Daddy, I Want My Mummy

Chapter Five: A Campbell Story

Klaus had to make the phone call outside after the old lady he didn't know, cussed and asked him to leave her house. Surprisingly she calmed down and was super nice to Nora when he agreed to step outside. He didn't know this lady and wondered why she hated him so much.

In the regular world, back in the city of Miami, people counted it a privilege to have him around. People booked appointments for months to years to meet him and yet, here he was in the middle of a government-banned area in Lily Lac with a stranger who looked like his dead wife and her mother who hated him for no reason.

What a day! Klaus just wanted to be home with his daughter. He regretted not traveling with his bodyguards and a co-pilot. He had just wanted a simple trip to survey the area awarded to Koch Inc. for his new construction project.

He peeped from the window and saw that Nora had fallen asleep again while laying on her mother’s look-alike. Katniss had been reading her a story from a book.

For the first time in a very long time, Nora was relaxed and that made him uncomfortable because she only had a false impression of the woman she was with.

“Why did I take two years to tell my daughter that her mother was dead?” Klaus said out loud.

He regretted his cowardice now more than ever.

The ambulance arrived an hour later. And after the Medics took the pilot to the hospital and warned him to always travel with an extra pilot, he called his security detail in town and they arranged two pilots to meet him at the beach so they could fly him back home.

After the ambulance had left, he decided it was time to confront this old lady. He had so many questions,

Katniss laid on the couch, frozen in her position because she was afraid to wake the cute little girl who fell asleep on her.

She stayed there thinking about her previous life and her present life. She had a home, an entire family in Miami and for two years she had lived here with a widow who is now her foster mom.

She cried for her mom who died when she was 7, she cried for Bill, her father who never understood her, she cried for the love she lacked from Sophie and Rose, the new family she came to know, she sobbed for the night she had ran for her life and sobbed for making it out alive.

Every detail that came back was old but they hit her like new information and she had to process too much information at once.

“Why would someone want to kill me?’’ Katniss whispered.

Nora stirred in her sleep and smiled, and Nora’s heart filled up with love. She didn't know this child, nor why she called her “Mom” but she felt attached to her like she had known her for a very long time.

Her foster mother, Helen had sent Nora’s father out of her house and refused to speak about it.

Who was this man, and why was Helen, the sweetest woman on earth, very bitter towards him?

A knock on the window brought her attention to Klaus who had been standing outside for what seemed like hours. Helen had refused to let him in, so he had used the phone outside the house till the ambulance came and got his pilot.

“Let him in,” Helen said in a hushed tone.

She looked exhausted but she also looked determined.

Katniss waved to Klaus and he opened the door to step in.

Klaus did not know exactly how to feel, he was a billionaire and almost the most important person in the state. People fought to get him on their projects or to their events but somewhere on this beach side there is a lady whom he has never seen before who made him stay outside for hours.

He felt reduced to nothing. Now he knew that, not only did he hate Katniss for having the features of his late wife, he hated her mother also who didn't regard him as anything, but he needed answers so he entered the house.

He checked his Jacob and Co. wristwatch; only a few more minutes and his new pilot and security details will get him and Nora out of this nightmare.

Katniss looked at Klaus when he walked into their little home again, and she felt goosebumps gather on her skin. Why? She wondered, could she be getting attracted to this handsome but exhausted man?

No! It couldn't be. She swallowed hard to keep her feelings down but she couldn't help herself, she checked Klaus out.

His shirt sleeves were pulled up to his arms revealing firm muscles. Katniss wondered what it would be like to be grabbed by those arms. Her eyes traced him up from his broad tan chest that had been exposed by a loose button, all the way to his jaw where a neatly groomed beard laid. Katniss looked at his lips and different thoughts started to come up in her head.

“Sit, Mr. Koch” Helen said, her voice breaking Katniss' thoughts and bringing her back to her senses.

She watched the handsome gentleman find a seat and she held his daughter who was laid in her arms closer. Why was he getting into her mind?

“I must have really hit my head hard” Katniss muttered to herself

“Katniss' mom, thank you for allowing me in…” Klaus said behind gritted teeth.

“Her name is Katherine…”

He was mad, but he didn't want to show it. These strangers were with his daughter.

“You don't have to say much…” Helen continued.

“I will keep this simple, because I don't have all the time in the world”

Katniss' heart broke when she heard those words from her foster mom, she knew she said that because of her cancer. But she didn't interrupt Helen. She was curious as to how she knew Klaus and why treated him harshly.

“My name is Helen Campbell” Helen started to speak.

“My family owns this portion of land here. A few years ago, Koch Inc. approached my husband to buy this house because they were looking to erect a project”

Klaus looked at the woman with her frail body and tired eyes. He knew she wasn't lying because he had sent men to purchase the land around this beach area that wasn't government owned. He wanted to acquire enough before he approached the government for the resort he planned to build.

“So, they asked my husband and he said it wasn't for sale”

Helen's voice broke but she continued.

“My dearest husband refused regardless of the amount Koch Inc. offered. This house has been in his family for years and it is never to be sold; only to be passed down the family”

Helen paused and looked at Klaus to ensure that he was listening before she continued.

“My husband worked in Koch. Inc, so when the offer was turned down, his work environment became harsh, he stopped being treated like a regular worker”

Tears began to fall from Helen's eyes as she spoke. She took a moment to steady her voice and spoke again.

“Then he got ill and Koch Inc. refused to grant him his medical benefits and even threatened to fire him if he didn't show up for work. He wasn't even granted a sick leave. So eventually… after much struggle with no help…”

Helen sniffed.

“My dear Paul died, because your company was greedy for an acre of land”

Klaus stiffened, he couldn't believe his ears. His company had a good relationship with workers. How come this happened under his watch?

Katniss held Nora closer, this is the first time she was hearing this story. She looked at the man sitting across from her. So, he owned a whole company that was partially responsible for Helen's husband's death! Her stomach crawled.

“Mrs. Campbell, I assure you…I didn't ….” Klaus tried to defend

“Klaus, I will waste no words with you. You came here for a survey and I know the government has awarded you the beach.”

“Yes, Mrs. Campbell…”

“There is no way your resort can happen unless you build on part of my husband’s land, true or false?

“I didn't even know your land wasn't purchased…I would have…”

“True or false? Mr. Koch”, came Helen's voice, loud and firm.

“True…” Klaus said, defeated

“Then I will make this simple. Our land requirement is that it must stay in the family. We will never sell it, only pass it from family to family”

“Mrs. Campbell, is there a way that I could convince you?

“Is this project very important to you?”

“Yes Ma’am, it is my grandfather's dream and legacy, I am ready to pay anything you ask for.”

Katniss wanted to object but she kept quiet. This is clearly a family long matter. She wished she could convince her to sell their land so they could use the money for her treatment.

She watched Helen, her face carried no emotion. For the little time Katniss had known her, she knew this emotionless face too well; it was a look she gave when she had thought about a situation for a long time before arriving at a decision.

But never could Katniss have imagined what Helen said next.

“The only way you can have this land, is as a wedding gift”

“Wedding gift?” Klaus replied to her, confused.

“Yes, if you marry my daughter, Kat”