Abel
"Who's this, Amara?" Amara's mum says, grinning at me. "Your boyfriend?" She looks just like Amara, only older.
Amara looks at me, unsure what to say. "Um," she starts to say.
"Yeah," I say, smiling. "I'm Abel, Amara's boyfriend." I hold out my hand for her to shake and she takes it, smiling. "It's nice to meet you um . . .?" I trail off. Amara told me that her mum and add were divorced.
"Call me Theresa," her mum says and I smile and nod. She sits back down and me and Amara sit opposite her. "I'm glad you're moving on, Amara," Theresa says. Amara twists her mouth and eyes her mum coldly, then looks down at her menu. "Are you seriously going to give me the silent treatment?"
Amara sighs and looks back up at her mum. "No," she says. "So what are you doing in New York anyway?"
"I came to see you," Theresa replies. "Can you believe it? I wanted to see my daughter."
"You couldn't come and see me three months ago?" she snaps. "I needed you and you weren't there!" I can feel Amara's body shaking with anger, so I put my hand on her thigh and squeeze it a little. She turns around and looks at me, smiling gratefully.
Theresa puts her hand on her head and sighs heavily. "Amara," she says, frustrated. ""I'm here now. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. Do you really think I wanted to see you like that? Depressed? Suicidal?"
I almost choke on my drink. Suicidal?! I look at Amara, who shifts uncomfortably in her seat and avoids eye contact with me. Her hand loosens around mine and she glares at her mum. "You know what?" Amara says. "This was a bad idea. I'm gonna leave." She gets up and storms out the restaurant.
"What? Amara!" I call out. I look at Theresa and her eyes are wide. "It was nice meeting you," I say and quickly grab my jacket and run out the restaurant. "Amara!" I shout, but she doesn't turn around. I run after her and grab her elbow, spinning her around to face me. Tears are streaming down her face and she sniffs, not looking me in the eye. I pull her closer to me and hug her.
I hate seeing her upset like this. I wish she would tell me what exactly happened three months ago, so that I can help her.
After a couple of minutes, Amara pulls away and looks up at me, blinking. "I'm sorry," she says. "I'm just really pissed at my mum. I should get over it and stop whining, but I just can't." More tears start streaming down her cheeks and I wrap my arms around her. I plant a kiss on the top of her head. "God, I'm sorry, Abel," Amara says against my chest. "I shouldn't be dragging you into my problems."
"It's fine," I reassure her. "I don't mind."
Amara pulls away and looks up at me. She tilts her head and squints at me. I can't tell what she's thinking. She shakes her head. "Can we get out of here?" she asks and I nod. "I don't wanna go home, though."
"Okay," I say, coming up with an idea of where I can take her. I put my arm around her waist and steer her towards the car.
Fifteen minutes later, we're walking around central park.
Amara has her arm looped through mine and she stays silent, looking around. "I love it here," she says, more to herself then me. "I always used to come here when I needed time to myself, but would always get lost." Amara starts laughing and I fall into a daze of watching her.
