It's been a while since I wrote about Katie. I'm sorry to those who got disappointed with the turning points. I must admit, it was just a twist to add a bit more than just a perfect relationship between a much older man and a much younger woman who's only beginning to really discovery herself. Anyway, given all that, I decided to not post the remaining four of the 11-20 chapters and instead, just summarized the events of it and the explanations of why it came to be.
I would expect a lot of criticisms again but please try to understand, it might be so simple when you're reading but these are characters in a story. They can't always think clearly or sensibly to the things that happen to them. This, I write relative to a comment I received before about how "dumb" he/she thought of one of the characters. Maybe you thought of it, it's not that I didn't, but I wrote about a character who was in a moment of panic and didn't have the leisure to think clearly.
Thank you to those who've sent me sweet words of encouragement. I appreciate them all, the good and the bad. But when you're not happy with the story, please don't be so mean about it. It's really not necessary. I'm not at all perfect.
P.S. it's a long read.
*****
Katie walked around the exhibit floor of the 3-day designer convention, admiring the amazing designs and POS displays companies had on. It had been a while since she'd set eyes on sketches and illustrations that she'd initially seen from Adam, from a company her dad used to run.
Eventually, she found out her dad had been suspended for an "undetermined" length of time. Over half a year after the takeover, he got tired of waiting and presumed the worst. He never heard back on that status of his employment or his position but he knew that the business he once headed was no longer what he had built, what he had set it out to be. The future he envisioned for it was gone, broken, taken over and revised by somebody he had no respect for and the people he trusted and enjoyed working with had gradually moved on. They'd taken his daughter from him as a precondition when he had first started working for the company.
15 years ago, Philipp's wife left him, left their daughter with him, with no regard for her welfare. He never knew why but the agony of losing her broke him down so much. He gambled his life away until he lost almost everything, became a drunk, and to a point that, in his drunken state, he had used his daughter as collateral at one of his poker games. He woke up the next day and realized what he had done. He tried to ask for time to settle the debt, to keep the men he owed from taking her from him. Despite the chance, nobody would hire him and the deadline grew closer and closer. Panic and grief had kept him sober as he roamed the streets trying to find work, in any way that he could, sketching and selling his designs to whoever would buy...until he met Helena and Hunter's father.
Hunter was a child then, so was Helena, but unlike her brother, she was so eager to make her father proud. She stood right by his side during every discussion and every deal he made, including the deal her father made with Philipp. Hearing his story, without even looking at the quality of his work, Helena's father made him promise that he would help but on the condition that should he be granted authority over the company that he would be assigned to, he had to be sober, clean, profitable, that he would remain gamble & debt free and, for the most part, that he MUST take care of his daughter, no matter what or else, they would take her away from his care... Give him back the life they would be saving him from. Helena beamed proudly at the importance her father gave the word "daughter", because to her, he meant HER.
Philipp looked out the window a number of those times, watched his little girl running around the big yard, chased by the little boy, Hunter, who never cared about the negotiations or the empire that his father had. Every time there was a meeting, he would ask for Katie, taking every chance to keep her company, make sure she didn't know what was going on, what deals were being made.
Now, 15 years after, what happened to Katie broke his heart, but at the same time, he heard the younger sibling, Hunter had taken her with him. He hadn't thought about it then, in all his panic, but he had traded her life just the same in promise to create success.
After the rape incident, they blamed him, not because of the rape, but because of how he exposed Katie to the older men at the office. She had become not only the fantasy of the bad ones, but a partner to another, that her presence was a distraction to the business. It was... Unforgivable to their father but Philipp knew Adam, very well in fact, as he had found out about the "relationship". True, he was old enough to be her father but for the most part, he was a good man.
Regardless of the events, they never gave him or Katie a chance to see or communicate with each other anymore, as was the agreement. A tear dripped down as memories of her pretty smile came to thought, she had become his purpose then, her life was his ambition. He still had hopes that he would one day get to the chance to apologize.
~Adam~
"Damn," the word just slipped out of my mouth as the screen popped out an error message. It had been going that way for a while now. I've re-calibrated the settings, redid the code, modified the alterations I made, but it still wouldn't give me the damn display.
"Is your laptop being cross with you?" a colleague teased.
I scratched my head in wonder, "It's so simple, I don't know why the bloody thing wouldn't work."
"Perhaps it's time to look for another job then, mate," another called out.
We've been at the convention exhibit for a day now. I had the assignment to create the digital design exhibit, while the others took care of the actual models on display.
I sighed loudly and took a sip of the coffee that was beside me. Glancing at the crowd in my utter frustration, my eyes, tired as they were, immediately locked onto a woman in the crowd. Could it be... I couldn't believe it. Her hair was just a bit longer now, she looked... fabulous still. I wonder if she would remember me. However... I turned and looked at the group I was with... I can't leave. Sigh, new job, new rules, although less irrational supervisors this time around... well, that's comparing it to Philipp's ruling.
6 months after Helena took over, everyone stood by, hoping the reign would be quick. It wasn't. She had demanded and demanded so much time and work without much compensation, nor humility. Nobody ever got in her good graces... Except me maybe... She had continued to work me, in more ways than one, always with the threat of losing the job or Katie.
Katie... It took some hard time but I'd finally surrendered to the fact that she was never coming back. Perhaps she'd left town with her dad, maybe she's moved on. Whatever the reason, I couldn't bear another day at that place. I submitted my resignation and never looked back.
I finally got hired at my current company, Precision, mostly because of the freelance work I did during the period of unemployment. Anyway, I decided to take the leap and sent in my application, of which they quickly replied to on a positive note, together with a great compensation package and good benefits. The only difference was, the company was massive and people were a lot more serious at the office. Nobody would dare sneak out or get together after work, mingle, go drinking at a pub, etc. Nobody was frivolous or carefree as the likes of Amy and the rest of my old colleagues. It was simply a serious, 8-5 work-devoted environment... as it should be, of course. But overall, it's alright. It's convenient and it keeps me busy.
Now, three years later, there she was, a bittersweet reminder of a past I can't seem to escape, just a few feet away and yet, I can't come over to see if it really was her. Did I want to? After everything that's happened, do I need the trouble? Does she? I watched her glancing around the displays, has she taken over her father's company? She certainly looks well so I could only assume...
"Adam," a voice behind me called out.
I turned with a raised eyebrow, "present?!"
Tara walked over, she was just a couple of desks away from mine at the office but during my first few days at work, she would come over to check up on me, see if I needed anything. Eventually, We'd gone out for a couple drinks then dinner and then other stuff.
"Don't be cheeky," she smiled, "is the design ready?"
"Not yet, just give me an extra ten to smash the screen and it'll be ready for you," I grinned. She shook her head. "Should I pass it over to the other guys at IT?"
I gave her a hurt look, "that's rude. Just give me some time. My laptop's just tired from the flight." I grinned, rubbing the edge of the screen gently.
"Alright, I'll make sure the client's understand why our overhead monitors are black," she remarked as she walked away.
I turned back to search for the familiar face, but I couldn't see her, if it really WAS her, anymore. Sighing, I thought of getting back to work but instead I grabbed a pen and just doodled out a sketch, something I used to do that Katie always enjoyed watching, "showing her the magic of my skills as an artist". I never thought much of it, as if it were any more extraordinary than work purposes... until I met her." I found myself doodling her name with little flowers in a graffiti style. Grinning, I shook my head and crumpled it up, stuffing it in my pocket.
I got up and went to my new boss, "I need to go get something to eat and a lot more coffee, is that alright?"
He leaned back on his chair and took a glance at the screen of my Macbook and back at me, "no love over there?"
I shook my head, "needs a bit more work, I'm afraid."
