Wind brushed through my hair from the open car window. She lived further away than I thought and wasn't near any of the colossal buildings. Driving down the road between acres of fields with animals grazing the emerald grass, the rain had stopped from earlier this morning; now the sky was menacing and still dark with no sunlight able to pierce its way through the grey clouds.

 There wasn't many cars on the road and soon there was none at all, after I took a turn off the main road. The car bounced up and down on the rocky path that my car was only just able to get through. Overgrown bushes brushed the side of my car, poking inside through the open window.

 As the narrow path came to a wide opening, a small cottage could be seen behind a large tree with pears on. The cottage had pink, yellow and white flowers around the wooden fences. It was built out of wooden panels with two small windows at the front. The door was painted white with a blue outline. Unlike other cottages, this one had two floors with a petite balcony on the side, which I imagine would lead from the bedroom. Two plastic chairs were placed outside one of the windows with puddles of rain on the seat from last night's storm. I would imagine this place was beautiful in the warmth of the sun, but right now it felt bitter and isolated from the world.

 Stepping out of the car, my shoes clicked against the stone path and opened the gate to reach the door. Knocking twice, I waited and waited before knocking again.

 Then, the door opened and a woman with short black hair and blue highlights stood in front of me with paint on her face and hands. She was a small woman with a round figure and had freckles on her face underneath her blue eyes. An apron was tied around her body, which was also covered in different colours of paint.

 "Hi, my name's Aura, and you must be Breonna. George called me earlier to let me know you were coming and explained what's been going on. Please, come in. Oh, and sorry for the mess. I had just finished doing some painting."

 Her voice was low, and she beckoned me to follow her into the house. I was glad she knew what was going on instead of me having to say that her sister was a friend of mine.

 She led me into a kitchen with cupboards painted sea blue with a wooden worktop that ran along the edges of the kitchen. A door, that seemed to lead into the garden, separated the worktop to a sofa that ran around the edges of the left-hand side with a large wooden table placed in front, like the corners you would see in a pub. Like the rest of the kitchen, the sofa was also blue. The sofa rested against the left-hand side wall with panels of windows running along it. Paintings of flowers, animals and buildings hung on the walls of the kitchen.

 "Please take a seat. I'll make us a drink." she said as she pointed to the sofa. 

 After she rushed around the kitchen with trembling hands, I began to think that people in this family couldn't have a stable hand. She soon joined me with a cup of tea and smiled weakly.

 "Thank you." I said as I took a sip of the tea. For me it was a little bit too sweet, but it was the thought that counted.

 "Gorge told me about what happened and how Tanisha said she was staying here. I still can't believe she's missing."

 "Do you have any idea why she would say that she was staying here? Any idea why she would lie?"

 Shaking her head, she responded, "No idea. This isn't something she would do, but then again after the accident she was never the same." 

 Running her fingers through her straight hair with the blue highlights, it made me wish my hair was as perfect as hers. Thoughts like this often happened when asking questions, as I constantly wished I was as good-looking or as confident as everyone else. Sadly, I wasn't even if I made it seem like I was. Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked back at Aura as she sipped a cup of tea of her own.

 "When was the last time you talked to Tanisha? Did she seem OK?"

 "I spoke to her on her birthday. The whole family was there and to be fair, we all had a great time. Until we all had a few drinks, that was."

 "What happened?" I questioned, getting my notebook and pen out of my pocket again.

 "Well, the only person I really speak with is my sister. The rest of my family and I, don't get along and when they've had a drink, it all comes out again. All the reasons they have for hating me gets spilled like a waterfall, unable to be stopped. It kind of dampened Tanisha's mood, and she said she was going to go for a walk. Once she came back, our parents were already gone and so were some of the rest of the family. It was just me, her and George who were left. Oh, and my girlfriend was there too, which was what started the argument."

 Looking at me with narrowed eyes, I'm sure she was waiting for me to say something about it or to look disgusted at the thought of two women being together. But I didn't. There was nothing wrong with people who liked other people that were the same gender and it was a shame to hear that people still thought it was wrong. I guess some people will never adapt to change or realise there's nothing wrong with topics like this. Smiling at her, she returned the smile and relaxed, knowing I didn't judge her.

 "What was she like on her birthday?"

 "She was happy, the happiest I've seen her in ages. After the argument, she seemed even happier and more cheerful than before."

 "Any idea why?"

 "No..." she said uncertainly as if she was contemplating on what to say next. 

 She placed her hand through her hair again; her foot bouncing up and down rapidly. I knew she was lying, but the reason why was unclear. After all, she would want her sister to be found, right? Taking another sip of her tea, she sighed heavily and looked back at me.

 "Well, two days ago, on the Thursday, Tanisha rang me. She seemed distressed and was talking quickly. I couldn't make out all of what she was saying, but certain words stood out. One word in particular ... affair. She was having an affair." she confessed, almost looking disgusted at the thought of her sister betraying George.

 When hearing this, I wasn't surprised. One reason I'm hired is to see if their significant other was cheating on them. However, I wasn't hired for that this time. I was here to find her and now another person was added to the mystery of Tanisha Clive.

 "Did she ever give you a name? Or a description? Anything that could point out who she was having an affair with?" 

 "Nothing at all. She only said she was having an affair and kept talking quickly before ending the call on me abruptly. I tried texting her, but she just said to forget about it. I did, but I knew she was upset. Despite having an affair, she still loved George."

 "Why do you think that? Earlier today, George told me their marriage wasn't on good terms. Maybe she didn't love him any more." 

 Shaking her head profoundly, she seemed certain that this wasn't the case.

 "If you talked to George earlier today then you would know there was an accident involving Tanisha and Elijah." she explained before adding, "After the accident, Tanisha was never the same. There was a hole in her heart that was left from the dreadful tragedy. She felt like what happened was her fault, and she carried the guilt of it on her shoulders ever since."

 "You think she might have been looking for someone to fill the hole that was left in her heart?"

 Nodding, Aura turned her head to the opening of the front door. Another woman walked through holding bags full of food, brung them into the kitchen and placed them on the kitchen counter.

 Turning to face me, her green eyes seemed as green as the grass outside and her blonde hair seemed flawless as if it was made by Gods. Aura stood up from the sofa, walked over and gave her a kiss where I realised it was my cue to leave.

 "Thank you for your help today. It's been most helpful. Have a nice day." 

"No problem and if there's anything else I can do to help then please, give me a call."

 Waving to them both, I walked out of the cottage and back towards my car. Even though I had gathered new information, it seemed like I was still far away from finding out where Tanisha is and what happened to her. After making the last touches to my notes, I set off back home.

The journey back home seemed to fly quickly as my head was buried in my own thoughts. The perfect life Tanisha seemed to make everyone think she had, was actually far from perfect. The more I found out about Tanisha, the more my head hurt from this never ending mystery that had only just begun. 

 Soon, I parked my car outside my house and saw that Janisha was already home. Grabbing the book off the seat next to me, I walked inside the house and saw her dancing in the kitchen with the radio on at full blast without a care in the world. Her brown hair moved side to side as her head moved to the beat. 

 "Hey Breonna." she shouted over the music as she turned her head to see me.

 Waving and smiling back, Minnie brushed her body up against my leg and stared up at me with her emerald eyes. A small meow escaped her mouth that could only just be heard over the music.

 Grabbing the cat food and pouring it inside a bowl, I turned down the music and placed the bowl in front of Minnie.

 "Hey! It was getting to the best part." Janisha laughed as she pulled herself onto the kitchen counter and sat there, chewing a piece of gum. I never understood why she always sat on the counter, but decided to let her as there was no point in arguing over something small like this. She always did what she liked, not caring for the consequences. She was the person everyone wanted to be like, the life of the party.

 "How was your day? You look all dressed up and professional." she asked.

 "It was fine. Got a new case today about a missing woman. It's only been one day of this case and my head is already hurting."

 "And that's why I could never do what you do. I would have already given up by now." she stated as she spat her gum into the bin. 

 She always complimented me on doing this job, saying how she could never do it. In a way it made me feel better about myself, but then the thoughts of how I was always second choice compared to her entered my mind and the warm feeling from her compliment was washed away.

 "Well, I'm going to have a shower so don't come in the bathroom otherwise, well, that'll be weird." she chuckled as she walked up the stairs.

Sitting on the sofa with Minnie next to my feet, I looked back at the book that Alton gave me. It still didn't seem like it would be any use, but I wouldn't know until I looked at it or read it. The book had a hardcover with the blue background and white lines around the edges that were curved like plant stems. Bold text was in the middle and had the words A story like no other underneath. Opening it up, there was no writing from Tanisha on the inside and as I flicked through the pages, there were still no writing from Tanisha.

 Then, after flicking through multiple pages, something slipped out from the pages and landed on my lap. It looked like a letter.

 Putting the book to one side, I picked up the fallen letter and began to read what it said. It was in fact not a letter, but a receipt. At the top, it had the logo of a company called Holiday Hotel and bold black text underneath. It stated the address, room number, arrival and departure of people who ordered the room and who they were.

 Rubbing my eyes to make sure I had read this correctly, I stared back at the receipt to see that Tanisha Clive ordered room 14 for Wednesday 25th April. She arrived there at 11:00am and left at 5:00pm. My instincts told me, that she did not enter this hotel alone. Now, I wondered, who was the mystery man?