Once signed in, she opened up the aggregated news app to reveal every latest breaking news article and live video feed solely talking about the events occurring in London. She handed the phone over to Rachel, who sat down on the bed beside her father and read out aloud the first article.
“Between eleven and twelve GMT this morning, initial reports of a terror attack at South Kensington station began flooding in, including videos and pictures from witnesses on the ground. It has become increasingly difficult to establish the true extent to which the parameters of this disaster has spread, in what could quite possibly be described as the most widespread and devastating terror attack in recent memory. Police are warning the public to be vigilant, stay home if possible and to avert all areas surrounding South Kensington, also to report any suspicious objects and activities. Special Forces have been said to be currently overwhelmed by the sheer chaos, no sooner after dispatching units to address calls from one area, being bombarded with calls from another. Prime Minister Andrew Parlow, in a recent public inquiry, has condemned the violence and issued a statement warning all to not be immediately alarmed by the sensationalist tone of social media videos, messaging and more, to listen to and comply with regional law enforcement instructions and remain calm and orderly, but contrary to this statement, is said to have been spotted being driven away from houses of parliament presumably to safety shortly after his public statement. Numerous terror groups around the world have taken credit for the attack as onlookers wait on tenterhooks to hear if this is the work of NOMA, the nationalist operative movement allegiance or another terror group. There is currently no credibility that it was any of these groups. More news to come as events unfold”. Rachel lowered the phone to the bed, anxiety and shock etched onto her face.
“I… I can't even fathom this, my head is still processing it all”, her father stated.
Rachel went silent.
“I don't think it's a terror attack, what I saw didn’t look like a terror attack, it looked like a riot”, Lori pointed out.
“You said you saw… people mauling each other?”
“It sounds fucking insane, but yeah, that's exactly what I saw”.
“Get my phone please, Lori, I need to see this for myself”, Rachel requested.
Christine stood on the balcony taking in the fresh air and trying to calm herself down. It was rather overcast and looked as though bad weather was abound.
Since their argument, she hadn't seen or heard from Edward and it was beginning to make her tetchy. She hadn't slept properly for two nights now and regretted calling for that meeting. She now faced the very real prospect of divorce and a messy one at that.
Inhaling and exhaling exercises helped, but only temporarily, they weren’t going to solve her problems and sooner or later she'd have to confront them.
She did go in search of Edward last night, worried sick about him, this in spite of her mother's advice. Her efforts turned up nothing however, as for all those who had seen him, none could pinpoint where they had seen him last or where he might have gone next.
It seemed ironic that he could only be somewhere on this ship in the middle of the ocean, yet she had searched high and low to no avail. Where could he have possibly vanished to?
Her mind reverted to the worst case scenarios, what if he had jumped off the ship? Would anyone even know? If she reported him missing, would they take it seriously?
Struck with fret and unable to think straight, she stormed back into the cabin and picked up her phone.
“What are you doing?” Martha asked, sat over on the sofa.
“I'm going to call him”.
“That'll be the second call this morning, not to mention how many times you called yesterday and the day before. Take a hint, maybe he doesn't want to see you and after the mess you two made, frankly I'm not surprised. You should be calling a marriage counsellor or better yet, a divorce solicitor”.
“Even if he hates me with every bit of his soul right now, I want to hear his voice, I want to know he’s okay”.
“You said the same thing an hour ago before you tried calling him. The biggest mistake you ever made was letting that man into your life, you should have kept him at arm’s length”.
“Like you did dad?”
“I did what was best for myself and for you. You saw for yourself the type of person he was, a layabout, a leech, nothing but a sperm donor”.
“That’s perhaps how you saw dad and every other man, that’s not how I saw my husband or my marriage”.
“Your marriage was a sham”.
“My marriage was… is sacred, my husband is my best friend and life partner, we’ll never be what you and dad were”.
“No, you’ll just lie to each other instead, hide your insecurities and subsequently hurt each other, all for what?”
Christine paced back and forth as she held the phone to her ear, trying to ignore her mother’s hurtful words and hopeful that Edward would answer her call this time”.
Martha sighed.
“You are hopeless”.
“Hey Edward… I’ve apologised over and over, please just answer my call, please. Call me back and say something, anything just so I know you're alright”, Christine pleaded, evidently talking to his answering machine. She hung up and stared at her phone.
“Have you asked that daughter of yours?” Martha asked, “Maybe
