SHIMMER'S POV
"What on earth was he saying? Tell me everything!" I said as I pulled Iris closer to me.
She looked down and appeared to be hesitating. I was unable to wait any longer, so I shouted at her,
"Spit it out already!"
"Ah, sorry ma'am. He…he didn't say much. He only said to Anisha, please get well soon." Iris said in a low voice.
"Was that all?" I could feel anger surging from within, and if a glare could pierce into a person, mine would have surely ripped Iris apart.
"Y...yes ma'am" she stammered.
"Why are you stammering. Tell me everything!"
"H…he, sir Dylan also ….he…."
"He did what!!!!" I was becoming seriously impatient with Iris.
"He held Anisha's hand while he spoke!"
"He held her hand? Affectionately?" I asked.
"I could not tell, ma'am. I couldn't see clearly. He was blocking me. But I think he was just holding her as a friend."
"Did he do anything else, like kissing her? Did he kiss that stupid girl?"
"No ma'am, he did not kiss her," she shook her head.
"Good." I folded my hands on my chest.
There was silence, then I felt the need to speak again. "Iris, did you hear how my son went on and on about that pastor? ….I want to attend his funeral...I spent a month with him during a terrible time…..the one month brought us closer together…..ughhh!!"
"I heard him, ma'am!"
"Well then if the one month brought him closer to pastor Noel Everdeen, whom he never knew before, I hate to imagine what that same one month did to him with and that silly girl!! I bet they even exchanged their wedding vows in that room; before that pastor!! Who knows, maybe they're already married by now!!"
"I don't think so, ma'am. Sir Dylan would never get married without your approval."
"You think so? He has been obsessed with that orphan girl since time immemorial!"
"The way you keep referring to her as an orphan, ma'am…"Iris began to speak and before I heard how she intended to finish up her sentence, I was driven mad by how she started it.
"What? Is she not an orphan? Didn't her own mother dump her at the gate of the orphanage! Are you starting to defend her now? Whose side are you on?"
"Yours, ma'am. I'm sorry ma'am. I just thought it was a bit rude to continue referring to her as that orphan."
"Isn't she an orphan?"
"She is, ma'am."
"Listen Iris. You work for me. I made you who you are, and you will listen to and support me, do you understand that?" A part of my mind told me that I was overreacting, but at that moment I did not care a bit.
"I understand, ma'am", Iris seemed very scared.
"Get out of my sight!" I hissed, and she immediately vanished from before me.
Left alone in the room, I dialed Papaya's number. Papaya was a private investigator, one of the best in Lakeworld.
"Tell me," I said as soon as he answered the call.
"Hallo Mrs de Milo," he said.
"Hello, please just get to the point."
"Oh, I thought you and I were going to meet and talk about this over coffee?" he laughed.
"Is there something very serious? Did you find a lot of information?"
"Hardly anything. It's as if the girl doesn't even exist."
"So then just tell me over the phone. Tell me everything."
"Yes Mrs de Milo," he cleared his throat and started to speak.
"The girl's full name is Anisha Kayla Meyerton. She was born on the 11th of April, and on the same day dumped at the orphanage gate. She was well known at the orphanage for her singing, and also because of her beauty."
"Did she have any boyfriend at that orphanage?" I asked.
"No. I dug deep but there is nothing about her love life. She used to love music a lot, and played both the piano and the violin. A young man named Carter also played the instruments with her, along with many other children. But Carter and Anisha were the best musicians."
"Was there anything between her and Carter?"
"No ma'am. I think they treated each other as brother and sister, having grown up together at Olga. She also excelled in her school work. It's surprising however that no-one ever adopted her, considering that many kids were being adopted from that place."
"Who would have wanted her?" I snapped angrily.
"She's not that bad, Mrs de Milo," Papaya laughed before he continued, "from what I found out, it appears that she was a favourite of Ms Meyerton, the matron at the orphanage. She loved them way too much, there were two of them, Anisha and Valentina. They grew up as virtual twins."
"Ok," I responded. "Tell me more about this Carter. Could there be any chance of him resurfacing and taking Anisha away?"
"Taking Anisha away? As in, falling in love with her?" Papaya laughed.
"Yes. Is there no chance of them falling in love and getting married? I tell you I would pay for their wedding any day, any time!"
"Is she that bad, Mrs de Milo?" Papaya laughed. "There is nothing. It appears as if Carter left the country. I will do my best to look for him. But they were not romantically involved with Anisha. Never were. After the orphanage was closed, she became homeless. While the plan was to ensure that every child was taken into either a foster home or another children's home, it appears like the place was closed way sooner than the staff had anticipated. Most of them had concluded that Ms Meyerton was going to take Anisha and Valentina with her, since she had always treated them as her own, but she did not. She was too sick to think of them, so the girls ran off and started a life on the streets. The closure of that home was not managed well at all. It was not only the two girls who lived on the streets, there were several other children who ended up on the streets. It also appears like the staff were more worried about the babies and younger kids, while the early teens and them were forgotten."
"Sad for them," I said, not really meaning it.
"Anisha started to take some odd jobs just for survival, until she met Larissa la Martina. Larissa took her in as an inexperienced house help. She was well loved at the la Martinas. While she was there, she started to go to school again, studying music and theatre. And then the kidnapping happened, and we're where we are today." He concluded.
"Is there any time, at any point in her life, where she met my son Dylan?"
"According to my research, Mrs de Milo, Anisha only had the chance of seeing Dylan during the first Thursdays of the month when your family visited. I did not find anything else to show that the two of them ever met secretly in any other place."
"How about now, I mean in recent years? You do know that Anisha was working in Harvey Street, don't you? Staying at the la Martinas, did she and my son meet at any point?"
"No, Mrs de Milo. I did my best to search on that. They never met. If they did, then it was a very well-hidden affair."
"Is there anything else that you may have forgotten to tell me?" I asked before I bit my lower lip in anticipation.
"No, Mrs de Milo. That is it for now. Of course I will continue to dig and see if I can find out anything else. But generally, the girl is clean. She has nothing interesting about her. She is just a simple girl."
"Thank you Papaya. I will wire more money shortly," I said.
"Yes Mrs de Milo. You're welcome."