Lost and Found (A Novel) Read Online Free Page B

endure those torments ever again but age was fast catching up on her. She could sense that her time would be up soon. She wasn’t worried about dying. At her age, she had long accepted that death was a natural process of life. What Annetta was worried about was that Caelie would crumble when she was no longer around and there would be no one to catch her.
     
    Caelie had refused to let anyone into her life, not even a close friend. She had kept everyone at bay, just maintaining a cordial relationship. Annetta understood why Caelie had seen the need to build a protective layer around her. The horrors she had gone through had turned her into a cautious person, unable to trust anyone fully for fear of being hurt again. The only other person Caelie was close to was Wilburn, Annetta’s best friend and neighbor, but he too was growing old.
     
    Annetta sighed as she took a seat at her favorite armchair beside the fireplace. Caelie had followed her into the house and was standing opposite her, still frowning with her arms crossed.
     
    “You know it’s inevitable Caelie.”
     
    “No, you are still strong. Just look at you Ann. You still insist on doing all the chores by yourself even though I had suggested numerous times for you to hire someone. Nothing’s going to happen.” Caelie tried to reason. Annetta could hear the desperation in her voice, tearing her already fragile heart further.
     
    “Maybe not now, but I can’t live forever Caelie. That’s just the way life is.” Annetta said softly.
     
    Caelie huffed and looked away. Deep down she knew that Annetta was right but she could not bring herself to accept the fact. Annetta was the only person close to a family that she had. It pained her to see the pleading look in Annetta’s eyes. She would be left alone again without Annetta and she didn’t think she was strong enough to accept that fact.
     
    Annetta watched Caelie as she battled with her inner fears. Sorrow tugged at her heart as she watched the defeated look on Caelie’s face.
     
    “So tell me, how did your first week as an intern go? Met any good looking man yet?” Annetta said casually, smiling as she noticed Caelie’s face considerably brightened at the change in topic.
     
    “You know I’m not out to look for any man Ann.” Caelie gave a disapproving look before continuing. “It was great though. The magazine is everything I had envisioned it to be. Elise Kerbs is a great editor. She can be very fierce and demanding but she is also a cool boss. I like working for her. Except for one irritating man who hates me, the other people are very friendly and helpful.” Caelie gushed out, her face scrunching up in disdain at the mention of Wynne.
     
    “Oh?” Annetta raised an eyebrow knowingly. “Hate often turns to love you know.”
     
    Caelie rolled her eyes and pretended to gag. Trust Annetta to only pick up the part about the man out of all the things she said. She smiled as Annetta laughed at her reaction, glad that the tense atmosphere brought on by the previous topic was gone.
     
    “Seems like your colleagues are a bunch of nice people. I hope you could make a good friend out of one or two of them. How about you introduce them to me?”
     
    “Nah...we are only colleagues during these 6 months. Of course, if I’m offered a permanent position at Mirage then, we would be colleagues for a longer period. Otherwise, we would just go our separate ways.” Caelie shrugged her shoulders.
     
    “There’s no harm in being friends with some of them rather than just remaining as colleagues. Who said your relationship had to stop after your stint there? Try to learn to let other people in my dear. Do you want to end up being alone all your life?”
     
    “Who said I’m alone? I have you and Uncle Wilburn. That’s good enough.” Caelie huffed indignantly.
     
    “Just having two old people in your life is not going to do you much good. You need to mix around more with people your