bentley was afraid of falling down the rabbit hole , of getting herself worked up to the point where it wrecked her. if her mind clouded over and jumped to the worst case scenarios , then she didn’t have a shot of finding her earring. it was a good thing that micah was here , lest she might implode from the dread setting in. still , her shoulders sagged when he’d said he didn’t see anything. the mention of the stairs , however , was enough to have her stand up a little straighter , having retraced her steps. ❝ oh , i don’t think it would have been there. i mean , last time i used the stairs , i was sure they were both in. ❞ she kept speaking , suddenly unable to stop herself. ❝ it’s a teardrop shape , and it’s about a few inches big , only two i think. i – i know that it sounds irrelevant , but these earrings are sentimental. ❞ realizing that it would probably be easier for him to actually see the earring , bentley took the other one out of her ear and held it out to him , letting it twinkle in the flourescent lighting. ❝ i was going downstairs to get my mail when i realized it was gone. i’ve been looking around this entire area , but to no avail. do you have your phone on you ?? i want to look under this table , but i’d need a flashlight.❞
Accessories are tricky to find, especially jewelry, Micah knew. He understood the missing earring was of value, too. Otherwise, Bentley wouldn’t be looking for it. “ Come on, if it was irrelevant, you wouldn’t be searching for it, ” Micah reasoned, halting his movement and standing next to Bentley so he can have a better look at the earring. “ Very pretty, ” he remarked, nodding once and thanking her. Now that he’s had a good visual of the jewelry, he’s hopeful they will find it. “ — Oh, yeah. I do. ” He fished out his mobile phone and handed it to Bentley. “ Flashlight’s on the lock screen. ” He made a gesture with his hand, then looked across the hallway. “ I’m gonna look at the corners and see if your earring’s there. Let’s hope no one has stepped on it. ”









