Chapter 3

" The Rose is without an explanation; She blooms because She blooms.- Angelus Silesius Katrina lay in her queen size bed staring at the high ceiling above her. The crystal chandelier casting an eerie shadow on the wall behind her as the setting moon cast its dim light through the translucent curtains. She could not sleep. She had spent the last three hours in bed tossing and turning and any attempts to lull herself with music failed, miserably. Everything in her playlists reminded her of the very thing she strove to forget. She stretched out her hand to the right bedside table and retrieved her phone. Pressing the power button, the screen came to life, the Tandem insignia bathing her silhouette in white light. Her fingertips shuffled gracefully over the touch screen as she entered the passcode before waiting for the home page to load. "You have one email. click the button below to load." A monotonic narrator's voice droned. Her thumb grazed over the blue read button and she gasped. She quickly scanned through the message and came to a disappointing conclusion. "He is here, just not for me." She threw off the sheets and climb off the bed in a rage. "I am done! If it is a war he wants he will get it. No more tears for that worthless bonehead." She stormed into the bathroom while banging the door behind her stomping her feet in fury. "This is my baby! And i will be damned before he takes it away from me!" ........................................................................................................................................... Dawn came a few hours later finding a fully dressed Katrina sprawled on her chaise lounge thinking. The Veterum Vanity that had lain on the glass coffee table was now replaced with a crystal vase bearing freshly cut roses which brought a hint of color into the otherwise bland room. "I need to redecorate," she muttered to herself. Maybe find something more to occupy my mind that I have no time to think about him. She thought some more, in line with her earlier decision to move on with her life. I will start with the redecoration, get a job, or maybe start my business. Even better, I will do all that! # With her newly found vigor, she became the earliest to the breakfast table brimming with excitement at the many possibilities before her. She smiled at the maids and they smiled back at her happy and surprised to see her up and about. No one was more surprised than her father, Dominic Maracheli. He sat at the head of the table peering curiously at her while his mother chuckled softly from the other end of the table. "Papa, you are staring!" a jovial Katrina declared. He dropped his fork into his half-eaten omelet and looked up to smile at his daughter. "I am surprised princess," he replied calling her by her pet name."you are up and about and for the first time since you came back, you seem to be jovial." "And is that such a terrible thing papa?" She teased inciting a chuckle from her father. Her mother opposite her grinned and so did her grandmother who watched the entire exchange with interest. "We missed you princess, its so good to finally have you back." Her mother nodded in agreement as she reached out to squeeze her hand from across the table. Contrary to what most people thought, Katrina was not a spoilt pampered brat. She however adored her father and loved to please him so much that she did not protest her arranged wedding. It helped that she had always crushed on her said fiancè, right from the very first time she had laid her eyes on him. "So i was thinking dad." Her father looked up from his meal and regarded her curiously. "What have u been thinking princess?" "I want to do something with myself, something to keep me busy. May be start a buisness or something." "Mmh! What kind of buisness?" He asked picking at the rest of his breakfast. "I don't, I am not sure--" Her father looked up at her now very seriously. "Princess, you can't start a buisness without a plan." Katrina smiled more to reasssure herself than her father. "I know dad. The idea came to me this morning and i wanted to run it by you first." Her father regarded her for a moment before dropping his fork on the plate. He pushed his chair back before placing his napkin on the side plate. "Dad?" "Why not work at the company?" She stared at her father trying to read him. "Because that's your domain." "What so wrong with that?" her father asked just as her grandmother intervened. "Dominic!" "Fine," he said waving his hand as he turned to leave the room, "but i want a proper buisness proposal before i fund anything." Katrina almost jumped in her seat in excitement. " Will do that dad. Will drop it in your office first thing tomorrow morning." She replied a grin settling on her face as her father closed the door behind him. She turned and mother and grandmother smiled back at her. Her mother reached out to hold her hand and she squeezed it reassuringly in a way that only she knew how before standing up from the table. "Gotta go sweetheart, Dominic waits for no man." She said planting a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "I believe the word is time not Dominic, mum." Katrina responded grinning while her grandmother laughed beside her. "Oh yea, you are right.Can't afford to keep your father waiting. Good Mother, Good day Katrina." She said walking away quickly to find her husband. The older Mrs. Maracheli turned to face her granddaughter who was attempting to finish her breakfast. "So, what did you have in mind?" "I have thought of a boutique, a baby shop, event planning, interior designing even dairy farming. Now i just have to narrow it down to something practical and manageable." Her grandmother seemed to think about it for a moment before turning back to her just as she finished her meal. "What about the baby shop? It is a great start especially considering your condition." "Great idea. Now to write the proposal." The older Mrs. Maracheli smiled as she stood up. " I have an idea. Lets go to your father's library." ***********************************************************************