"Yo, Kate, look at my masterpiece," Ellie said bubbling in excitement and pride as she held up the handmade toy.
"It's an owl," Kate looked at the toy blankly.
"I'm glad you figured it out."
"And it has got a dick."
Elli's shoulders slumped. "You told me to make them look realistic!"
Kate sighed heavily, rubbing her forehead. Her bandana moved up a bit from its designated place but she had more dire matters in hand, such as making sure that the toys they were sewing up to be sold as fund raising stuff among many other handmade things didn't acquire controversial body parts.
"Yes," Kate threw up her hands. "Realistic, like... not giving a third or fourth eye on a stick figure's forehead. You scared little Mimi, the poor girl."
"Have you ever not seen Percy Jackson, Kate? Remember, his half brother?" Ellie was frustrated now, cutting a piece of cloth in somewhat round shape. Kate prayed for them to not be boobs or something.
"You'll not make sexual organs, Ellie, that's it," Kate declared with finality.
"Don't be silly, Kate, I'm also making pants and camis for them!"
"No," Her voice was cold, eyes firm.
"Argh. Fine, you win. I lose!"
Satisfied, Kate turned back to pierce the threaded needle into her own toy in progress, it was a very cute giraffe.
They were in Mary's Home, perched on a mat on the floor. The preparation of Monday's brunch party was in full swing. While Ellie and Kate dedicated themselves to the task they could do the best here--sewing toys and table mats and stuff like that for domestic use. Some of the sisters were also busy with making handicraft things around them, others were busy in the kitchen baking cupcakes. There were also several volunteers like Ellie and Kate, all came out of love for these children.
Victor had dropped them off in the morning and had only left for work after putting the sacred responsibility on Ellie to keep an eye on Kate.
After her last visit to Dr. Gonnsalves, when Victor was assured that she was recuperating more than just fine, he had calmed down with his nurse responsibility a bit. Kate was grateful. The guy had been after all dedicating almost all his days after her, overlooking his business and his own damn life.
There was, however, a session of radiotherapy she would have to go through after a week, to eliminate the rest of the tumor tissues left in her brain after the surgery. Doctor Gonsalves had declared that he believed it would be the end of her illness, if and until a recurrence happens, which they were told was not uncommon.
For now though, Kate was content that she would be getting rid of the tumor altogether very soon.
Her talk to the Psychiatrist, consultant Dr. John, was even surprisingly therapeutic. The man was old and had this glint of tranquility and friendliness in his ever narrowed eyes that it had been very easy for Kate to talk about her nightmares, and about the melancholy that had once made dying to her a much better option than anything else. And when she had come out the door of his cabin, she was fascinated at the feeling of a good kind of emptiness inside.
"You're not going to faint, are you?" Ellie asked watching as Kate said goodbye to Owen and all the other kids gathered in the hall while the sisters were putting away the handmade products aside in several cartons.
Kate turned to frown at Ellie. "Why would I?"
Ellie shrugged, raising arms and rolling her wrists, her face crunched when several little cracks could be heard. "You are... like... looking exhausted."
Whacking Ellie's arm Kate moved ahead, retorting in a sing song voice, "Same to you."
They walked down the grassy, huge front lawn of the orphanage where the brunch would be held. Only one more day remained to the grand event. There was going to be stage set up at one side of the lawn, near the oldy oak trees, teenagers from schools around and some men from the neighborhood suburb were busy putting it up. It was really heart melting seeing all these people of different ages and societal ranks coming together with this one unconditional purpose of helping these children.
Standing at the curb, Ellie was muttering to herself in frustration.
They had called for a taxi approximately half an hour ago but it was nowhere in sight yet. However, it was not unusual for a taxi to arrive this late in the city, some taxi drivers immensely enjoyed fashionably getting late. Someone had yet to figure out the reason behind this behavior.
"We should have said yes when Victor offered to send his office car for the day, like always But no, you had to point out that we were not out doing office work and bla bla...," Ellie grumbled. "There's just too many mosquitoes here and I'm wearing a f*cking maxi dress, nasty blood suckers are all partying inside!"
Truly, Kate could see Ellie shuffling like a maniac. Kate thanked the heavens for she was wearing pants.
"Why don't you walk around a bit?" she suggested.
"I was thinking just that," saying, Ellie raised the dress to her knees and furiously stomped away.
Kate sighed, waiting patiently at the curb. There was an option to walk home which was not that far, but she had yet to climb up to her full strength. It would be completely unfair to literally fall to her knees midway home and make her friends stress even more. They had been already doing so much for her.
The sky was cloudy at that moment and the haywire wind in an otherwise hot day was relaxing. Cricket bugs kept creaking in rhythm from the bushes and trees behind her, if listened with more attention - the bug-song had the power to make someone precariously dizzy.
Minutes passed by, she was tapping a foot to the ground while glancing at Ellie who was still stomping and jerking away her dress, more or less, fifteen feet away. Hearing screeches of a car, her eyes snapped towards the road.
There was their taxi.
It was inching forward to pull over at the side of the road. She took a step forward smiling, simultaneously, opening her mouth to call for Ellie.
Screeching noises came from the other side of the road, too. The difference was that it was ten times louder and sounded very much ominous while drifting closer in a haste. Instinctively, she jerked her head towards the noise. Her mouth fell open in fear, and in shock, seeing as a truck was headed straight in her direction and in an insane, devilish speed. Screaming could be heard around while her eyes stayed frozen on the metal monster. Memories flashed in her mind, of a time, when almost similarly a car had crashed into her rendering her the most horrifying experience to last a lifetime.
Ellie's ear piercing screams along with the taxi driver's rabid curses faded in the background.
But then, "Kate!" someone bellowed almost at her ear and grabbed her arm, yanking her none too gently out of the truck's way.
She gasped by the sudden movement and the next moment felt herself crashing into a body that hit the ground with a gasp of it's own taking her down with him. She found herself panting for breath and same was the person who had yanked her out of a possible death's way. His body rested beneath her, she realized he had deliberately cushioned her fall and he had done that with his own flesh.
Raising her head she blinked for a couple seconds, clearing the dots in front of her eyes. And as her vision focused, she found it was not an unknown face that was staring back at her.
It was Alex.
And his heart was thundering beneath her chest, just like hers was. His face was as pale as hers was with terror. He shuffled to straighten the both of them, and she sat up with her world tilting a bit out of axis.
With a furious screech the truck spun in the direction of the road and hightailed away from there.
"Damn it, the bastard fled!" Alex cursed, shaking, and she couldn't tell if it was from rage or fear.
Still a little dazed, Kate stared after the slowly settling swirl of dust that the vehicle had left in it's wake while Alex raked his eyes all over her with anxious eyes.
"You okay?" he asked, breathing heavy, one of his hands wounding around her shoulder holding her to his side.
"Yes," snapping out of the haze, Kate mumbled. Her body became aware of the close proximity between them at that moment, and suddenly, she was very much aware of his muscles pressed against her, his firm hold around her shoulders holding her steady while her legs literally wobbled from the smell of death that was again so much near.
She was beginning to squirm her way out of his arms but he seemed to be unaware about that, or perhaps, unwilling to her intention. Thankfully, Ellie was forceful in dragging her away from Alex.
"Oh my God! Kate," Ellie bellowed making her flinch, she engulfed Kate into a bone crushing hug and then released her just as quickly, holding her an arm's length away. "Let me see how many bones have broken," Ellie said, moving her eyes down her body. "At this rate, you're so going to be the most broken person in the whole damn world!"
Indeed.
She convinced Ellie that no bone was broken and not a single drop of blood was lost, someone had after all taken the impact of her fall. She turned around to look at Alex who was now on the phone, talking frantically, eyes narrowed and one hand shoved up in his hair.
He cut the call and covered his eyes with a palm. She approached him slowly.
"The police will be here any moment," he said, not opening his eyes but somehow knowing that she was near.
"Thanks," she said. There was a hell lot they needed to talk about, but that was what she had to say at the moment. "Are you alright?" she asked, worried with the way he was looking.
He didn't reply. A shaky sigh escaped his parted lips as he ran a hand down his face. "It was intentional," he grunted, voicing out what she was suspecting herself already.
--
Alex slammed past the butler that had opened the door to Nolan Ashworth's classy duplex apartment. With the butler trailing behind him like an insistent, ever buzzing bee, Alex strode down the little corridor and into the lounge area.
Nolan Ashworth was in the middle of taking a sip of tea, his posture the monument of utter calm and coolness.
"I know it's you," Alex thundered, pointing a finger at the man who just smirked at the face of his accusation.
"Well, nice to meet you too, Alex," Nolan said nonchalantly, lowering the tea cup. He waved off the butler who had been standing alert at the doorway.
"Cut the crap, Ashworth," Alex said through gritted teeth, it was getting hard for him to contain the desire to beat the man until he was dead. "You've already destroyed me, my business has been falling down with the speed of a comet. You got your revenge, then why the hell are you after Kate?"
Nolan raised a eyebrow, a playful smile on his lips. The bags beneath his eyes, obvious weight-loss and the increased grey of his hair were those physical signs contrasting greatly to his otherwise cool composure. The man was in stress and perhaps was suffering from sleepless nights.
The good and the evil lash back differently while going through misery.
"You think I'm trying to harm your ex-wife?" Nolan asked tipping his head so that the back of his head rested on the backrest of the plush sofa.
"Oh, I'm sure of it," Alex narrowed his eyes. "You father and daughter, after all, possess the copyright of having people run over by a car."
Nolan shook with a deep chuckle. "Hmmm..., maybe we can try something new now. Anyway, you're here to say?"
"Stop," Alex said firmly. "Stop with whatever you're trying to do. Or soon, you'll find yourself locked up in a cell, next door to your vile daughter. The police has your name in the suspect list, Ashworth."
"And yet you're scared of me," Nolan drawled.
Alex's blood boiled, for Nolan was right.
He was scared. Scared of what he would try next, scared that Kate would again get hurt, or worse.
It was one thing when he had money, when he was one of the top tycoons of the country. But now, with his business fallen and money diminishing - like a quicksand was swallowing it all up, he found himself in an almost helpless situation. Protecting his loved ones and ruining some evils were suddenly not as simple as it used to be before.
Alex stormed out of Nolan's apartment, but not before delivering a bone crunching punch up the old crook's irritatingly calm jaw.
The police had taken their statements and almost every eye witness had said that the deadly incident looked deliberate. However, there was the word "probably" after every one of those statements. And the officers brought up the equally possible theory of a drunk or a napping driver.
Alex demanded that they give security to Kate, but the f*ckers thought it to be extravagant at the point and declared that they would rather wait until further investigation. He was agitated beyond limits.
He so wanted to appoint bodyguards for her, but the thing was, he was out of money. Thankfully though, he was not out of ideas.
And so it began, the stalking. As if he was not doing it already.
If he could not buy her bodyguards, then he decided he could at least turn himself into one. For he was not going to see anymore blood on Kate, come hell or high water.
--
Kate was quiet unlike Victor and Ellie, both of whom were cursing clean the unknown truck driver's entire lineage. Their slangs colorful, tone frenzied and eyes blistering. It had been like this since the moment Victor had arrived getting a phone call from her, right when the officers were leaving after taking their statements - the police car speeding away with an accompanying ambulance on tow.
It seemed weird seeing Victor nodding at Alex in gratitude. It was uncomfortable while they all stood together not trying to rip Alex's head off of his shoulder.
"What were you doing here by the way?" Victor had asked while depositing Ellie and her in his car.
"Passing by," Alex had given a curt reply, his eyes stuck on her face blankly.
Kate wanted to believe it was the truth.
While the car wheeled away Alex stood like a disoriented man by the road, Kate couldn't tear her gaze from him until he completely went out of sight, until he was left too far behind.
She softly sighed and closed her eyes knocking her head back into the seat.
That night when she was in her pajamas, leaning on the window frame watching out at the night, she found the familiar figure of Alex clad in a hoody roaming about the sidewalk. She knew she wasn't mistaken, she could never make a mistake in recognizing him even if the whole world did. Her brows creased and she backed off into the shadows of her dark room.
And when Victor slipped into her bed, across a pillow that separated them, just as he had the night her nightmare had recurred, she closed her eyes knowing he was still out there. And she didn't know what to feel about it.
"Night, Katy," he whispered, hand sliding across the space between them,going beyond the boundary of the pillow, until it could find hers.
She relished from the warmth of his palm. "Night, Vic."
At that moment, she couldn't help but feel surrounded with safety and warmth, and loss, disorder and danger. There was just way too much of everything--of the good and the bad. Her own feelings were in a state that grasping the entirety of it felt next to impossible.
True was what she knew was the past, but it was no delusion, too, what was this here and now?
~
I would have written more for this chapter, but then I figured - that more needs another chapter.
It's easy being arrogant and imprudent while one's rich. Alex will find his redemption now through poverty first and foremost because I don't want him to buy his way back to nirvana. However, if he will find his way back to being with Kate... is a very questionable matter still.
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Lots of love,
Lara.