A Wheel of Life

When was life so predictable? Karl thought to himself. He checked on the pulse of the Sir and shook his head. Miss Annie looked at Karl with an incredulous expression before she hung her mouth in silence. She took the hand of her foster father and pressed her forehead on it. Body-shaking sobs came out of her. Karl stood up and went out of the room. Alicia waited in the corridor of the mansion with a frosty expression.

“The Sir?”

“He has rested now.”

“The cause?”

“Overexertion. He has signs of a heart attack as well. It looks like the Sir’s body gave up before he wanted to.”

Alicia held the papers. She had a distant look on her face.

“How much is left?”

“Five pages.”

“Where did it end?”

They walked the corridor.

“Just before the character in the story could meet the love of his life.”

“That’s…”

“We were supposed to write the parts where he gets home and it's a happily ever after.”

Even in words he couldn’t write the ending he wanted, Karl thought. He reached the lobby where the maids and the servants of the mansion were in complete silence. The two sauntered to the garden where she and the Sir usually sat.

Karl twisted on the chair. Alicia followed. Her eyes on the skies. Despite the passing the skies did not change nor the winds became cold. Alicia observed the garden before placing down the papers.

“So are you going to continue it? As the Sir’s ghostwriter, you should have an idea where it will end.”

“I will.”

Karl leaned back. From the looks of it there was going to be a commotion. The two of them waited patiently until they were called by the new master of the Delaware household. Miss Annie Delaware waited in the office of her foster father with a frosty expression. The air around her had changed. She didn’t have the meek demeanor.

“Thank you for coming here. You two have been helpful to my father. Ms. Alicia. Is my father’s script done well?”

“There are missing pages.”

“Please continue them. My father should have given you what he wanted. I want to publish it and make the death of my father known at the same time. I hope you can can finish it, Ms. It is unfortunate that this has to happen. I was hoping to see his last work done.”

She joined her fingers. Swollen eye bags. And ruined makeup. Ms. Annie was holding her composure well. She was iron but even iron can be dented by the strongest blow.

After that, Ms. Alicia went to her work. Karl was about to assist her when Ms. Alicia asked him to come back to the office. Just the two of them. Ms. Annie Delaware scanned him from head to toe.

“I’m sure you know where this is going, Mr. Alden.”

“I sure do. Lately, they’ve been asking me the same thing. I guess Mr. Mooney is a troublesome person eh?”

“Thomas Mooney is an ambitious person. In regards to his character, I don’t care. What I care about is his ability to make moves on businesses because of his goons. These goons are moving in and asking for protection fees.”

“Ma’am, I’m not a hired goon.”

“I know you’re not. You are a soldier whose merits are unfathomable. You carry respect and importantly Thomas Mooney will listen to you. All I want is a phone call. Tell him off.”

“Ma’am, I am not his leader. Nor I think he’ll listen to me. If anything he’ll be taking it as a favor that he owes. Ma’am, I left that life and even if it's a favor coming from the iron lady. It’s something I wouldn’t easily agree to. Not even because of what just happened to the Sir. That’s too much to ask. I hope you understand this.”

“Yes. How can I persuade you otherwise? Right now, I am a rich woman. I can offer you krons for this favor, Mister Karl Von Alden.”

“You can. But this favor comes with risking my life. I do not dare to gamble with mine. I would have allowed this favor if it wasn’t about Mooney.”

“Are you afraid of him?”

“No. He is troublesome. Connecting with him, even with his associates would land me into trouble. I don’t want that kind of attention.”

He has been a pain in the ass. He had no connection with the man other than the time he and Danil saved him. Yet they kept on asking if he had any connections or would like favors. Karl couldn’t care less about what they wanted.

“From the looks of it I was troubling you.”

“Yes, you are troubling me. I don’t understand why anyone would ask me this again and again. I am getting sick of it,” Karl said in the most frosty tone he could muster. Ms. Annie looked at him with a raised brow. The change in Karl’s tone of voice was sudden and eerie.

“Then forget that I asked this of you. In any case, I hope that you can stay in this mansion until this job is over. I would appreciate it if I have someone with your experiences in this mansion while I sort the troubles coming.”

“Are reporters and paparazzis' coming?”

“They will. They have noses for this. A great artist dies of his sickness. Some will sympathize while others will try to get a scoop out of this. Some might use this time to make their moves.”

“I am sorry that I cannot help in regards to this problem.”

“I understand. It was a gamble. Forgive me, I’ve been wanting an easy way out so I can deal with this.”

“Don’t worry, Miss. I am sorry that I can’t help you in regards to your situation. Please don't take it personally.”

“Please leave me. I have things to attend to. ”

Karl left the office. He stopped for a moment and thought of the situation with Mooney. That man seems to have his paws everywhere. Then again, he probably made a killing during the war with all the contrabands he acquired. He’s a bother. A problem I can’t do anything about.

 

***

The journalists and reporters arrived not long after. They swarmed like ants around the mansion. Guards of the mansions surrounded the mansion while Ms. Annie Delaware appeared three times while Ms. Alicia drowned herself in completing the script. She was making use of the catalog of the library and the Sir’s work. When the script was done. She presented it to Ms. Annie who took a glance at the script. She spent the day reading the script in her room. After she was done, she approved of it. There was nothing much more to say other than it was what Sir Arthur would have wanted his story to end. A soldier back home, finally meeting up with the love of his life after the war.

Karl watched from the mirror while all the commotion happened. They didn’t have much to do other than wait for themselves to get paid. Ms. Annie was satisfied with the work. Although Karl was just someone who joined this to guard Ms. Alicia despite the threat to her life being false. 

As they were about to leave the mansion of the Delaware. The butler who was accompanying them handed a key to Karl. It was the key for the motorcycle that he had used. “Why?”

“Because the Lady insists. I hope you take it.”

Karl took the key. The butler also handed a booking ticket for them. They were generous. Alicia was getting paid triple her fee. While Karl, who was just around, got himself a motorcycle. All he had to do now was pay for the transport fee.

Getting the motorcycle, Karl exited out of the mansion while giving the reporters the half-dead eyes he had. Alicia wore her helmet and then wrapped the strap around her chin. Karl started the engine of the motorcycle and left the area quietly. The motorcycle ran on the road leading back to the city.

“I wonder why I’m getting clients like this,” she said.

“Do you always get clients like this, Ms. Alicia?”

“Just call me, Alicia, will you?”

“So, do you get clients like this all the time?”

“I do. Maybe it's because I’m used to such clients that they call me to cases like this. Truthfully, I also wonder why I’m fortunate and unfortunate enough to get cases like this. If anything, this is one of the peaceful cases. Do you know how it was during the war? I mostly ghostwrite officials and type in confidential letters. It’s a lot peaceful these days.”

“The most peaceful one… is that why Viole is overprotective of you?”

“He means well. And I understand why he’d worry about this since there was a time where I almost got mugged. If I didn’t have my own pistol… I would have suffered.”

She held to her braid. Karl took the scenic route while Alicia held on. She was sitting sideways. She was looking at the sea while Karl’s eyes were trained on the road. The cape was crescent-shaped with white sands spread. There was a tall cliff on the far western side of this cape that seemed so flat.

The scenery changed. Karl drove to the city and entered a boulevard. The train wasn’t leaving till noon so they found themselves in this taverna where they rested and ate snacks. There was patriotic music playing on the speakers. There were men and women chatting about their daily lives while some were curious about the death of Sir Delaware.

When they were done with their break. Karl drove Alicia to the train station, had the motorcycle booked, and transported. Karl took the ticket with him. He led the way to their place in the cabin and sat.

“I’m glad it went peacefully.”

“Yes. There is no better outcome than this.”

“The world is strange.”

She raised a brow at that, “How so?”

“Been at war for eight years. Fought in it. Saw brothers die and friends just die quietly. Thought that I’d be used to it. You never really do. Perhaps because of how normal the Sir died that it bothers me. He was just speaking out what words he wanted to write and then the next day he was just gone. It bothers me. Then again, I am used to violent deaths and brothers-in-arms just falling down lifeless. It's a peaceful way to die. He died without violence and that is good. But I was expecting something, I guess.”

“Did you expect things to be violent?”

“I was. But I knew that by the day after that it wouldn’t be,” the train started to move. Karl leaned on the side of the window. “Guess this is normal. Maybe some part of me was expecting big trouble as well.”

“Do you want trouble?”

“No. I want to become a doctor because I want to mend. It’s been eight years. You’d get tired of fighting. Still, there are still a lot that  aren’t right. Guess it was optimistic of me to think that with a great war over. It’d be a happy ending.”

She reached out a hand and patted Karl’s clenched fist. “It’s okay. The war is over, Karl. But I guess the world still has its bad despite experiencing such… tragedy.”

Karl nodded. Although as much as he wanted to ignore it. There are times where he just couldn’t ignore a problem. Thrice he has been contacted regarding Mooney’s Enterprise and thrice they wanted him to do something about it. He didn’t have enough reason and right now all that was in his mind was how to contact his foster father. But Mooney and his goons were like these annoying flies that kept appearing to him.

He looked outside. And it does not end, but turns instead. It’s still the same. No gunshots, artillery, mortar, and gas. No shouts, no shrills, and no sobs. Just the wheels of life turning over and over again… eh.