Recovering Amy (Amy, #2)

Chapter 14: Lifestyle Changes

Chapter Fourteen

LIFESTYLE CHANGES

Over the remaining weeks of April, Amy continued to improve. Her cold and icy attitude was gradually receding, and with her smile and laughter becoming more prominent in her days, Matthew decided it was safe for him to return the knives to the kitchen, and more importantly, return to work. He was nervous about leaving Amy alone, but Lianne had stressed that she was ready.

                On the Friday before his return, he and Amy drove to Melbourne to visit their respective offices. As they drove deeper into the suburbs, Amy marvelled at the scenery, and, ever so casually, she told Matthew:

                “When we move house, we should find one closer to the city.”

                The casualness of her remark silently shocked Matthew – she’d said it in a way that there had been no disruption to their plans of buying a family home. Amy interpreted Matthew’s silence as a quiet agreement.

                In the CBD, on William Street, Matthew eventually found a car park in a crowded underground parking lot. He and Amy then took the stairs to re-emerge on the city streets, and walked a block to his office building, Matthew carrying his briefcase. They took the elevator to the 174th floor, arriving on one of the three floors his legal firm occupied.

                “Good morning, Janice,” he smiled to the reception lady, who grunted in acknowledgement, too busy typing away at her keyboard to notice that it was Matthew. Amy giggled and followed Matthew deeper into the complex offices, where Matthew’s colleagues all greeted him warmly, and gave her sympathetic looks and hugs.

                After fifteen minutes of prolonged small talk, Matthew said, “Would you excuse us, please?” to the group of five surrounding him, before taking Amy’s hand once again and leading her to his private office.

                Matthew’s office was extraordinarily grand. Plush, deep red carpet covered the wide expanse and a large mahogany desk was situated in the middle of the room, facing the door with the full-wall window behind it. Matthew’s certificates hung on the left wall, the opposite home to grand bookshelves and filing cabinets.

                “Make yourself comfortable,” Matthew said to Amy as he briskly walked to one of the many filing cabinets, opening his paper-filled briefcase. “I won’t be long.”

                Amy walked slowly around the room, admiring the grand furniture. She walked around behind Matthew’s desk, smiling to herself at the fact that it was impossibly messy with the papers he’d been working on before he’d had to stop. She took a seat on his large leather office chair, intent on flicking through the papers, when her eye was caught by the multiple photo frames situated on the far left corner of his desk.

                One frame was dedicated to Jake, Yani, Natalie and Dean, another solely for Natalie, and  another for Dean. She spotted one of Sam and Peter covered from head-to-toe in mud after their AusKick grand final last year. Another photo held a candid picture of Matthew, Sebastian, Kolton and Ostyn at Kolton’s birthday party two years ago, and another held a professional portrait of his mother and father, depicted as the glamorous Hollywood couple that they were.

                But it was the other dozen frames that caught Amy’s eye – each of them adorned with her smiling face. One was of her on her graduation day, wearing her black robes and hat. Another was a happy snap of Matthew and Amy standing before their home on the day they’d moved in. There was one of Amy standing on the lookout at Mt Kosciusko. Another one of Amy holding both her nephews, one in each arm, on the day they were born.