Chapter 18

Bryan’s ringtone interrupted Amy’s thoughts, causing her to suddenly become aware of the happenings in her surrounding.

“It’s Henry” Bryan informed her and was about answering the call, but Amy held his hand to stop him.

She shook her head and whispered the words,

“Don’t tell him” Surprising Bryan.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, not understanding why she wants him to keep this from her dad. But he said nothing, rather, he decided not to keep his best friend waiting by answering the phone call. He gave Amy a glance and put the call on speaker.

“Hello? Bryan are you busy? I can call later” Henry’s smooth voice said from the other end.

“It’s okay, Henry. I have all the time in the world” Bryan replied.

“If you say so. Sorry about earlier, I had to attend an emergency meeting… Why did you call so early? Is something wrong?”

And here comes the part Bryan wasn’t looking forward to. He doesn’t want to lie to his best friend, especially when it has to do with his daughter. But right now, Amy was putting him in a tight spot. His thoughts are so conflicted right now.

Amy stared wide eye at Bryan with apprehension. She was scared of her dad finding out. She used her eyes to plead with a very conflicted Bryan.

“I, uh. It’s about Amy..” he eventually replied, causing Amy’s eyes to almost come out of their sockets.

‘She’s definitely grounded for life.’ She thought to herself as tears welled up in her eyes.

“She’s currently at my place” Bryan said instead, surprising Amy.

He shut his eyes as he was disappointed in himself. He just hopes this would be the only time he’d have to keep something important away from his best friend.

“Really? Is she okay?.. did something happen?” Henry asked, worry evident in his voice.

“She called me in the middle of the night to come pick her up cos she wasn’t yet used to being alone” Bryan decided to keep it simple, as he couldn’t come up with any other reason.

Amy couldn’t believe that Bryan just covered up for her. He didn’t want to do it, she could tell, but he did it in the end and she would be forever grateful to him for this.

“I knew something of this sort was going to happen, that was why I wanted her to go over to her mom’s, if she was tired of flying… How is she?” Her dad’s voice brought her out of her trance.

“Hey, Dad” She greeted her dad with a quiet voice. She decided to join the conversation to prevent putting Bryan on the spot, he has done more than enough.

“Hey, my love. How are you?” Henry replied in a cheery tone.

“I’m fine dad, just missing you, that’s all”

“I miss you too my princess. You know, you should’ve just listened to me and gone straight to Bryan’s place. That way I would’ve dropped you off on my way to the airport and you would’ve saved him the stress of interrupting his sleep”

Amy wasn’t surprised that she was going to be getting a lecture from her dad since he was almost always right when it comes to matters that concerns her.

“Dad, it wasn’t that bad. Mandy slept over, but she’s currently at Jack’s place. So, I wasn’t so alone… Any cool stuff at Madrid?” She decided to change the subject, so she isn’t reminded of what happened.

“There are a lot of cool places in Madrid but, I haven’t had the time to explore. I’ll probably take a tour tomorrow now that you’ve mentioned it”

“I can’t wait to hear all about it”

“Can you get me a set of those famous Spanish ceramics”

“I will, princess”

“Thanks dad. I love you”

“I love you too… So, are you expecting Mandy today or you have some other plans?” Her dad asked.

“Jack’s parents are on a business trip, so Mandy isn’t going to be back anytime soon. I, um, I intend to spend the rest of the week at Bryan’s” Amy carefully replied, staring at Bryan to see if he was okay with it, since she hasn’t discussed it with him before now.

Bryan gave a gentle nod of approval, causing her to smile in appreciation. He was such an understanding person.

“Princess, could you please give Bryan the phone?” Henry suddenly requested, after agreeing with her decision.

“Sure” She replied and said a quick goodbye.

Bryan picked up the phone from the coffee table and turned off the speaker, standing up from the couch.

“I’m listening” He said in a more serious tone, making his way out of the living room.

Amy guessed they were about to talk business, but she still couldn’t help but worry that Bryan was going to say something to her dad, even if it was just a hint.

‘Don’t think too much, Amy. He already took care of that issue some minutes ago.’ Her subconscious said to her and she decided to obey it.

Twenty minutes later, Bryan returned to the living room, which meant that his conversation with Henry was over. He joined Amy on the couch as she stared at the TV.

He could tell her mind was somewhere else and that worried him, she can’t continue like this.

Sooner or later, Henry is going to notice the changes in his daughter and she wouldn’t be able to hide the truth from him for too long.

He took a deep breath and asked,

“So, when do you plan on telling Henry about last night’s incident?”