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Chapter 6: Jealousy

Amelia's POV:

It was 10:12 am when I made my way downstairs.

I found mom in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and a far off look on her face, she looked tired too.

"Hey, mom." I greeted, my voice hoarse after the copious amount of crying I did last night.

"Oh, hey baby." She greeted back, placing her cup on the granite countertop, ushering me over for a hug; I desperately needed one of hers.

Mom's hugs were always very relaxing, soothing even.

"Where's dad?" I asked while rummaging through our vast collection of coffee capsules, completely disregarding the decaf ones.

"He's still at work since last night, one of the patients had severe complications and he had to stay there for monitoring all night." Mom's face took on a more forlorn look.

That must be very tiring for dad; my heart easily went out to him. It also made me second guess my desired choice of schools.

"But of course he's not taking a normal shift today right?" I asked, thinking that it'd be absurd for him to work almost continuously for 24 hours.

"No, no he called me an hour ago, said he'd finish somethings and get back home soon, but he sounded so tired." The concern mom and dad harboured for each other was something I deeply admired, and sometimes even felt slightly jealous of, I wondered if I'll ever find someone to love me unconditionally. My mind subconsciously floated to thoughts about Damien, and I felt my heart clench, knowing that he made it clear that he wasn't my prince charming, not even close.

"I'll spend the day by the beach today, mom, is this okay?" Summer - to me - was mostly about hanging by the sea. I didn't need friends to do that, I loved being there all too much. It always felt as if the waves come and go; they come and take in my worries, miseries and glooms, and go - throwing them far far away. Today, I desperately needed the sea to take my pains.

"Sure, honey."

Just as I was about to ascend the stairs, we heard the front door opening; mom was quick to her feet to go check on dad, I - too - followed, but I wasn't exactly prepared to see who was next to my father.

I wanted to scream out in frustration; why was he always around?

As if the heavens were replying to my questions, dad spoke, "I didn't feel too fit for driving, so Damien offered to drop me off. Laura, I want to rest." Dad definitely looked sleep deprived.

He thanked Damien, gave me a quick hug, and was ready to head upstairs with mom next to him.

They were almost out of sight when mom reemerged, "Damien, are you going back to the hospital?" She asked. I was confused - did it matter?

"Yes, Laura I am, my shift starts at noon." He replied while taking a fleeting look at his wrist watch.

"I'm being very overbearing lately, but can you drop Amelia off at the beach? I don't want her to get heat stroked walking there."

My heart almost stopped. No, no, no.

I wanted to scream at mom, yell 'why are you making this any more awkward', but I obviously couldn't - much to my dismay.

"Of course."

I almost visibly scoffed. Of course he'd agree, after all, I was 'Noah's daughter,' and he was the perfect uncle.

All my previous plans of avoiding him altogether crashed out the window. I didn't know if it was fate playing its games, but I certainly wasn't enjoying those games, not even one bit.