“He’s a friend of a lady Gabe works with. He split with his boyfriend. It’s all rather sad apparently, but Mindy, who works with Gabe, suggested calling you. Could be worth a shot.”
I smiled. “Thanks. I called him back and left a message. I’ll try again today.”
We came up to the acting school and Lola pulled Cindy Crawford up to the kerb. “I’ll bus it home; thank you for the lift.”
“No worries,” she replied.
“Oh, and it’s still my shout for dinner. Does Friday night sound good? I’ll order something in for everyone at the shop, say around nine? Emilio should be shut by then.”
“Sounds great!”
I jumped out of the car and barely had the door shut before Lola took off into traffic. I watched until she’d disappeared, amazed at how she even got a licence, then turned to face the college.
The school of visual and performing arts was huge. It was a grey building on a campus, of sorts, with trees and wide welcoming steps at the front. There were people milling about. Students, obviously. Young, wearing jeans and backpacks, most of who were laughing and talking animatedly with their hands, clearly happy to be at a school they wanted to be in. I somehow couldn’t imagine students who studied maths or law being so vivacious.
Not that I knew for certain, because I’d never gone to college—I’d never wanted to. But I was unremarkable here. I walked into the school grounds like I belonged. No one would look at me twice and wonder what I was lurking around for. Not that I had any intention of lurking at the school; I knew I wouldn’t get far with random questions to strangers about a fellow student. There was a group of five, three guys, two girls, standing near the steps, all smiling as they talked, and I approached them.
“I was wondering if you could help me?” I interrupted. “I was told the best coffee shop was Grand something?” Given my Australian accent and my request for directions, I let them assume I was a new student here.
One of the guys pointed left. “Grand Café. About half a block that way.”
“Cheers,” I said, giving them all a smile as I went in the direction he offered.
I couldn’t stand at the steps with a photo of Yanni asking if anyone had seen him without raising suspicions and possibly scoring myself a meeting with campus security, so I figured the coffee shop he worked at would be the best place to start. My phone call to the café hadn’t gotten me anywhere, but maybe a meeting face to face would.
The café was busy, students grabbing a last minute caffeine hit before class mostly but a few suits as well. I hung back and waited until the line died down a bit, to give myself more time to speak to the girl behind the counter. I had no idea if it was the same girl I spoke to on the phone, and in all honesty, I wasn’t expecting to get any information.
I ordered my green tea, and seeing they had boxes of some varieties for sale, I used that as my conversation opener. “What are the different ones you have there?” I asked.
“Green tea with honey, green tea with lemon, green tea with orange,” she said, bringing a box of each over. “They’re new.”
I smelled each box, just to see if I could get a hint of any scent. I put the orange one aside. “I’ll take this one, thanks.”
“No worries,” she replied.
Her name tag declared her to be Jing. A small Asian girl who seemed cheerful and pleasant enough, and seeing she was alone behind the counter for a moment, I handed her some cash and said, “I phoned yesterday, I’m not sure if it was you I spoke to. I’m looking for Yanni. He’s a friend of mine, and I’m worried about him.”
She looked at me before she scanned the room for her co-workers, somewhat nervously. She handed me my change, and said, “If you take a seat, I’ll bring your tea over.”
“Great, thanks.” I found a seat toward the back and waited. Only by the time my tea was ready, her two colleagues were close by. Not intentionally, just cleaning tables and chatting with nearby customers. But when Jing delivered my tea, I knew it wasn’t the right time.
“Thank you,” I said with a smile. She looked around nervously again, so before she could clam up, I told her, “I’ll hang around the campus for about an hour. Out the front, under the trees. If you have something you can share.”
She blinked a few times, wiping the table down before nodding, ever so slightly, and going back to the counter.
I finished my tea, collected my box of tealeaves, and went back to the college to wait.
And wait. And wait.
I gave her an hour, then I gave her another. I liked to people-watch so I didn’t mind. It was pleasant enough in the shade, and most people gave me a smile as they walked past. I was just about to give up when Jing came scurrying around the corner. She saw me and slowed to a walk, nervously sitting on the same seat. “I had to stay late, sorry. I thought you might be gone.”
“Thanks for coming,” I said.
“Yanni was my friend,” she said. “We weren’t close, but he was nice to me. I worry about him too.”