I swung my arms and moved my legs as swiftly as possible. I risked ramming myself into other people and dangerous objects, but none of that mattered. It was a life-or-death situation. We had to stop Mr. Sinclair from going through its contents at all costs. Mary deserved another chance to amend her mistakes. I would feel a thousand times lighter if my small yet heroic action of getting the letter on time could save a family from falling apart.
There wasn’t any time to stop. Frank was running right ahead of me, and I mindlessly followed him. Why did the Sinclair home have to be so huge? We would have reached his office five times in a regular home by now.
Without warning, Frank stopped, and I almost rammed into him, saving us from a painful collision by a mere few inches.
“What the hell, Frank!” I complained, breathing loudly. I didn’t feel it much due to the tension, but I was really in need of a break. Frank’s condition, on the other hand, was way worse. His body was slightly bent with his hands on his knees, panting like a dog with his tongue stuck out.
“What do you mean?” Frank spoke angrily at me after regulating his breath. I can’t die for a small mistake. You’re more than welcome to sacrifice yourself and proceed without me.”
“I would have if I knew the directions to his office. Even though I may be a thousand times better person than you, I am still new here, idiot,” I retaliated.
“You have too much pride in yourself, and your tongue is too sharp for a kind person. Allow others to give you the title of kindness,” Frank hit back with a mean response.
“Stop stereotyping nice people. I never said I was the best human. All I said was that I am an angel compared to you,” I replied, not leaving a chance to insult him. “Why did you go behind my back to do this, Frank? I thought we were a team.”
Frank stood up straight. “Isn’t how you are overreacting a good enough reason to hide it from you? You would have a similar reaction regardless of Mrs. Sinclair’s decision.” He rolled his eyes with the meanest amount of sarcasm. “And seriously, what team are you referring to? You have been on team Mary Sinclair since you stepped on this property. Everybody else is evil and trying to make her life hell, according to you. It wouldn’t shock me if you killed Mr. Sinclair for her.”
I slapped Frank’s arm. I barely used any force, but his overreaction was that of excruciating pain or injury. “You’re such a...” I stopped myself from using a curse word. “Who are you to say anything? I am not on anyone’s side. Even if I was, I am at least picking the side of a troubled mother. Where do you stand, Frank?” I intimidatingly moved forward. “Do you feel okay standing on the side of greed and Satan?”
“You’re unbelievable!” Frank pushed me away. “You have all the time in the world to call me names and question my morality? What happened to get to Mr. Sinclair’s office on time to retrieve the marriage-breaking letter?”
“Ugh! It’s all your fault. If you hadn’t stopped to breathe...”
“Oh my!” Frank touched his heart dramatically. “Forgive me for needing to catch my breath as a human. In the next life, I will pray to return as a bloodsucking vampire like you.”
As I had no more time to argue, I threatened Frank with a fist before continuing to Mr. Sinclair’s office.
Fortunately, when we got there, the coast was clear. We carefully sneaked into Mr. Sinclair’s office. Luck was so on our side that we found the place empty and unlocked.
“Lock it. Lock it,” Frank impatiently ordered me once we got inside.
He was such a drama queen. We were standing right beside the door, and he was closer to the knob than me.
”Relax. I am locking it,” I said, locking the door.
“Amelia!” He screamed.
“What? What?” I looked behind to see what had made him panic, expecting it to be a cockroach or a rodent.
Frank’s trembling finger was pointing at Mr. Sinclair’s desk. “My letter is not there anymore. He must have read it.”
My eyes went round. It was indeed something to panic over. “What? Oh no. It’s all your fault!” I exclaimed.
“Now is not the time to point fingers. We should look around to see if he had put it in a different place. My letter was inside a sealed envelope. If the seal is still intact, that would mean he hasn’t read it,” Frank suggested.
“Alright,” I agreed, fighting the urge to kick or punch him in the stomach.
The door knocked from outside. Alarmed and frightened, we hugged each other and screamed hushedly. “Who is it? Who is it?” Frank whispered, jumping anxiously with his arm around me.
I was about to answer when the knob began to rotate, and we heard the jingling of keys.
“Oh my God!” Frank covered my mouth with his hands instead of his own. “We must seek cover before they get inside. Hurry.”
It was pure chaos as we hurried to hide. We accidentally rammed into each other. Frank fell on the floor and began crawling. I thought of going under the desk when I saw him going behind a giant sofa. He wasn’t visible, and there was probably decent room for two. I made haste to follow him and reached the back of the couch a few seconds before the door unlocked, and a person walked in.
It was probably Mr. Sinclair, and we still didn’t know if he had read the letter. The steps seemed heavy. Now, I was a hundred percent sure it was him. Upon listening closer, I realized they were two distinct footsteps. There was more than one person in that room.
“No, Dad. I don’t care what you say. I don’t wish to do this to Amelia,” said Nathan.
It was Nathan and his father. What were they saying about me?