Amelia dressed up very early in the morning, she wrapped a muffler around her neck and carried her bag. She put Alice in the Walker and walked out of the room.
She got to the living room and met Fred cleaning. He looked at her and furrowed his brows when he saw her all dressed up.
“Where are you going?” He dropped the vacuum cleaner in his hand and headed to where she stood.
“I’m going to look for her. I couldn’t sleep throughout the night because of it.”
“Who is her? Why couldn’t you sleep?”
“Clara. My mom. I couldn’t sleep because of her. I saw her at the mall and since I saw her, I’ve been seeing her face in my head! I can’t stop thinking about the fact that she is alive.”
Fred sighed and shook his head. He slowly took her hand and rubbed its back with his thumb.
“Isn’t this woman supposed to be dead? She has been dead for like fifteen years now, right?”
“That is what I thought, until I saw her yesterday! What if she didn’t die? What if she survived and has been alive all these years.”
“And was she able to recognize you?”
“It’s been over fifteen years! I was his five when she died. I have probably changed so she couldn’t have recognized me.”
Fred heaved a sigh again and slowly pulled her to the couch so that she could sit.
“Amelia, I think you are overthinking and overreacting. Maybe you saw her look alike and you’re beginning to think about it too much. I know it’s not easy to lose a parent but…”
“I know what I’m saying!” She smacked and sprang to her feet, startling after.
“She had a mark on her arm! I saw this mark! She has these beautiful hazel eyes in the portrait I have at home and this woman’s eyes looked the same! I’m not crazy, okay?! I’ve thought about this and I want to get to know her!”
Tears gathered rapidly in her eyes as she spoke. After seeing how she reacted, Fred calmly bounced his head.
“Fine. We’ll go to the mall together and see if we can get any information about her, okay? But you know it’s possible we won’t find her there anymore.”
“I still want to try.” She persisted.
“Fine then. Give me some minutes to change from these and we’ll be on our way. I’ll help you find her, okay?”
Amelia nodded and sat on the couch. She lowered her head and gulped hard, thinking about what she was about to do.
‘Amelia, are you sure about this? Are you ready to bear the pain if she isn’t truly your mother?’ She questioned herself and shut her eyes very tight.
Fred got out of the room shortly and held Alice’s Walker. “I’ll take care of Alice. Let’s go.”
Amelia eagerly stood up and stared at him. She waited for him to unlock the door before she got any closer to him.
Fred understood what she did so he moved closer to the door and pulled out the key from his breast pocket.
He unlocked the door and opened it, he moved away from the door and let her step out of the house first.
Amelia didn’t hesitate to step out and he followed behind her. She began to walk down the street while he followed behind her.
He stared at her from behind and noticed she still had that unsettled feeling in her.
‘Does this mean that she really doesn’t care about staying with me anymore? She seems so distracted with her own thoughts and we are gradually beginning to live the couple’s life we have always wanted.’
A smile curved up his lips and he looked down at Alice who was sucking on the very small feeder of milk in her tiny hands.
“You’ll grow up to see me as your father, and I promise to cherish and love you more than that man.” He muttered with full happiness.
***
Helen and Charles woke up and got to the living room to meet James lying helplessly on the couch.
“James?!” They called as they rushed up to him. He moaned, groaned and tightened his eyes as soon as he heard their voices.
“James, why are you sleeping on the couch? You’re going to hurt your back!” Helen stated with great concern.
He didn’t respond, instead he turned on his side and kept on sleeping.
Charles moved closer and sniffed his body. This was when he realized that he had drunk wine.
“He reeks of wine. This is getting to him more than we expected.”
They looked around for the bottle of wine but they found none.
“It’s been days since Amelia and Alice disappeared and it seems like we aren’t progressing at all. Nothing from the police, nothing from Amelia herself. Anyone in his position would want or be forced to do this.” Charles added.
Helen weakly sat on the couch and stared at her son with pity.
“I need my son back. We are losing him gradually. We need to do something about this!” She muttered.
“But what are we supposed to do? We have tried all our possible best to find them but it’s all to no avail.”
“We need to distract James from the situation. We aren’t even sure if they are still alive.”
“C’mon, Helen, don’t say that. Let’s be positive about everything. That’s the least we all can do.”
“But he can’t hold up any longer. He had stopped working. If not for you, his company would be in debt now because he pays no attention to it anymore. The workers are aware of how weak he is and they are trying to use this against him. We can’t let him ruin all he has been working for. If we are not so carefully, he will develop a drinking problem. He has never been this drunk.”
“So what do you suggest we do?” Charles asked sadly.
They both looked at him as he laid on the couch, snoring so loud like he had a sound box in his throat.
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