Chapter 1

"A rose dreams of enjoying the company of bees, but none appears. The sun asks: Aren't you tired of waiting Yes, answers the rose, but if I close my petals, I will wither and die." - Paulo Coelho Katrina gently placed her violin in its case and zipped it up. After a moment of thought, she turned around and left it lying on the white vanity table that was standing beside her bed. She walked over to the great window that overlooked the front lawns and watched as a guard escorted Mrs. Beufont out of their premises. The elderly lady was nice enough, but her sorrow had left her too numb to truly appreciate her kindness. Katrina pulled the windows shut and allowed the beige heavy curtains to fall back into place. She then turned and surveyed her room, a great white room that was devoid of color and character and as such, was perfectly suited for the likes of her. Her white phone was lying on the bed. The same place she had left it when she had walked to begin her lesson. It almost blended with the white comforter apart from the gilded lattice that decorated its edges and thus, making it stand out. There was the white vanity set that was adjacent to her bed and next to the bathroom and closet doors. The violin in a white case and a white hairbrush were the only other things that lay on the vanity's surface, the rest of its contents having been stored away in its many drawers. On the far end of the room and a few paces from the foot of the bed was a seating area. All the seats were white settees and a chaise lounge was present which lay adjacent to the wall containing a flat-screen television that was mounted on a granite pillar supporting the fireplace chimney. A glass coffee table stood on a white fur rug and a magazine, the Veterum Vanity, was laid out upon it. Its pages had been flipped open and on the very first page was the image of the one that was responsible for all this misery. He was cute though and she looked down at him in yearning even as he grinned back at her looking sharp in the brilliant white tuxedo. She moved closer to the table and picked up the magazine. Silent tears dripped down her cheeks and soaked up the boy's smiling face. There was nothing to be done now. She remarked as she slowly lowered the paper on the table again. There was nothing, she thought as she stretched out herself on the chaise lounge and took to crying. "Katrina?" She sniffed back her tears and wiped the rest with her palms drying them with the skirt of her yellow sundress. "Katrina?" "Yes grandma," she said turning to face the older Mrs. Maracheli." I didn't hear you come in." "Probably because you were busy sobbing your eyes out, again." The old lady scolded. "But it hurts so much!" Katrina wailed. Her grandmother hobbled up to her and pulled her into a comforting hug. "Shush my child. Don't cry, it's not good for the baby." Katrina broke into another round of tears weeping bitterly into her grandmother's shoulder. "He hasn't called yet Nana. Not even once! " The old lady frowned at that and pulled the girl into an even tighter hug. She began to hum the tune of an old lullaby and eventually her granddaughter was able to calm down. The old lady encouraged her to stretch out on the lounge still humming to the tune of the lullaby and slowly Katrina's tired eyes grew heavy with sleep. The crying had worn her out and in no time she had dozed off. The old lady stood up and walked over towards the bed. She pulled off the white comforter that covered it and hobbled back to where her granddaughter was, before using it to cover up her still sleeping form. She took the settee next to the chaise lounge and shook off her slippers stretching out her legs as she continued to hum to the same old tune. Her gaze flickered over to the coffee table and she noticed the open magazine. She stared at the image of the grinning boy and muttered softly to herself. He was a spitting image of his father. Suddenly a knock came at the door and it startled her out of her reverie. She dropped her feet to the ground and slipped the slippers on. Knock! Knock! The knock came again. "Hold your horses, I'm coming!" She hissed as she shuffled towards the door and pulled it wide open. "Are you trying to bring down the entire house?" She glared at the maid who was caught standing with her hand mid-air poised for another knock. She dropped her hand and stared at the floor embarrassed. "I'm sorry ma'am, I did not mean to be rude." "You did not mean to? You better hope that all your pummelling did not wake my granddaughter up." "Sorry, ma'am" she apologized again. "Are you going to keep apologising the whole day or will tell me what it is that brought you here?" "Aah sorry ma--" the maid started to apologize but then, she stayed herself as she suddenly realized her second mistake. At this, the old lady who was studying her smiled back despite her original annoyance. "Well, go on,tell me." She encouraged. "Mrs Beufont called. She said something about wanting to speak to Katrina?" "Mmh... Did she now?" "Yes ma'am" the maid bopped her head in agreement. " Okay then, go on ahead. Tell her I'll be right there to speak to her." The maid curtseyed and turned to quickly walk down the cream plaster and marble hallway. Mrs. Maracheli turned back to the room and confirmed that Katrina was still fast asleep. With that, the grandmother gently closed the door and shuffled down the corridor to where the maid was waiting with the house phone in her hand. "Thank you Immaculate, I'll take it from here ." She said receiving the proffered handset before speaking into it, "Nancy!" "Please...think about it. The company will do her some good." "Mother, i will not have my daughter traipsing around town looking like one of those good for nothing nobodies!" "Dominic!" The old lady scolded. "Those are respectable people you are talking about. And Mrs Beufont is their chaperone, she mentors their entire group." The man, Dominic, wore a dark suit and sat behind a great oak desk. His once dark hair, now with a few streaks of grey, lay flat on his head, not a strand out of place. His brow furrowed as he scowled training a set of green eyes on the old lady before him. "Mrs Beufont, Katrina's instructor?" "Exactly." The old lady replied pushing one of the heavy oak chairs aside to rest her weight in it. " She used to be a music teacher you know, now she has her own groups of mentees and a bible study class that she teaches at the old church." "I'll think about it" The man dismissed the old lady turning his attention fully to the computer screen before him. "Dominic--" she tried again. "Mother, i said i'll think about it. Right now i am busy, i have a buisness to run." The man snapped and the old lady glared at her son. He had cut her short and not once had he looked from his computer. He looked a lot like his father. Dark hair, a strong jaw, and the trademark Maracheli attitude. "I guess then you are not interested in talking about the Thorpes?" That caught his attention. She had succeeded in baiting him yet again. "What about them?" he growled "Katrina is in pain." "Is she sick?" He queried, a worried look flashing across his eyes. "No dummy! Emotional pain." The old lady gritted. "Oh, i know." He gave her one last look and turned back to his work."That is why i am pushing for a divorce." His mother eyed him warily her fingers tracing the farrows of the rose curvings in the armchair before she blurted out. "Katrina is expectant!" Dominic's fingers stopped typing abruptly hanging lightly on the keys as his eyes remained trained on the screen in front of him. A pregnant silence enveloped the room neither saying a word until his mother decided to break the silence. "Dominic--" "How?" He snapped cutting a short once again. "Really? Do you want me to get into the intricacies of how that happens?" "Mother!" He growled. "Don't you growl at me! And if you want to know how that happened go ask your daughter." She hissed her temper finally exploding. He pushed his seat back and stood up, running a hand through his glossy hair, and started pacing the room. "Stop that. It's irritating." "What?" "Pacing." His mother replied. He paused in front of the glass balcony doors and peered out. "I am trying to think." "How is that working out for you?" He smiled despite himself. "Who said parenting a toddler was the hardest thing?" The old lady looked from her son to his desk where work files lay open in front of the computer. Behind the desk was a roof high oak shelf filled with books and more files. There were other two armchairs apart from the one she was occupying, one behind the desk and the other next to her. The polished bamboo floors shone below her feet and extended out to a sheltered balcony outside glass doors. On the doors light white curtains hang billowing in the mountain breeze and allowing the afternoon sun to stream in. The light reflected on the crystal chandelier that hanged from the high ceiling and on the polished brick surface of the fireplace accentuating the maroon walls behind it. "Dominic, what are you going to do now?" She asked him. "What can i do? Force the man to be accountable? I'm not sure if that is even an option." "He is still in Veterum?" "As far as i know, yes.I don't know what he hopes to achieve but that lady is already married and to their Phaedra of all people!" His mother pushed back on her seat and stood up to join her son overlooking the grounds below. "Son, our mistake was to force these two together, Katrina may have been smitten by the man but we both know that these things do not work that way." "But they had assured me that he was willing and i only wanted to make my daughter happy." "Willing is not the same as love," "I know mum,i guess i thought he would grow to love her." "No my son, you thought that you could not stand to disappoint your daughter. But she has to learn that in life you can't get everything you want!" "Fine!so what do i do now?" "Just let her be, offer her as much support as you can but for once let her be the one to make her own choices." He frowned. "So you just want me to seat around and do nothing." The old lady smiled. "Yes, for a change and lift that ban you have placed over her. You can't isolate her forever." His face farrowed even more as his frown deepened. "So you want me to let her speak to the Thorpes?" His mother's smile widened. "Yes, and allow her to join Mrs Beufont's mentees group. Being around her own agemates will do her good." He squinted his eyes at the old lady considering her now chipper mood then turned to stride back to his desk. "Fine, even though i do not understand why you were the one to tell me this. Does Alice know?" "No, we kept it a secret. That way you wouldn't antagonise your wife." He pulled in his seat and sat down a small smile beginning to tug at the corners of his lips. "Your idea or hers?" "By her, i assume you mean Katrina. Yes, it was her idea. She is smarter than you give her credit for." "I know she is smart. Just not experienced." He countered. "And is she supposed to get that experience holed up in here?" He grinned. "Okay, mother you fo what you want to do just let me be. I have work to do." The old lady hobbled up to the door and paused to grin back at her son. She saw him smile sensing her eyes on him. " See you at dinner, and don't fail this time." With that, she closed the door behind her and walked away to find Katrina.