I have been left

Yes, that's right, I have been left. By my day receptionist. She just dissapeared in the middle of her shift on Wednesday and never came back.

I'm the functions and marketing manager at one of the biggest and most reputable restaurants in the city, and I also look after the reception team. My relatively new day receptionist asked me for a talk about ten days ago and told me she was seriously considering to resign because she was having problems with the owner of the restaurant. I told her that I would be very sad to see her go but would understand and accept her decision. I said the only thing I asked from her was to please give me a bit of notice so I could get prepared. I said, whatever you decide, please talk to me- because if you let it escalate and just storm out one day, it will cause me a lot of grief. She said, Bettina, I have so much respect for you and you have always been so good to me. I would never let you down. I was glad to hear that and never doubted she was honest with me. We always had a great work relationship and I would praise her for her work frequently and bought her presents on a couple of occasions to thank her for a job well done. She once told me I was the only person at work who consistently treated her nicely.

She didn't resign though over the next few days and I assumed she was still looking for another job. Until she dissapeared on Wednesday in the middle of lunch service. Nobody saw her leave. The owner of the restaurant called me in my office to ask if I knew where she'd gone and I came upstairs because I was worried. She knew she couldn't take breaks without anyone covering the front desk for her and had never done this before.

I started to look for her everywhere and became more and more concerned. She wasn't in the restrooms or in the smoking area outside or anywhere to be seen. I went searching for her outside but couldn't find her. The day before she had been upset because of a family problem and I had ended up sending her home, so I assumed something might have happened to her family. I started calling her mobile phone and left about three messages throughout the afternoon. No reply.

I covered the front desk for her until the evening receptionist came in but couldn't concentrate on anything because I was worried sick about what might have happened to her. I sent her two text messages begging her to please at least let me know she was ok, telling her I was deeply disturbed by her dissapearance. Nothing.

A couple of people started to suggest that maybe this was her way of leaving and she was never going to come back but I refused to even consider this option. She would never do this to me, I said, she's not like that. She might do it to the owner of the restaurant but she would definitely talk to me.

Well, apparently she wouldn't. She has never been seen again and never even bothered to contact me. She didn't even have the decency to send me a text message. She just vanished.

I am bitterly dissapointed and deeply disturbed by her way of leaving. I am currently going through the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. What a kick in the face. "So much respect for you"- my ass.