|Here comes chapter four; if anyone is reading this then give m ea shout, I'm not sure if I should carry on…. It's about to get interesting in my opinion, but let me know if I should just give up!!
The pair pulled up bar stools and sat down as an awkward silence descended.
"Can I get you ladies some drinks?" The bartender asked standing across from them.
"Club soda." Abby replied rubbing her freezing hands together looking over at Amelia, who the bartender was checking out she noticed.
"White wine please." Amelia replied shrugging off her coat. They sat in silence for a couple of seconds more as he poured their drinks.
"So" Abby said as the bartender slid her drink towards her. "You became a doctor." She finished lamely.
"Yep." Amelia nodded sipping from her glass, offering nothing else.
"Where were you living before?" Abby asked
"New York." Amelia replied looking at her glass, "When did you move down here?" She asked looking up at Abby.
"A few years ago now." Abby told her. "How did you end up in New York?" Abby asked.
"Circumstance, and then NYU offered me a scholarship, it would have been stupid to turn it down." Amelia shrugged. "So I went."
"Right." Abby said quietly. Again the silence descended like a curtain before them, Abby took a deep breath and was about to start more idol conversation when Amelia began.
"So what are we doing here?" She started, "I mean what do you want to know?" She shrugged, looking at Abby, whose eyes instantly shifted away; she paused, thinking for a moment before looking up.
"I want to know what happened." Abby started, smiling passively, verging on apologetic.
"When?" Amelia shook her head slightly.
"After you left." Abby said quietly
"After they took me into care you mean?" Amelia looked into Abby's eyes for a second gauging her reaction before looking away to the mirror at the back of the bar, Abby stayed silent, still looking at her, Amelia felt her eyes burning into her skin, acutely uncomfortable, she didn't have the courage to look back, she picked up her glass again and took a long sip, returning it to it's original position. She stared at the stem of the glass, playing with it momentarily before turning back to meet Abby's gaze.
"Why?" Amelia asked cautiously.
"Because it's important." Abby answered, "to me, to know." She said confidently.
"Why's it so important?" Amelia replied pausing briefly not giving Abby time to respond, "It was twenty years ago, I don't know." She paused again, shrugging. "What do you think happened in care then?" Amelia finished still looking at Abby challenge in her eyes, Abby looked down, frowning slightly, not really wanting to know the ins and outs of Amelia's history.
"What happened after you got out of care?" Abby tried, changing tack.
"I went to New York." Amelia replied flatly.
Abby's head shot up. "What?" She said, slightly louder than she intended. Amelia repeated her statement. "I thought you'd been adopted." Abby said dumbfounded.
"No." Amelia laughed, bitterness evident in her voice.
"I phoned, they said that you'd been adopted by a couple in Wisconsin." Abby said.
"Well, I wasn't." Amelia stated.
"Why would they tell me you had been?" Abby asked knowing the answer but not really wanting to admit it to herself.
"Did you tell them you were my sister?" Amelia asked. Abby said nothing, it was obvious she had though. "That's why." Amelia said raising her eyebrows. When Abby said nothing and didn't look up at her she figured the only way forward would be to give Abby a highlighted version of the past twenty-two years events, and so she began, staring back at the stem of her glass, she started.
"I was near you for six months, but I kept running away so they moved me to a foster facility in Duluth, I stayed there for almost two years, then the couple who ran it passed away and I went back to a group home, a bunch of foster care places, and then college, and then NYU, then here." She finished, twenty-two years wrapped up in a tidy little bundle. She glanced up at Abby, seeing a desperate expression on her face, she thought she should continue. "Look." Amelia started again, "They took me away from Maggie, and whether that was the right decision or not I don't know, I'm never going to, but it happened, there's nothing I can do about it, or you can do about it, or anyone in fact, but…" She paused breathing deeply she stopped and was about to go on, seeing Abby's head turn towards her own she decided against it.
Abby said nothing but looked at Amelia, the two locked eyes for a moment, seemingly reading each other's thoughts.
"I should never have let it happen." Abby said shaking her head.
Amelia paused still looking intently at Abby trying to figure out why she'd just told Abby all of it, told a virtual stranger what had happened in a part of her life that she'd rather lock up inside her soul.
"You were thirteen, you couldn't have done anything about it." Amelia offered quietly, in what she hoped was a reassuring tone.
"Still." Abby said sadly. "I thought you were out there living the perfect life, a part of me was grateful you'd been taken away from Maggie." Abby continued fingering her glass, "I should never have been happy about it, or jealous of you." Abby finished, shaking her head.
"If it's any conciliation I was always jealous of you and Eric, and besides, it wasn't all bad, not by any means." Amelia smiled, attempting to lighten the tone.
"I'm sorry." Abby said genuinely, still not looking at Amelia.
"Don't be." Amelia assured her, "It wasn't your fault." She added.
"I know but..." Abby started
"It's only half past seven." Amelia said suddenly deflated, checking her watch. "Can we please talk about something else, because I've got a night of partying ahead of me and this is all in the past and too depressing, can we please just start over?" She asked hopefully.
"Sure." Abby smiled, relieved Amelia was talking to her at all,
"Thank you." Amelia said smiling too.
They chatted amicably for a while, about inconsequential things like work, movies, celebrities whose downfalls they would enjoy so very much,
"So what does your boyfriend do?" Abby asked eventually.
"He's a Lawyer." Amelia told her.
"How long have you been together?" Abby questioned, probing for information.
Amelia frowned trying to work it out. "Almost two and a half years… about." She said smiling. "You seeing anyone?" Amelia asked, Abby shook her head. "Everyone at the hospital seems to be seeing someone else there, Kovac and Sam, the whole Gallant, Neela, Pratt, Chen thing's interesting." Amelia smiled.
"Susan been keeping you updated?" Abby asked smiling.
"Her and Chuni, how come you've managed to avoid the whole thing?" Amelia questioned.
Abby smiled, laughing slightly. "I haven't." She admitted.
"Really?" Amelia asked, waiting for Abby to continue.
"No, Kovac and then Carter." Abby admitted.
"Really?" Amelia raised her eyebrows.
"I can't believe Susan didn't tell you this." Abby said trying to work out if Amelia had already known and was just digging for information.
"Neither can I." Amelia said interested by the developments.
They chatted on, for a while Abby telling Amelia highlighted events from her past, they spoke briefly about Richard, steering well clear of Maggie and Eric until Amelia drained her second drink and checked her watch.
"I really should go." Amelia said apologetically.
Abby nodded her understanding.
"We should do this again." Amelia offered gathering her coat from the stool.
"Yeah, I'd like to." Abby smiled, standing up.
"Me too." Amelia smiled back.
"You on tomorrow?" Abby asked.
"No, Sunday, twelve till twelve." Amelia replied
"I'll see you then." Abby added.
They said their brief goodbyes outside the bar and headed in opposite directions.
Abby walked down to the river mulling over the evening, not overawed by the idea of going home alone she wandered around. It had gone well, she was glad that she'd had the opportunity to talk to Amelia, and she'd genuinely liked her, not just because she was related to her. She hadn't been sure that she would, she thought back to when Amelia was little, she'd been so angry with Maggie for getting pregnant again, dumping yet more responsibility on her as if Maggie and Eric weren't enough, but she'd been a sweet kid, and a good kid, she'd never really kicked up a fuss about anything, she was laid back for a three year old, just sort of ambling through life, taking each day as it came, and it looked as though she still did. Abby smiled as she thought about it.
Please R&R, I'm loving any feedback I'm getting!!! I need some more though before I start responding but cheers to everyone who has read and reviewed this.