CHAPTER 5

EMA

We walked hand in hand for a while, enjoying the breeze, moving cars, people walking up and down the street going to various destinations. Some smiling, couples walking happily together and some with so much on their minds.

“Are you hungry? We could get something to eat cause am hungry already” he ask while still looking ahead

“Got a place in mind cause I'm starting to get hungry as well. All this thinking is making me stressed out and hungry” I spotted a restaurant just ahead, "THE RUNTIMES". Just a small local restaurant around the area. “That’s a restaurant just ahead. I think we could find something to eat there”

“Yeah sure. Though the name sounds like a magazine firm” he smiles at that and yeah it sure sounds that way. “We’ll never know until we find out” we walk in the place and surprisingly, its cozy and comfortable. Not flashy or extravagant, just…cool.

The waitress at the entrance welcomes us with a very polite smile that seems like it has been practiced for a while. 

“Welcome to “THE RUNTIMES”. I hope you have a great time with us. Have a seat and we’ll get you our menu for the day. Thanks” she directs us to a table for two by the window. The place is amazing and I hope the food is as well. 

“Would you want anything before you place your order?” she ask. She’s a young girl around my age, slim and seems very active.

 “Yeah I think I'll get water for a start. Thanks” I said. She nods and turns her attention to Ferdi. 

“Yeah, same. Thanks” she nods then pauses to ask

“Bottled or glass?” 

“We’ll get a bottle and two glasses please, '' Ferdi says. She nods in acknowledgment and excuses herself. I go through the menu to see what they’ve got interesting to eat. 

“Have you been to this place before?” Ferdi asks while going through his menu as well. 

“No. too busy to notice but I think it's a recent place. You?” he lifts up his head from the menu to look at me before answering. 

“Naaaa but I’ve seen it a couple of times when I pass by. Yeah I think it's new as well. So what would you like to eat? Seems they’ve got a lot.” I scan through the menu again while the waitress drops in to place the water. 

Ferdi pours the water in both of our glasses and takes a sip of his. “I’ll have the White Rice, Tomato Sauce and chicken not baked” I say and take a sip of my water as well. “I’ll take the Fried Plantain, Tomato Sauce and Chicken not baked as well” she nods and leaves to place our orders.

“I don’t know what to do about Mum right now. I just have a feeling she’s hiding something from me” the thought that there’s really something bad going on makes me shudder. “You know your Mum is in shock and she’s grieving like you are. She just has her own way of coping with the truth. I can’t speak for her or know what’s going through her mind but I think we can be able to find something out when everything seems to be a little calm. For now, I've got no idea how to help. But just know am always here when you need me for anything alright.” 

The waitress brings our food and we dig in. We talk about work and other things to get our minds off the heavy thoughts for a while. Then we finish up, settle the bill and leave. We walked back home since it wasn’t far in comfortable silence. We arrived at my door, I opened it, we said our goodbyes and agreed to meet at work tomorrow. I stepped in, went straight for the bathroom, took a bath and went right to bed. Was too tired to sit up for even 5mins. Am physically and emotionally exhausted for the day which has definitely been a tough one. i’ve got a busy week with work so sleep is the best option right now. I fell asleep right after my head hit the pillow and on to dreamland.

...........

Two Weeks Later

Ema

The situation had died down a little though people still talked about the accident and Dad’s company falling out of business in hushed whispers. I haven't talked to Mum since the last time we had our last conversation which wasn't a proper conversation anyway. Deep down I know she knows more than she's letting on and I would find out! I need to talk to Mr. Mark anytime soon about the plan I mentioned the last time. 

The more days passed by, the more confident I am to go about what I have in mind and find out the truth. I really want to know what happened to Dad and I won't stop until I get to the bottom of this. I am not a detective or investigator, but I know my way around a little and I've watched enough crime movies to lend me a hand. I know this isn't a movie and it won't be as easy as the movies make it look, but I hope I'll be ablemto make it through.

Talking about Mr. Mark, let me call him to make an appointment. We need to talk and come up with a plan. Our last conversation was incomplete but since its been mentioned, I think we'll be able to come up with something. I took out my phone and made the call since it was my day off. I hope he'll be around to talk.

"Hello, Mundane Law Firm! Who is on the line please?" His secretary, Amanda answered

"Hello, it's Ema. Ema Standson. Is Mr. Mark in the office?"

"Oh! Ms. Ema. No he's not at the moment. He left few minutes ago for a meeting. Do you have any message you want me to relay to him when he returns?"

"Just let him know I left him a voice message on his phone and that he should please get back to me. It's something important."

"Okay sure. Will do. Anything else Ma'am?"

"No thanks" I end the call, and sit down with a huff on my sofa in the living room; TV on with the sound on mute. Since it's my day off, I'll just have to do the usual since Mr. Mark is not available.

I go about my normal work-home routine. That's to finalise some records I wasn’t able to finish at the office, do some routine checks just to make sure everything is in order, and then have some dinner. Once that’s done, I turn off the mute on the TV and scroll to find something to watch.