Hot Fudge Fraud by Anisa Claire West

can’t even think clearly, let alone carry on a conversation,” she said, circling her fingers around her aching temples.
    “I understand,” Keith said quietly.
    It was close to dinner hour when the cab finally pulled up to the hotel.  Despite the fact that she hadn’t eaten a morsel for lunch, Melanie had no appetite at all.  Feeling like a zombie, she walked next to Keith to the elevator and then to the glorious suite that they had barely enjoyed.
    “If you blink, you might miss this vacation,” Melanie muttered, tossing her clothes carelessly into a suitcase.
    Keith shuffled over to the bed and snatched his cell phone from his pocket.  Packing with one hand and dialing with the other, he informed, “I’m calling the airline.  There’s no sense rushing to the airport if we can’t get a flight right away.”
    “Tell them it’s an emergency!” Melanie urged as he nodded curtly.
    She scrambled to the bathroom to collect her personal effects before firmly zipping up her suitcase.  Meandering onto the terrace, she stared out at the foggy streets of Dublin as Keith tried to get them a flight.  The trip had begun and ended on a shrieking note of disaster.  But as she breathed in the minty air and gazed upon the city that looked numinous from the penthouse suite, she couldn’t ignore the gut feeling that her time in Ireland was incomplete.  She was destined to come back to Ireland; she had to be.
    Although she hadn’t told Keith or even her father, Melanie had another powerful motivating factor to explore Ireland.  She wanted to find her mother’s birth parents.  Her mother had never spoken of her birth parents because she knew nothing about them.  Maureen Bradley’s adoptive parents had died in a car crash before she met Scott, so Melanie had never known either set of grandparents.  Maybe it was naïve to dream of a family reunion at this stage in life, but Melanie dared anyway.  Vowing to return to Ireland, she blew a kiss to Dublin before sliding back into the hotel room.
    Keith was just hanging up the phone.  “Okay.  We’ve got a flight that leaves for Washington , DC in 3 hours, so let’s get ourselves to the airport.”
    “That’s great,” Melanie replied in a monotone.  Meeting Keith’s eyes for the first time since her father’s fateful call, she winced at the pain she saw there.  “I’m sorry this trip hasn’t worked out.  I know you really wanted to make this special.  And it was.”
    “No it wasn’t.  It was a calamity from the first 20 minutes of the flight!  I really blew it.” He kicked the bedframe in frustration.
    “You did not blow it!  The flights were tough, but once we got here , everything was perfect.  Truly perfect,” she insisted, cradling his face in her hands.  “It’s not your fault that some evil person set my shop on fire.”
    “I’m still hoping it wasn’t some evil person,” Keith said under his breath.
    “Well I’m sure of it!  I feel it in my bones, Keith.  Someone is out to get me.” Pausing to reflect on any potential enemy, Lynne’s harsh face popped into her mind.  “You know, I don’t think my roommates like me very much.  Especially Lynne.  Remember how rude she was when you were at the house?”
    “Yeah, I do remember.  She acted like a spoiled brat.  But that doesn’t mean she would set your business on fire!  Think logically, Melanie,” he urged, pointing to the time on his cell phone clock.  “We’ve gotta go catch a cab to make it to the airport.  Customs can be a bear to get through.”
    Wordlessly, Melanie followed him out of the hotel suite.  Tempted to look behind her one more time and indulge in an eyeful of the glamorous room, she instead squared her shoulders and walked straight ahead.  In her mind’s eye, all she could envision was a rebuilt Hot Fudge Fancy and a faceless Irish grandmother welcoming her into her home.

Chapter 8
    On the flights home to South Carolina, Melanie felt neither