Beyond repair

Chapter 3

The cold air stung Melissa's cheeks as she stepped out into the streets, but she was still determined to get on with her day as she had planned earlier. Each step through her local area brought a painful memory that she was forced to relive in silence.

The shop on the corner, held the image of Isabel leaning over the large freezer in the centre of the shop where she would pick out an ice lolly. Summer or winter she had to have one, the only changing factor would be the flavour. Strawberry was her favourite, mango was for if she felt it was a special day, and, on days she felt were particularly boring, she would choose blueberry or raspberry and then marvel over the next 30 minutes about how blue her tongue and lips had gotten.

Further down the street was the pet shop. That was one of the worst places to have to pass if they were ever in a hurry as Isabel would stand and stare through the window to check which of her favourite animals were still for sale. She named every pet that went into that shop and often bartered with the shop owner so that he would reserve her favourites. Of course, he never did due to Melissa's instructions that they would not be getting a pet anytime soon. David was allergic and they had too much of a busy schedule to worry about pet training. As Melissa passed the pet shop she noticed a new batch of kittens on display in the corner of the shop. Today would have been one of the worst as Isabel would have insisted that they went in to check the new kittens, where she would name them and choose which would be an ideal candidate to take home.

Melissa slowed to look through the window and saw a perfect, fluffy, ginger kitten peering over the side of the kitten's pen.

Isabel would have loved that one, Melissa thought, and wondered if it would have made coping easier if they had bought Isabel a kitten. They would have at least that live reminder of Isabel's playful and caring nature, or perhaps they would have grown annoyed with its presence, who wants a cat in place of a daughter? Maybe we could have traded places between the cat and Isabel, she thought, wishing such a compromise would have been possible. I would have exchanged all of the cats in her place, David too.

A small gasp left her lips at the realisation of what she had just suggested. Her focus was no longer on the pen full of kittens but on her reflection in the glass window. Any mother would have thought a similar thing, she told herself. It was just in passing, it's not like I've hired a hitman for him or anything.

She turned away from the window determined to get on with the day. Just focus on what's ahead, she told herself trying to keep her gaze away from the shops as she passed. There was a small toy shop, a stationery shop, and even the post office, which all held memories of Isabel and her everyday antics. Melissa's instinctively held her hand up against the side of her face as a blinder to shut out the shops as she passed. She was grateful that David had declined to accompany her, it would have been uncomfortable, to say the least, and he would have found some reason to lash out if the way he had behaved in the bedroom was anything to go by.

She had promised herself lunch, but she didn't feel much like eating, so she opted for a coffee at the café across the road from the shoe shop. She'd never visited this café before, she didn't go to cafes much at all as she would normally end up in Mcdonald's or somewhere similar due to Isabel being her main company on her outings.

"Melissa," a man said as he approached her table.

There was something notable about his face, a faint recognition, but she couldn't recall exactly where she knew him from.

"How have you been?" He asked in an all too familiar way.

"I'm sorry," she said lacking the patience to attempt to work out their acquaintance. "Do we know each other?"