Lost and Found (A Novel)

LOST & FOUND

KATHY ADAMS

Copyright © 2012 Kathy Adams

All rights reserved.

CHAPTER 1: PRESENT YEAR

Caelie quickened her footsteps, her head bowed down shielding her face against the strong wind lashing at her. Her hair flying all around her. Above her the sky grew darker, the heavy clouds threatening to spill its guts to earth. She pulled her scarf tighter around her neck, hands clutching her sling bag tightly to her chest. There were three more blocks to go before she would reach her intended destination. She took a quick glance at her watch anxiously. The impending downpour was not the only reason for her haste. She could not afford to be late.

Just as she made it past one block, fat droplets of water began to splash around her. She groaned as she felt cold water seeping through her hair to her scalp. Some were already trickling down her cheeks. A wet wind-blown hair would definitely be a disaster for her. She increased her speed, practically running down the rest of the way towards the towering blue building at the end of the street. So consumed was she on reaching the building entrance that she failed to notice a lone figure standing at the top of the staircase that led to the entrance. She ran up the short flight of stairs straight into the figure, sending sheets of paper flying all over the place, the wind and rain making them impossible to contain.

Caelie gasped, apologizing profusely to whoever it was. She heard a male voice cursed under his breath and a knot involuntarily formed in her stomach. She kept her gaze down, avoiding eye contact with the man who was frantically trying to gather his papers. She tried to chase after the papers, some of which were already soaking wet. After a considerable time, she managed to gather all the stray papers and made her way timidly towards the man who was now standing, watching her with his arms crossed. She kept her head down as she stretched out her hand returning his papers, her eyes taking in only the man’s black leather shoes, pinstripe grey pants with a matching jacket over a white shirt and the bottom half of a champagne silk tie. The papers were snatched from her hand a little too roughly, tightening the knot in her stomach further. Caelie apologized once more, bowing her head slightly and dashed through the entrance door to the warmth and safety of the building, leaving the man with a dumbfounded expression on his face standing in the cold rain.

Once inside, Caelie eyed the interior of the building carefully, spotting the ‘ladies’ sign, tucked at the left corner. She brisk-walked towards the washroom and stood in front of the mirror, assessing the damage done to her looks. Parts of her red hair which had been soaked by the rain hung matted to her scalp, dripping water on its ends unto her white blouse turning it translucent. A few strands were standing on ends, the effect from the lashing wind. Her A-line cream-colored skirt had crease marks from when she had dashed around trying to catch the man’s papers. She looked down at her cream-colored suede high heels and almost cried. Instead of looking brand new like it should, it looks worn out with patches of dirt covering it from the splashing of puddles that she had ran through. A small defeated sigh escaped her mouth as her shoulders dropped, her head hung low.

It was to be the most exciting day in Caelie’s life yet. She had been offered an internship at Mirage magazine, one which she had been dreaming of for years. She was supposed to have reported to Elise Kerbs, the chief editor, at nine a.m. Yet, at five minutes past nine, she stood dejectedly in the washroom, dripping water to the floor, bringing with it the hopes she had. She had done everything she could to ensure that she made a good first impression, which included buying a whole new wardrobe despite her tight finances. After all, she was hoping that the internship stint would ultimately led to her being offered a position in the company upon graduation. As luck would have it, her old second-hand red rover refused to cooperate, breaking down in the middle of the road and forcing her to walk the rest of the way.

Caelie’s head snapped back up to the mirror, staring intently at her reflection with a renewed determination in her eyes. She had to pull herself together. This was Mirage magazine. She could not allow herself to be pulled yet again in self-pity. She had vowed that she would make use of the chance that had been extended to her as a breakthrough that would bring her out of her shell into a new person. One that would no longer be a shadowed reflection of her past, plagued by haunted memories.

Her spirits lifted, she fussed around with herself, trying to look as presentable as she could be in her state. Pulling up her hair into a bun, she dried her clothes as best she could. Thankfully she wasn’t wearing mascara or eyeliner today which would have left runny streaks on her face. Touching up a bit of her makeup, she was done within five minutes. Taking a deep breath, she nodded her head, as if to convince herself before stepping out of the washroom and into a conveniently waiting elevator to the ninth floor where the magazine company was situated.

Moments ago, outside the building Wynne stood staring at the darting figure as it vanished inside the building. He was furious. All he had seen was a wild bunch of red hair flying all over the place, scrambling after his papers and handing them to him curtly before running away. He could not get a good look at the girl as she refused to bring her head up to face him. Instead she had kept her head down mumbling apologies under her breath, without any trace of remorse in it. He seethed and cursed. The proposal that he had worked so hard on for the past few nights had been reduced to a complete mess of soggy papers. He had to submit it to the client in just under an hour’s time and there was no way he could do it in its current state. Furthermore, Elise would be livid. She had emphasized a million times how important this client was to the company. He wondered if she would even buy his explanation. Grudgingly he stomped through the entrance, looking around trying to catch sight of that girl but she was nowhere to be seen. He let loose a string of profanities as he made his way up to meet Elise’s wrath.

This was it, Caelie thought as she caught sight of the elegant sign that spelt Mirage on the wall when the elevator door slid open. Taking another deep breath, she braced herself as she pushed open the door and walked up to the receptionist who was already watching her.

“Hi, I’m Caelie Pierce. I’m here to report for my internship.”

The receptionist eyed Caelie cautiously. “You were supposed to report at nine a.m. You are fifteen minutes late.”

“I know, I’m sorry but my car broke down.” Caelie explained, looking up anxiously at the girl behind the reception desk. She looked young, about Caelie’s age.

The girl gave Caelie a sympathy smile. “Well, try to be on time in future. Ms. Kerbs is very particular about punctuality. She had been waiting for you in her office but she is engaged with someone at the moment. Come, I’ll bring you to her office. I’m Chanell by the way.” Chanell gave another smile before walking away. Caelie followed her through the cubicles of workstations filled with people either on the phone or typing away until they reached a large room consisting of a few chairs and a coffee table. Raised voices could be heard from an adjoining room. Chanell motioned for Caelie to stay put while she walked over to that room, knocking on the open door before entering. A few seconds later she emerged from the room and headed back towards Caelie.

“This is Ms. Kerbs’ office waiting room. Make yourself comfortable. She will call for you when she is ready.” Caelie nodded, thanking Chanell who had started to head out of the room. She paused at the door, turned and whispered to Caelie, “Good luck, you’ll need it. She is not in a good mood. If you had not been late, you would have met her before this guy upsets her,” with that, she left the room. Caelie gulped, folding her hands anxiously in her lap. She wondered who that guy which Chanell mentioned was. Of all days, he had to made Elise Kerbs upset on her first day of work. The anticipation of waiting turned her into a nervous wreck. As it was, she would definitely be shelled for being late. It seemed like hours had passed before she heard Elise Kerbs’ harsh tone calling for her to come in. With shaking hands she made her way to the other room, which was now dead silent.

Caelie gave a courtesy knock on the door and stepped into the office. The room was spacious. Everything was placed perfectly and neatly. The only odd thing was the papers strewn on the mahogany desk, behind which Elise Kerbs sat watching Caelie. Behind her, rows of medals, trophies and framed articles adorned the shelves of the wall-sized oak cupboard. There were two empty chairs in front of her, one of which was waiting for Caelie to sit in but she was unsure whether to wait until she was told to sit before making a move. From the corner of her eye, she saw a figure stood leaning against the window, arms crossed at his chest, eyeing her. There was an air of hostility around him. No doubt, this was the man who had incurred the wrath of Elise Kerbs.

Elise nodded her head towards the chairs motioning for Caelie to sit down. Caelie stepped forward and sat on one of the chairs directly facing the editor, aware that the man now stood behind her, boring holes into her back. She could feel the hairs on her neck standing and shuddered slightly. The editor herself was an intimidating presence. Her cropped silvery hair and strong bone structure gave her a do-not-mess-with-me look. Her eyes alone could make anyone crumbled, piercing into their soul as she stared down at them with an arched eyebrow. Caelie avoided eye contact with her, focusing her eyes on the bridge of her nose instead.

“Caelie Pierce. The testimonials given by your college was pretty impressive, that was why you were offered this internship. Here at Mirage, we do not offer internship to just about anybody. Ours is a reputable firm, as you are very well aware of.” Elise paused. Caelie nodded, as was expected of her to do. Seeming satisfied, Elise continued, “I expect good work ethics from all my staff regardless of positions and punctuality is one of them. It doesn’t matter if you can produce top quality work outputs. You lost that quality the moment you cannot deliver it on time.” There was a sharp edge to her words as Elise glanced at the man, who huff indignantly. “So, care to tell us why you were not here by nine a.m.?” Elise’s eyes shifted back to Caelie.

Behind her, Wynne stood studying Caelie. Her built was strangely similar to the girl who had gotten him into this mess. The only difference was instead of the wild bunch of red hair, Caelie’s hair was secured in a tight bun, revealing a flawless face. In his fury, he had not taken in the girl’s clothing. He had a strong feeling that this was the same girl as he waited for her explanation.

“I’m sorry Ms. Kerbs, I understand the importance of being punctual. I didn’t mean to be late. My car broke down and something cropped up while on my way here. I assure you that this won’t happen again.” Caelie said earnestly.

“By that something you mean knocking into me and ruining the proposal papers.” Wynne smirked as he heard Caelie gasped when realization hit her. Her head tilted slightly towards him. Still, she refused to look at him. Instead, she eyed the papers lying on the desk. Wynne smiled triumphantly as his gut feel was right.

“What was that grin for Wynne?” Elise eyed him knowingly.

“Not only was this intern here late. Now it’s proven that she was the cause of the destroyed proposal. And all on her first day of work.” Wynne tsked, shaking his head mockingly. He watched her squirmed uncomfortably with satisfaction. It was payback time for the shelling he got from Elise.

In gloating, Wynne failed to notice the slight tremor in Caelie’s lips and flicker in her eyes as his words cut through her heart. She was the caused of it. It had always been the same, the blame conveniently being pushed upon her for things that were beyond her control.

Elise noticed the change in Caelie’s demeanor. What could possibly have affected her so much? Perhaps it was just anxiety of the first day at work. Whatever the cause, she decided that Wynne had to be stopped before he continued to tear the girl down. She knew well enough what Wynne was like.