The Abscond

Chapter 3- A move in

"Excuse me, excuse me?" it was a soft voice but still managed to frighten Abigail since she was being extra precautious now. Anyone could be on his side.

"What?" Abi was also quite pissed off to be honest. She felt like she'd only slept for a good ten minutes. "If you're coming to take me home, can you at least do it tomorrow?"

"Honey.. it IS tomorrow and you look like you haven't slept well, would you like to stay a bit at my place? It's just me and my younger brother but he won't bother you!" the lady smiled warmly at her while Abigail stared at her face, searching for a glimpse of a sneaky look or a hint of guilt but nothing and since it was quite, my apologies, VERY uncomfortable on the bench she accepted the offer and the lady took her to their bungalow.

The neighbourhood seemed quiet and the lady, whose name turned out to be Amara, told her it was because the people who lived here were mostly on the older side. But it wasn't just that, the environment was sketchy too. There were either extremely overgrown, hidden areas or dead plants as the first thing you see on their front lawns.

Amara's house seemed to be the first that was actually different. The garden was small but had many types of bright and vibrant flowers with a freshly mowed lawn. It gave off a friendly vibe and as soon as she walked in, she felt very welcomed and safe.

"There's only two beds but the sofa is a sofa bed so you won't mind sleeping there, right?"

Abigail nodded, "Can I-"

"Yes! Of course! Isn't that why I brought you here?" she laughed.

Her cheeks felt hot and she hoped she wasn't blushing (of embarrassment) but then she realised she was black and she lay on the sofa-bed.

*a few hours later*

Abigail woke up. She had finally gotten a good nap and now she needed to figure out what she would do. Slowly, she lifted her head, letting her eyes adjust to the new lighting.

"Sorry. I came to watch some telly and I sat on the other end but you- you um moved."

She looked down to see someone's lap.

'Oh crap,' she thought to herself.

"No, my bad. Sorry I'll move." her cheeks were burning and she giggled embarrassedly and went to the bathroom to wash her face and do her hair. She had covered her hair before sleeping and now she was undoing her plaits, brushing it and doing it again. Once she'd done doing her necessities in the bathroom, she went to the kitchen to make breakfast as a thank you gift for letting her stay. Amara's brother walked in, he was on his phone and getting a cup of water.

"So, you must be Amara's brother?" she asked, trying to start a conversation and not have a awkward moment.

"Yep. I'm Abel! And you must be the guest that's staying with us for some time?" he chuckled.

"That's me!" she laughed a little, "I'm Abigail."

"So um.. if you don't mind telling us why you're here? I mean you don't have to. Sorry, that sounded rude." he queried.

"I guess you're right. I shouldn't be in here without a good explanation-"

"NO! No. That's not what I meant!" he panicked and tried to clear the misunderstanding.

"I'll tell you two later at dinner." she put on a plastic smile. She was always doing that. Back with Youssef, at the pub and now she was starting to do it here. She felt like an eccedentesiast. Fancy word, I know, not a fancy meaning though.

He nodded reassuringly, "Whenever you're ready."

Abel helped her set up the small dining table and the two of them had breakfast.

Since they both had nothing to do, they watched a few episodes of PJ Masks while patiently waiting for Amara to get back home from work.

"I BROUGHT MACCIESSS!!"

As Abel kept sucking up to his sister (for an extra burger of course), Abi grabbed some burgers and placed them onto a plate.

Abigail started stuttering, she was afraid. Afraid she might be kicked out but she knew it wasn't fair on the siblings so through her stutters she made out a few sentences, "So... um. I'm sure you, Amara, have been q-questioning this and if you guys- uhh- want to take a seat, I might tell you guys why I'm here..."