Robert, Her Billionaire Widower

Vanessa flew into a frenzied state of panic. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know what to feel. All she could think of right now was that Robert was probably hurt or he was so depressed that he had tried to hurt himself. She needed to find out how he was doing.

She tried every number of his that she had but each one did not provide her with a response. She tried his house phone but that was disconnected as well. She tried searching for him on social media but he had not posted on any of his accounts for quite some time. She wanted to see some sign that he was okay but no matter where she looked she could find no sign of him.

Vanessa was starting to get so anxious that she was starting to feel nauseous. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how to feel. How could she get past this? How could she simply ignore the fact that Robert was not answering his phone, that he had, in fact, disconnected all of his phones? How could she simply move on with her life when Robert was so clearly in trouble?

The answer to this was simple: she couldn’t. She needed to know how he was doing and she was going to do anything and everything that she possibly could to ensure that he was safe. She would find out what was going on if it was the last thing she did, because at the end of the day Vanessa still loved Robert and she couldn’t help but feel this way.

She drove to Robert’s home and rang the doorbell. Nobody answered. She rung it again and again but to no avail. She was thinking of trying to find a back way in but then the butler opened the door. He looked rather concerned.

“Hello Miss Vanessa,” he said, “may I help you?”

“I want to talk to Robert,” she said, “Is he okay? All of his phones are disconnected, even his landline. He hasn’t been active on social media. I don’t know what to do. I’m just worried about him because the last time I saw him… just… please tell me if he’s okay or not.”

“I assure you he is perfectly alright,” said the butler. “However, he is adamant that I not let you in, I’m afraid. I tried to reason with him, believe me I did, but he was just not being reasonable at all. I tried to tell him that perhaps letting you in might be a good idea, that it would allow him to get some sense of closure as well. However, he was simply not listening.”

“Is he really depressed?” Vanessa asked, wringing her hands due to the fact that she was so worried. She had never been this worried in her life, and it was all because of how much she loved Robert. She didn’t care that he didn’t love her back because this was not a selfish kind of love, this was the kind of love that came from a truer source. It came from a desire to see someone else happy rather than to see herself happy. Vanessa realized, with a start, that she was in love with Robert. This stiffened her resolve. She was going to get Robert out of this if it was the last thing she did.

“Yes,” said the butler in answer to her question, “I’m afraid he is very depressed indeed. I tried to talk to him but he is not listening to anything I am saying, I’m afraid. I don’t think he is so depressed that he might harm himself but I do think that he would end up getting very unhealthy indeed if he doesn’t get help. I just don’t know how to get him that help.”

“Move aside,” said Vanessa, “I’m coming in.”

“That will not help,” said the butler. “Trust me. I have tried to talk to him, talking will just not work. He will not listen to reason, he will not listen to anything. I am just as worried as you are. I think you should go, you arriving here made him very anxious indeed, and I had just managed to calm him down.”

Vanessa paced for a moment and then said, “Fine. I will go. But I am not going to let this go. I am going to beat this, I am going to help him beat it. He is a wonderful person that deserves to be happy and I am not going to leave him alone in his time of need.”

Vanessa got into her car and drove home, wondering what she could possibly do to help him. She couldn’t think of anything, short of taking a doctor and bursting into Robert’s home. She had a feeling that this would not help, however. She had a feeling that this would probably only make things worse, because the butler had made it very clear that Robert was completely and utterly unresponsive to any kind of reason. She needed to think of another way. She needed to think of something that she could do to make Robert realize that life was still worth living.

She got home and paced for a while. It helped her think, helped calm her mind and organize the thoughts so that she could function effectively and think of a solution to this enormous problem that she was facing. She decided that she could not think of a solution on her own. She would need the help of the internet. She would do a lot of research and try to find the best doctor around. She would talk to this doctor and try to figure out a way to help Robert. She couldn’t stop worrying about him. He was starting to become all she thought about anymore, and for her own peace of mind she needed him to get better, if for no other reason than so that she could move on with her life.

She opened her laptop and was about to open her internet browser when she spotted, on her desktop, the file that she had been writing the book in. She had not opened it in a week. The last time she had opened it had been that day that Robert had called her and asked her if she wanted to go to that party with him. It hurt to remember that right now so she stopped.