152 INFORMED
ARIEL’S POV
I was standing in the spacious kitchen, preparing dinner for myself and Luke. The day had gotten dark, and the soft glow of the lights in the kitchen added a cozy feel to the room. I was lost in my own thoughts, planning the perfect menu for tonight’s dinner, which I could consider to be lovely. But then I heard the door open. I turned around to see Tina walking in with a basket of freshly picked herbs.
“Good evening, Miss Ariel.” Tina greeted me with a smile.
“Good evening, Tina. How was your day?” I asked politely, trying not to sound. too interested. Tina, of course, as I had said before, was a blabbermouth, and I didn’t want to get caught in one of her never–ending stories.
“It was good, Miss Ariel. I spent the morning cleaning the guest rooms, and then. I did a little bit of work at the garden before you and Mr. Reynold showed up,” Tina replied, placing the basket on the kitchen counter.
“That’s good to hear. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to finish preparing dinner,” I said, hoping she would take the hint and leave.
But Tina had other plans. She leaned against the counter and started telling me about her Christmas with her husband the previous year. I tried my best to appear interested, but my mind was wandering off to other things. I had a lot on my plate, and listening to Tina’s stories was not one of them.
“We went to my husband’s hometown, and it was so beautiful. The snow–covered streets, the cozy fireplace, and the delicious food. Oh, the food was amazing,” she said with a dreamy look in her eyes.
“That sounds lovely, Tina,” I replied, trying to sound enthusiastic.
“It was, Miss Ariel. And you know what the best part was? My husband surprised me with a trip to Paris for New Year’s. Can you believe it? Paris!” She exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Tina was always full of surprises, and her husband was no different. Yeah, due to all the stories she’s been telling me. I had to admit that I was a little jealous. I had never been to Paris, and it was on my list of places to visit.
“That’s wonderful, Tina. I’m happy for you,” I said, trying to sound genuine.
“Thank you, Miss Ariel. Oh, I can’t wait for this year’s Christmas. I’m sure my husband has something even more special planned,” she spoke, with excitement
evident in her voice.
She vocalized other stories, and I was really tired of the never–ending talk. I had a feeling that it would soon be over, so now I faked a smile, trying to show that I was still engaged and interested in what she was saying. But deep down, I couldn’t wait for it to be over. I had heard it countless times before, and it had lost its charm.
Yet, I continued to listen, nodding my head and interjecting with the occasional wow” or “really?” I was just glad that it would soon come to an end and that I could finally move on to a new topic of conversation. Well, something like that.
Marcus, our gateman, came to inform us that someone was at the gate looking for me and that the person was somehow recognizable. I didn’t waste any time disappearing out of the kitchen. My chance of quitting Tina’s worthless stories, because it seems like she wasn’t putting an end to that any time soon.
When I made my way to the gate, I saw Elizabeth; she was looking worried, and I had to wonder why. First of all, why had she come to pay a visit at this time? And secondly, what in the world was going on? It looked like something was not right around here.
“Elizabeth, is anything wrong?” I asked cautiously.
“Ariel. Lukel is missing,” she responded.
My curious face changed immediately, and the expression right now was the sort -of–worried type. “Lukel is missing?” I repeated, and she nodded. “How?”
“I don’t know. I was telling him and Janice stories of how to be, you know, nice people. But when I was done, I couldn’t spot him there, and Janice had to tell me that he had gone in the middle of my talk. I didn’t even know the moment he left, and now I’m really worried; I don’t know what to do.”
“Okay, calm down. When did this happen?”
“About six hours ago. I’ve been searching for him since then, but I can’t find him.
“Oh my god,” I said underneath my breath.
“I’m so sorry, Ariel.”
“Don’t blame yourself, okay? It’s not your fault. We’ll find him.” I tried to stop her from panicking. I could have panicked myself, but it wasn’t going to change. anything. Finding Lukel as soon as possible was all that mattered now.
“You wait for me; let me go and tell Luke that I’m leaving.”
“Are you going to tell him that Lukel’s missing as well?”
152 INT DEMED
“No, that’s none of his business,” I answered. “Wait for me, okay?”
“Okay,” Elizabeth responded softly.
I went inside the house to tell Luke that I was leaving, but before I could even meet him, he was heading towards the door. And it was kind of clear that he was leaving the house as well.
“You’re heading somewhere?” I asked him.
“Yes, we’ll talk later,” he replied without even glancing at me before he walked away. It was kind of painful, but who cared anyway?
I went upstairs, quickly changed, and went back to Elizabeth. She had her arms crossed, but there was still worry written all over her face.
She turned around to me. “I saw Luke leaving not too long ago.”
I sulked, not giving her a response to that, but I just walked to my car, and she followed. We both entered, and I drove off.
We drove to the area where her mansion was. The surroundings were really bustling, with city lights and different people walking around. How on earth were we going to find Luke?
We both got out of the car, my eyes scanning the surroundings and my hands situated on my waist. “Oh gosh, where could Lukel be?”
“Worst part is that we can’t inform the police about it right now. It’s only been six hours. They might decide not to help us out,” Elizabeth told me.
“Does Andre or Manuel perhaps know about this?” I quizzed her.
“No, they don’t. Only me and Janice, since we were the only ones around at that time. They’re still at work, so they have no idea about this. I thought I was going to find Lukel before they showed up.”
“Okay, so you’re telling me now that Janice is the only one at home?”
“No. She’s with a babysitter.”
“Ohhh, that’s good to hear,” I sighed. “But we need to find Luke tonight. Whether the devil likes it or not. We can’t give up on this search.”
Elizabeth nodded, and after a little more talk, we both split. There was no time to waste time, no time to joke around. That little boy’s safety was all that mattered at the moment. And I hoped nothing bad had happened to him.
