Bryan spoke with Mabel a little bit longer before she left. He also got the address of Gael Hanson, the secret boyfriend. From what Mabel said, he might no longer be living there since he had disappeared after Angelina broke up with him.
Bryan mulled over the new piece of information in his head. He would tell the police that he got the information from his sources as he didn't want to put Mabel in trouble with the police. He had to respect her wishes. Another thing Bryan hadn't done was to exchange contacts; he was afraid that it might lead to some trouble. He didn't want anyone to trace him out, but even if they did, he still had Wakeville police department to back him up.
Bryan left shortly after, took his bike and drove towards Raymond Street. He had some things he had to take care of and he also had to keep an eye on Will and also get information from his other informants.
Here goes my day off… Bryan sighed as he imagined the amount of work he would be doing for the rest of the day.
Meanwhile, after Bryan left the Friendly Café, a tall figure came over to the table he and Mabel had sat on previously. He looked at the table intently and clenched his fist,
"Detective Bryan Derrick!" he said with a smirk on his face. It would be fun….
….
Tracy threw out one dress after another from her wardrobe as she searched for something perfect to wear. She was meeting someone very important and she had to do her best to look nice.
The worst thing was that the message came as a surprise to her, she wasn't prepared for the appointment and she hadn't made necessary arrangements.
"Not this one…" another cloth was tossed out as she kept pulling out clothes; some still had their tags on them.
"How I'm I going to find a nice dress on such short notice?" Tracy felt a headache coming and paused her activity to catch a breath.
She was nervous not because she couldn't find something suitable to wear but because this appointment was very important to her, it could determine a lot of things in her life. All these years, she had almost forgotten about this man and the meeting that was scheduled over five years ago. All she could do was pray that it wasn't something she couldn't handle.
Some minutes later, she finally decided on what to wear. She chose a black, lacy, strapless dress with beautiful sparkling stones that adorned the chest area.
"This should do." She shrugged and put the dress aside and went to get ready. The meeting wasn't until 3 p.m. today and she still had about two hours at most to get ready.
….
After she dressed up and put on a light makeup, she stood before a full body mirror and admired herself. She was indeed a rare beauty. Her flawless skin and beautiful face was something that could charm any man, and the dress she wore today just added another level of flair to her beauty.
She made sure that nothing was out of place before going to get Walter. She was taking him along with her today.
Although Walter had stayed alone at home before but she felt that she needed to have a bit more time with him especially now that Bernadette was getting closer and closer to him. She wanted to occupy a stronger position in his heart; after all she was his mother.
Another reason she wanted to take Walter with her was because with Bernadette gone, she could not bear to leave him alone. What if something happens?
She would have felt a little bit more secure if Bernadette was around and available at the moment, she would surely deliver a bit of confidence knowing that she was just a phone call away just in case anything urgent happened. And she also had the police to help her out most of the time.
Yes, in as much as she wasn't on the same page with Bernadette, she felt that she was at least useful in some things. Then again, by letting her take too much care of Walter, she would slowly walk her way through to him and this might not be good for future developments especially now that the company was in a difficult place. This was the reason why she didn't want Walter to be closer to Bernadette; she would just ruin him just like she ruined her father years ago.
She kept wondering what she'd do if she realised that her father's death wasn't a natural one but was caused by her.
She didn't hate her step daughter neither did she love her. Their relationship could be better understood as two strangers who had nothing to do with each other yet they had to keep watch over the same thing. This was partly the reason why she hadn't thrown her out yet, she needed her to be here.
Tracy shook her head and pushed aside all those thoughts and knocked on her son's door.
"Are you ready yet?" she called out.
"Almost." Walter responded from inside the room.
After some minutes, he came out looking all dapper and handsome in his blue shirt and blue tight jeans.
"How do I look, mommy?" he asked and turned for her to have a clearer view of him.
"You look handsome as always!" Tracy praised with gleaming eyes.
"That's right; I took after my mommy after all." Walter beamed looking so pleased.
Tracy's face darkened when she heard that. Although he was facing her while saying the words and although he had asked her how he looked yet Tracy felt— no she knew that he wasn't referring to her.
He wasn't calling her mommy neither was he asking for her praises; he was merely trying to say, "Mommy Bernadette how do I look?"
And when she had answered that he was handsome, he was tactfully saying, "That's right, I took after mommy Bernadette."
Tracy felt hurt. Even that smile wasn't for her.
Why couldn't he see that she really loved him and was doing all she could to keep him safe and well?
Why would he always choose her over me?
When will he learn to accept her as his true mother and not just a step mother?
"Can we go now?"
Tracy was snapped out of her daze by Walter. She hesitated a bit before nodding:
"Of course we can go now."
She took his little hand and brought him to the car.
This is the more reason she had to make Bernadette stay; she had to plan a future. In that future, Walter will achieve all the set goals and by that time, Bernadette who had played her part would be long gone….