BEFORE NOON (On Hold)

Chapter 6-Looking for Emily

Mrs Denis came out of Emily's room and enters the sitting room looking perplexed.

"Where is Emily?" She asked the bodyguards at the alley.

"She's in her room Ma" A guard replied.

"She isn't there, where else could she be?"

The guards said nothing, and she walked past them to the kitchen.

"Where is Emily?"She asked again, and so many eyes fell on her.

"She should be in her room now ma," A middle-aged housekeeper says.

"Don't I know that? I can't find her !" She yells.

Gritting her teeth, she said "I just hope that she didn't bolt, and none of you knew about it"

"Where is Addy? Did he leave with her?" She asks.

"Ma!" Addy ran into the kitchen, Grace nods at him to continue.

"I didn't get notified she wanted to leave, and...her Car is missing " he hardly spoke out.

"Oh my God!" she exclaims and clutched her chest.

                           ***

Emily stuck in traffic, she turns to the unknown driver and asked.
"Why...are they not...moving...their cars?"

"I will wait here, and you go ask them" The dark-skinned driver replies. He has a black short dread, and brown piercing eyes, with perfect trimmed sideburns that connected with his goatee. He was anything but simply dashing.

Emily raises her hood over her head and stepped out of the car. She heads towards the cars up front, and taps on a windscreen.

" Hey...move your...car, you're obstructing...us," she says to the man, but before he could reply, she dashed to another.

"Move...your car...please" she continues.

Behind her, the man that drove her got out of the car, shut the door and bolted, abandoning her.

"Will you drive...now, there are too...many of us...behind you?" she says slowly and turns to head to another,  but the laughter of the ladies in the car made her halt.

"What are you saying?" one of the ladies asked her, whining down her window glass.

"I...said...you're holding...many of us...back from moving. We have...somewhere...to be...at" she manages to say audibly. 

"Then you go up front and solve whatever issue that caused the traffic jam, clown" The other lady replied stifling a laugh.

"Traffic jam?...what's traffic...jam? What's going...on there?" She asks all at once, stretching her head to see the problem upfront.

They looked at her like she was crazy, and one said sarcastically. "it's a new yam festival "

Emily turned to look at her"New yam festi..."

"Yes, since you have no idea what a traffic jam is. It's a new yam festival " They laughed mockingly again.

Emily scratches the nape of her neck confusedly. "So...if it's a new...yam festival, we...won't be let...to pass?" she asked in a weak voice, hoping she wasn't embarrassing herself.

"I can't believe she bought it"the lady laugh out loudly  "Is she crazy?"

Emily's face reddened at being called crazy.

They continued laughing as though she entertained them so much.

If this was what the world truly looks like, then she'd prefer to live the rest of her life in the four corners of her room. Without being perceived as a patient in the rehab centre.