Within Amie Ch 02

Hi!!! This is the SECOND installment of WITHIN AMIE

I'm a part time English speaker so naturally, there would be grammar mistakes and confusing sentences here and there LOL so I'm sorry for that.

With love, Jayleen

***

Breakfast was eerily quiet. I stole a glance at Edmund but he was reading the newspaper devoutly. I pouted to myself as I ate my breakfast quietly. I couldn't think of what to say to him. I knew that he was angry and hurt by me but I just couldn't find my voice to say the perfect words to appease him. I stole another glance at him, this time, he looked directly at me. Startled, I accidentally flung my fork and it flew across the restaurant. He broke into a cheery laughter at my clumsiness.

"Here, use mine," he said as he gave me his fork. "Try to not throw it this time. You're lucky if you don't stab someone with it."

I stuck my tongue out at him again, forgetting for a moment how horribly guilty I was at him. I stabbed my chicken meat, pretending that it was him. He laughed at me again. "Glad I amused you, Edmund," I said.

"Amie, you're priceless," he told me.

"Yeah, that's why you can't afford me," Opps, that went horribly wrong and out of context. I looked at him, "Look I didn't mean it that way..." I sighed. He touched my cheek, I marveled at his soft touch on my skin. "Sorry."

He shook his head, "I'm not that sensitive," he said, "Don't plague yourself with trying to please me to do things you don't want to do."

I looked up at him. "We should go and find my mother after this." I said hurriedly, desperate to change the subject.

"Of course Amie," he nodded, "Let's eat." He added with a little smile.

He didn't speak to me afterwards. Breakfast was once again quiet and strangely, I welcomed the silence between us despite the incessant chatting from neighbouring tables in the restaurant.

I looked around the restaurant after I had finished eating. We didn't look much different from the humans except for our eyes. I think if the humans stood long enough and stared right into our eyes, they would probably notice the silvery colour in them. Oh, we could retort back to our demonic side but seriously, who would want to walk around with their scaly skin, bloody red eyes and the occasional horns or even a tail for crying out loud! I thanked my lucky heritage stars that my demonic side was only scaly skin, a long thin tail and a bundle of crackling powers. I was also blessed with the power to read minds so that was a plus. I touched my necklace briefly, knowing that I would have to go home soon but funnily, I really liked the strange sun that emitted golden sunny rays and the feel of the warm heat on my skin. I was so used to Ersta's bloody red sun and cold surrounding that I forgot how good it felt of my other side of heritage.

"Hey, are you going to ignore me the entire time we are here?" I asked him when he folded his newspaper half.

He looked at me, "No, don't be silly Amie," he said and then he took a sip from his coffee, "Humans food do taste good." He added randomly as he broke his bread half and then dipped it into a dipper.

I sighed, "This is probably why I stopped the kiss," I told him, pausing, "You're being awfully difficult."

He stopped in mid track and looked at me, "I probably should tell you that I'm not good with rejections," he said, "But don't worry, I'm not going to give up. I will court you, Amelee Bernaugh." He said and then he stood up.

I looked up at him. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere in particular, Amie," he said, pausing as he placed the white napkin on the table. "I'll just have a little sight-seeing."

I watched him signaled the waitress for our breakfast bill. He looked at the bill for a moment and then took out his wallet and fished out a hundred dollar bill. "No change," he said with a smile, "Take the rest as tips." The waitress smiled widely. She thanked him and then gave me an envious look just as she turned.

I sighed and put my napkin on the table. "I'll go with you," I said to him as I stood up. "You're my keeper, you shouldn't leave me alone." I teased him.

"Don't tease me, Amie," he grumbled, "I'd drag you to bed." He said warningly.

I laughed at him as I hooked my left arm to the crook of his right elbow. "You wouldn't dare," I said to him, "You're far too sweet."

He gave me a mischievous smile. "Well, don't try to temp me."

We walked out from the restaurant, my left arm still linked to the crook of his right elbow and a rather weird feeling coursed right into me. I unhooked my arm from his elbow when we reached the main door of the hotel. I felt uncomfortable with the thudding in my heart, I was strangely aware of his being a man which was silly because I knew that Edmund was a guy all along. "Maybe we should go to my mother's house again," I suggested to him.

"And skip our sight-seeing?" he asked me with a smile.

"Oh c'mon, we can do sight-seeing later, we have limited time in the mortal dimension remember?" I shook my head as I started to walk faster down the sidewalk. Edmund followed me wordlessly. He knew that I was right, we had only limited time in the mortal world before we would fall weak, ah yes, we might be able to tolerate for a year or two but I really didn't want to spend my time cooped up in my bedroom healing.

I missed my father more than ever and I hoped that by doing his final wish, I would be able to honour his memory. I wondered how my mother looked like after all of these years. Edmund seemed to notice my silence since he quickened his pace and walked by my side. He didn't say anything but I knew what he wanted to say. People walked past us, deeply immersed with their daily lives. I knew that I should have requested to come to the mortal world years ago but I wasn't sure if I could handle it alone. I wasn't brave enough to swim through the ocean of uncertainty when I meet my estranged mother. Would she even recognized me?

I was deeply in my thoughts that I didn't realize that we were finally standing in front of my mother's front door. I looked at Edmund and took a deep breath as I pressed the doorbell again but like yesterday, there was no answer.

"Are you sure this is the correct house?" I asked him after the fifth ring.

Edmund went to my side, "Of course, I'm sure, the Elders knows everything." He reminded me. I sighed and pressed the bell one last time before I finally gave up. "Maybe we could go walk around for a while and then come back."

"Yeah, it's probably more worthwhile," I agreed with his suggestion. We were about to turn and then froze as a beautiful middle-aged woman with short curly blond hair dropped her grocery bag on the floor. She looked at us with shocked expression.

"Amelee?" she croaked at me, determined to know the answer.

I blinked at her. I looked at Edmund but before I could even say anything. The woman ran to me and enveloped me into a very warm loving embrace. She kissed my cheeks and she looked at me tearfully.

"Sarah McEvoy?" Edmund asked coolly.

Sarah looked up to the tall broad shouldered handsome man who was standing my side. "Y-yes, I'm Sarah," she nodded vigorously as she let me go. I was still in a state of shock.

"How did you know me?" I asked her.

"Your father sent me pictures of you over the years, we had never lost contact except sixteen years ago...I was so heartbroken when he didn't send me more news about you," she started to sound hysterical, "He – he told me that he would bring you to see me but he never did keep his promise but – but it's OK, you're here now, where is your father?" her unstoppable flow of statements made me dizzy with confusion.

Edmund held me close to support me. "Easy, Sarah, you're going to make her faint," he warned her but he said it in a friendly way.

"W-what do you mean?" I stammered at her.

"Didn't he tell you?" my mother asked me, her green eyes shone, "We've been exchanging pictures and letters via dimensional portals. He – he gave me a box full of things to allow me open a simple portal. He never did reply any of my letters anymore." She looked at me brokenly.

I bit my lips. I looked at Edmund. Whatever shall I do? I thought to him. He looked at me and mouthed, 'the truth'. "Sarah – um, Mom, Dad – well, Dad, Dad passed away sixteen years ago from a war, that's why he couldn't reply your letters or bring me to see you," I paused, regret flooded inside me as I saw her beautiful face contorted brokenly, fresh pearls of tears rolled down her cheeks. "I – I came here today because he wanted me to meet you."

She embraced me once again, tightly. "I missed you so much, Amie!" She broke into heavy sobs and I had to struggle on my footage to keep myself from falling to the floor. "Are you going to stay here with me?"

That question made me locked gaze with Edmund. He knew what was brewing in my mind. I looked at him desperately. He cleared his throat and touched my mother's left shoulder. "We can't stay here forever Sarah," he said gently at her. My mother turned to look at him as she released her embrace on me. "We can only stay here for a short period of time. You know what had happened before." He reminded her in a soft tone.

She looked heartbroken. "I understand," she replied timidly and then her face contorted trying to look cheerful, she grabbed my arms and continued, "We should spend a quality mother and daughter time, I'll show you around and – and, where are you staying now?"

I was still dumbfounded with the discovery of bumping into my mother that I couldn't answer her straight away. I did look like her except for our hair and eyes' colour. Hers was a short curly blond hair while mine was a deep auburn. I had inherited my father's hair and eyes' colour.

"We're staying at The Crystal Hotel, Sarah," Edmund prompted.

"Oh no, please, I have plenty of rooms inside my house," Sarah said, shaking her head, "Hotel bills are costly."

"No, Sa- um, Mom, we couldn't intrude," I finally got my voice back.

My mother looked at me, "Don't be silly, Amie,"

"Look, I'll leave the two of you alone, I'll go back to the hotel and cancel our stay there, Edmund said, trying to be polite.

"Thank you, um -," Sarah furrowed her eyebrows.

"Edmund," he told her. "My name's Edmund."

"Thank you Edmund," Sarah was grateful. She knew that he was only going to allow her and me to have a quality time together. I supposed that I ought to be grateful as well since this was probably the last time I could ever see her. Frequent comings to the mortal dimension in a short period of time would prove fatal.

"See you later, Edmund," I waved him good bye. He smiled at me and then turned to walk down the path.

"Is he your boyfriend?" my mother piped in after Edmund's back vanished to the corner of the road. I looked at her, startled with my mother's assumption.

"No, he – he's just a friend," I answered, feeling a blush crept in.

"Oh," she seemed to be thinking something but whatever it was, she didn't tell me. I didn't want to read her mind even though I could do it. It just felt weird to intrude into her mind and highly impolite! She went to the front door and unlocked it. She pushed it open and looked at me, "Come Amie, I'll show you around."

Her house was small but it was homey. The front door opened to a narrow hallway that branched into a small contemporary furnished living room. The hallway was filled with smart organized frames of pictures of me when I was a little child. There were pictures of me when I was born, I touched the frame and felt amazed with how fragile I had looked. My mother looked at me, a little happy smile broke on her face as I continued to look at the rest of the pictures on the wall. There was about a few random pictures of me ranging from one year old to the last picture she had of me, when I was twelve. There was even a small family portrait of my parents and me where my mother had held me in her arms.

"I missed him so much," my mother whispered, touching my father picture, "I was so surprised when he told me the truth about his nature. I thought he was lying, you know, I figured that maybe he didn't want to take responsible over me and you but oh, I couldn't believe my eyes when he turned into his demonic form." She looked like she was about to burst into tears so I went to her and held her in my arms. She calmed herself down and wiped her face with both of her hands, she chuckled lamely, "I'm sorry dear, I'm being silly."

"It's OK Mom," I assured her gently. It was strange to finally hold my mother. I had never noticed it before but having her standing close by me finally made me realized of how REAL my mother was. She was warm and real, she was really standing here with me, she looked so fragile, her mortal physique made me wanted to protect her. I was overwhelmed with the feeling of finally meeting my mother that I couldn't really focus on anything else. She straightened up and took out a couple of tissue from her purse and started to dab on her face. "He still loved you even when his time had come to an end." I continued, hoping that little fact would make her happier.

"I loved your father too," she replied meekly. "I was devastated when he didn't contact me anymore, I – I thought that he had forgotten about me, I had never thought the possibility of him being dead..." her voice trailed off into a silent distance. She cleared her throat and pretended to look perky but I knew that her heart was bleeding profusely. She gave me a little tour of her three-bedroom bungalow. Her house had a big basement which was basically a place for her to paint and write stories during her free time. The basement was also furnished in a rather homey modern taste with cheerful colours. I didn't know that my mother, apart from running her own café, was quite an excellent painter and a successful author. She said that she could have moved to a bigger house but she couldn't have the heart to move away since the house was a gift given by my father for their first year anniversary.

The three bedrooms, she told me, was obviously a master bedroom where she slept and when she opened the second door, I was amazed to see my old nursery. My mother still kept my little wooden crib and other baby things. I picked up a familiar looking old teddy bear which my mother had happily told me how inseparable I was with Mr. Beary – seriously, I christened my teddy bear as Beary – boring plain name for a bear! Was that me? A very boring kid? Seriously? I gaped at her.

But my mother had laughed on. "You're over thinking, Amie, you were just a kid back then."

It was nostalgic to stand in my old nursery. I couldn't really remember my time here but ironically, I remembered the stupid bear. I hugged the bear to my chest as she took me to the next room which was a guest bedroom.

"Where would Edmund sleeps?" I asked her carefully as she pushed open the window to let the air circulate in the bedroom.

"He's your boyfriend," my mother teased me, "I figured you two would want to spend the night together...."

"Mom!!" I cut her words off. "He's NOT my boyfriend!"

"I know, I know," my mother laughed, "I was just teasing you, Amie. Are you always this serious back in Ersta?"

Great, I amused my mother. She kept on chuckling. I breathed my old teddy and remembered the soft silky feel of its fur. "I have a little resting place down in the basement with a bed, do you think he would be OK with it?"

"He'll survive," I drawled out dryly. Seriously, she still found it an amusing idea of my being with Edmund!

"How old is he anyway?" my mother asked.

"Twenty-nine," I answered shortly as I looked out to the window. I was amazed to see a beach stretched out just a few meters away. "You have a beach?" I asked stupidly. I could see people walking in their bikinis and suntan lotions.

My mother laughed, "Yes, I have a small house but fantastic backyard!" she paused, "Amie, don't you think he's too old for you?" she asked me, reverting back to Edmund.

I looked at her with aghast, "Mom! I told you! There's nothing going on between me -," my mother held her hand up, stopping my little words in mid sentence.

"I know what you said Amie but I'm not blind," she told me.

"What do you mean, Mom?" I was curious this time. I turned and put the teddy bear on the bed.

"I saw how he looked at you, so I thought that maybe -," I cut her words this time.

"Mom, you thought wrong," I said grimly.

"Ok, ok," my mom said, trying to bring light to our suddenly tensed conversation. I didn't know why I was so defensive about it. "How about we go and have a tour at my café? You should try my famous Chocolate Vanilla-filled cupcakes! Do you remember how you used to beg me to make them everyday?"

I smiled at her. I remembered that particular memory clearly. "Sure Mom, let's go."

"How about Mr. Beary?" she teased me.

"Very funny, Mom." I said pouting at her as she burst into laughter.

***

The café like my mother's little house had a feeling of home inside. I could see a number of people inside the cool air-conditioned café enjoying their coffee and an array of little muffins and bread. There were little tables with comfortable chairs outside the café with more people sitting and socializing with one another. My mother introduced me to her workers but she didn't tell them that I was her daughter. I could understand why she did that, it would be weird for them to know that their boss had an eighteen-year-old daughter whom they hadn't seen.

Besides I wasn't going to stay here on a permanent basis so why complicate things for my mother? It was enough for me and her to know the truth about us.

My mother had to leave me alone for a while to check on her café but it was all right, I could sit here and munch my mother's famous chocolate cupcakes. I sat down on one of the empty armchairs in the café and propped open a magazine.

"Hey," a voice startled me and I accidentally flung my half-eaten cupcake to the air. The voice laughed, "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, Amelee."

I looked at one of my mother's café workers. A handsome nineteen year old guy with jet black short spiky hair plopped down the armchair next to me and smiled, "Um, aren't you supposed to be working?" I asked, half annoyed and half embarrassed of my clumsiness.

"I finished my shift," he replied coolly.

I felt tremendously annoyed with his cool demeanour or perhaps I was just still embarrassed with him catching me unprepared. "What do you want?" I asked, half gritting my teeth.

"I'm Rob – um Robert Sherman," he said, introducing himself. As we progressed into a much friendlier conversation, I became more comfortable with his presence. We continued to talk about random things and I found out that he was attending a local university on scholarship and he was working part time with my mother for extra source of income. "How about you?" he asked me.

"Me?" I looked at him dubiously.

"I heard Ms. McEvoy introducing you to the others, what? Are you her niece or something?" he asked me.

I ignored his question as I surreptitiously changed the topic, "You know, the cupcakes here are awesome."

"Yes, you should try the chicken lasagna and my secret concoction of Vanilla Sundae," he said grinning.

I couldn't help but to feel awed with him. Here he was, all cute and broad-shouldered and definitely interesting. My mother suddenly came to my side and looked apologetic at me, "Amie, honey, look I'm really sorry, I have to go and handle something,"

"The coffee maker machine is causing havoc again?" Rob asked her, smiling.

"Yes, and this time, the stupid coffee machine broke down for good. I have to go and find a replacement ASAP," she paused, looking at me now, "Hey, Rob, are you free later?"

I didn't like where this conversation was going but I heard it anyway, "Yeah, I don't have any classes later. It's a whole free afternoon for me."