Chapter 76

AMBER'S POV
I knew I had recognized the car pulling out of the parking lot as I drove in, Melissa's mood confirmed my suspicions, Ken Duke had paid her an unexpected visit. It wasn't just Mel that was in a feisty mood, Daniel wasn't exactly in his best mood ever.
'Who's going to go first?" I darted my attention from one person to the other. They had both been sulking ever since I walked into the restaurant, I didn't know how Daniel usually dealt with his problems but I knew my best friend would explode if she didn't talk about what was bothering her.
I fixed my eyes on Mel, 'Shouldn't you be talking already?" I asked as I sat down with a cup of coffee and two adults who were acting like teenagers. I watched the exchange between them and wondered not for the first time, how close they've gotten in so little time.
Daniel finally voiced up after many eye exchanges, 'Ken Duke came to see Lisa" I shot Mel a look, he is back to calling her Lisa, that's nice. She outright ignored the look and I turned my attention back to Daniel.
'Lisa said she wanted to talk to him alone, I agreed but then she came back with a bruise on her hand I hadn't seen before" he concluded, glaring at Mel. His expression mirrored mine as I turned to my best friend.
'He laid his hand on you?" I was ready to place a call to the police immediately, how dare he? Mel gave me a little smile as she slumped onto on of the chairs opposite where I was seated.
'We were just talking" she said. Daniel looked like he wanted to jump on her and strangle her and was having difficulties restraining himself. Mel ignored both of us, 'He came to ask about the kids, he had gone home and no one was there" she finished.
'No shit!" I shouted louder than it had echoed in my head, was he expecting to meet anyone at home after he had wrecked the entire house and almost killed them. 'Now, he wants to see his kids? He didn't know they were his before he started hitting them?!" I knew I wasn't supposed to be directing my anger at Mel but it had been a long day and she was still being stupid.
I couldn't believe Mel was still that naive after everything that had happened, Ken Duke had made it clear he wasn't going to change. What else was she waiting for before she took the necessary steps? For him to kill me? Melissa was smart but she was also raised in a shelter way, letting go of Ken would mean she had to let go of her security and wealth.
I had a first hand experience with losing security and wealth when my mum disowned me and left me to rot on the streets of Los Angeles. I could understand Melissa's fear but I'd rather have nothing with my kids than have a luxury lifestyle that could end up with me losing my life or worse case, my kids lives.
'You should answer your phone" Mel's voice wasn't far from a whisper but it stopped me from attending a meeting with myself in my head in regards to alternatives concerning Melissa. It was the third time that day, I was being told about my phone ringing in my own pocket. If distracted was a person, it would have been yours truly.
For the sixth time that day, my mum was calling me. With everything going on with Mel, adding my mum's unexpected call to her list was something I wasn't ready to do. So, I muttered a little 'excuse me", ignored the stares I was getting from both Mel and Daniel and walked outside the restaurant to answer the call.
The first few seconds were just filled with deafening silence as I waited for my mum to say something, anything at all before I spoke. It seemed her response wouldn't be coming forth so I decided to take the initiative,
'Hello, mum" it had never felt so odd to say anything before in my life. I couldn't help the tear that trickled down my cheek as I choked on the simple greeting. Words I had said over a thousand times in my life, felt so new and so heartbreaking to utter out. I had waited and waited for the day my mum would find it in her heart to forgive me and reach out to me and along the line I had given up.
New hope sprung up in my heart as she slowly responded in the same way she usually did, the same word she had called me for the first 17 years of my life. The same word I had grown accustomed to calling my own little girl, the sweetest word I had ever heard in my life.
'Hi, baby" I heard my mum whispered as if she was fighting back tears the same way I was. Calling me her baby was all she said, that was all she said and it was all she needed to say for the tears to finally break free after so long.
7 years was a long time, a very long time. For 7 years, I hadn't heard my mother's voice, for 7 whole years I had waited on the telephone for her call, for 7 years, I had tried to convince my children that their grandmother loved them but couldn't visit them cause she was old and lived far away. Seven years of lying and harboring hatred all dissolved in tears as they flowed down my face.
I wanted to show her I was strong now, I wanted to make her think I had finally gotten my life in control and everything was fine without her, I needed to let her know I had grown to become a better mother than her but I couldn't say all the things I wanted to and before I could stop myself, I started sobbing, loudly, in front of Melissa's restaurant.