Chapter 78

MELISSA'S POV
'Yes, she'd like to serve him papers"
'No, I don't think so"
'There are some things I don't understand, Carol"
With my legs crossed on the chair in front of me, I listened quietly to the conversation Amber was having with her boss, Mrs Carol on the phone as she paced from one end of the room to the other. Standing still was one of the things Amber wasn't great at and was mostly influenced by her moods.
I knew it would upset Amber to find out about the meet up with Ken but I also wasn't expecting her to hurriedly make a decision for me. As soon as Daniel had ratted me out, the next thing she did was whip out her phone and dialed her boss, saying what we needed was legal assistance in dealing with Ken.
I wanted to divorce Ken, I had to, I couldn't stay in an abusive relationship anymore but I needed to do it at my own pace. I didn't want to rush the whole process, I just wanted to stay away from him long enough to find my footing, pun intended but I needed to drag out the process a little bit.
'Thanks, Carol. I'll see you tomorrow" It felt like the call was about to end but then her expression changed. It seemed her boss had asked her a question that she had been trying to avoid. I knew I was keeping stuff from her but it was unlike Amber to keep things from me also.
'I'm fine, Carol. I'll call her later" Call her? I looked towards Daniel to see if he had noticed the switch in Amber and always the observant basket baller, he had. We exchanged looks that Amber outright ignored as she tried to wrap up the conversation quickly.
'I'll see you tomorrow, Carol. Don't worry about me, you should get some rest too" It wasn't just Mrs Carol that needed rest, I thought, we all needed to rest. It had been a very exhausting 24 hours and all I wanted was to run a bubble bath with jasmine, scented candles and a certain billionaire by my side.
'The kids? They're alright, everyone is okay, Carol. Goodnight" Now that Amber had made mention of the kids, I realized they hadn't been around for awhile, didn't she pick them up? I decided to wait till she was done with her call before dropping the million dollar question, 'Where are our children?"
'Did anyone pick the kids up?" Amber asked the question I had the intention of asking as soon as she dropped the call. Daniel and I exchanged glances, was she seriously asking us that question? We had both been in the restaurant most of the day, there was no way we could have picked up the kids. Besides, wasn't she supposed to do it?
Reading my look, Amber shook her head slightly, 'I had been preoccupied, I thought you guys were going to pick them up" she said as she looked from Daniel to me and then back to Daniel. I cast a glance at the huge cuckoo clock placed in the dining area and I almost flew out of my sear when I saw what the time was.
Apparently, I wasn't the only one that had looked at the clock, it wasn't just way past their closing hour, it was almost dark. Were they still at the school or had they gone home themselves? Stacey usually carried enough cash just In case she had to run errands for me but with what had happened, I knew my daughter wouldn't have been able to go anywhere on her own.
Without waiting for a response from the both of us, Amber grabbed her bag and raced out of the restaurant, only stopping at the door to yell,
'Call the principal!" If the kid were still at the school, Curtis would have placed a call to either of us but since nothing of the sorts came through, the chances of them still being at the school was very slim.
Sensing my discomfort, Daniel placed a hand on my shoulder, 'Take a deep breath, Lisa. We'll find them, don't worry" he sounded very sure we would find them and I took a deep breath. We were going to find them, I had to believe we would.
My mind involuntarily went to Ken, he was a very unpredictable man, there were chances he had decided to take the kids after the threats he gave me earlier on but knowing my children, it would be hard for him to succeed. But Ken knew close to nothing about everything that had happened, what were the chances he would end up following his father?
The principal had confirmed no one was at the school through the security guard, it was even too late for anyone to be there in the first place. I thanked him after I had successfully convinced him the kids were fine and they had just forgotten something back at the school.
Turning to Daniel whose hand was resting on mine as he drove to Amber's house, I sort for any kind of solace, anything to keep me going till we found the kids. It was a struggle, shuffling the previous night's event and being optimistic about the new happenings but I had to do it nonetheless, a lot was depending on my positivity.
'Lisa?" 'Lisa?!"
'Ouch!" I exclaimed as pain shot up my hand, I turned my attention to Daniel, 'What was that for?!" I almost yelled at him. He didn't look remorseful but rather, he looked irritated. Following his eyes, I saw my phone had been ringing and I had been in my head, that was why he had squeezed my hand to get my attention.
Daniel looked at me phone and back at me, 'Won't you pick up?" He asked as he focused on the road again. One of the things dealing with a very controlling husband had thought me was to not pick up calls from strangers but our kids were missing and I was panicking.