She said, "I cannot wait. Can you give me a hint?"
He laughed and whispered, "No, this is why it is called a surprise."
He had no idea that Wednesday was going to be her last day in the old Victorian house.
Two days before the engagement bash, Precious was leaving on a morning flight out of JFK International Airport. She called a cab service and was at the airport in forty-five minutes. While waiting in the terminal, she took out her laptop, logged on to Enoff's account and had all of the money from his four accounts wired into her offshore account.
She then called Enoff and told him she had decided to visit an old friend in Connecticut, would return Friday morning and asked, "What time should I be ready for the surprise?"
He told her he would pick her up at eight in the evening.
It was Friday evening, and Enoff was on top of the world. Most of the guests had arrived and were anxiously waiting to see and meet his fiancée. His mother and stepfather attended and were extremely excited that their son had finally met a fine woman. Some of the guests were members of the block association, his employees, old friends, and business associates.
The catered affair, with plenty of champagne on ice, was a showstopper. He went all out for Precious and spared no expense.
It was now getting close to eight. Before leaving, he dimmed the lights and requested that everyone yell "Surprise" when he and his fiancée entered the house.
When Enoff reached the Victorian house, he noticed how dark the place was. It was eerie, because the spotlight over the entrance door was always on. At first, he thought Precious did not get back from her visit. He rang the doorbell but got no answer. He called her on his cell phone, but her number was not in service. He started to get nervous and surmised that something terrible had happened to her.
He then called her lawyer, but his phone was not in service either. He asked, What is going on here?
As he started to leave, a woman approached him and asked, "Excuse me sir, do you live in this house?"
He answered, "No, my fiancée does, but she is not home at the moment."
The woman then went on to explain, "I met the previous owners, Mr. and Mrs. Awa, three years ago. I did not know them that well. They hired me to take photos and videotape their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. However, here is where the story gets bizarre. The couple disappeared. Up to this date, no one knows where they went, and not a soul has come to claim their photo album and DVD, and I have been holding them ever since. Lucky for me, I got paid in full."