"Look Gray, I'm telling you, Elias Thorn is my father! There was no doubt in my mind, what so ever. I don't know how you want me to get that information now. Even if I played the daughter wanting a relationship with her father card, he's not stupid. He will know where my loyalty lies. If anything he will use the opportunity to expose me!"
"My dear lady, calm down. I did not know. No one is asking you to go and speak with him. I was informed of what your father did and about your mother. I am surprised you didn't expose him right then and there honestly. However, if someone else is to be doing this job now, you are going to need to find a way to get one of our men up there to do the job."
I hear the sound of the front door opening.
"I've got to go." I hang the tube up and immediately give the shop a ring. I'm making sure everything is going alright when Bav and Viekar walk in the room.
"Alright, Etty. Please let me know if any one stops in asking for me. Bye." I hang up and look towards the two.
"Well, what could you find out?" I look at them expectantly. Bav motions for Viekar to set the box down and go. Following Bav's direction he quickly leaves.
"Evangeline wanted me to give you the box with your prize. It's a beautiful set."
"Thank you but you know what I am asking about." I snap.
Bav's lips go thin and tight but he takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "I am, I was just getting that out of the way. Now, The man known as Elias Thorn has been the head of the Charities Department now for five years. He does not ask people to put fundraisers on to raise funds. The fundraisers are always done by the ladies at their own choice. He lives in the Gilded District, over by the Chamber Tower. Peoples opinions of him are varied. Some find him rude, some find him brutally honest, and others find him just tolerable. He still likes his drinks, but no one can recall him ever being drunk or violent with anyone. He has kept himself pretty low on the radar, except for his position."
I cross my arms as my leg begins to bounce and shake. "SO you are telling me that people think he's an okay guy, that is just a little crass. Anything else?"
Bav starts to speak but stops, hesitant to say a thing. "Rakara... I ... I..."
"What is it Bav, just tell me." I am impatient at the moment, my anxiety is high and now that the initial fear is gone only rage is building up in me.
"I don't know how you are going to take this, but he has another wife..."
My jaw drops, I didn't know that I could become even more furious than I was before, but now I am up pacing the room. Does he treat her better? Does he beat on her like he did momma?
"Kara. There's one more thing."
His words make me pause and stare intently at him.
"He has another child with this woman. He's four. His name is Mathias."
My heart plummets, "He has a son.....?" I think about it for a moment, "I have a little brother?"
I burst into tears. How could he replace me and momma? Does he hit my little brother the same way he would hit me? What if he's just as afraid of him as I was? Does his mother protect him?
"Kara, my love. I have some people who are going to put cameras and microphones around his offices and home. Don't worry we will find out the truth of the matter." Bav tries to soothe me, but something he says stings me.
TRUTH OF THE MATTER? Like that might not be my father? I know it's him. How dare he doubt me!
"Truth of the matter?!" I push back from him, "What.. ? Do you not believe me? Like I would lie about seeing my dead father walking around parading as someone else?!" I ask losing my temper.
Bav gets defensive, standing up straighter and squaring his shoulders off, "Now Kara, that is not what I said. My choice of words and how I explained it may have been lacking, but you are lashing out at me when I am not the one who lied to you about being dead."
"But you have still lied to me." I cross my arms and face the door.
"What are you talking about?" Bav is acting very well right now.
My boiling point is not far away right now as I turn back around to him. "I KNOW YOU ARE KEEPING SOMETHING FROM ME! WHICH IS JUST AS GOOD AS LYING!"
"WHAT ON EARTH, NO... JAKESHA ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Bav's natural form looks fiercer than normal but I will not back down.
"I HEARD YOU AND VIEKAR TALKING BEFORE THE TEA SOCIAL!"
He stops, his face pales and almost turns green from the shock.
"How much did you hear?" He's toneless with his question, as he just sits on the floor where he is waiting for my response.
I take a seat on the foot rest near me for the lounge chair before clearing my throat and wiping my eyes before answering.
"Enough to know that you are worried I will leave you, when I find out what it's about."
"You've known and acted like everything was fine this entire time?" Bav looks annoyed at the thought.
"I was hoping you'd take Viekar's advice, when I asked you what was wrong." Sniffling, I clear my throat and avoid looking at him.
"Hmmph.... Indeed." He stands and takes deliberate strides over to the closet and comes back out a minute later, handing over a file with documents in it.
"What is this?" I open and look to see it's deeds and ownership papers for a business.
"It was going to be a way I could get close to you, when I first started going to the shop. I thought that if I was your neighbor we could get to know each other that way..."
I look at the address and it's the shop I was going to buy in the first place. "You bought the place out from under me?" I feel betrayed, I told him how much I wanted to purchase the place.
"I bought it after the first day, in my defense, I didn't know at that time you were going to purchase it."
"So why did you not say something after you knew?" I ask perplexed and frustrated. He is the one who wanted me to purchase the other place and make it my own.
"Guilt. I've been contemplating what I should do with it since." He says flatly, studying my reactions like I was an open book.
"You knew how much I wanted this place, before I purchased the other one! WHY? Why would you do that to me? I wanted to keep my peaceful life and shop in the one location. I was content with my life how it was! Why did you ruin my dream like that?! Why in the elements?!" I am so disappointed as I scream in frustration up at the ceiling.
"I loved my simple life before all this! I wanted to keep it simple! I never wanted to join the Gilded society like I have! I wanted to expand yes, but in one location! Not stress on two different shops at once! On top of getting engaged and planning a wedding! WHY DID YOU COME IN AND THROW THE GEARS OF MY LIFE OUT OF POSITION?!"
I rage at him, holding the papers that were supposed to be mine in my perfect planned out future, that I had dreamed of for a long time, that I scrimped and saved from all my hard work and sweat. I go quiet after I scream at him for throwing my life off track.
"Is that how you truly feel? IS that why you have been spending more time away from me?" He stands up and comes to sit closer to me but still keeps his distance. "Because I came into your life and ruined your plans? Is that the life you still want? Without me?" He reaches out for me, but in my petty spite I pull away and place the file next to him on the chaise.
"I .... I.." What do I want right now? I'm hurt over that, yes. I'm stressed over my father, my work for the cogs, the shop, the extra employees, the extra work. "I don't know, Bav."
I stand and walk towards the door, needing to clear my head and get out of here. I don't say anything, I only glance back at him for a moment as I walk out of the room, leaving him clutching his head in his hands, not even watching me leave.
I shut the door as I exit the room, walking down the stairs faster than I normally would. At the bottom of the staircase I hear a roar, like an animal in pain, and a shock wave nearly knocks me over. I quickly make my way out the door and walk quickly down the path. Only stopping to look back up at the his room before it is lost to sight.
I see the smoke creatures moving around and through the walls of his home. I shudder and hurry away, not trusting my gut instinct to go back up and hold him close. I cower inside like a coward and exit the gate, heading towards the lifts.
I don't know what I want anymore and I need some time to figure it out.
I am sorry Bav.