"Chase" short story by Tracy Au

Chase

By Tracy Au

Lachlan says, “Aww… and I wanted to kiss you Corrine, but I’m afraid we could be in your room kissing and then your dad would come in and say, ‘Hey does anyone want some Chinese food? Oh my God!’ He would pick me up and throw me out of the house.” I burst out laughing. “My dad wouldn’t do that,” I told him. “I’ll call you tomorrow.” Lachlan then says “Oh yeah, my cell phone expires at midnight so you can’t call me. I’ll see you when I get back from my trip in a few weeks okay?”

It’s been three months now and that was the last conversation I ever had with him. I tried to report him missing to the police but they told me I had to do “a little more digging” and find his family first. I have to find him. It’s become my mission, an obsession. I photocopied the Medicine Hat phonebook for all the Chases there are. A girl picked up the phone and I asked, “Hi, may I speak to Lachlan Chase? The girl answers, “No, he doesn’t live here anymore.” My ears perked up. I called thirty Chases, and this is my strongest lead. “You mean Lachlan Cameron Chase?” I asked. “Yeah, I don’t know him, but I think I know of him,” she replied. “Did you go to school with him?” I asked. “I don’t feel comfortable answering that.” “I’m sorry. I’m Corrine. I’m looking for my boyfriend Lachlan Chase because he was supposed to go on vacation for three weeks and now it’s been three months.” “If he’s missing, you should go to the police,” she said. “I did, but they told me to look for his family first and that’s why I’m calling all the Chases there are in the phone book,” I told her. “Well I can’t help you. Bye.” She hung up. What I didn’t know is that, I had helped her.
I hung up and threw a book at the wall. My brother Patrick came into the room and asked, “What Corrine?” “I’m frustrated! Lachlan was supposed to be gone for three weeks to go to Mexico, Banff and Medicine Hat. Now it’s been three months and I called all three of his jobs that he worked at. None of his employers know where he is and they can’t give me his address. I’ve been very patient. The police will only help me if I can find his family who will tell me if he’s okay or not.” “You probably don’t want to hear this, but maybe he doesn’t want to go out with you anymore. He’s just ignoring you, until you forget about him” suggested Patrick. “I know Lachlan. He has more respect for me than that. He would have been straight with me,” I said.

“Fine, but eventually you’re going to have to accept the fact that you can’t find him.
Do you know what you need?” asked Patrick. “A private investigator? Because I called a few agencies already and they charge a few hundred dollars for their services,” I told him. “Well I was going to say a break, but a PI would be good too. You’ve been working on this search all day and for the past two weeks already. It’s Saturday night, take a break and then come back.”

I took his advice and went to the bar. I was nodding my head to the music when I heard a familiar voice say “Corrine.” I turned around and Lachlan appeared. “Lachlan, what are you doing here?” I asked. He pulled me out of my seat and we started walking. “I called you tonight and your brother answered. He told me you were here. We have to get out of here Corrine.” We were walking towards the door and someone shouted “Hey Lachlan!” “Just keep walking” Lachlan told me. A huge guy stood in front of us and blocked our way. Lachlan turned around and a tough-looking guy was there. He says, “Well, well I thought it was you. Where’s my money?” Lachlan pulls out his wallet, “Here’s some of it, but that’s all I got for now. Tomorrow I’ll go to Money Mart and get some more.” The guy punches Lachlan in the face.

I jumped. “Woah, calm down,” I said. I picked up my drink and threw it on the crotch of the guy’s pants. “You wet yourself” I told him as he looked down at his pants. I pushed him and he fell into a group of people. Lachlan then pulled out a gun that he was wearing under his jacket. I was stunned as he told the other guy, “Get out of my way!” Lachlan and I ran out of the club and towards his car. We got in and he accelerated the car. I buckled my seatbelt and took a moment to absorb the fact that Lachlan was with me right now. “Where did you get that gun?” “Do you have a license for it?” I asked. “Yeah, but my license picture looks bad,” said Lachlan. “I’m kidding! This gun is fake. I used it to scare those drug dealers off,” Lachlan explained. “Thanks for backing me up in that fight there Corrine.”

“You’re welcome. “Where were you for the past three months? I was really worried about you,” I told him. “I was in Banff, Mexico and Medicine Hat. I was also in rehab. Those guys at the club are drug dealers that I owe money to, so I left town so they would cool off. You know the number that you called and the girl told you to go to the police?” asked Lachlan. “Well she called me to tell me this girl called asking for me so I assumed it was you,” he said.


“I can’t stay long, I have to catch a flight to Colorado to live with my family. My parents and sister are there already. I flew from Medicine Hat to Edmonton; you were my pit stop. I wanted to say goodbye to you face to face,” says Lachlan. “That’s commendable,” I told him. “How about I fly to Colorado with you? I don’t have my passport with me right now, but I can fly over there later.” “I don’t feel like I’m mature enough to be in a relationship right now,” he said. “Why not? You’re twenty- three years old, have one more year of university to go through, and you lived on your own for a few years already. That’s mature. Wait, this isn’t the whole ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ line right? So what? Are we too different from each other? You’re only one year older than me, we like the same TV shows, movies and music. You met my family and they like you. I don’t see anything wrong between us. Nobody’s perfect and no one has the perfect relationship. We can work this out.”

We arrived at the airport. We get out and follow him. He opens the trunk and gets his bag out. “I can’t stay in Edmonton; this city is too dangerous for me. My place has been broken in twice, and I had lived in two different apartments. I don’t like the person I have become. I got addicted to drugs here and there are drug dealers after me. My parents wouldn’t like you to come and stay with us in Colorado either. I’m sorry.” “Well maybe we can go on a trip together. How about Calgary this summer?” He shook his head as we entered the airport. “Hey Lachlan, I’m trying here. Do you know how long and hard it was for me to find you? I tried to report you missing to the police. I put up fifty posters of you all over your school campus, trying to get some tips that would lead me back to you.” “You know, I really do appreciate the effort you put in trying to find me. I care about you, but I can’t do this,” replied Lachlan.

“I was in rehab and I’m going to get more counselling. It’s not that I don’t want to be in a long distance relationship or anything with you, but I have so many issues right now. I’m not going back to school for awhile because I really need to focus on me. You should focus on yourself.” He walked through the terminal and I shouted to him, “I’ll email you!” He waved and I waved back. I embark on a lengthy and difficult search to only lead me to heartbreak. At least I got an ending. I was upset, but I had to deal with it. I didn’t chase after him anymore.