CAPTURE THIS (Updating regularly)

Chapter 32

Mr Riley relaxed at the sound of her laugh. "You know I love you girls more than anything." 

"I know, Dad. I love you too." 

He planted a kiss in her hair before leaving her room with a smile of content still on his face. 

***

"You're kidding." 

"No, he says he loves her, Ann." 

Amber had waited until the next morning to tell her sister about Steph. She needed the night to come to terms with her feelings. 

"But what about Mum?" 

"Mum would be happy for him. You know that." 

Amber balanced her phone between her ear and her shoulders as she shoved her books into her school bag. 

"I know. It's just so weird. I mean, it's Dad." 

Amber knew what she meant. It had been so long since he had shown any kind of interest in a woman. 

"And you're telling me they've been dating?" Ann continued in disbelief. 

"I don't know much about it but she seemed pretty comfortable in our house." 

Ann sighed slightly. "I wish I could see her. Get a feel for her." 

Amber resisted the urge to roll her eyes, despite the fact that her sister would not be able to see it. "You know you could come have dinner with us. I'm sure Dad would be happy if you came." 

"Yeah, right," Ann scoffed. "I'll come when he apologizes for kicking me out. Anyway, it's getting hard to move around. I'm huge, Ambs, and this baby loves jamming himself under my ribs." 

"I want to come down and see you before he's born. I've hardly had time to visit you your whole pregnancy. I can't believe you're already in the third trimester." 

"Yeah, it's like Dad kicked me out yesterday," Ann answered, laughing bitterly. 

This time Amber rolled her eyes. "You could just be the bigger person." 

"Oh, I definitely am the bigger person," she replied with a genuine laugh and Amber couldn't help but crack a smile. "Look, now's the time for you to focus on those exams. Then you can move out for uni and leave the house to Dad and Stacy." 

"It's Steph and you'd better not have that baby before I'm done with my exams." 

"I can't promise you that. The way he's wrestling around in there, you'd think he'd burst his way out any day now. Speaking of which, I have to pee. Again." 

Amber hoisted her bag on her shoulder and hurried down the stairs. "Yeah, I'd better get to school. Give the baby my love." 

"Will do. Bye, Ambs." 

"Bye." 

Amber rushed into the kitchen, in such a hurry to find something resembling breakfast that she missed her dad sitting at the table with a plate of french toast laid out for her. 

"Woah, slow down. Come and have breakfast with me," he told her bemusedly. 

Amber grabbed a piece of toast and took a hasty bite out of it. "I wish I could, Dad but it's the last week before exams. I really can't be late. I'll see you at dinner, though?" 

Mr Riley beamed at her, pleased that she had remembered. For such a huge, tough looking man, a smile like that made him look as harmless as a puppy. 

She gave him a hurried one armed hug before running for the door. 

Now that two of the biggest issues of her life had been resolved, Amber felt like she could breathe easy for the first time in a long time. It seemed as though the stars had aligned for her - she would need her head clear for the next few weeks for intensive exams. Despite all the drama with Alex and her sister, she had not allowed her grades to slip, working into the early hours of the day to make sure all her homework was complete but it would all be for nothing if she failed these exams. The next few years of her life relied on these exams. 

Saf and Zora, however, had different approaches to their exams. Saf had been given an unconditional offer at his university of choice, meaning that he did not need to do well in his exams to attend. Despite this, Amber found him working endlessly to ensure perfect grades. Zora, on the other hand, having been accepted with this modelling agency, was awaiting for school to end so that she could move to Paris for the year, with not much regard to her exams. With Saf attending university in Scotland next year, and Zora moving to Paris, the trio found themselves trying their hardest to find time for each other. It was becoming increasingly difficult what with their differing exam timetables. Any time that was spent together, was spent with an air of sadness lingering in the background. 

Having both of her friends move away and living wildly different lives, Amber couldn't help but stare at herself in the mirror and wonder what it was that she was going to do after their exams ended. She knew that she would have a place at Matthew's agency if she wanted it. He had promised her a position as a junior commercial illustrator as soon as she was ready for it - but that was just the problem - she didn't know if she was ready for it. 

On the one hand, she wanted to prove to her father that it was possible to make good money making art for a living. On the other hand, she agreed with Alex in the sense that she would be sacrificing artistic integrity. Did she really want to start a career making logos? 

Instead, she chose to delay the decision by focusing on her exams. But it meant seeing less of Alex, her sister and her friends. 

***