Chapter 15 - Earl Grey Tea and Splattered Paint.

The trip back to New York was bland and uneventful, due to the fact that Amelia was not speaking to Xavier. After the little talk she had with him about his ex, which had led her to believe that he was still in love with Daphne Steele, Amelia preferred that they went back to their old ways.

They arrived back in his penthouse late in the night after a long trip. Amelia and collapsed on the master's bed out of sheer exhaustion and tiredness. She slept off without having dinner.

The next morning, she had woke up all alone with no sign of Xavier or Mrs Leticia. Xavier must have left for work early, but that still didn't explain the disappearance of their housekeeper, from the little she gathered, Mrs Leticia lived in an outlet in the building, she arrived early and she left when her work was done. Other maids were also given access to the penthouse whenever they needed to clean. There was a formal schedule that they all worked with to prevent them working while the Xavier and Amelia were around.

Amelia walked toward the kitchen still in her clothes from the day before. Her stomach growled in hunger and she rubbed it to pacify it. She wondered where the hell Mrs Leticia was.

Arriving at the kitchen, Amelia found a note stuck to the refrigerator. It was a note from Mrs Leticia, she was sick with the flu and her replacement would not arrive until the next morning

"Oh no!" Amelia murmured as she opened the refrigerator. There was nothing in it that she knew how to cook or use.

Amelia had never learned how to cook, she knew it was bad that she never made an effort but her parents had never deemed it an important enough skill for Amelia to learn.
She had tried teaching herself how to cook back in the days when she was in Princeton, but she found it easier eating out than going through the stress of cooking.

She wondered if Xavier had gone to work hungry, she noticed as she saw that the coffee pot was empty, it didn't show that it had been used.
And from what Amelia had heard, Xavier hated missing breakfast.

She walked back into the bedroom. There was no way she was cooking, so her best bet would be finding a way to order food or just eating out. Since she didn't want to go through the stress of eating alone, she decided that she'd have breakfast with her friends.

An hour and a half later, Amelia was ready and super hungry. She had texted Molly and Ruby and they were excited to see her. She didn't want to stay home holed up all day doing nothing, besides Xavier was giving her a more than generous allowance every month.
That didn't mean that Amelia wouldn't find work, it even made her more determined to.
She was comfortable with leeching off her parents wealth, but not Xavier's.

Amelia planned on getting a job soon, favourably in her father's company, so she could monitor the progress.

She did a little twirl in front of her vanity mirror, she was wearing a navy blue wool vest dress that cinched her waist and showed off her long legs clad in heels.
She looked around the penthouse and sighed, she couldn't wait to leave.

The tiny café huddled despondent among the huge city buildings. Hundreds of people rushed by it, outside on the crowded street. The half a dozen customers glanced up as the door swung open, heralded by a blast of cold wind, the days of the  cold winter months was slowly leaving in the month of March.

Unlike the outside, the interior of the café was warm and cheery, with bright lights and colourful walls. The customers returned to their conversations as the door swung closed behind the new entrant and the cold breeze was forgotten.
Amelia walked in with a large smile on her face as she spotted her friends. Molly and Ruby were chatting animatedly with their phone in their hands. They already reserved their favourite spot.

The cafe was one of their favourites.
It was more of an English tea shop than a cafe. The cafe served the tea in real white china pots at round tables that mostly just seated two or sometimes four people. At the glass-fronted counter was an array of cream cakes and pastries, all with English sounding names, and of course there were the obligatory scones.

"There she is! Fresh from the honeymoon and still has that honeymoon glow!!"

Molly shouted as she pulled Amelia into a warm hug.

Ruby joined in the hug too.

"How was Mauritius? Rate it in terms of vacation spots."

Ruby questioned and Amelia cocked her head in deep thought.

"I'll give it a nine over ten. Honestly, it was way better than I was expecting."

"Better than the Maldives? Bora Bora?"

Molly asked and Amelia shrugged.

"Oh! I don't know! But it certainly has it charm. It was simply magical!"

"Sit! We wanna hear everything."

Molly begged as she dragged Amelia into a seat across her.

"Let me order first. I'm really hungry."

Amelia pleaded as she signalled to a waiter.

She ordered the cream tea with Earl Grey and a side of pastries to go with it. Some scones and bagels were already on the table.  So slowly, in between big bites of pastries, Amelia recounted how her honeymoon in Mauritius had been to her friends, she didn't even spare the tiniest details and she left nothing out.

"So, he's basically still in love with his ex? And then, he went ahead and married you."

Molly asked and Amelia nodded her head.

"Oh Mia! That's so messed up! I thought he was a catch!"

Amelia rolled her eyes.

"I'm so mad at him, he also had the guts to fling to my face the fact that I was marrying him for money! The deal was already sealed before I was involved! I only married him to save my family from bankruptcy! And somehow he manages to make it look like I'm a gold digger."

Amelia ranted as she rolled her eyes.

"I just don't get why he married you so soon. He obviously doesn't look like he's ready to be emotionally attached to anybody."

Ruby said and Mia nodded her head.

"Yes, you're right."

"And you Mia, you have to be very careful."

Ruby said as she pointed an accusatory finger at Amelia while flipping her curly hair out of her face.

"Careful? With what?"

Ruby rolled her eyes.

"With him! You have to be careful with him. You seem like you're about to end up in a situation where you fall head over heels in love with him."

Amelia chuckled.

"Guys! Guys! I'm not going to fall for him. I don't even like him. Just because I slept with him doesn't mean I will. It's just casual sex."

Molly and Ruby exchanged looks.

"It's never casual sex for you. I mean we're talking about the Amelia Johnston who was a virgin till she was twenty one all because she was waiting for the right person. Am I right?"

Molly asked as she turned to Ruby who nodded in approval.

"Yes, she is. We're your friends and we know you, the minute you get sexually attracted to someone, you get emotionally attached to the person too. You need to stop sleeping with Xavier if you don't want to fall in love with him."

Amelia pouted but she knew her friends were right. Xavier was not ready for an emotional attachment and Amelia would prefer to be anywhere than to be married to him. She had to focus on rebuilding her parents company and divorcing him.

That was the only way she could be happy and free.

"It's obvious Xavier's not over his last girlfriend so I will be saving myself from a heartbreak by staying away from him as possible. I don't even really like him but sometimes he's just so hot I can't deal you know?"

She said and Molly nodded

"I agree.  He is extremely hot! Hell I'd hit that everyday if I was married to him."

"Ewww! Molly! Is it always about sex  with you?"

Ruby chastised as Molly started giggling as she covered her mouth.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it."

After their breakfast, the three friends parted ways and Amelia spent the rest of the day in her studio apartment at Manhattan where she painted and converted into her gallery.

Painting was something that was more of a favourite pastime for her more  than it was a talent. Amelia loved to paint, but most times, she was terrified of showing her art.

Some days she would paint and paint for hours with nothing to show for it while some days she would come up with paintings so beautiful and heart rending that they would pierce people's souls.

She had lost track of the hours as she painted, stopping only to order pizza and peeing. She had also changed into her paint splattered dungarees and long sleeved shirt as she painted, stopping only when she needed a short nap.

Soon, the sound of her phone blaring in her little studio apartment jolted her out of her reverie.

She let the phone ring for a while, thinking it was either Molly or Ruby inviting her for a drink at a bar.

The incessant ringing continued and Amelia picked up the phone in anger.

Not even bothering to check the caller ID

"Who is this?" She asked in a monotone voice.

"Where the hell are you?"

The voice screamed into the receiver and Amelia removed her phone from her ear, wondering who it was as she checked the caller ID.

It was Xavier.

Damn! She forgot that she was married. And she had a husband.

"Hey! What's up?" She said as casually as she could trying to ease the tension on the phone.

"What's up? What's up? What's up is that my wife isn't back from wherever the hell she went to and it's past nine!"

It can't be that late.

Amelia thought as she looked out the window and saw that it was dark.

She gritted her teeth.

"Yea, I uhmmm... I got carried away."

"Amelia, if you are not back home in thirty minutes, I will call your parents. Where the hell are you?"

"Oh My God! I said I went out! Please give me a break. I'll be back in a jiffy."

Amelia shouted as she hung up the phone, slightly shaking.