“Excuse me?”
“I know how strange this sounds.”
“You want me to date your dad?”
“Not really. I want you to help me figure out why this keeps happening.”
Rachel laughed nervously.
“This is officially the strangest favor you’ve ever asked me.”
I explained everything.
The six women.
The successful dates.
The sudden disappearances.
Eventually, Rachel agreed.
We created a plan.
She would meet my father for dinner, behave normally, and tell me everything afterward.
The date lasted almost three hours.
When Rachel called me afterward, she sounded genuinely surprised.
“Your father is wonderful.”
I laughed.
“I told you.”
“No, seriously. He’s funny. He’s polite. He’s a gentleman.”
“Did anything seem strange?”
“Nothing.”
“Did he ask you out again?”
“Yes.”
My heart sank.
Because that meant the experiment had worked.
If Rachel disappeared too, then something outside my father’s behavior was causing this.
The following morning, Rachel stopped answering her phone.
The Message That Changed Everything
At first, I assumed she was sleeping.
Then I called again.
Nothing.
I sent several messages.
Still nothing.
Finally, almost a full day later, my phone buzzed.
It was Rachel.
The message contained only one sentence:
“Please don’t contact me anymore.”
I stared at the screen.
