Denial

"So you didn't think it would be nice to check up on me?" Quinn tried to stabilize her emotions, as she spoke to Henry.

Seated on the couch in the front of her were her friends; Khloe and Arianna.

They looked at her intently as she continued speaking with Stephen.

Khloe gestured at her to place the call on handsfree.

Quinn obliged, and placed the phone on the table.

"Well, you forgot about me first." Stephen said at the end of the line.

"Did I? I'm I obliged to call you? Let's set that aside for now. Didn't you hear about my daughter's disappearance?" Quinn probed.

"I didn't... What happened?" Stephen asked in pretence.

"You know what, Stephen? Before I continue, I would like to tell you something." Quinn smirked even though he couldn't see her."

"And what is it?" Stephen asked casually.

"You are still an amateur in this game of wits." Quinn said sneeringly.

At the other end, Stephen was silent.

"You aren't saying anything?" Quinn chuckled.

"You haven't said much yourself." Stephen said calmly.

"Where did you keep her?" Quinn decided to go straight to the point.

"Pardon?" Stephen's tone became serious.

"Oh, don't joke with me, Stephen. Where did you keep Emelda?!" Quinn was getting exasperated.

"Don't yell at me, Quinn. What evidence do you have that I know the whereabouts of your daughter?" Stephen asked coldly.

"I don't? Stephen, I'm asking you for the last time. Answer me now while my temper is still good." Quinn warned.

"I'm afraid you don't have the right to tell me that, Quinn." Stephen maintained his calm attitude.

"You are a jerk, no, you are more than a jerk, Stephen." Quinn choked out. She was trying to keep her tears at bay.

"I agree. But don't you think you are the cause of it all?" Stephen laughed mockingly.

"What are you talking about?" Quinn was confused.

"You don't know? Think about it then..." Stephen said with a chuckle.

"Listen Stephen, I don't know what you are talking about, and I don't want to know. But if eventually, I find out that you are behind my daughter's disappearance, then get ready to be destroyed by me." The Quinn that was speaking at that moment sounded entirely different. Her voice was cold and monotonous.

Stephen flinched at the other end of the line.

But he continued putting up a strong front,

"Your threats are meaningless, I must say." Although he said it in a simple manner, his attitude was no longer casual like before.

"Finally getting serious, I see. Well that should be all for now." She hung up.

"Aahh... That was frustrating. I could definitely tell that he had something to do with my daughter's disappearance." Quinn broke down in tears.

"Hey... Don't be a crybaby. She will be found soon, I'm sure of that." Khloe and Arianna went to sit beside her.

"Soon? Soon you say? It's been a week and three days now." Quinn said still sobbing.

The two friends kept silent... They were bad at consoling.

"By the way, what took you guys so long to visit?" Quinn wiped the corner of her eyes, as she glared at them.

"Well that, we are sorry." Her friends apologized.

"Whatever... I wish she would be found soon..." Quinn lamented.

Her heart broke whenever she thought of her daughter. She felt like she was choking, each time she did.

"I'm sure she must have gotten skinny." Quinn was in pain.

What sort of mother was she?

Allowing her daughter to be kidnapped like that?

She was a very bad mother. In fact, she didn't deserve to be called a mother at all.

'Forgive me Emelda. Mum would find you soon.' She vowed.

She could get hurt. Her enemies could do anything they wanted to her. But hurting her family, especially her daughter, was pushing it. She would hunt whoever it was, to the end of the world.

Yes! That person would feel what it was like to be in pain...

..................

Henry walked into the living room tiredly. He had just got back from work.

He was startled when he saw two ladies alongside Quinn in the living room.

Before he could say a word, one if them ran over to him,

"Hi." Her voice had a tinge of excitement.

"Hi." Henry replied.

"You must be Henry... I've heard a lot about you." She extended her hand for a handshake.

Henry looked at her blankly,

"And you are?"

"She's Khloe, and I'm Arianna. Let's save ourselves the stress of introducing ourselves, one after the other." He turned to see the other lady.

"Yes, I'm Khloe." Khloe chuckled.

Her eyes gleamed as she spoke.

"Oh, that's good." Henry made his way over to Quinn.

She nodded at him without a word.

Henry was puzzled by her actions. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by Khloe,

"Don't... She has been like that ever since she got a call earlier on. She wouldn't speak to any of us, neither did she tell us what the call was about." Khloe explained.

"A call?" Henry's confusion mounted.

"Yeah... She got a call earlier on." The friends and adjusted their positions on the sofa.

Henry looked at Quinn, and sighed. He knew she wasn't in the mood to speak to him at that.

"Alright. I'll be back." He headed upstairs to freshen up, and come down for dinner..

An hour later, he came downstairs again.

"Care for some food?" He asked looking at the ladies.

"Of course. You wanna make something for us?" Arianna was the one who responded.

She had been nursing the idea of going out to eat. It was lucky that he wanted to fix dinner..

Henry nodded and made his way to the kitchen.

"Can he cook?" Arianna asked in a whisper.

"Ask him." Quinn whispered back.

Arianna shrugged and sat back on the sofa. Although she was hungry, she didn't want to contaminate her taste buds with some tasteless food.