The next day, Jack came to fetch Ryan with the chauffeur. Seeing that his car has pulled up Ryan looked at the girl who was sleeping beside him. She still had his hands clasped; he smiled before slowly removing his hands from her grasp. He made sure that she was sleeping before locking the door behind him and descending down.
It was still early in the morning but the housekeeper was up and welcoming Jack inside. Seeing that Ryan too had come out she greeted him; Ryan nodded in acknowledgment. When he was asked what the two boys would want to have for the breakfast he replied plainly that he won’t stick around for a meal and would leave once Catherine woke up.
“Hey, buddy.” Jack jumped off the car, Ryan asked, “Did you get what you were telling me about last night?” Jack nodded positively before pulling out a gift-wrapped box from his seat. He handed it to Ryan and reported, “I did my fair share of research in it. Couples who are in a long-distance relationship which means living in two different cities use this idea.”
Ryan inspected the box before grunting in satisfaction, he couldn’t wait to show her what he had brought her. The two boys chatted for a bit about random stuff when they heard movement within the house, it seemed that she had woken up.
When Catherine woke up she failed to discover Ryan next to her, his side of the bed was cold which meant he had long left. She rubbed her eyes dazedly and called out for him but he was nowhere to be seen. Looking for him she came downstairs hugging a huge teddy bear. When she finally spotted him outside she ran and hugged his legs.
“Ryan and big brother Jack.” She smiled at them; her cheeks were puffed up and hairs a ball of the mess yet she looked like an angel to his eyes. “Good morning, Cathey.” Jack chirped beside Ryan, seeing that he had slipped again in a trance he gave him a nudge.
He then said to Cathey, “Cathey, Ryan has something to give you.” “Really…” Catherine’s eyes flared open and she was no more sleepy, she loved it whenever Ryan gave her something. She hadn’t got these many gifts on her birthday as how much he gave her since they met.
“What is it, Ryan?” She tugged the hem of his shirt and looked up at him with puppy eyes. Ryan took the box he kept back on the seat and handed it to her; the purple wrapped gift with a cute ribbon on it was a sight to see for her. She jumped out of joy, she took it from him and ran inside followed by the two young boys.
When they went it she was already on the sofa looking at it. “Sister, come and see what Ryan gave me.” She called out for her nanny who came out smiling. She wiped her hands on her apron and said, “Oh dear, it’s so beautiful. Let me get your baby scissors.”
“No, there is no need for it,” Ryan said before taking the gift from her hands. Then with a sudden move, he popped out a dagger from his sleeves and pierced the box with it. He then placed it back in her lap before saying, “It’s open now…” Ryan lifted his gaze to look at the housekeeper who had an expression as if she saw a ghost.
A 10-year-old boy had a knife hidden in his sleeve and he was so good at moving it, it was the first time she ever saw something like this and her fear for this mysterious Young Master grew rapidly. The room was awkwardly silent, Ryan furrowed his eyebrows and asked, “What?”
“I… I… I…” The housekeeper moved her lips a few times but not a single word slipped off her tongue. Jack nodded his head helplessly, “You gotta keep your predator self under check and stop scaring people.”
He walked up to the young lady, “Hello, Miss. You are beautiful. Will you mind if I bother you for a cookie, I am starving…” He distracted her inside the kitchen and left the two alone. The girl clapped cheerfully, “Wow, how did you do that, Ryan. Teach me also! Like a ninja…”
Ryan smiled at her innocence and said, “When I am around you won’t have to be a ninja, I will protect you, Cathey.” He changed the topic by reminding her about the gift. This was the best thing about kids, if you tell them about something interesting they would forget about everything else.
She removed the purple cover to find that it was a brand new Apple’s Tablet but of course, she was a kid and didn’t know what it was. “Is it a plate, Ryan?” She asked showing him the box.
He sat down beside her and shook his head, “No… It is an iPad.” Catherine watched with curiosity as he broke the seal and took out a thing which looked like a phone her father had buy was way too big. Ryan connected it to the charger and watched her squeal, “Is this a phone, Ryan?”
“Yes, sweetheart!” Ryan ruffled her hair, “It is just like a big phone. And you know what it is for?” The girl looked fascinated at the interface of her fresh new gadget and asked cheerfully why did he bring her this. Ryan said, “It is going to make you close to each other even if we are far.”
Catherine scratched her head, in her fantasies images of her opening it and him emerging out of the screen flashed. Judging by her actions Ryan was sure that she must be thinking something out of the world, he said, “No, it’s not like that.” After doing the basic setups he connected it to the internet and downloaded Skype for her. After it was successfully downloaded he showed it to her, “See, this is called Skype. We can video call through it.”
“Video call?” She asked peeping at the blue icon on her screen. Ryan nodded and opened an account for her, “It’s like a normal call but in this, you can see the person you are calling on screen.”
“Magic…” She looked at him unsure; he didn’t reply and concentrated on setting up her account. There came a moment when the server asked for the username. His heart started to race again, he knew her name and what he should type in it but… He had something else going on in his mind.
He looked at her before punching on the keyboard- Catherine and Ryan.