Novel Palace
97
It has been a while since Melanie left the house to get groceries at the nearby store. Archie who has been waiting outside for her return gets tired of waiting and decides to go look for her at the store.
He walks into the living room to see Granny Vera pacing to and fro in the living room. Archie moves his gaze to the couch to see Skye sleeping soundly on the couch. He carefully walks up to Granny Vera in an attempt to not wake the girl up from sleep.
“Granny Vera, didn’t you say the store is just a stone’s throw from here?” he ask the poor woman who has been worried sick about her daughter, who has went to get groceries exactly an hour ago.
“Yes, the store is just a few blocks away from here and she ought to have gotten back by now.” She replies, her voice breaks due to how cold she feels.
“Oh,” Archie sighs for the nth time. “Have you tried calling her? I call her here and she’s not picking up,” he complains, showing his phone to the woman.
“I tried calling, but her line was not reachable. Could she have gone somewhere without letting us know?” Granny Vera raises her eyebrows, staring blankly at Archie to see if he knows anything about her daughter’s sudden disappearance.
“I do not know if she went somewhere else after she left the store. But I will go and look for her.” he let out, walking up to the door without waiting for the woman’s reply.
“It’s quite dark outside, don’t you need a company?” she asks, picking up her coat from the couch.
Archie raises his hand to stop her. “I can go on my own, do not worry. Besides, we can’t leave sleeping Skye alone in this big house, what if she wakes up after we left?” he shrugs and open the door. “I won’t stay long, I promise.” he closes the door behind him and jogs out of the house with his heart beating louder with no way to guard it.
He rushes inside the store and walks up to one of the assistants. He asks Melanie if they have seen her at the store, after describing her looks, height and features the lady tells him that she indeed came to the store and she saw her walk out of the door about forty minutes ago.
Archie thanked the lady and walks out of the store. He have no idea where she went and he couldn’t get his mind straight.
‘Could it be she went to meet Dad’? He shakes his head in disagreement. He knows her too well, she wouldn’t meet his father in secret without telling him; not after what happened.
‘Did something happen to her on the way back home? He sighs. “Stay positive, Archie!” he scolds himself for having such a negative thought about her.
He keeps on walking without checking where he’s going. He tripped and fall on piles of stuff on the floor, his eyes fall on a credit card and he hastily pick it up.
“This looks like hers. Was she here? What happened, why did she drop these here?” he pants heavily as he stands up from the floor, his eyes not leaving the items on the floor.
“Wait, could it be that something happened to her?” he gasp in shock, It feels as though a bucket of cold water spills on him. The thought of Melanie being in trouble makes his mind to be unrest. He grabs the credit card and dashes off, he needs to see someone and that’s his dad.
Running inside the house, he hides the credit card in his pant pocket and rushes up to Granny Vera. “Granny?” he calls, panting heavily.
Granny Vera rushes up to him, wondering what’s wrong with him.
“I got a call from my Dad and I was told that she’s there… With him. So, I’m going over there now to meet them. Please go to bed, I’ll call you after she settles everything with Dad.” he let out, grabbing the woman’s hand and caressing her palm lightly.
“Can you not go tonight? How about you let them be for now, maybe we can go together in the morning.” Granny Vera says, placing her free palm on Archie’s hand that’s resting on her other palm.
“Oh, no I should go there now, they need me.” he forces out a grin and walks out of the house.
Archie flags down a cab, get in and tells the driver where he’s heading. The driver is moving a little bit slow and Archie begs him to speed up.
He grabs his phone and dials his father’s line. The phone rings for a few seconds before it directs his call to the voicemail.
“You better pick up your damn phone right now, I need you more than I need my breath right now,” he yells into the phone as if it’s his father that he’s talking to.This material belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.
He looks out of the window and lets out a heavy sign. “What could be wrong? My gut keeps telling me that something is not right, but I don’t know what it is.” he sighs, dialling his father’s line for the second time but he still did not pick up the call.
‘Shit!’ he cursed under his breath, he lowers his back and rest his head on the headrest, feeling unsettled.
The car pulls to a halt as soon as they get to the mansion. “We are here!” the driver says pulling his attention. Archie looks out of the window and a sigh escapes his mouth.
He brings out his wallet and pays the driver his fee. He’s about to step down from the car when he sees the gate creep open and a car drives out of the mansion at a high speed. Archie narrows his eyes and wonders where his father is driving at that high speed.
He closes the car door and faces the driver. “Can you follow that car? I’ll pay thrice your charge,” he says to the driver, his eyes not leaving the car.