Ut Perdamus Illos

            The silence was deafening. I knew that she was mad, but she's never given me the silent treatment before. "Come on, Genevieve. I said I was sorry. Just talk to me!" she crossed her arms and turned her head in defiance "..." "I wasn't actually gonna return the necklace. You know I’d never do that with a gift I got from you. It was just a joke, you have to believe me!" I put my hand on her shoulder in an effort to get her to look my way. She shook my hand off and stormed off to her room upstairs. Bang. She slammed the door shut just to make sure I knew she was still mad. "Aghh, now what?" I think aloud to myself. 

It’s not too long before I hear her bedroom door creak open. “Genevieve?” I ask hesitantly, “Are you coming down?”  I don’t hear an answer, but I know she’s listening. “I’m really sorry! If you come down, we can go out and I’ll buy you some ice cream from that new place downtown!” I hear footsteps coming closer until Genevieve’s head pops out from behind the railing at the top of the stairs. At least she’s looking at me, I think to myself. “Come on, we can even go to the bookstore and I’ll buy you one thing no matter the cost.” “Really? You don’t care how much it is?” She says in a soft voice as if she’s scared that if she speaks louder, I’ll take back my offer. Once I heard that I got the feeling that I might need to work overtime at the office this weekend. “Yes, really,” I hold out my hand and say with a smirk, “Now, won’t you take this poor sinner’s hand?” She jogs down the stairs to put her hand in mind. “Fine, I’ll accept your bribe. But you better not try anything like that again. Got it, Tiara? Never lose that necklace.” “Yes, yes. I promise. So, do you wanna go now or…?” She checks the time on her phone to see if she’ll be able to put on some make-up first. “Yeah, let me just get ready, and we can go in 15.”

2 weeks later, I decide to wear the necklace that Gen got mad at me for joking around with. I kept it safe just like I had promised, but I never actually got a good look at it. It was a stunning royal blue teardrop sapphire pendant on a sterling silver chain. I can understand why she was mad when I said I wanted to see the receipt to return it. I’m glad it matches the new dress I bought to wear at my sister’s wedding. “Tiara! You’re gonna be late! I have to go to work now so don’t forget to lock up when you go!” She yells from the front door. “Also, bring me back some cake!” she adds in before finally leaving. “Yeah, yeah,” I say aloud, making a mental note to do everything she said. 

A few hours pass by and the wedding reception is coming to an end, so everyone is about to go home. I stay behind so I can be the last to congratulate my sister and say goodbye. “Zara! Congrats again on your wedding!” I pull her in for a hug. “I’m so happy for you!” I flash a thumbs up at my new brother-in-law behind her before pulling away. “Thank you for coming, Tiara, and for helping me plan this. By the way, I love your dress!” “Haha, thanks. I got it at that new boutique on Mainstreet. The color caught my eye because-'' I reach for where the necklace should be on my chest. Oh no. “Umm, because it’s the same color as my necklace, which is not on my neck anymore.” I frantically start searching for the necklace, hoping that by some miracle it’s still on me. “Are you alright, Tiara? Do you need help finding it?” She looks like she’s about to ask her newlywed husband if they can stay back a bit for my sake. “No no no no no no no,” I say, shaking my head “you just got married You guys should go and enjoy yourselves. I’ll be fine.” “Okay then. Well, if you need anything or if you can’t find it just tell me and I’ll ask the staff here to keep an eye out for it.” I thank her and tell her to go with her husband before she finally leaves. 

Okay, Tiara, it’ll be fine. Just retrace your steps. You know that you had it on when we got to the reception hall. I go back to the table I sat at before, to the dance floor, to where the caterers are cleaning up the buffet, even to the bathroom. Ughh!! Where else did I go tonight? I rack my brain trying to go over the night’s events. I can’t think of anywhere else to look and it’s getting really late. I text my sister asking to take her up on her offer to ask the staff and anyone else from the wedding about my necklace. I call it a day and head home, hoping that Gen won’t notice or ask about it.

“Hey Tiara, how was the wedding? Did you bring me back cake?” she greets me from the couch as I walk through the door. “Yup, I have it right here. I’ll leave it on the counter for you. I’m gonna go take a bath.” I exhaustedly took off my heels and trudged up the stairs. “Ok, thanks!” says Genevieve as she keeps her eyes on the TV screen. I go straight to bed after the bath hoping to hear good news about the necklace tomorrow. Luckily, I got a text from my sister the next morning that one of the hotel staff found it and that I could drive over and pick it up. I let out a sigh of relief because I really don’t know what I would do if I lost it. I really hate getting into fights with Genevieve. “Hey Gen, I’ll be back. I just need to pick up a file from work.” “Kk, drive safe!” “I will,” I say as I grab my keys. “And get me coffee on your way back!” she says rapidly just as I’m about to close the door. I get to the hotel’s reception and ask about the necklace. They ask for some identification and as they are checking it, I notice people at the front of the hotel looking and pointing at the sky. I get my necklace and ID back when I start hearing a loud humming noise getting closer and people running away from the hotel. I start following the crowd and catch a glimpse of why they started running. Crash. 

It’s dark.

I can’t feel my lower body, yet at the same time, all I can feel is pain.

A plane crashed into the hotel.

There was a loud ringing in my ear.

My eyelids felt heavy.

I started feeling tired.

It didn’t hurt anymore.

The ringing was gone too, but

the silence was deafening.