Grace's eyes grew wide and forgetting to keep her secure, detached demeanor hurriedly rushed past the woman in the rest room and quickly walked back to the ballroom. Some of her colleagues' eyes met hers, and they appeared to be uncomfortable, as if they were looking at someone who they didn't want to share bad news with. One of her colleagues, Ted, whom she had a fun, flirtatious connection with that neither of them took seriously, mentioned that he was sorry to hear about Alex. "What do you mean?" Grace said, trying to sound calm.
Ted said that he heard that Alex disappeared in Italy during the European tour and no one had heard from him since, including Jillian. It was hard for Grace not to gasp in disbelief. She had left the ballroom earlier before Jillian took a call from the Italian consulate. Jillian failed to tell anyone at the event that he was reported missing until she got confirmation. Apparently they did several shows in Milan, Rome and Venice. The last place anyone saw him from the theatrical company was also the last place Grace and Alex had a romantic encounter.