Time Traveler: Episode 231. Worst Case Scenario – Part 2

Both Ann and Dustin took a few seconds to collect themselves, then she continued to narrate.
“When I was able to move again, I ran down to the backyard, hoping that Rob would still be out there somewhere, but there was no sign of him. All I could find was his cell phone. It was lying on the lawn. I saw it fall from his hand when he was being taken.”
“So that’s why our call was cut off…

“Do you have it with you?” Dustin rushed to ask.
“No. I mean, not with me. It’s in a drawer in the kitchen.”
“May I take a look at it?”
“Sure, hold on, I’ll get it for you.”

“Here you are.” Ann said, handing Robin’s cell phone to Dustin.
“Thank you. Maybe there’s some clue on it, like the time it all happened, or even some recordings.”
“I don’t know if that’s likely, Robin didn’t really have time to do anything”.

“Yeah, it’s discharged, dead,” Dustin said as he examined the device.
“I told you it was broken.”
“Well, maybe I can fix it”.

“Do you mind if I take it with me? I’ll return it to you as soon as I’m done,” Dustin promised.
“Sure, go ahead. It’s not of much use to me, really.”
“Thank you”, Dustin answered.
Not that he planned to return it any time soon; in fact, it would be best to keep it in his custody and return it only to its owner. If he ever came back, that was.

“Do you think they’ll hurt him?” Ann asked, breaking into his thoughts. The very idea of Robin getting harmed made Dustin swallow hard.
“I guess we won’t know that until they return him”.
“When would that be?”
“Well, I’ve heard that those who are abducted are returned after a while. In a few days, hopefully.” Dustin answered, his head pounding with panic.

“Hopefully”, but that wasn’t for sure, was it? He didn’t feel he should tell Ann that now, tough. And Juliette? What was she going to tell her? How would he explain to her that the reason Robin wasn’t taking her calls was because he had been abducted by the ship she had seen through her window? That all that was left of him was his luggage and a broken phone?

“Well, Ann”, he added after a deep breath. “Thank you for all the info, it’ll be of great help. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go,” he said, rushing toward the door. Ann startled.
“But I thought you were going to help me. Please, I have no one else to turn to!”
“Of course I’ll help you, but first I have to get home.”
“So you can tell your sister about it?” Ann shot back.

Dustin stopped dead in his tracks. Running to Jul’s house and tell her everything Ann had shared with him was exactly what he was going to do. He didn’t want to break Ann’s heart any further, but he didn’t want to lie to her either, so he took another deep breath before responding.

“Ann, listen, Rob is my best friend, and as you may already know, he’s an orphan, he has no mother, no father, no siblings either. My family is all he has; that is me, my parents, my fiancée, and yes, my sister Juliette too.”

Ann kept a furious silence; Dustin continued:
“What happened to Robin concerns her as much as it concerns you. Plus, my family are possibly the only ones who can help us find him. I must tell all of them about it”.
 “And from all of them your sister will be the first one you’ll go to tell. Am I wrong?” Ann reproached.
“She wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t, so I’m sorry, but yes, she’ll be the first to know.”

After another brief, heavy silence, Ann turned to Dustin again.
“Can I go with you?” she asked.
“Go with me? You mean like – to my sister’s?”
“Yes. I’d like to talk to her”.
Dustin was stunned. So Ann wanted to meet Juliette, just tonight, with everything that had happened, and at the same time he had to give her the horrible news? No way.

“Uh, see, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Plus, leaving your house after what happened could be, you know, unsafe? You shouldn’t leave your daughters alone, either.”
“Oh, they’d stay with Five and Beth.”
“Five and Beth?”
“Robin’s plumbots?”
“Oh, the RoboNannies, right,” Dustin mumbled as he searched in his head for the right words to respond to Ann.

“Ann, look… I don’t doubt the ability of those plumbots, but I think it’s best that you stay home with your children, you know, in case those… people decide to release Robin all of a sudden. Also, you’ve already been through so much, it’ll do you good to get some rest.”

“I don’t think I’d sleep a wink, and I don’t want to be here alone either.”
“But you won’t be alone, you’ve got the plumbots, they will…”
“Please? I’m scared to stay here by myself after everything that’s happened”, Ann insisted; Dustin cleared his throat.

“Okay, I’ll tell you what,” he replied. “Let’s exchange phone numbers. If anything happens after I leave, you call me; if I find out anything I’ll call you, or I’ll come to report to you, alright?”
“Would you really come all the way back here just to report to me?”

“Well, I don’t live that far away and neither does my sister, in fact, she lives only…” Dustin stopped himself in time. He didn’t know if it was a good idea to reveal that Juliette lived only a block away from Ann. That would only fuel her anger and make it easier for her to follow him there.

“Anyway, I can’t promise anything, I have to make some inquiries first, talk to certain people, but I assure you I’ll do everything in my hands to get back to you.”
“O-okay,” Ann stammered. “Just don’t forget about me please.”
“I won’t,” Dustin reassured her.

“Well, Ann, it was nice to meet you, though I’m sorry it was under such circumstances,” Dustin added, once at the door.
“It was nice meeting you too, Dustin. You’re a good person. Regardless of what your sister did, Robby is lucky to have you as a friend” Ann replied, her voice cracking again.
“Uh, thank you… Take care of yourself and, please, whatever you do, don’t leave the house,” Dustin replied, and stormed out.

Credits for the poses in this episode:

Walk and Talk Set 2, Friends in the Kitchen, Standing Poses Set 2, and Just Standing – Males by Bee.
Sad Pack by MyPalSim.

Thanks to both! 🤗💗