CHAPTER 2 - THE BEST FRIEND

Aria's best friend, Leslie, pounded her fist repeatedly against his chest in an attempt to inflict some form of pain but Asher couldn't even feel the impact of her repeated blows. She had so much tears streaming down her face. "What did you do to her, you psychopath?" she screamed at Asher, almost choking on each word.

He has collided with her whilst he was getting coffee at the coffee shop close to his workplace. He just stood there in silence, allowing her to let out all her pent-up anger because that was basically all he could do. He didn't attempt to push her away or touch her cause he couldn't risk inflicting any form of pain on her there by appearing violent to the passers by. He just stood there hoping she'll let go soon.

It's been two weeks since Aria's disappearance, and at this point he has already gotten used to the accusations. No matter what he said or didn't say, everyone seemed to have come to a conclusion and they all believe he was responsible in some way.

The fact of the matter remained that there was no evidence whatever to pin Aria's disappearance on him or even the disappearances of his previous girlfriends. Yet, that didn't matter at all as he's still labelled as suspicious and occasionally treated as one.

As Leslie finally pulled herself together and pulled away from him, he walked off to his car and headed home.

There was a candlelight vigil being organised by Aria's friends and family to raise awareness about her disappearance, and as much as he'd rather not be there, he had to attend even though no one invited him to him. The ceremony is a seemingly important tribute, and his lawyer insisted he attend. If not, it could appear even more suspicious and cast him as the prime suspect. He didn't care about how he is seen as a person but he knew quite well he is the face of his company and this whole scandal can affect the company as a whole and he care too much about the company to be the the one responsible for any loss it could encounter.

He had reluctantly agreed even though he strongly doubted it'd make any difference in the eyes of those already convinced he was guilty.

A few minutes after he got home, Jake, his best friend, came over.

"The NBI will be coming after you," Jake announced, looking as sure as day that they would.

"Let them," Asher said, "I've done nothing wrong."

Jake's eyes narrowed at him. Then he said, "As true as that is, Asher, the NBI won't just focus on the disappearances; they will scrutinise every bit of your life, and with your level of wealth and influence, you can be sure they'll find something you'd rather they didn't. I love you man, but this whole situation might end up pretty badly and I don't think that will be good for you or your company", he added

He was absolutely right. Of course, Asher has had to make some shady deals to get to where he is today. Infact, shady is a decent word, more like criminal deals. However, he did a great job covering his tracks, so great that the NBI will have to do an even greater job to uncover everything. He knows Jake is right but he hopes it never gets to that point that the NBI will investigate him, after all, no evidence shows he's responsible for any of the disappearances.

"Don't worry, Jake," Asher assured him. "I had nothing to do with the disappearances".

"I don't care if you do or don't," Jake retorted. "All that matters right now is that you seem overly composed like your girlfriend who you're supposed to be in love with didn't just disappear into thin air barely two weeks ago. If you want to maintain your innocence and make people believe you truly are innocent, you need to work on your concerned boyfriend persona.". It's hard to believe you're not involved when you're this serene.

Here's the thing. In the days leading up to Aria's disappearance, Asher and Aria were having some issues with their relationship. Truth be told, he was on the verge of breaking up with her. That's when she got the bright idea that he should fund her staycation in the Bahamas with her friends, that it would be good for her mental health and the space could be good for their relationship. Asher absolutely didn't mind doing that because he needed space away from her and from the relationship, so he agreed to it and sent her a lot of money, much more than even needed for the vacation.

However, her friends returned from the trip without her, claiming she suddenly vanished during one of their nights out. Who is to say they were not even the one responsible for her disappearance, but somehow, he, who wasn't even there with them is to be blamed.

Fortunately for Asher, his alibi was solid as he had a business meeting that very night. But now he has to keep the fact that their relationship has been rocky a secret so it's not misconstrued as a motive, thereby making him a potential suspect.

This isn't his first rodeo after all. Four previous instances have yielded nothing, as there was no evidence and no suspects, and his alibis have always been rock solid. He cared about the fact that somehow his girlfriends keep disappearing but he wasn't so concerned as there has been an explanation that followed each disappearance so he didn't think too much about it.

However, Asher knew he couldn't afford to let this situation drag on. The repeated disappearances of his girlfriends would eventually tarnish his reputation and, more importantly, impact his company's image. Bad publicity was bad for business.

So he decided it's time to put on a stellar show: be the perfect grieving boyfriend and make sure the public sees him as innocent. Perception was everything, after all.