Chapter 4: A visit to Ja' Parks Tertiary Company.
Amelia's bulgy eyelids parted and closed slowly as she let out a soft yawn. It was morning and the rays of the sun found its way into her room through her large window.
She had been awake for minutes but didn't open her eyes, neither did she get out of bed.
She felt too weak to do anything, and she wished she could lay in bed the whole day. But that was never going to happen. She had things to do.
She recalled Freddie promised to give her a gift after the party yesterday, but she couldn't remind him about it. Not after what went down at the party.
She opened her eyes again, this time, not closing it. She laid on her left side and her eyes were directly on her parents frame that sat on the table in front of her. She stared at their smiley faces for a long time, and let out a sigh.
She gripped the mattress firmly and dragged herself up. She sat up and yanked the bedspread off her body. She stared at her injured yet straight leg and saw blood stained the bandage already.
She shook her head in regret and lifted her left leg with her hands. She moved her leg off the bed and slowly placed it on the floor, using her hands as support. She could still feel severe pain in her leg.
She threw her right leg off the bed too and slowly stood up. The little weight she applied on her left leg sent a stinging pain to her brain, and she groaned, holding her thighs very tight. She lifted her left leg from the floor and allowed all of her weight to rest on her right leg.
After a few minutes, the pain subsided. She felt hot and began to crave a cold shower. She slowly let go of her leg and turned to face the bed.
Her left leg was still hanging in the air. She checked her bedspread and saw it wasn't stained.
She had to change the old one last night when her blood stained it. She was relieved that the new one wasn't stained too.
She hopped to her bathroom door and when she opened it, she heard a knock on her door.
Her heart skipped a bit as she heard the knock. She looked at the door and waited to hear who it was before she opened it.
'I won't open the door if it's Ava or Hudson. I am too weak for trouble,' She told herself.
"Amelia, are you still sleeping?" She heard Freddie's voice, and her eyes closed, and she exhaled in relief.
"I'm awake, Uncle. I'll get the door now."
She hopped to the door and held onto the wall with her left hand while she turned the door knob with the right.
Freddie smiled faintly and walked into the room. He was dressed in a neatly ironed white shirt and black trousers.
He looked around the room and saw her blue dress laying on the floor. "Good morning, Uncle," She greeted him, and he looked at her.
He was about to reply when he noticed she was standing on one foot.He saw the bandage on her leg, and he folded his eyebrows.
"What happened?" He asked, and Amelia shook her head.
"Nothing."
She hopped to the bed and sat on it. Freddie moved closer to the bed and also sat down.
"Nothing? Amelia, you have a bandage on your leg. Tell me what happened." He uttered worriedly.
'If I tell you your children did this to me, you would never believe it. It will cause more trouble than good.' She thought and lowered her head.
"I hit my leg on the stairs last night when I was coming to my room. The dress made me pretty unstable," She said, and looked at him.
"Oh wow, I'm very sorry about that. We should treat the wound well so that it doesn't get infected," He advised, and she bobbed.
"I did that yesterday, Uncle. I made use of the first aid box. Don't worry, it will heal in no time." She said, faking a smile.
"I hope so." Freddie kept mute for some seconds, he looked up and heaved a sigh.
"Charles Parker called me today," He suddenly said, and Amelia looked at him and gulped hard. She nodded for him to continue.
"He informed me that James is at the office and you should grab this opportunity to apologize to him." He looked at Amelia.
"I should go to his office to apologize?" She asked, and Freddie nodded.
"That is what Charles told me. Maybe he is always calmer at work. I don't know," He responded. "I'll go. I want you to be happy with me," She said, and Freddie smiled.
"But…" He pointed to her leg, and she looked at her leg. "I'll manage. The apology is more important than my cut."
Freddie nodded and said, "I'll drop you off at his office then. I have an outside meeting, and I'll be passing by his company. I need you to clean up as soon as possible. My meeting is in two hours." He looked at his luxury wristwatch after speaking.
"I'll start cleaning up immediately," She assured him, and he stood up.
"Okay." He walked to the door and held the door knob. He turned to look at her and said,
"Make sure you clean that wound well and apply some medicine. Do not also forget to take some pain relief," He stated as he opened the door.
Amelia nodded with a smile, and when Freddie was out and the door was closed, the smile faded off immediately. She looked at her wounded leg and tears heated her eyes rapidly.
"Maybe one day Uncle would know his children are evil. I would make sure I won't be the one to tell him. He would find out himself," She muttered sadly.
Freddie pulled up in his Mercedes Benz car, in front of the Ja' Park's Tertiary Company.
Amelia peered out through the tinted window of the car and marveled at the beauty and hugeness of the company. She tried looking at the roof, but it was too tall for her to see from inside the car.
"Here we are. Once you are done, take a taxi back home. I need to leave right now, I have less than thirty minutes before the meeting commences." Amelia nodded, and hastily unplugged her seatbelt.
She opened the door and stepped out of the car, minding her injured leg. She turned to the car and lowered her upper body.
"Thank you, Uncle. Bye." She waved at the car, and Freddie zoomed off almost immediately.
She turned to the company and saw some people that were around, staring at her. They were dressed very beautifully and classy. She looked at her outfit and began to feel inferior.
She wore a black T-shirt and baggy jeans. She also wore a shining-black leather flat shoe. She let her hair fall loose on her shoulders, and she didn't apply any makeup.
'Am I too casual?' She wondered.
She looked up again and saw that those that stared at her were gone already. This relieved her.
She tried walking properly, but her left leg wasn't ready for that. Though she could hide the wound under her jeans, she couldn't hide the pain.
She approached the large entrance of the company, lifting her left leg carefully. She got into the company and saw a woman sitting behind a desk. Amelia recognized her to be a receptionist.
"Good morning." Amelia greeted her with a soft smile.
The receptionist looked up from the computer screen that was in front of her and looked at Amelia.
"Hey, Good morning." Her response was sweet and warm, and this made Amelia happy.
'This is a good way to start.'
"How may I help you, Ma'am?" She further asked Amelia, and she answered the same way the receptionist approached her.
"I am here to see Mr. James Parker. The CEO of this company."
"Do you have an appointment with him?" The receptionist inquired, and Amelia shook her head. "No."
"Ermm, okay. Let me call him and inform him. What's your name, Ma'am?" She asked, picking up the telephone.
"I'm Amelia. Amelia Cooper," She responded, bouncing her head slightly.
The receptionist pressed a few buttons on the dialer and placed the handset against her ear. She waited for a few seconds, and Amelia took that little time to look around where she stood again.
"Mr. James, a young woman is here to see you. She said her name is Amelia Cooper, and she doesn't have any appointments with you… Okay, sir. I will send her in right now." The receptionist hung up and looked at Amelia.
"He asked you to come in. You would see his office on your right-hand side, on the tenth floor. You would have seen the tag on his door," She said to Amelia, and Amelia nodded.
"Thank you so much." She gave a slight bow and walked to the elevator.
"Thank you so much, Sir. I'm expecting your email." James shook hands with his client, and they both walked out of the office.
His client walked to the elevator and pressed the button, he waited for the door to open. James stood not so far from the elevator, expecting Amelia.
'That girl has some guts visiting my company. Who the f**k told her to come here? I bet her uncle that gave her such a stupid idea.'
The elevator finally opened, and Amelia trudged out of it. "Good day, sir." She greeted James' client and gave way for him to step in.
"Good day," He responded and stood in the elevator. She looked up and her eyes fell on James. He was about five meters away from her and his dangerous dark eyes peered at her with a straight face.
He looked more handsome than he was when she first saw him. His hair was black as a raven and waved in a very attractive quiff haircut.
His hands were buried in the pockets of his white, neatly-ironed trousers, a black belt held his trousers steadfastly to his waist, and his blue button-up shirt was neatly tucked in it.
He rolled his sleeves up to his forearms, exposing his glittering silver wristwatch.
Amelia lost her voice as she was lost scrutinizing James' look, and he noticed this.
"Are you going to keep drooling or you get straight to the point? Why are you here?" His deep, threatening voice approached Amelia and echoed in her perfect ears.
"I'm… here to apologize." She finally found her voice.
"Apologize?" He scoffed, and Amelia bounced her head slowly.
She nervously fiddled her fingers, waiting for the next words. James turned away from her and began to walk away.
"If you are going to apologize to me, then you have to follow me," He said, without looking back.
'Follow you? To where?' Amelia asked herself and hurriedly shuffled behind him like a maid following her strict boss.