Lost and Found (A Novel) (2 page)

“That’s enough Wynne. We need to focus on the proposal here. Our client will be here any minute now.” She glared at Wynne. That would shut him up. It always did.

Elise softened her voice a notch. “Caelie, let’s take this as your first assignment here. Show me how efficient you are. Take these papers and salvage them before we present them to the client. Wynne and I will meet with the client first but we can only stall them for thirty minutes. That’s all the time you have to clean up the proposal and get it properly bound. Look for Alex Mages. She will be your mentor throughout your stint with us and will guide you on what to do.” With a final nod of her head, Caelie was dismissed from the room, taking with her the bunch of soggy papers.

Once Caelie was out of the room, Elise turned to Wynne, giving him a reproachful look. “Do you have to be so harsh on her?”

“Oh it is fine for you to rant at me but not for me to reprimand an intern?” Wynne retorted back like a petulant child.

“She is just an inexperienced intern. Don’t you go scaring her like what you did to the previous intern. This industry is growing competitive. We need to keep the good ones before they were snapped up by rival companies. Even though Alex is her mentor, I expect you to guide her along as well and Wynne, I mean it, be nice to this one. Now go back to your office and meet me in the boardroom when the client is here.” Elise waved her hand dismissively and turned towards her iMac. Wynne knew that he could never win any fight against Elise. She was after all his boss. With a sigh, Wynne walked out of the room, sulking.

Caelie looked at the sea of people in front of her. She had no idea how to find Alex and time was running out. She caught sight of Chanell and made her way towards her.

“Hi Chanell. I need to find Alex Mages. Do you know where she is?”

“Alex? Is she your mentor?” Caelie nodded. “Well she was in the printing room just now. You should be able to find her there. Just walk along this corridor until you reach the last room.”

“Thank you Chanell. What does she look like? Just so I won’t get the wrong person.” Caelie’s question seemed to have tickled Chanell as she laughed heartily.

“Oh you won’t get the wrong person. She is easy to identify.” With that, Chanell left Caelie to ponder her words.

Walking towards the end of the corridor, she saw the door marked printing room. Upon entering, she blinked at the sight that greeted her. A female figure was practically wrestling with the printing machine. She had one arm wrapped around the body of the machine while the other arm was banging on the top. Her long blonde hair had streaks of purplish hue in it and was falling all over the machine. A few strands were even caught along the edges. She turned and straightened her body when she heard footsteps entering the room. The few strands that were caught left her scalp and remained tucked along the edges of the machine. She did not seemed to notice though. She had on a white shirt with a white short skirt. There was a purple tie around her neck with the words ‘Alex Rules’ on it. Definitely easy to identify.

“Hi there.” Alex said cheerfully extending her hands towards Caelie. Caelie shook her hand and smiled politely.

“You must be Alex.” Caelie started.

“Yes, I am.” Alex shrugged her shoulders, tossing her hair carelessly over her shoulders.

“I’m Caelie. Ms. Kerbs asked me to look for you.”

“Oh yeah...you are the new intern. Well, just give me a sec here, I’m trying to fix this machine.” Alex turned back towards the machine and began wrestling with it again for a couple of minutes, losing a few more strands of hair in the process. Finally the printer came to life, spurting papers out of its mouth.

“There you go.” Alex clapped her hands satisfactorily. “Now, how can I help you?” She turned her attention back to Caelie.

Caelie thrust the proposal papers towards her. “Ms. Kerbs wants me to salvage this papers into a proper proposal for her client. She said you would guide me on what to do.” Caelie looked expectantly at Alex who was scrunching her face as she studied the papers, now in her hands. Suddenly her eyes lit up.

“Ah...these must be Wynne’s proposal.” Alex began guffawing. “Ms. Kerbs must be furious with him.” She held her stomach, doubling over with laughter.

“Yes, she was but it was my fault actually. I caused the papers to fly out of his hands. Err...can we start with the proposal now? I only have,” Caelie glanced at her watch “twenty minutes left to finish it.” Caelie started to panic. She could not believe that ten minutes had already passed.

“It sucks to be an intern huh? Been there, done that. Don’t worry, I like you so I’m going to help you. Come with me.” Caelie followed Alex out of the printing room to her cubicle. Together they retyped the papers that were smudged and bound the final copy to be sent to the boardroom.

Elise Kerbs seemed satisfied with the outcome as she gave Caelie a quick nod on her way out of the boardroom. Caelie stayed with Alex for the rest of the day, savoring everything that Alex had to offer with an open mind. She was a perfectionist and an over-achiever in school. This internship was no different for her.

By six p.m. Caelie was told that she could leave for the day. Waving goodbye to Chanell at the receptionist counter, she stepped out of Mirage’s glass doors and into the welcoming elevator with relief. Other than the unfortunate incident in the morning, the rest of the day had gone well. As the elevator descended to the ground floor, Caelie mentally promised herself that she would be in the office way before nine a.m. the next day. There was no way she would be late again. Wynne’s scornful words were still ringing in her ears, messing with her mind. She would show him that she was not just some intern. She could not give him the satisfaction of putting her down again, especially not in front of the editor.

Walking out of the building, she turned her face up to the clear blue sky, feeling the warmth of the evening sun on her face. She loved the feel of nature, especially after a whole day of being cooped up in an air-conditioned building, the natural breeze was a welcome change. Feeling very much upbeat, she made her way down the street towards her car with a light spring in her steps. She had called for her mechanics to repair her car and return it at the exact place she left it. She hoped that he had followed her instructions. Her mood lifted even more when she saw her car parked up ahead and began humming to herself as she practically skipped towards the car.

Behind her, Wynne rode along in his silvery black BMW sports bike. He watched her antics curiously. So immature, he thought as he saw her skipping towards her red rover. Typical childish intern, he sneered as he revved up his engine. He saw Caelie turned towards him, noticing his presence. With a smirk, he sped past her. Unknown to Wynne, in doing so, he had sent dirt and the remaining puddles of water from the rain flying towards her.

Caelie stared in shock as the figure on the bike grew smaller in the distance before disappearing out of sight. He had done it purposely, she was sure of it. She clutched her hands to her chest as she felt it constrict. She was having a panic attack. Whenever she felt that someone was out to get her, it automatically triggered this reaction in her. Bending over her car, she closed her eyes and took deep breaths. She focused her thoughts on the rhythm of her heartbeat, willing for it to slow down as she calmed herself. Once her breathing had returned to normal, she slid into her car, resting her forehead on the steering wheel. A tear fell from her eyes. No matter how much she told herself that things would be different, there were moments like this that would send all her determination and strength to come tumbling down. Despite telling herself each morning that she was a person worthy of respect, deep down she knew that wherever she went, there would always be somebody who would see her as a worthless nuisance. Wynne’s attitude towards her that day had proven the point. While Wynne went home to the warmth of his family like any other day, Caelie sat behind her wheels, sobbing her hearts out as reality hit her cruelly yet again.

CHAPTER 2: 11 YEARS AGO

It was the perfect Sunday morning for families to spend time together, strolling in the park or lazing around the beach. Sounds of excited squealing streamed through the open window, catching the attention of an eight-year-old girl. So engrossed was she in the land of fantasy with her dolls that she did not realize it was already almost noon. Her parents would be home anytime soon.

Abandoning the dolls on the floor of her bedroom, she followed the sound of laughter to her window, overlooking the beach behind the four-storey apartment. Her big crystal eyes widened further in awe as she looked down at the beach from her window. Two boys were running around squealing with laughter as their father chased after them. Their mother sat by the side watching them with a contented look on her face. As she watched the woman, her heart swelled. She had never seen that look on her mother’s face. Not once in her short span of life. Even the sight of a father playing happily with his children was alien to her. Sure, she had envisioned a scene similar to this a thousand times as she lay in the dark alone in the cold of the night, but that was all there was to it. Just a dream beyond her reach, never a possible reality.

“Hayley.” Mrs. Price’s voice shrilled through the hallway. Unfortunately, Hayley’s head was too far out the window to hear it. The laughter from below drowning out her mother’s voice. Mrs. Price did not have much of a patience. She hated having to call out twice before getting what she wanted. “Hayley!” Mrs. Price’s voice raised a few notches as she burst through her daughter’s room.

Hayley spun around quickly in shock, facing her furious mother. Her fair skin grew paler as blood drained from her face. Her lips trembled as she stood waiting in anticipation for the lashing. She mentally scolded herself for being lost in thoughts. She should have waited at the door for her parents to come back like every other Sunday, but no, she had to go and watch the strangers outside. Silly her!

Mrs. Price stared at her daughter standing by the window. She stomped towards the window and looked out, watching the same scene that had enthralled her daughter. Seething, she slammed the window shut and pulled the curtains closed. She bent down, putting her face dangerously close to Hayley’s face.

“You ungrateful brat!” Mrs. Price hissed, followed by a loud smack as her palm made contact with Hayley’s cheek, the force of which sent Hayley sprawling on the floor. Hayley kept her face down facing the floor as her hands rubbed the sting away from her cheek. She willed herself not to cry. Her mother hated it when she cry and the beatings would get worse. She blinked her eyes a few times as tears threatened to spill out. She was forced to look up as Mrs. Price held her by the locks of her curly blonde hair, pulling her head backwards so that she was facing her mother. Her eyes were cold without any trace of love in it.

“Don’t you dare to even dream of something like that.” Mrs. Price laughed mockingly. “You are not worth it.” Hayley fell to the floor again as Mrs. Price pushed her head away. She stood up and walked towards the door. As her mother stepped out of the room, she caught a glimpse of her father, standing lazily by the doorway, watching her with an unfathomable expression, just before the door closed shut with a click of the lock.

Hayley sat against the wall, hugging her knees tightly against her chest. Left alone, she let the tears fall freely from her eyes as she sobbed quietly. She knew that she would have to go without food again today. Every time she made her mother angry, she would be locked inside her room the whole day with no food or water. She wasn’t even allowed to step out to the bathroom, until the following day. On a few occasions, she had to hold her bladder until her side hurt.

Mrs. Price hated her only daughter. Hayley was very much aware of that. She had made known the fact on every occasion through the beatings and harsh words thrown at her, something which a mother in a normal family would never do to her kids. Then again, Hayley’s family was far from normal. Mr. Price was only a father in name to her. He was indifferent towards her, never once having uttered a word to her. Although he had never lifted a finger against her, he did not stop the beatings either. Whenever the lashings began, he would just let it be. Initially, Hayley was an invisible presence to him. Recently though, he seemed to have taken a notice of her. On a few occasions, Hayley had caught him staring at her with an unreadable expression, giving her the chills. Hayley knew there was no fatherly love there but her tender mind did not know what to make of it, leaving her confused. Truth be told, she had grown accustomed to the indifferent look of her father and now the new unknown look scared her.

Hayley had always wondered what she had done to be subjected to such abuse. Rather, why she was even brought to this life if her mother hated her so much. She was unwanted, unloved and a worthless piece of trash, as uttered by Mrs. Price on countless times. She was also a jinx, being blamed for every possible mishaps in the family. Yet, she was adequately provided for. She had toys to keep her company, clothes to wear, food to eat if she behaved and even an education. To the outside world, she was well taken care of. In reality, no one knew what she had to endure each day. Her parents were also good at covering up her beatings. Mrs. Price always made sure that she hit in places where the bruise would not show if properly hidden. The few times when she had to be brought to the doctor, the injuries were always due to her own carelessness. Typical of an active kid. The doctors never suspected anything amiss. Like the good daughter that she was instructed to be, she never said anything that could possibly put her parents in a bad light. After all, her mother had warned her that nobody would believe the words of a perpetually lying brat.