Amy didn't notice
Lee didn't notice
Chez Chez staff didn't notice
Leah did
"Mummy, Mummy where's Daddy?" The young toddler whined as she sat on the sofa, picture book in hand, eyes wandering to the window and the rising sun.
"What's that sweetie?" Amy asked as she came in to the sitting room holding a restless Lucas.
"Where's Daddy?" Leah shouted crossly
"He'll be asleep, why don't you go wake him up," Amy replied brightly, grinning at her daughter. She was desperate to bring a little happiness to her best friend, anything to bring him back to life.
"Okay!"
Leah put her book down beside her and rolled on to her front in order to wiggle off the sofa. Once down she scampered to her Dad's room. When she arrived there the door was slightly a jar sp with little hands she tentatively pushed against the wooden frame.
"Daddy?" Leah quietly called
No answer.
"Daddy! Come on you've got to get up!" Leah demanded giggling slightly, running in to the room and clambering on to the bed.
But as she reached the summit of the bed she discovered to her dismay that her dad was not present
"Daddy?" Leah asked the silence.
In a moment Amy was at the door peering in to the room with an confused expression on her face.
"Where's Daddy?" Leah asked again a hint of worry laced in to her childish vowels.
"Oh well He's probably at work darling, Daddy's a busy man you know," Amy replied regarding Ste's absence as something to do with grief. She figured Ste must have gone for a walk or taking an early shift at Chez Chez to escape the claustrophobic cell of memories which littered the flat. Both Rae and Brendan's presence lingered in the bed sheets and fibres of the sofa, both stuck forever.
"Amy what have you done with my other sock?" Came Lee's comic voice from the bedroom
Amy sighed smiling slightly causing Leah to laugh, a momentarily lapse of concentration forgetting her lost Dad.
"I haven't done anything with any of your socks Lee!" Amy called back pulling a face at her daughter before twirling round and stalking off to help her fiancé, forgetting all about the whereabouts of her best friend.
After a few moments of silence Leah started feeling a sense of panic as she thought about what could have happened to her Dad. But Lucas came running in, in a flash and managed to reach up and tap Leah's foot
"TAG!" He yelled with glee before running off
Leah giggled and got down from the bed to run after her younger brother – leaving behind the empty bedroom of memories.