~ The Next Day ~Amelia hurried out of her apartment and locked the door. She had just ten minutes to get to the company. Though she could still make it, she wanted to get there as soon as she could. She had woken up late because she left the party very late. James wasn’t ready to leave the party when she wanted to, so she had no choice then to stay back with him. Before she could walk away from her door, Elena’s door opened, and Amelia turned back. She saw Elena standing at the door. Elena smiled widely at her, but Amelia was too pained to smile back at her. She remembered what she did to her the previous night. “Good morning, Amelia. When did you return yesterday?” Elena asked, and Amelia exhaled. “I returned very late. You must have been sleeping when I came back,” Amelia answered coldly. Elena noticed the way she acted, and she stepped out of her apartment and shut the door behind her. “What is wrong, Amelia? You don’t sound happy.” Amelia looked at her and shook her head.
Charles sat in a restaurant, waiting for his divorced wife, Helen. They had both agreed to meet because of their son and nothing more. He took a peek at his wristwatch and saw it was almost noon. “This is one of the reasons why I get so mad at her. Why didn’t she just choose noon for the meeting if she would keep me waiting till this time?” He picked up his cup of coffee and took a sip. He looked out of the restaurant through the transparent walls. He soon sighted a car park outside the restaurant. The car door opened, and he saw Helen alight. She looked as beautiful as ever. Charles gulped heavily and looked away. He picked his cup of coffee and took another sip. “I am so sorry! I got a bit delayed at the airport,” Helen uttered and sat. He looked up and stared at her face. There was no difference from the last time he saw her. She looked so beautiful and young. “Airport?” Charles asked in surprise, and she bobbed. “I just got back from Malaysia. I’m sorry I kept you waiting
Amelia was still in shock, even after the day’s work was over. When she helped James wear his shirt, she was tempted to bury her nose in his chest and sniff him. His singlet, his everything smelled so nice! She couldn’t stop wondering how he smelled so nice, and he was yet to be eaten up by people. She hung her tote bag on her shoulders and waited for James to leave the office, before she headed home. James walked out of the office and met Amelia standing at her desk. “What are you waiting for?” He asked, and she raised her head to look at him. “I’m waiting for you, sir. I didn’t want to leave until you left.” James raised his eyebrows and exhaled softly. He tucked his hands in his pockets and walked to the elevator. She hurried behind him and they both waited for the elevator to give way to them. For some reasons that Amelia wasn't sure about, she felt quite nervous. Maybe because she was going to stand in the same elevator with James at the same time. The elevator opened,
Amelia dragged her feet down the street her apartment was, crying profusely. Everyone that passed past her stared at her. They all wondered what had happened to her, but never asked her what happened. “How do I call Mr. James now? He is going to be so mad at me tomorrow. If I don’t resume using the phone tomorrow, I’ll be so done!” “All my money has been stolen, I can’t buy another one unless I get home and pick some more cash. But I can’t come back here tonight, it’s already late.” “Why is the world against me so much? Why do you hate me so much!” She cried aloud like a baby. She kept dragging her feet, her head lowered in sadness, and her bag hung carelessly on her shoulder. She didn’t care about the eyes that peered at her. She was devastated. She shuffled past the mall on her street and before she could take five footsteps away from the entrance of the mall, she heard a loud crash behind her. She stood walking and looked back in fear. She saw a woman struggling with alread
“Amelia? What are you doing here?” James asked after he stopped hugging Helen. “I brought her home, because she helped me,” Helen answered before Amelia could, and the men exchanged looks. “I’ll tell you about it later, okay? Come on, James, join me in the kitchen.” Helen held James’ hand and pulled him along with her to the kitchen. After they were gone, Amelia looked at Charles, she didn’t know what to say. “Come and have your seat, Amelia. Let’s talk.” Charles walked to the sofa, and Amelia followed behind him. She sat on the sofa in front of Charles and looked around again. “Welcome to my home, Amelia. I’m still very surprised to see you.”“Thank you, Mr. Charles. I never knew I’d be visiting too. But Ma’am insisted I have dinner with her. I never knew she was your wife.” “Erm, not really. She is my ex-wife.” “Oh… I’m sorry, Mr. Charles.” Amelia lowered her head, and he chuckled. “It’s fine, Amelia. You never knew about it.” *“So, are you going to tell me why Amelia is
Charles parked in front of Amelia’s apartment, and she alighted. He also stepped out of the car and walked up to her. “Thank you so much for the ride. You can go back now. I don’t want to keep you waiting,” Amelia said and bowed. “I would love to talk to you about something. Do you mind if I go in with you?” “Oh really? Sure. Let’s go, Sir.” Amelia led the way and Charles followed behind her. They walked up the stairs and in no time, they got to her floor. She headed to her door and when she drew close, she looked at Elena’s door. “She is probably asleep,” She said aloud, and Charles looked at the door. “Who is asleep?” He asked, and she looked back at him. “My friend, Elena. I’m always coming home late, and I don’t get a chance to talk to her at night:” “Elena?” Charles knitted his brows, and Amelia nodded, opening her door. “Why? Do you know her?” “I know one Elena. She worked as James’ Secretary before she got him pissed, and he fired her. I heard she lives around the co
Amelia got to the company very early in the morning. She got to her table and arranged everywhere. James was yet to arrive, and she was happy she got to the company before him. ‘I’m going to try my best not to piss him off.’ She took a look at her outfit and smiled. She was dressed in a yellow T-shirt and a very tight blue skirt that stopped directly on top of her knee. Her flat shoes were black. Her t-shirt refused to remain tucked in her shirt because her skirt was too tight. As she walked, it kept pulling out. ‘I believe this is a better look. He would be surprised to see me wearing something fitted.’ Amelia thought excitedly. She sat on her chair and placed her bag on the table. She pulled out the file James had given her and began to read through it again. She stayed up all night to make sure she covered everything in the file. She just wanted to brush through to refresh her memory. She was still reading when she heard the elevator open. ‘He is here!’ She sprang to her fee
So many taxis passed by Amelia, but she wasn’t ready to stop one. Her head was full, her eyes were blurry due to her tears, her heart was broken. An hour back, she thought she finally got control over her life. She thought she could now make money and survive without her uncle, but she was wrong. The happy fantasy was washed down the drain by James. She looked at the company’s building for the last time and began to shuffle down the streets. She tried so hard not to call Freddie and tell him about it because she believed he would be busy, and she didn’t want to be a distraction. She held her bag firmly, grasping it tightly under her shoulders as she walked. This time, she wasn’t going to let anyone snatch her new phone and money from her.Almost everyone they passed by Amelia looked at her. Something caught their attention. It was either the way she sobbed home, or her fitted skirt. When Amelia noticed a young couple staring at her, she realized they were whispering things to them
~After Five Years~“Amelia!” Elena called as she pulled up the dazzling white wedding gown she wore. “I’m coming! Can’t you stop making it so obvious that you’re nervous?! It’s your wedding day, not a horror show night.” Amelia rushed out of the room to the living room where Elena and a few friend that were the bridal trains were waiting for her. “I’m sorry for keeping you waiting. I had to make sure I got my makeup right since I insisted on doing it myself. I have been practicing for over three years for this day. To do my makeup myself!” She said proudly. “And you didn’t disappoint me! You look absolutely stunning, sister.” “Thank you! You look so beautiful too! I bet you’ll look even more beautiful when you walk down the aisle with our father today.” She answered with great excitement. “Do you think he’ll make it? Do you think the judge would grant him a temporary release just to attend a wedding?” “Don’t worry about it too much, Elena. We already talked, okay? They have bee
~One Year Later~ “Bababa!” Alice called out to James, who was busy eating Amelia out in the kitchen. “James… James… Alice has been calling on you for minutes. Won’t you go and see her?” Amelia’s voice was barely heard by James. He raised his head from between Amelia’s legs and looked at her face. His lips curved out a smirk slowly and he stood up. He kissed her lips so she could taste herself in his mouth. “Can’t you just take her to school already? She doesn’t let me get freaky the way I want.” He whispered a few inches away from her lips. Amelia chuckled and pulled him closer with her legs. “I already told you that I’m working on that. I don’t want her to go to school in Alabama. Let’s go somewhere far from here.” “To where exactly? You’ve been saying this for months and I keep asking you where we should go. Are you yet to figure it out?”“I told you to let me know when you can leave the business here and relocate. Have you found someone competent to look over things here?”
Instead of heading straight to the house, Penelope went down to the station to see Hopper and Freddie. She couldn’t keep the news of Clara still being alive to herself. She got to the station and waited till it was time for the conjugal visit. When it was time, she asked to see Hopper first. She was taken to a private room so that they could talk. She was happy she didn’t have to stay behind the desk to talk to him this time around. She was going to finally touch him after a long time. After a few minutes, Hopper arrived. Immediately he stepped into the room, a smile lit up his face. He opened his arms and embraced her. She was also fully ready to embrace him. “How are you, I missed you so much.” Hopper said as he broke the hug. “I missed you so much too, Hopper.” She responded and that both sat. Penelope heaved a sigh and gulped hard as she sat. Hopper furrowed his brows and looked at her closely. He could sense something wasn’t right with her. “Penelope. What is it this tim
“Oh please, do you think you can scare me with those words? What can you do to me, hun? All you can do is throw me into jail like you did to my husband, then I finally get to be with him. I’m not scared of you, James.” “That’s enough, Mom! I never knew she could be insensitive about this matter. You are clearly at fault and you’re still acting so strong. You’ll lose everything you’ve always wanted and the ones you had always had.” Elena uttered. Penelope clutched her jaws and looked away from Elena. Deep down, she never wanted it to play out so badly, but now it had to be like that, she wasn’t ever going to act weak in front of them. “I have always known that you miss your husband so much. But I never thought you’d go to the extent of going to jail just to be with him. Well, congratulations, your wish would be wholly granted.” James added. “No.” Amelia uttered after a long time of silence, and everyone looked at her. “Amelia…” “She won’t be going to jail. I won’t press charges a
~The Next Day~ After sedating Susan to stop her from overthinking about what Amelia told her, she got better and before she knew it, she was discharged. Only Amelia stood with her throughout her stay in the hospital. James couldn’t go home either because he couldn’t let her be all by herself. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to her again. ‘I have lost her once, and that would never respect itself anymore.’ He told himself. Susan was taken to James' house after he got discharged. She was driven home in his car. She asked that Amelia let her call Tonia and explain what was going on so that she wouldn’t get too worried about her. Tonia told her she would find a time to visit her before the end of the week. She also was eager to know more about Susan, since she never caught a glimpse of her past life when she was still with her. Getting to the mansion, before they entered the house at all, the aroma of roasted chicken filled their nostrils. James smiled faintly and looked at
Throughout the impromptu ride to the hospital, Penelope was quiet and in shock. Elena kept asking her why she called that strange woman Clara, but she seemed too stunned to speak. They got to the nearest hospital shortly, and Susan was rushed into the emergency ward. They were all asked to wait outside for the doctor and nurses to do their work. Amelia seemed to be more worried than the others because she feared something bad must have happened to her. “She’ll be fine, Amelia.” James tried to console her. Amelia shook her head and exhaled pretty hard. “I asked her to come with me, and now this happens? What if something bad happens to her? She has a guardian. What should I tell her if she finds out?” She worriedly answered. James didn’t know what to do other than console her till they heard from the doctor what had really happened. He didn't know anything about her yet. “Come here.” He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. He patted her head slowly and planted a kiss
“James?!” She called out, catching everyone unaware. The cops rushed out of their hiding places, and before Fred could realize what was going on, he was surrounded with cops who pointed their guns at him. “Your hands in the air!” They announced, and he raised his hands. James also proceeded out of his hiding spot and ran towards Amelia, who was also running to him happily with Alice in her arms. “Alice!” He called happily and opened his arms wide. Amelia ran into his arms, even though she was quite conscious about Alice that she carried in her arms. The first thing James did was carry Alice from her arms first and then embraced Amelia with his side. Alice took one side, Amelia took the other. “I have missed you so much, James.” Amelia mumbled and tears began to stream down her eyes. James shut his heated-up eyes pretty tight, and let his tears stream down freely. “I missed you so much too, Amelia. I thought I lost you.” He mumbled too. He opened his eyes after a few minutes an
“She will be going home with us, Fred.” Amelia uttered and gave Susan a reassured nod. “What? Are you crazy? I can’t let a stranger go with us to the house. You know why I can’t.” He responded in anger. “Susan, can you please look after Alice for a few minutes? I need to talk to this man.” After giving the Walker to Susan, she walked up to Fred and exhaled softly as she started talking. “You abducted me, didn’t you? Not just me, but my child.” “Why are you saying this?” He answered almost immediately. “And since this happened, after I chose to be with you, have I ever bugged you or tried to run away? We sleep on the same bed, I know where you keep the keys to the door, so if I wanted to run I would have.” She took a pause and waited for him to say something else, but he didn’t. “If you can’t trust me, I see no reason why you want to be with me and my daughter. Can’t you just trust me the way I trust you? I left my daughter in your care, not the first time, but the second, becau
Amelia, Fred and Alice got to the shopping mall shortly after a taxi dropped them off.“Here we are. Where do we start from?” Fred inquired. “We or I? Fred, you don’t have to go around looking for this woman for me. You don’t even know what she looks like. Just stick around with Alice. When I’m done, I’ll come to you. Please keep Alice safe. I trust you and that is why I’m letting you be with her.” Fred smiled widely and nodded. “You know how much I love you and Alice. I would never let anyone hurt you. We’d go around the mall, maybe to the Game Center. But please don’t stay too long. If you see or notice anything weird, call on me. I’ll come running.” Amelia divulged a soft smile and nodded too. She leaned closer to him and planted a soft kiss on his cheeks. “Thank you.” Amelia clutched her jaws slightly and turned to look. She looked around the mall and reminisced on where to start looking first. ‘The restroom.’ She thought and headed to the restroom. She often looked back at