Billy stood staring out the window. It was sunny with clear skies, but today was just one of those days. He didn't feel like going to work but he had two meetings today and he already postponed both last week. Ever since Julia left all he wanted to do was to curl up in a corner somewhere and never get up again, but life had to go on. He had to look after the kids and himself.
He walked downstairs and found the kids already dressed for school. Sylvia was packing their lunches- a task she took over immediately when Julia left. She smiled when she saw him and asked if he wanted coffee. His beautiful girl was growing up so quickly. She even made dinner some nights when he came in late and he already felt guilty for putting so much weight on her shoulders.
Brandon did not seem to care that his mother just left them. They have never had a good relationship and he seem to be the least affected by the whole ordeal.
Billy was shocked when he arrived home one evening about six weeks ago. Julia left and took everything that belonged to her. It looked like she had been planning the move for a while. He found a note on his pillow that stated that she was leaving because she couldn't stand her life anymore.
He took a few days off work and dropped the kids of at his mom's house to go look for her, but she didn't want to be found.
He couldn't understand how someone could just leave their husband and kids to start a new life. He hired a private investigator but he has had no leads in the last few weeks. It was like Julia just disappeared from earth.
He dropped the kids at school and promised to bring pizza so Julia didn't have to cook. These days they were living on take out food but there was no other choice.
He drove to work still feeling negative but started to feel better when he walked into the office. Both his meetings went extremely well, and he left the office just after six. He picked up the pizza on his way home and found the kids still busy with their homework. At least he had responsible kids. They all watched a show together before going up to bed. Billy switched on the television in the bedroom and watched the news. He switched it off halfway because there was nothing positive to see.
He had trouble falling asleep and kept on tossing and turning. Night time was the worst. He was so used to having someone in the bed it was a totally new experience sleeping alone. In the end he fetched some warm milk and hoped that it would help him sleep.
He couldn't get Julia out of his mind. It was so hard to accept that she was just gone. He finally fell asleep and woke up a few times during the night. It felt as if he just closed his eyes when his alarm went off. The stress and no sleep was taking its toll on him. He grabbed his phone to mute the alarm but noticed a text message.
He didn't recognize the number. All the text said was "I want to see the kids."
Was this Julia? He dialed the number but the phone just rang. He immediately phoned the PI and asked him to find a location for the number. He phoned back a few minutes later and gave him an address. He didn't mention the message to the kids and after he dropped them at school he drove straight to the address.
