Chapter 5

Francis Noah! The name popped boldly in the notification.

Camelia's heart thumped aloud and she continued to stare in horror at the laptop, having no intention of clicking the mail. 

Her body stiffened as she felt a strong surge of her emotions rushing in. How was it that her coming back seemed to have traces of him everywhere? 

First, she had a dream and now, she received a mail from him.

What in the world had he even sent to her, she wondered, looking at the notification in curiosity, her heart skipping a beat as she moved her fingers to click on it.

How did he know she was back, the last she checked, she had intentionally filtered out her former hospital from the list of applications she had sent.

Unless he…

She clicked on open stiffly, but heard a small sound beside her as she wanted to read through.

Camelia turned to see her daughter stirring awake beside her. She quickly snapped the laptop shut, forced a smile on her face and returned her attention to the little girl.

It was forbidden for her inquisitive daughter to know anything about Francis, so couldn’t let her daughter see her in that state.

“Mummy,” Angel called out, rubbing her eyes cutely, her bright eyes wide awake.

“Baby girl,” Camelia moved closer to her, rubbing her hair fondly. She wrapped her hands around the little girl and planted a kiss on her cheek. “Did you sleep well?”

Angel beamed with a wide grin, the dimple on her cheek deepening and the little mole just like Camelia's became obvious. “I dreamt of daddy!” The little girl squealed.

The smile on Camelia's face froze, her eyebrow raised in surprise and she tried not to make it show, “Really? That’s beautiful, what did daddy say to you?” She asked stiffly, trying hard to stabilize herself.

The little girl sighed in disappointment and dropped her face low, “He said that he loves me but I didn’t see his face and I couldn’t tell him that I love him too.” Angel said sadly, playing with her hands as she complained cutely to her mother.

Camelia's heart hurt as she watched her daughter experience such pain. She hated to have to lie to her daughter but she had no choice.

It was better for Angel to assume that her dad was dead. After all, to her he was dead!

“How about a big bowl of ice cream when we land, sweetie.” She put a strand of her daughter’s hair behind her ear, switching the conversation effortlessly.

 She found herself wondering if it was the right move to come back or if she should have listened to her guardian. 

But she had unfinished business with Francis. Her heart ached and she clenched her fist subtly as she remembered him again.

Camelia was still pacifying Angel who was excited about the ice cream when an oddly familiar voice sounded from the seat beside her.

“Are you good?” She heard the voice and turned her head, thinking the voice was speaking to her when she got a shocker.

“Hillary!” She gasped quietly but loud enough for the fair lady to hear.

“Hmm!” Hillary answered, also turning her head to Camelia. Her face went pale immediately, her breath ceasing a little.

Camelia noticed that her expression was devoid of any surprise and figured out she must have recognised her before now.

The two women stared at each other in silence, the air suddenly frosty. No one made a move to speak, their stares doing the job instead.

Camelia slowly dragged her eyes away but not before noticing two things. A flash of hurt seeped through her heart and she took deep breaths to calm her nerves, suddenly grateful for the therapy sessions she had gotten. 

The airplane gradually descended into the runway and Camelia stared outside the familiar city; the one she had run away from, believing she would never be back. But here she was again!

“Can we go now, mummy?” Angel tugged at the sleeves of Camelia who was still staring outside. 

She collected her belongings around her and waited for a few others to move ahead of them.

“Oh!” She muttered when she saw Hillary’s empty seat, “That was fast.” A small smile of amusement escaped her lips. 

Funny how she had thought she would wait behind to provoke her with the diamond ring she had noticed earlier.

She shrugged, holding Angel and led her out of their first class suite in the airplane. 

As she walked towards the baggage carousel, hand in hand with her daughter to get their baggage, the romantic display of a couple drew attention.

Or rather, it wasn’t their romantic display but the exclaims of people who were touched by the scene. She was unbothered by them and moved away but the dress the lady wore caught her attention.

Camelia stopped midway in her walk and peered closely at the couple again, “Is that not Hillary? Why is fondling another man that is not Francis.”