One thing that Patricia knew about the Smiths - particularly Kyle Smith - was that even at a young age, they were to be treated like adults. Despite Ariel being very cute and vulnerable toddler right now, Patricia would not lie to her nor placate her with empty words.
Taking both of Ariel's hands in hers, Patricia looked at Ariel in the eyes and said solemnly, "You know very well that I will have to tell your father about this."
Ariel's eyes started to get moist, and her lips quivered, but she held it in. She blinked a few times, causing the unshed tears to wet her long eyelashes as she looked at Patricia.
Patricia felt like her heart was going to break and she almost broke down, wanting to take Ariel into her arms and promise her that she would not tell Kyle.
She gulped, taking a deep breath, and continued, her voice quivering a bit as she was feeling so bad about it, "Your father would not scold you, you know that. He would be worried for you instead and he would feel very, very sad if you hide it from him."
Ariel looked down, not wanting to speak but she was sobbing silently, her chest heaving up and down as the tears flowed down.
With a sigh, Patricia took the wet towel and wiped Ariel's face, "Why are you crying?"
"Daddy will be so upset with me," Ariel whispered softly.
Patricia took Ariel into her arms, putting her on her lap and rubbing her back while holding her tight.
"No, that's not entirely correct. Yes, he would be upset, but not with you," Patricia assured her, "Why don't you talk to your father about it? What is making you feel so sad?"
Ariel's eyes lit up a bit and she looked up at Patricia, her eyes slightly red as she asked in a quivering voice, "Can I? Can I go to his office now?"
Patricia hesitated, "That…"
Ariel took both of Patricia's hands in hers, and said, "Daddy said I can talk to him anytime."
Then the tears fell again, and she looked down, saying in a soft voice, "Oh. He's working. Right. Can't bother him…"
Patricia groaned inwardly.
Why did it have to be today that Ariel was home alone?
If only Mrs. Sayuri was home, then Patricia could have brought Ariel over to her mother. That would have been just as good as meeting her father, and it wouldn't disturb him at the office.
The problem was, Mrs. Sayuri had to do something outside, and didn't even bring Ariel along. Normally, Ariel would be sticking with her mother the whole day while the siblings were at school and her father was at work.
Perhaps that was why Ariel became even more insecure today.
Being left behind wasn't a good feeling.
"How about we call Mummy instead?" suggested Patricia.
Although she knew that Mrs. Sayuri had gone out to work, she was of the impression that between the Sayuri and Kyle, it would be better to 'disturb' the former than the latter.
Mrs Sayuri's work seemed to be much more flexible and Patricia felt that the likelihood of her interrupting anything important was slim as compared to contacting Mr. Kyle.
True, Sayuri did have several businesses under her belt but it was basically was run by capable people and all she had to do was collect the profits at the end of the month. She didn't have to work like Kyle did and could focus on raising the family.
So Patricia's analysis was accurate and it would have been the best move at the moment. However, it was not so today.
Today, Sayuri would not be contactable at all as she was currently on a personal mission. There had been something that she had yet to do and she decided that today was a good day to do it.
After all, a particular ex-employee of Smith Industries that had crossed her bottom line needed to be dealt with … permanently.
Sayuri had left it until today partly because she hadn't had time earlier and partly because she wanted the person to suffer a little bit. Although Sayuri did find it rather funny that the woman would find herself peeing uncontrollably each time she heard or saw Kyle.
Initially, Sayuri had thought it would have been a slight 'accident', and other than having wet panties, it wasn't much. How could she have known that it wasn't a 'trickle' but a gusher?
There would be a puddle under her each time.
The embarrassment was immense and Sayuri had wanted to enjoy it for a while.
The expression on the 'victim's' face was priceless.
Seeing her completely pale and frozen with shock as the life ebbed out, however, was even more so.
Sayuri was sitting on the chair, watching the woman staring at her in total shock as the pain of death filled her entire being.
Seeing the unreconciled look in Opal's eyes, Sayuri smiled and leaned forward, asking in a rather low and sultry voice, "I suppose you're thinking how Kyle could be married to me, right? If he knew what I am like, he would drop me like a hot potato?"
The slight hiss was all the answer Sayuri needed.
Sayuri leaned back on the chair and started studying her meticulously manicured nails before replying, "And that is why you'll never be with Kyle. He and I - we are two peas in a pod, complementing each other in both the light and darkness."
Putting her hands down, Sayuri got up, brushed her short skirt of any dust, and said as a final parting, "Death by urinary bladder perforation is certainly a way to go, don't you think, Opal? In your next life, remember - don't use innocent babies to achieve your underhanded means."
Sayuri smiled in satisfaction, knowing that the hit she had made towards Opal's bladder would not be detected. After several months, those who knew Opal, knew about her weird problem, so such a cause of death would have not been a shock.
Funny and weird, perhaps, but not a surprise.
Just chalk it down to another rare condition.
Urinary bladder perforation normally occurred when the bladder was too full and burst, whereas Opal's situation was the other way around. When an autopsy was done, they'd find that there was a bruising on the bladder, caused by some trauma long ago. Which would explain her inability to hold her bladder. The injury simply festered and finally, caused the bladder to burst.
Sayuri left the apartment silently, leaving no traces of ever having been there. So, while Sayuri was busy with 'work', Patricia was still looking at Ariel for her answer.
Ariel shook her head.
"No," Ariel replied, "I want Daddy."
She didn't want comfort right now, which was what her Mummy would be giving.
What she wanted was assurance. Solid assurance that Mummy wouldn't be leaving her behind for a long time again.
Only Daddy could give her that assurance.
Patricia sighed and picked up the phone to call Mr. Smith and prayed that she wouldn't be disrupting anything important.
Ariel took hold of Patricia's hand and shook her head, "No, Pip. Use my phone."
Patricia looked at the small pink phone in Ariel's hand.
The phone had been specially made just for Ariel. It had both facial recognition and biometric access, so no one else could use the phone except for Ariel.
The phone also did not have any keypads like a normal phone. It had three buttons. One red button in the shape of a handset signified ending a phone call. Two round buttons with a mini picture of Sayuri and Kyle.
"Only you can use the phone, Rie," Patricia told her, pushing the phone back towards Ariel.
"Oh, ya. I forgot," Ariel said sheepishly.
Taking a deep breath, Ariel pressed Kyle's picture and waited, with her heart beating abnormally fast. Although she had this phone for nearly a year, she had never used it. She didn't need to as Mummy was always around and she could always wait when Daddy came home.
Today, though, she couldn't wait.
The phone had hardly hit its second ring when Daddy's deep and soothing voice came over the line, "Yes, Rie? What's wrong?"
Just hearing that made her start to cry again, and she leaned on Pip. One hand was gripping Pip's clothes and the other hand was holding onto the phone tightly.
"Rie?"
Ariel could hear the concern in her Daddy's voice but she was sobbing too much to really be able to say much, but she tried, "I..I-sob sob sob…sniff…Daddyyyyy…sniff … sob sob…I …"
As Ariel was trying to say something, Patricia saw her phone flashing, indicating a message had come in. One glance told her it was from Kyle and she quickly took the phone to reply.
Using only one hand, she deftly answered the text [Ariel is fine and on my lap. She was caught sucking her thumb]
Kyle, upon seeing this, was relieved and he got up from his office chair. Sam saw him getting ready to leave, and Kyle told him in sign language that he was heading home.
Sam nodded in understanding and watched as Kyle hurriedly left. He gathered the papers scattered on Kyle's desk with a sigh and proceeded to arrange them for the next day.
"It's okay, Rie," Kyle was saying softly as he passed Sam, "I'm coming home now, okay? We can talk then."
Ariel pouted and nodded, forgetting that her father couldn't see it. Kyle didn't need an answer, though, as the sounds of her sobbing lessening was enough.
Ariel, who had been so highly strung from worry, promptly fell asleep in Patricia's arms upon knowing that her father was coming home.