Chapter 17: Nightmare in the daytime


    ~ The Next Day ~


    Amelia hurried out of her apartment and locked the door. She had just ten minutes to get to the


    company. Though she could still make it, she wanted to get there as soon as she could.


    She had woken upte because she left the party veryte. James wasn’t ready to leave the party


    when she wanted to, so she had no choice then to stay back with him.


    Before she could walk away from her door, Elena’s door opened, and Amelia turned back. She saw


    Elena standing at the door.


    Elena smiled widely at her, but Amelia was too pained to smile back at her. She remembered what


    she did to her the previous night.


    “Good morning, Amelia. When did you return yesterday?” Elena asked, and Amelia exhaled.


    “I returned veryte. You must have been sleeping when I came back,” Amelia answered coldly.


    Elena noticed the way she acted, and she stepped out of her apartment and shut the door behind


    her.


    “What is wrong, Amelia? You don’t sound happy.”


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    Amelia looked at her and shook her head. “It’s nothing. I need to go now. I’m runningte.”


    Elena hurriedly stood in front of her and held her hand. “Talk to me, Amelia. Are you angry at me?


    Did I do anything wrong?” She looked and sounded clueless.


    “Of course you did, Elena! Why are you acting like you don’t know what you did? I trusted you to


    help me look beautiful but you did exactly the opposite!”


    Amelia pulled her hands away from Elena’s hurtfully.


    “What? Why would you say that? I swear I didn’t mean to do that. I took some makeup lessons and


    decided to try them out. It looked so nice. Why are you so mad at me?”


    “Nice? Didn’t you see the news?! They all insulted me at the party. I looked horrible.” Amelia’s voice


    began to quiver as she spoke.


    She gulped hard and looked away from her.


    “Oh God, I’m so sorry, Amelia. I swear. I never knew it was that bad. Please forgive me. I promise to


    make it up to you. I’m so sorry.”


    Elena sadly lowered her head, and Amelia looked at her. She felt bad, seeing her that way.


    ‘At least, she wanted to help. She was the one that gave me the gown and it was beautiful. I


    shouldn’t be so hard on her.’


    Amelia sighed and reached for Elena’s hand.


    “I’m sorry too, Elena. I didn’t mean to be so hard on you. You meant to help me, and I should


    appreciate that. Thank you so much for the gown and the makeup. I believe you’ll improve better if


    you keep practicing.”


    Elena nodded and cleaned her teary eyes. “So you forgive me?” She mumbled, and Amelia nodded


    with a wide smile.


    “Come here.”


    She pulled Elena into a tight hug and rubbed her back softly. “I forgive you. Don’t worry, Elena. You


    can use my face to practice until you are perfect.”


    “Really? Thank you so much. You are so sweet,” Elena responded, divulging an evil smirk while


    they still hugged each other.


    Amelia broke the hug and looked at Elena, who had a remorseful look on.


    “I have to go now. I’ll pay you a visit when Ie back.”


    “And I’ll make you dinner! I know you will love it. Bye…” Elena moved away from her front and


    waved at her.


    “Bye!” Amelia waved back and started running down the corridor.


    Elena stopped waving and rolled her eyes. “Gosh, she is so stupid and disgusting.” She looked at


    her clothes and frowned.


    “I need to wash these,” She muttered and walked into her apartment again.


    ***


    Amelia rushed out of the elevator and got to the office, panting profusely. She ran all the way from


    the entrance of thepany.


    As she ran, the other workers stared at her and whispered things to themselves, but she paid no


    attention to them.


    All she wanted was to get to the office as soon as she could. She got to James’ office and saw that


    the door was still locked.


    She heaved a sigh of relief and smiled. “I got here before him. This is a good start.”


    She looked around and found a seat and desk not so far from James’ office. It looked like a mini


    office with no coverings and walls.


    ‘How did I not notice you before? Is this where I’ll be working?’


    She walked to the desk and ran her hands over the polished wood. She found a tag on the desk


    and “Secretary” was written on it.


    “My office.” She said in excitement. The desk had some neatly arranged files on it.


    She walked to the seat and sat on it. She rested her back on the backrest and exhaled softly. It was


    sofortable.


    She ced her bag on the desk and looked around again. She wanted to know what the time was,


    but she had nothing to check. No clocks, and she was yet to have a cellphone.


    ‘I need to get a cellphone as soon as possible.’


    She folded her arms on the table and rested her head on them. She was still stressed from the


    party, so she decided to rest a little before James arrived.


    She closed her eyes and heaved another loud sigh. Her eyes were closed for only three minutes,


    and that was it. She slept off.


    ***


    James walked out of the elevator, his hands in his neatly-ironed tuxedo pants, his nerdy sses sat


    beautifully well on his long-narrow nose.


    He got to his office and took a nce at his wristwatch. It was 9 am.


    “So she is yet to get to the office? Is this kind ofdypetent?”


    I pulled out his phone from his pockets, alongside his office keycard key. He scrolled through his


    contacts when all of a sudden, he remembered he didn’t have Amelia’s number.


    ‘Seriously? How did I forget that.’


    He ced his keycard key on the locker and his door unlocked. He held the doorknob and was


    about to open the door when he heard a voice behind him.


    He knitted his brows and turned back to see Amelia sleeping on the secretary’s desk.


    “What?”


    He strutted up to her and noticed something weird about her. She was talking in her sleep, and that


    was what caught his attention the first time.


    Her head shook as she mumbled things that James couldn’t hear. Her eyes were tightly shut and


    her forehead was wrinkled like she was having a nightmare.


    James scoffed and bent over to take a closer look at her sleeping face.


    ‘What is she saying?’ He wondered.


    “No! Please don’t kill them! No, let them go!” Amelia screamed out of nowhere, making James flinch


    in fright.


    “What the hell! Amelia!” He yelled.


    “Let go of them. Don’t kill mom and dad! Please!”


    She cried out loud, moving her head on her arms aggressively as she yelled.


    Hearing the words that she screamed gave James the idea that she was having a nightmare. ‘In the


    daytime?!’


    “Hey, Amelia! Wake up!”


    He moved closer to her and grabbed her hand. He tried pulling her up, but she began to struggle


    with him.


    “Let me go! Don’t kill them!” Tears streamed out of her eyes as she kept fighting him.


    “Amelia, it is James. Wake the f**k up!”


    He seeded in raising her up,he grabbed her two arma right under her shoulders, and shook her


    vigorously.


    “Amelia, calm down, okay? It is me. It is James. Wake up.”


    He felt devastated when he saw tears roll down her cheeks uncontrobly. He could understand the


    hell she was going through.


    While still looking at her, she stopped struggling suddenly. She slowly opened her eyes, and James


    sighed and shook his head.


    “What the…”


    Amelia grabbed him tightly before he could finish his statement, she buried her head in his chest


    and kept sobbing.


    “Mr. James.” She mumbled.


    James blinked severally in surprise, his arms were hung in the air, and his heart was throbbing


    against his chest. He wanted to push her away, but he didn’t.


    She was shivering seriously as she grabbed him. Her eyes were still tightly shut.


    After a few minutes, she became calmer than before. This time, James'' hands were tucked in his


    pockets, waiting for her to let him go.


    Amelia opened her eyes and slowly looked up at the person she hugged.


    Her eyes came in contact with that of James’, and her eyes popped wide open.


    “Oh my God.”


    She let go of him and hurriedly moved back. She lowered her head and began to pant heavily.


    “I’m so sorry, Mr. James. I didn’t know you were the one I hugged.”


    She held her hands forward like she was saying a prayer.


    “You didn’t know? So what did you think you were hugging? A pole?” Hr asked, and she closed her


    eyes and bit her lower lip in regret.


    “I’m very sorry.” She bowed.


    “You should be.”


    James looked at his shirt and saw her tears and her sweat had ruined it.


    “Look at the mess you created. Yesterday, it was my pants. Today, it is my shirt!”


    Amelia raised her head in terror and looked at James’ shirt. It was all wet and wrinkled.


    ‘Oh no. I hugged him too tight.’ She thought to herself.


    “You know what this means, right?” He asked with a smirk on his face, and Amelia’s heart stopped


    beating.