Threads of Compassion

Part 7

Continuing off from a momentary cliffhanger.... Emily did her best intent at a happy smile, "I missed coming here too. Being surrounded by this is nice. I've just been busy in the past months...."

"Some days after your last visit here with me I had to leave for a trip. Since I had to go on that trip I asked my niece from England — her name is Norea — to take over for the next 4 months of my trip. I hope she took care of the store well while I wasn't here." The woman said with a sweet smile to her favorite client, Emily.

"Oh, well, as I said I've been well um busy the past months which were while you were on your trip so I didn't get to visit this store while your niece was here." Emily said a bit apologetically with a slight —forced— smile plastered on her face.

"That's a shame, I believed you and my niece could have been great friends. She, like you, is also very involved in the artist world. Now that I think about it, you, your brother Alex, and my niece Norea, and Xavier would have been a nice friend group." The lady said kindly, Emily knew she meant no harm by those words but they stung deeper than they should.

Emily tensed at Xavier's mention but she tried to be kind to the woman, she had always been kind to her and now was not the moment to change. Especially because clearly the woman had known of Alex's death yet, probably because she had been gone on her trip while that happened.

In the kindest voice that Emily could possibly muster she said, "Sure is a shame I couldn't meet your niece, Norea. She must be a really nice girl."

The woman smiled at Emily and nodded in agreement, "My pretty little niece sure is a nice girl. What a shame." The woman sighs sadly but then suddenly gets a burst of a thought, an imaginary little light bulb shining at the top of her head. "I just remembered that before my trip I knew your brother's birthday was coming up soon so I prepared a gift for him but since you never came around before my trip I could never give it to you." The woman kept smiling as she spoke and she bent down under the counter to get the gift. She then got out a small rectangular box covered in a gold paper wrapping. "Here, take it to your brother since he isn't here."

Emily's smile faltered but she did her best to keep it up, "Sure. Thanks. It's very considerate of you, Ms. Mayweather." She reached for the present with a trembling hand, and then held it against her chest. She did her best to not show how devastated she was from not having her brother get this before dying.

"Of course. It's no big deal but you and your brother are my favorite customers and you two are really good kids. I had to give this to him. I sincerely wanted to do it in person but I haven't had time since I came back. I've been on my toes waiting for you two to come. Where is Alex today anyway? You two have always come together?"

Emily's smile faded a bit and she opened her mouth to speak a lie but then she felt a strong arm go around her shoulder holding her close to the person who was many inches taller than her.

"Oh good afternoon, Ms. Mayweather, do you think you could hurry to tell us how much it will be? Me and Emily have to leave soon." It was the Murderer's voice.

The woman, Ms. Mayweather looked up at Xavier, "Oh my. Of course. It's nice to see you Xavier. I won't hold you guys back now. Sorry about that."

"It's okay," Xavier's voice was so soft and gentle, it was hard to believe truly was a murderer. "We're just in a hurry today."

Emily was tense under his grasp. But she didn't fight him as she was frozen; her mind was a blur of questions, emotions and pain. Ms. Mayweather quickly scanned all the items and put them in a shopping bag. Emily stood there frozen in Xavier's arm as he paid for her stuff.