"Where is she now?"
"Boss, we followed her some kilometers south before losing her..."
Dominic banged his fist on the desk before cutting the man's narration short.
"You lost her?"
"With no GPS tracking system on board it was rather impossible to pinpoint the exact location of their car considering that the place is a jungle."
The man stilled before sitting back on his desk.
"What location was that again?"
The man took out a piece of paper and slid it over to him. Dominic picked up the paper and looked at it.
"Of course... I should have known, that this day would surely come."
***
"Are you sure about this?"
"Positive. It is now my place..." Katrina replied as she turned around to look at the house and the back drop that was behind it. "I have to stay hereand somehow over see and look to all the matters pertain to it."
"I can always stay and keep you company." Ryan volunteered.
"No Ryan, I won't be alone. Sure Uncle is going back home to his place, but there will be Mrs Nimrod and the gardener..."
"But..."
"Please Ryan. I need this time alone. I promise I will call you when I make an appointment with the doctor. Until then, please leave me be to find the answers that I seek here." He gave her a look, a begging look, but Katrina shook her head no. "Please Ryan..."
"Okay. I respect your decision. In case of anything-If you ever need anything-"
"I know where to find you."
"Okay. " he said even as he moved in to hug her and place a kiss on her forehead. "Be safe, okay?" she nodded as he stepped back. After a moment of hesitation Ryan smiled back and moved to get into his car. He waved back at her one more time and started the car engine before driving off.
Alone, Katrina walked back into the house with a lot still on her mind. Top on this list was Ryan's awkward behaviour. She stunned to say the least and could not make up her mind if he had really changed or if this was just another ruse to get back at her. Part of it reminded of the good old days but still she could not allow herself to really linger there with all the things that had gone wrong. No, she could not afford to remain in her past. Her present was here and now that life had given her another chance to make something of herself independent of her father's negative influence then she would have to take it and grasp this bull by its horns.
"That guy really loves you." Mrs Nimrod the housekeeper remarked as she joined her in the workshop. Katrina would have laughed at that comment but even she was not sure about that anymore. Was that even possible? Had he finally gotten over his puppy love towards Malisha? Or was she just his plan B. All the same, Katrina ignored the woman's comment unwilling to say anything on the topic before moving on to inspect the pieces of carvings that had once been her mother's artwork.
"When was this made?" her hands trailed over a beautifully made cabinet with carved roses on its wooden surfaces.
"I believe your mother made it as part of your would be nursery collection. She put her hands tirelessly to see the work completed but unfortunately..."
"Yes, I know. The accident happened."
"There is a matching cot here. It is not finished but..." the woman said as she moved to another section to lift the protecting covering over a white baby's cot with the same curved roses. A brush had been taken to one of the carvings with red paint and Katrina imagined that the idea had been to make all the roses appear red. Red roses in a white background.
"This is beautiful." she remarked as her fingers traces over the intricately made carvings.
"Yea... Your mother was an astounding artist. You have seen her other works as well?"
"Yes, the murals. They impressed Ryan quite a bit being an artist himself. I believe despite his reluctance to leave me he was also quite in a hurry to get back to his studio with this newly found inspiration."
"He is an artist?"
"Yea... Strange how I gravitated towards the artistic type. He was my first crush you know."
"Aaah...young love."
Katrina smiled. If only the woman knew. No, she would not be the one to tell her. To see that sparkle replaced by a look of pity? No. She would not do that to herself. Let her believe what she will and hopefully that would give her the respite she needed from her years of pain.
"What else is there to see?" she asked even as her mind swam with new ideas, new ideas on how to use these on her soon to be fruited business venture now that she had gotten her inspiration. Sure, all these had been unexpected but it worked out beautifully. With her newly found fortunes she could now finance her business ideas and better still, inspiration was now staring back at her waiting to be used.
As the woman led her to another section Katrina smiled as she came across the drafts and designs of her mother's would be art pieces. This would work beautifully. She thought. She only had to look for some carpenters and some handy men and the rest, the rest would have to follow and hopefully fall into place.
"What are you thinking now?" the woman remarked as she questioned the smile that had now formed on her face.
"That this place should come back alive?"
" Wouldn't that be splendid and my, what did you have in mind?"
"You'll see Mrs. Nimrod. You'll see."