FicWad

Gerard snapped his phone shut. “He’s still at the airport.”
Monica chewed her bit of chicken before speaking. “How’s he sound?”
“Not good. He says he’s fine but I can tell by his voice he’s not. Shit, this sucks. I wish I could have gone with him.”
Monica nodded, “I know you do but you know you had to stay here.”
“Yeah, more fucking interviews.” He took a drink of his soda. “Think I should call Jamia again?”
“No, Alicia will start to get suspicious if there are too many phone calls.”
“I suppose you’re right. I just wish there was something I could do.”
“Any word from Mikey?” Frank asked taking a seat at the table.
“Still at the airport.” Gerard said
“Jamia called me a few minutes ago. She said Alicia is sleeping. Jamia says it’s like Alicia’s just shut down. Even when she wakes up she still won’t talk.”
“Mom, Christa and I are gonna sneak out and do some shopping.” Kara said walking up to the table with Bob at her side. “These guys are gonna be busy for the next couple of hours. Wanna come.”
“You might as well. I won’t have any time to spend with you.” Gerard said sadly.
Monica wiped her hands off on her napkin. “Sure. Call me if you hear from Mikey, okay?”
Gerard nodded. “For sure. Hey while you’re out pick up something for Kelly, Elle and Mom, okay?”
Monica smiled, “Okay, I will.” She leaned down and kissed him. “Can’t wait until tonight.” She whispered in his ear.
Gerard smiled, “Me either.”

“Luke said he had to make a phone call so he headed towards the pay phones.” Donna said. ‘I offered my cell but he didn’t want to use it. I saw you standing over here. Elle isn’t with you?”
Kelly forced herself to breath. She pushed all the feeling aside, “She was in the Skytube. I was coming to get Luke to join us when I got a call.” She didn’t want to tell Donna that it had been Mikey on the phone. “I’ve only been gone a minute. She must still be there.”
Donna shook her head, “No, I was just over there. I called her name and walked all around. She’s not there.” Kelly could hear the concern in her voice.
Kelly rushed past Donna towards the play area. She too called Elle’s name and walked all around the play structure. Elle was nowhere to be found. Donna reached her.
“I’ll tell the management she’s missing.” Donna said beginning to panic.
Kelly nodded. “I’ll find Luke so he can help us look.”
“What’s going on?” Don asked walking up to them. Donna quickly explained the situation.
Fear was creeping up Kelly’s spine. Fear and regret. She never should have left Elle even for a minute.
“I’ll start looking around the whole game area.” Don said turning quickly away from them.
Kelly spotted the pay phones across the restaurant but didn’t see Luke. He wasn’t back at the table either. Her cell phone rang. The number was unfamiliar. “Hello?”
“Kelly?”
“Yes”
“It’s Liv. Your mom programmed numbers into this phone I’m using.” She explained. “I need to talk to Elle for a minute.”
Kelly’s mind froze. What should she say? “Uh, we’re at Chuck E Cheese’s right now.”
“Oh” Liv sounded confused. “So I won’t interrupt her lunch. I just wanted to talk to her for a minute.”
Kelly’s eyes were frantically searching the restaurant. She didn’t want to lie to Liv. “I’m looking for her right now.”
There was silence at the other end. “Looking for her?” She repeated slowly.
“Uh yeah. I’ll have her call.” Kelly disconnected.
Liv stared at the phone in her hands. What did she mean looking for her? Suddenly she had a terrible thought. She quickly hit redial.
Kelly looked at the ringing phone in her hands. Should she answer? If she didn’t Liv would probably be frantic. Kelly answered.
“What do you mean looking for her?” Liv’s voice was indeed frantic.
“She’s been playing in the Skytubes.”
“And now she’s not?”
“Liv, I really need to go find her. I’ll call you back in just a minute.” She closed the phone and looked up.
Luke was walking towards her. At his side, holding his hand was Elle.
“Where have you been?” She said rushing towards them.
“Uke tooks mes to gets tokins.”
“She ran out of tokens for the Whack A Mole.” He explained.
“She was in the Skytubes.”
“Yeah, but she got bored. I saw you walking towards the restrooms on the phone. I figured she shouldn’t be left alone so I told Donna I was gonna go make a call. I thought she might get mad at you for leaving Bug alone. So I went and got her. Then I made the mistake of showing her the Whack a Mole. She really likes it but we ran out of money.”
“Oh crap. Find Don and Donna and tell them Elle’s okay. Elle’s mom called and wants to talk to her.” She took out her phone and called Liv’s number. She didn’t answer.
“Mes wantsta wak mole.” Elle said impatiently.
“Come on” Kelly took her hand and made her way towards Luke, Don and Donna who were huddled together talking. Donna looked very upset. As Kelly got nearer she understood why. She was on her phone with Liv.
“She’s fine. She wasn’t alone. Kelly’s boyfriend Luke was with her.”
Whatever Liv said it clearly angered Donna.
“Look I told you things are fine. You don’t need to pick her up.”
“Luke, could you take Elle back over to play for a minute?” Kelly asked wanting to get Elle out of hearing range.
“Sure” He took Elle’s hand. “Let’s go whack the Mole some more.”
Don looked at Kelly. “I’m gonna go with them. Liv’s says she gonna pick up Elle when we get home.”
Kelly nodded. Donna and Liv were in a heated argument.
“Can I talk to her please?”
Donna angrily handed the phone to Kelly. “Liv, please don’t pick her up. Everything is fine.”
“Kelly, you all thought she was missing. What if she really had been? I’m going to pick her up.”
“Liv, please don’t. It’s my fault. Mikey called and was so upset. I was trying to talk to him but I couldn’t hear. I moved towards the bathrooms where it was quieter. Luke saw and he took over watching Elle.”
“Why was Mikey upset?” Liv asked. Some of the anger in her voice had faded.
Kelly realized Donna was staring at her wondering the same thing. She mentally slapped herself on the head. “Just something about Alicia.” She said quietly. “Please Liv, Elle is having fun. Don’t come get her.”
Liv sighed, “Fine, Kelly but promise me you’ll watch her.”
“I promise.” Kelly said quickly. “Thanks Liv.” She closed the phone and handed it to Donna. “It’s okay now?”
“I don’t know how you can deal with that woman.” Donna said.
“Grams she was just upset cause Elle was missing. She loves her daughter more than anything in the world.”
Donna was at a loss for words but only momentarily. “Why was Mikey upset? Why did her call you?”
“Just cause he knows Alicia hasn’t been feeling good. He wondered if maybe I knew anything.”
“Why would you,…” She stopped, “Oh if you’d had any of your feelings about Alicia.”
Kelly nodded, ‘Yeah.”
“So have you?”
As much as she hated to lie Kelly understood it wasn’t her place to say anything. “I told him no bad feeling.” That was the truth. She had told him that before she had hung up. At least that wasn’t a lie.