Mrs. Hayes was quite troubled. She woke up that morning looking forward to having a perfectly nice day. She would be meeting with Amelia in the morning, then finally seeing her son for dinner. Yes, it seemed like it would be a lovely day. But now, as she sat at the dinner table with her husband, Adam, and Elle, she couldn"t help but think about how wrong she was.
~~~
Earlier that morning Amelia sat in a cafe, sipping on a cup of hot tea, and patiently waiting for Mrs. Hayes to join her.
This was the next step in her plans. As if her life was a movie, Amelia was moving on to act two of the film. Amelia was a skilled actress. Things weren"t going as scripted but she would simply adapt, and continue her roll accordingly.
"Amelia!" Mrs. Hayes happily exclaimed as she approached the table.
"Aunty. It"s so good to see you." Amelia greeted, standing up to give Mrs. Hayes a quick hug.
"How are you? Have things been very busy?"
The two slowly began catching up with each other, enjoying a lovely conversation together.
"I heard you finally got a contract with MK. Congratulations Amelia." Mrs. Hayes said.
"Yes. It"s always been a dream of mine." Amelia said shyly.
"You know how Adam is. He wouldn"t give it to you solely because of your connections. He gave you the contract because you deserve it. Congratulations."
"That"s actually part of the reason I wanted to talk to you aunty. You see I..." Amelia trailed off. These were words she had never said out loud before. She hadn"t realized how embarra.s.sing she would find it.
"You want to back out of the contract?" Mrs. Hayes asked in horror.
"No, no. G.o.d no. I just. I want your advice on something. Well actually, I"d like your help."
"Well you"ll need to spit it out eventually in order for me to help you."
Amelia smiled at Mrs. Hayes" teasing tone. "I"m in love with Adam." She finally said.
Mrs. Hayes almost dropped her teacup. "What?"
"I like him."
"Since when?"
"Since always."
"Really? I couldn"t tell." Mrs. Hayes murmured, more to herself than anything.
"I was being discrete on purpose. I thought if Adam knew he would distance himself, but now..."
"But now you want me to help make him fall in love with you?" Mrs. Hayes asked.
"I"ve tried everything and I can"t seem to make him notice me. I just thought that maybe you could help push him in the right direction."
Mrs. Hayes gauged the young girl in front of her. She liked Amelia very much. To her Amelia was like the daughter she never had. And yet Adam was her son. Her real son. She was a mother. She would have to put her son first.
"I can"t make any promises. Even as a child Adam wasn"t the type to do as he was told. It"s not like I can make him love you." Mrs. Hayes said carefully.
"And I would never ask that of you! I was just hoping, that if you approve of me as his partner, that maybe you could help create an opportunity for me to get closer to him."
"Well you have the production of the film coming up. I"m sure you"ll have plenty of opportunities then."
"You know how Adam is. He would never mix work and his personal life."
"You"re right, he wouldn"t." Mrs. Hayes sighed. "Fine. I"ll see what I can do, but I won"t make any promises. He"s already all but banned me from interfering with his personal life. I don"t know how much help I could be."
"Thank you very much aunty!"
They spoke for a little while longer before Mrs. Hayes had to excuse herself. She still had to go back home and prepare for dinner that night.
All the way home Mrs. Hayes pondered it. Adam and Amelia? She couldn"t say she didn"t approve of the match, she always knew Amelia to be a very kind and sweet girl, but she was quite shocked by it.
She had known Amelia for many years. There was a time when she suspected it in their youth, but as they grew up Amelia seemed to have lost her interest in Adam. She had even gone overseas, and been out of contact with him for a time. Did she really love him at that time?
But then again, Amelia had never dated anyone else. Had she really been waiting, and in love with him all this time?
"What"s wrong with you?" Mr. Hayes asked, as his wife walked through the front door with a distant look on her face.
"I don"t understand the kids these days." Mrs. Hayes sighed.
Mr. Hayes let out a laugh. "It"s because you"re too soft natured. Even when we were young you were never able to understand the secret intentions of others."
"That"s not true. I always understood you. I understood that you cared for the company more than you cared for me." Mrs. Hayes said, pretending to be angry.
"And yet you married me anyway. See? You"re too soft natured." Mr. Hayes said with a charming smile.
"It was that smile of yours that tricked me." Mrs. Hayes said, remembering her own happy love story. "If you want to make it up to me, then go help in the kitchen. Our son will be here soon."