SHIMMER'S POV
I was in my office and it was already past my working hours. Roderick had not yet passed by my office, as he usually did. I scrolled though the news again and again. I read the article too many times; on my phone, on my tablet, on my laptop. It had been quite some hours since the news was posted, thus I was sure that many people had seen it by then. I looked at my phone and wondered why on earth it was not yet ringing. The battery level was ok, the phone itself looked ok. I picked my office phone and dialed my number. Immediately the sound of my ringing tone filled the office. I quickly put the phone down and hoped to receive the call that I had so much waited for.
Both fear and anxiety clouded my mind. I was not sure of what I wanted, but I knew there was no backing down. It was dangerous, it was bad, but it had to be done. I reached my hand to below my desk, to check again if the bag was still there. It was there, full of the brand new notes that I had withdrawn from the bank and our banker had delivered to me on that same day. I prayed silently that our personal banker was not going to bump into Roderick and start asking a million questions about why we needed cash. That banker could be too talkative sometimes, urgh!!
My phone vibrated and before the ringing tone came through, I quickly picked it up and answered. I was so fast that I did not even check the caller ID.
"Mum? Why did you answer it so fast?" I heard Ciera's voice from the other end of the line.
"Oh, I was just holding the phone so when it rang I answered immediately."
"Well I have great news to share with you," she said.
"Tell me! What is it! I can't wait to hear it!"
"I will come to Clear Opal and tell you in person," Ciera spoke happily.
"When are you coming? Today?" I secretly hoped that she would choose another day.
"Tomorrow evening. May we have dinner at the mansion tomorrow evening? We can come at 8PM"
"Isn't that too late for dinner?", I asked hesitantly. My desire was for her to postpone the event to two or three days ahead.
"Keith Junior has a tight schedule tomorrow, so we will make it at 8PM."
"Very well then, my daughter. We will see you then," I smiled before ending the call.
I sat there in silence, yet the call that I was waiting for did not come through. The room was becoming darker, and the automatic lights soon flashed bright, disturbing my deep thoughts. My office door was pushed open and Roderick came in.
"My lovely wife! I'm afraid I will have to ask the driver to drive you home alone. I still have a lot of work to do," he apologized to me.
I stood up, hugged and kissed Roderick, and then assured him that all was well. He sat on the corner of my desk and started to chat playfully with me. I did my best to play along, for I could not afford to allow him to pick that there was something amiss. After chatting for a while, Roderick offered to take me down to the basement, but I politely refused. How could I have agreed? I needed to carry the money bag with me. He surely would see it and ask. Soon after he left, I picked up my bag and headed down to the elevator.
Nothing is more painful than waiting. I failed to eat my dinner, I failed to do anything. At that moment, I wished Arianna was still staying at the manor. That way, she would have cheered me up with all her chatting. Iris tried to talk to me but I dismissed her, using a headache as an excuse.
When are you ever going to call? I was getting seriously agitated and I stood in the shower and allowed the cold water to splatter all over me. Gradually I started to feel better.
I dried my hair, applied the body oil and then sat up in my bed. My hand just found itself browsing the news, and I ended up on the same news article, THE de Milo GROUP DONATES FIFTY AUTOMATIC WHEELCHAIRS TO THE CENTRAL OLD PEOPLE'S HOME.
It's there on the news!! Haven't you seen it yet!! Come on, Israel, call me now!!!
I threw the bed linen off me and started pacing the room, with my phone in my hand. 22.36HRS. Oh my word, I could not handle the anxiety any longer!
"Calm down, Shimmer. Just calm down," I said loudly to myself.
I slid back into the blankets and closed my eyes. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep. I had a dream. In the dream I was walking with my three children. It looked like we were crossing a river, and then it appeared again like we were all in a boat. In the boat, there was all of us, Roderick and myself, Ciera, Keith Junior, Dylan, Anisha, Arianna, Pete and baby Amanda. It appeared like I was the one sailing the boat. Yes, I was sailing it, rowing. It was in high waves of an ocean…in the dream, the river suddenly changed into an ocean. The wind was too strong; it kept pushing the boat in any and all directions, and I needed help. I looked at Roderick for help, but he seemed not to realise that I was in need of help. I looked at Dylan and Anisha; they were in a world of their own, playing together happily. Keith Junior and Ciera were concentrating on each other, and Pete and Arianna were playing lovingly with Amanda. I wanted to call out for someone to help me, yet my voice let me down. I struggled, trying hard to call for help, but my voice would not come out no matter how hard I tried.
And then the worst thing happened. The little boat capsized. I saw my family drowning, and I urged them to try and swim. All of them did their best, and I was the one rescuing them all. Yet it appeared like I was failing, I was getting tired, but they had not all been saved. Until finally we made it to shore, and I happily started to count people. There was one person missing. The dream was not clear as to who was missing, but one person was missing. In the dream, I cried so much that I almost went mad. I cried and threw myself on to the ground, and no one managed to comfort me. Yet all the while, I failed to see who it was that was missing. The only thing which was clear was that one of us was missing.
I woke up with a startle, realising that I was crying in my sleep. I sat up and wiped off the tears using my palms. I sniffled a little and spoke to myself,
"no, I will not cry like that! It's just a dream! There is no way I'm going to cry like that!" I cursed under my breath and stood up to stretch my legs.
I picked my phone and checked for any missed calls or messages, but there was none. Feeling disappointed, I sat back in bed and placed the phone on my lap. The dream re-played in my mind. What a dream! I just shook my head and forced myself to forget about that lousy dream.
"I'll never cry like that!" I shouted angrily! "nothing can make me cry like that! I am Shimmer. Shimmer de Milo!" I told myself.
The events from the dream continued to play in my mind, troubling me, until sleep took over me again.
***.
The sound of my ringing phone woke me up and I quickly held it close to my ear and answered.
"Hello?" my voice was loud and shaky.
"Her royal highness," came the very familiar voice.
An unexplainable feeling welled up in me, making my body feel weak, scared and excited at the same time. Oh Israel! What a faithful man!
I instantly recalled on the day when I asked him, "if I should ever need your services again, how do I get in touch with you?" And on that day he answered me: "When you need me, go pick any old people's home, and donate fifty wheelchairs. Once I see on the news that the de Milo Group has donated fifty wheelchairs; on the following day, I will land on the Lakeworld soils. Without fail." And I remembered that on that day I also asked him, "what if you miss the news?" and he said "I never miss the news."
He came through, just as per his word!! My lips curled up into a wide grin, and I shifted in the bed and started to feel shy. My imagination started to run wild, as I saw in my mind the handsome old man sitting in a wheelchair. That silver-grey hair…oh! Or maybe he had used another identity? Was he going to appear as the young handsome man, or maybe as someone else different; someone I had never seen before?
"Israel!" I whispered.
"The name is Fletcher this time around," he corrected me.
"Fletcher, you kept your word." I felt very pleased to have met Fletcher in my life.
"I'm a man of my word, your royal highness." He growled.
"Are you already in Southrain?" I asked, feeling a mixture of both joy and fear.
"Let's meet at the parking space at the amusement park. In bay number seventeen, a deep green Peugeot 3008 will be parked there. It has no registration number. I will be seated in the back seat. You will join me there. 10AM."
"Ahh…Israel; I mean, Fletcher! In broad daylight? At such an open space? Isn't the amusement park too populated for that? That place is too busy?"
"10AM works best for me, your highness. By midnight tomorrow, I must be out of Lakeworld." I could tell from his voice that he was not willing to negotiate.
"I understand. Ok I will stick to your time, but how about the meeting place? Can we choose something less busy?" I held my hand to my chest, hoping with my everything that he would agree to change the meeting place.
"Busy places are the best, royal highness." There was no negotiating with Israel…I mean Fletcher.
"But I am a well-known figure. I might need shades, a hat and maybe a wig too. I am very uncomfortable with this." I sighed, doing my best to sound desperate, so that I could convince him to change his mind.
"Do what you have to do then, 10AM. Amusement park. Bay seventeen. Deep green Peugeot 3008. See you then." And the line was disconnected.