Behind The Pseudonyms

11: Sweet Sixteen

Bree wakes up at 8 AM the next day from a good sleep. After days of listlessness in California, this place spells a vast difference. Cape Town is away from bustle and hustle, very quiet and rejuvenating.

She opens the door and steps on her villa's back porch offering the magnificent view of the beach. Very exquisite panoramic view, she wouldn't trade this for New York neither California. This feels heaven.

She needs to call the Asylum. 

She goes for a jog after asking the resort attendant if she can have Luke for a drive around the area plus she needs to buy some stuff. Luke shows promptly at her doorway. He drives Bree around town while educating her about the areas thereby receiving a hefty tip.

Bree stays first at the reception lobby to watch the comings and goings of people. Then she walks to the restaurant around 11. She calls the Asylum while waiting for the waitress to serve her order. She is unaware that a man is eyeing her from a corner.

She must transfer her patient here. For sure this will be a good place for recovery. She dials the law firm and asks for Nathan.

"Yes we can do that but why do you wanna keep running away?" The man on the other line asks. "You can stay here in New York. You'll be 21 and you can get your money."

"Nathan, it's still complicated. I just want peace right now. If you can handle the transfer of our patient here to Cape Town, it would be better. I'll call you again. Thank you." She hangs up.

She dials another number "Brent this is Nikola."

Amidst Brent's surprise, her voice is like a gush of fresh wind that brings excitement.  'Where are you?"

"I can't talk much. I didn't kill Gem so as the men who were murdered in California."

"Then come here or I can pick you up wherever you are." Brent is trying to convince her.

"All evidences are pointed at me. I can't come out unless Diego is in Police custody. Find him first and I'll go to you." She hangs up.

Bree should be careful. She must plan everything diligently. She leaves the restaurant after meal. She strolls along the beach then tosses away her new phone before heading to her villa.

The beach gives her a nostalgic memory. Almost five years when she became really close to Ahmad. He liked the beach. They had a day together and it was lovely. So as the days with her mom who taught her to wander in different places.

A mix of bitter and nostalgic smile is bestowed upon her lips as her mind brings her back to those days.....

She was 6 months away to her 13th birthday when her mother started to give her a taste of the trips. Their first destination was a one week hiatus to the Philippines, a country boasting of 1,100 islands. They stayed in El Nido, Palawan. Nothing defines Palawan more than the water around it. With seascapes the equal of any in Southeast Asia, and terrestrial and aquatic wildlife, the Philippines' most sparsely populated region is also the most beguiling. Because of the silhouette of its main island - a long sliver stretching 650km all the way to Borneo - there's a certain liberating logic to travel here.