CAPTURE THIS (Updating regularly)

Chapter 32

Mr Riley seemed to be avoiding her gaze, staring at his shoes as she passed him to grab her mug. 

 "Well it was nice to finally meet you, dear." 

Amber nodded absentmindedly. "You too. Thanks for the tea." 

She hurried up the stairs as quickly as she could without spilling the scalding drink all over her hands. She kicked her room door shut behind her and set down the mug on her desk, releasing a sigh of relief for being out of their sight. 

Her body was already exhausted from the day's endeavours but her mind was racing. She collapsed onto the bed fully dressed. 

It never occurred to her that her father would meet someone new. After her mother died, he was in no shape to be dating again. He focused all of his energy into raising his girls. If the subject was ever broached, he would always say that they were all he needed from this life - that he still had their mother because she lived in them.  And so people stopped trying to set him up. When Ann had turned into a full fledged teen, she tried to set him up with her friends' single mums but he always took it with a pinch of humour, assuring  her that he was fine. Eventually, even Ann stopped trying. As the girls got older and needed him less, he began to throw himself into his work, working his way up to the top at his construction firm. 

Amber assumed the long nights he had been pulling were for the new mall they were building in the town. She never imagined he'd be spending his time with a woman. 

He called her 'love'. The last time she had heard him use that phrase was with her mother. 

"Oh my love. My sweet, sweet love." He had whispered, cradling her limp hand, burying his tear stained face in it.   

Now, to hear him say it to this new woman, Amber couldn't help but feel a little sick. She remembered her mother telling her father to move on when she was in the final stages of her life. 

"Don't you dare isolate yourself, David," she had told him sternly from her hospital bed.

"Don't you worry about me, love," he'd say, shushing her gently. 

Amber knew that her mother would be happy for him but she couldn't stop the knots forming in her stomach. How was this new woman supposed to fit into their lives? She certainly wasn't going to replace their mother. 

She heard the front door shut downstairs and she knew that her father would be waiting for her. His footsteps paced around at the bottom of the staircase, trying to decide whether he should call her downstairs or whether he should come upstairs himself. 

Panic flooded her from her stomach to her chest as his footsteps grew louder. He hesitated before knocking on her door gently. 

She sat up on her bed. "Come in." 

Mr Riley stuck his head through the door sheepishly. He had a nervous smile on his face. 

"Can we talk?" 

Amber nodded and shifted to one side of her bed to leave space for him to sit beside her. 

He perched nervously beside her but didn't speak for a moment. The silence filled that filled the room seemed to replacing the oxygen in it. Amber found herself holding her breath, awaiting his speech.

He took a deep breath and steeled himself over before opening his mouth to speak. His voice was surprisingly tender when he finally did speak. 

"I never expected to meet someone." The earnestness in his voice made Amber instinctively reach other and place a comforting hand on his arm.