drive back to L.A., back to Dana, so she skipped breakfast that morning in hopes of arriving sooner and maybe having lunch with her girlfriend when she returned. Alice got up and washed her tear-stained face. She picked up her flashing cell phone that she had carelessly tossed aside several hours ago. There were several missed calls. Alice was disappointed that they were all from Tina and Shane. No Dana. She listened to her messages one by one. They were eerily similar, initially consisting of a hey girl, glad youre back, why dont you give me a call, maybe we can have lunch before you unpack. Each message getting more insistent, Hey, Alice, you should be back by now, give me a call as soon as you get this. The last set from those two referenced her finding her apartment changed and for her to call them ASAP.