Bab 256: Chapter 247: Don't meet her

Amber was wiping the food remains on one of her students' faces when she heard a knock on her classroom door. She was hunching down, at the same eye level as her student, cleaning the mess. She then looked up and was surprised to see Mrs. Paccito standing outside the room.

She quickly wiped her student's hands, after cleaning his face and patted his head, telling him to rest first before going to play with his other friends. It was breaktime at Little Sunshine Daycare, so most of the students were in their classrooms, eating their snacks. There were some who were done eating so they started playing at the corner, where the toys were placed.

"Oh, am I disturbing you?" Mrs. Paccito asked gently when she saw Amber helping to clean up after her students' mess.

Once the child had gone to join his friends, Amber swiftly stood up and approached the ex owner. Even though Mrs. Paccito has passed the ownership of the daycare, she was still the owner of the land where the center was built on. And she still comes over to look around. Hence why Amber wasn't surprised to see her. Yet she was startled that she would come to look for her.

She has no idea as to why the older woman was looking for her.

"No, ma'am, you didn't," Amber quickly reassured her. "Is there something that I need help with?" she asked.

The older woman's face suddenly turned awkward. She then leaned closer to Amber and asked softly, "I remember Ms. Peiffer has once mentioned that your fiance is a lawyer?"

Amber was surprised. She did not expect that the other woman would remember a bit of her personal life. "Yes, he is. But he's still an associate, though," she corrected quickly.

"Do you think he could help me?" Mrs. Paccito asked hesitantly.

Amber looked confused. Did she run into some legal problems?

Mrs. Paccito took a deep breath before continuing. "Perhaps, if you do not mind, shall we meet for a cup of coffee after work?" she asked.

"My treat," the older woman quickly added.

Amber tilted her head thoughtfully. She recalled that before Erick had left for work, he had mentioned about staying at the office a bit late since he wanted to do more work. Knowing that the reason he does this is because Amber does not like him bringing his work home, she reluctantly agreed.

The reason as to why she was reluctant was that she thought she would be bored being alone at home, even if there was Luka. But since she got invited for a free coffee and snacks, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad, after all.

So, without any hesitation, she answered yes.

After the older woman left her, Amber returned to her class and resumed the lessons as the school bell had just rung.

When daycare was over, as usual, all teachers usually had to wait for their students to be picked up by their parents, only then they could leave.

Seeing that Mrs. Paccito was waiting for her, Amber just realized that the other woman was probably thinking that they could just carpool. The latter quickly persuaded Mrs. Paccito to leave first since there were still some of her students waiting for their parents. She would feel guilty if she had let the older woman wait for her.

Giving the excuse that she needed to go home straight away after coffee, the other woman finally left.

Once Mrs. Paccito had departed, Amber then called Erick, whom she knew would still be in the office.

"Babe?" came his voice.

"Honey, are you still in the office?" she asked.

It was then she heard some bustling sounds in his background and knew that he definitely was still in the office. So, before he could answer, she said, "Oh, it seems like you're still there."

"Anyway, I'm just calling you to tell you that I'll be going out for a while," she continued. Ever since she got 'kidnapped', Erick kept telling her to inform him if she was to go somewhere else after work.

"Where are you going?" Erick asked curiously.

Amber shrugged. "The ex owner wanted to treat me to a cup of coffee," she replied. "I'm not sure why she's inviting me since I hardly talk or meet her at all."

"The strangest thing was that she asked me about you," she continued.

Erick was so quiet on the other line for some time that Amber thought that the connection was probably lost. "Erick honey, are you still here?"

"Yes," he answered, sounding serious. "Is it Mrs. Paccito?"

Amber let out a light laugh. "Of course. Who else is the ex owner of the daycare?" she asked teasingly.

"Babe, don't go with her."

Amber was surprised. "Why? What's wrong, baby?" she asked, sounding confused.

"Just don't," Erick said firmly. "I will tell you all about it when I get home."

"But… she's waiting for me at the coffee shop," Amber said.

"Make up an excuse and return back home," Erick replied.

After they both hung up their call, Amber returned to her duties. Once she was sure that all of her students had gone back home with their parents, she went back inside to grab her belongings.

However, she was about to head towards her car, when she saw a familiar car approaching her.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 'What is he doing here?' she thought to herself.

She waited for the car to stop near her before she approached it. She peered down as the car window slowly slid down, revealing Erick's handsome features. "What are you doing here?" she asked curiously. "I thought you're busy at work."

"Nothing is as important to me than your safety," he simply said. He then gestured for her to come in.

"What about my car?" she asked, though she climbed into the car.

"I'll pick it up later," he said.

After making sure that she's all buckled up, he started the engine and started to drive.

"Have you told her that you won't be coming?" he asked.

Amber nodded. "I texted her while I went to grab my things," she answered.

"What did she say after that?"

Amber shook her head this time. "She hasn't replied yet. Which was weird since she seemed like she wanted to talk to me urgently. Do you think she has some kind of legal problems?" she asked as she looked at him. "Is that why she asked about you being a lawyer?"

"Perhaps," Erick said, his eyes on the road.

Amber squinted her eyes at him. "You're being suspicious!" she accused.

Erick chuckled softly as he glanced at her before turning back to the road. "How am I being suspicious?" he teased.

"Do you know something that I don't?" she asked again.

"I do, a lot."

Amber then smacked him on the arm. "I'm serious!"

Erick laughed and said playfully, "Hey, I'm driving here!"

"Come on, tell me," she urged. She wanted to tug on his sleeves but did not dare to, lest she might disturb his driving.

"I'll tell you later at home," he promised.

She then pointed at the road and said, "But this isn't the way home!"

Erick looked over at her and back again to the road. "Well, since I made you skip on a free treat, I thought I should compensate for that by bringing you to dinner. Isn't that better than just coffee and cakes?"

Amber beamed with happiness and said, "Definitely!"