Chapter 67

AMBER'S POV
It took way more than I had expected for me to agree to leave Melissa at home and go to work at the convenience store. She wasn't exactly alone but I still faced a struggle leaving her, even if it was for a good reason.
'She's in good hands, don't worry yourself, Amber" Daniel Fletcher didn't exactly have a good rep with sounding convincing so when he made the offer to stay with her, I was very skeptical about it. I mean, a man that had claimed to love her had not only beat her up, he had beat up her child too.
It was no where near wise to leave her with another man, who had not exactly bore out his heart to her, but had given obvious signs. But we weren't left with much options and I couldn't possibly leave her alone. Mel wasn't suicidal, I know, but most people that actually end up killing themselves weren't.
I didn't even notice Mrs Carol walk into the store until I heard her voice, 'What's wrong, Amber? I had been calling out to you since I walked in" I turned sharply around, my hand flew impulsively to my neck, I may have probably snapped my neck cause it started throbbing slightly.
'You've been out of it lately. Did anything happen? You know you can talk to me, right?" She gave me a little pat on the back as she sat down next to me at the counter. Was there a sort of intuition that came with old age?
I made an attempt to gather my thoughts into one basket, if I had not noticed Mrs Carol till she walked around the back to the counter, how was I going to focus on attending to customers? Concentration, they say, is key to a successful business.
'I'm fine, Carol. I just have a lot on my mind, that's all" I made an attempt to sound convincing but I knew she wasn't going to buy it, the look on her face made it clear.
'Is something wrong, Am. You can talk to me" That seemed like the cue I needed to start crying cause next thing I knew, I was outright bawling my eyes out. Carol wrapped her arms around me and I wasn't sure how long I stayed in that position but I most definitely knew I cried for quite awhile.
Having to be strong for people in their time of need while you're struggling to not break down yourself, was more weight than my slender body could possibly carry but I still had to do it nonetheless, I was literally all Melissa had and I had to stand by her no matter what.
'Feeling better?" Carol asked for the hundredth time as I concentrated on wiping my eyes with the handkerchief she had given me out of her purse. Do problems go away when you ignore them? Was I feeling better after crying for almost an hour in my place of work? Yes, I was feeling better.
Realizing I hadn't answered Carol's question, I dragged a breath to steady my voice, 'Yes, thank you so much, Carol" I extended my gratitude but the old lady wasn't interested in it.
'Don't thank me, Am. Tell me what's going on. Does it have anything to do with Ken Duke?" She asked looking me squarely in the eyes, as if she was daring me to deny it or worse case, lie to her face.
Another deep breath, 'Why do you think it would have something to do with Ken Duke?" I decided to test the waters before jumping into it. It wasn't that I didn't trust Mrs Carol, I just wanted to be on the safe side.
Turns out Carol knew quite a lot than I thought, 'I know she's been having issues with her marriage, Am. I'm old, not stupid" she shrugged as she responded to my question. That wasn't what I meant when I asked the question though.
'I'm sorry, Mrs Carol. I never intended for you to feel like that" I quickly switched to formalities as I tried to apologize. Even though Carol had been like a mother to me since I was pregnant with the triplets, she was still my boss and it wasn't right to make her feel sub par.
Carol shrugged off my apology, 'It's alright, Am. I just want to know what's going on, that's all. If it requires legal assistance, I can help you with that" she offered with a sympathetic smile on her face. It would have been too hard to miss the bruises Mel usually had from her fights with Ken, Carol was right, legal assistance might just be what we needed.
With the entire event's details drafted out for Carol, I decided to place a call to the house to check in on Melissa. She answered after the third ring and after I had almost gotten a panic attack,
'Amber, you don't have to call all the time, I am not a child besides you've already given me a babysitter" her voice echoed through the phone and I could make out Daniel's voice as he laughed somewhere in the background.
'Is he treating you well?" I asked Mel but Daniel answered in her place, the call was probably on speakerphone.
'I'm taking care of her, Amber. Don't worry" It made me feel oddly at ease about the fact that Daniel was with her. I didn't want to leave her alone with all that had happened and even if Daniel Fletcher had mainly the cause of everything, he had redeemed himself in my books.
'You should pay attention to things around you, Amber" for the second time that day, Carol's voice pierced through my thoughts but this time around, she wasn't behind me as I turned around.
'Your phone has been ringing" she called out and I realized she was in one of the aisles. I quickly turned my attention back to the phone in front of me, how had I not heard it ringing? Two missed calls? It was strange, I had just put the phone down. I hurriedly checked the caller's ID as it started ringing again and just like when I saw Melissa limping with blood all over her, I froze. The ID showed 'MUM"