Posted by Civilian Atticus Wolf (Property Investor / Developer) in Hunting Ghosts - Cafe Serendipity

Posted by Civilian Luana Iolani Kaili (Director of Medical and Social Services) in Hunting Ghosts - Cafe Serendipity

Posted by Civilian Atticus Wolf (Property Investor / Developer) in Hunting Ghosts - Cafe Serendipity
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

“I’m hardly being cryptic, Doctor Kaili,” Atticus said and his smile faded. “If you don’t want the wider explanation so you have a better understanding, fine, I’ll skip the pleasant conversation and turn to business. We can come back to the details later if you have any interest in learning more and helping me.”

“Yes, you are,” Kaili countered. “One moment saying you want my help and the next that I can’t help you. Vague mentioning of a Xahean man. I don’t mind pleasant conversations. On the contrary. And I’m generally interested in details. So far the only details you have offered, provided me with no further understanding of why I am here.”

At that moment, the waiter returned with Kaili’s Bajoran Mint Tea and another cup of coffee for Atticus, setting them down between them as Atticus paused. “Thank you,” he told the man, and picked up his coffee. Taking a sip, his eyes looked at her. They weren’t hard, or displeased. She wasn’t interested in conversation and that was fair enough, she was a busy woman. Maybe the rest of what he had to say would interest her.

“I asked you to come here because I thought you might be interested in finding this man as well. He was here at the same time as your mother, in fact she got pregnant here if you look at the timelines and you are a full blooded Xahean. How many Xaheans do you think were here in the early days of OEDV being founded? Not many is my guess. You were born on the freighter Sailana, your mother didn’t survive. I’m sorry for your loss there. That freighter left OEDV with your heavily pregnant mother on board, and this man remained behind, in this Studio. I’m not going to assume anything, but I am not going to discount coincidences before I have investigated them. Now, if I’ve wasted your time, I apologize.”

Atticus Wolf

Kaili blinked twice in rapid succession, first with her inner than with her outer eyelids. Was it true? Had he really found information about her birth father? She wanted to believe him. At the same time experience had taught her to be cautious. Crossing her arms loosely in front of her chest, she said, “No you haven’t. I’m wondering, though, why you went through all the trouble to learn all that about me and my birth mother? When I’m looking for someone my first instinct is not to look into the personal and family history of some random person who happens to be from the same species. Why is it that part of you thinks that I may be able to help you?”

~Dr. Luana Iolani Kaili

“Doctor Kaili, my methods may not be the way you do things but they get results more often than not. I am a man that doesn’t truly believe in coincidences, and I’ve learned that attention to detail and following intuition works well when the path in front of you seems hard to see. The man who owns the studio is a Xahean and has been here a long time. You are Xahean, one of the few here, and it doesn’t take long to do a quick background check on someone in case there may be a connection. In this case, it was apparent there might be. The other people I checked came up with nothing that could be considered a link.” Atticus took a drink and paused a moment, letting the drinks warmth fill him. He was thorough, he had indeed checked every Xahean or part-Xahean on OEDV. In truth computer search programs made it simple to look for possible connections.

For the moment Kaili kept her silence, waiting patiently for Atticus to continue talking. As much as she had longed to find out more about her birth parents for a very long time now, she had learned a long time ago not to get her hopes up too much. So far that had only let to some heartache and that was something she neither needed nor wanted. But try as she might, with every sliver of information he offered, she felt herself become more and more hopeful.

“Now, as to how you can help, if you are interested in helping me that is. I don’t expect you would care enough to help me if this man actually has no connection and means nothing to you or your past, and that is fine with me, I lose nothing by asking do I?” He smiled softly, clear that if she chose to walk away he would bear no ill feeling. “But if this man might be of some importance to you then I imagine the news that a Xahean woman of your age asking about a man here when your mother was, looking for her father or news of her mother when she was here might encourage this man to come out of hiding, for want of a better term. I’m not talking about anything nefarious, I am interested in property, Doctor Kaili. I can lodged a request via the trust to this man in both of our names with our details and see if he bites. Worst that happens, we hear nothing, and we lose nothing except our valuable time. If I hear anything, I share it with you and at that point you can decide to continue working with me or say your goodbyes. What do you think Doctor? If you want to take the next step I can let you see the dossier I have on him. You’ll understand that due to privacy considerations if you have no desire to look further into his slim but possible connection to your mother I can’t just hand his details over.” With this, Atticus tapped the PaDD that was lying on the table between them.

Atticus Wolf.

Kaili remained silent for several more minutes, mulling everything over Atticus had said. It was tempting to just say yes and part of her definitely wanted to do that. But the other part of her was afraid of this leading to nothing. Or worse it really being her birth father and getting hurt because he didn’t want to get to know her. Not to mention that her birth mother must have had a reason why she didn’t say who her father was and instead wanted to keep that part of Kaili’s birth certificate blank. Eventually she said, “As far as I know my birth father doesn’t even know that my birth mother was pregnant and thus has no clue that he has a child. Or at least a child with her. So I’m nut sure if that plan of yours will actually work or lead to the desired results.”

“Well, you might be surprised what a carefully worded hint can do. It well may be that the use of your mothers name alongside yours may spark an interest that this man doesn’t realize he has.” It could also send him further into hiding, but at this point Atticus saw no reason not to try and definitely didn’t mention that possibility.

Looking straight at Atticus, a small frown on her face, and biting down hard on her lower lip, Kaili took a few deep breaths and finally said, “I’m not sure this is the right decision, but I’m going to help you.”

~Dr. Luana Iolani Kaili

The smile on Atticus’ face was genuine, but the intensity that sparked in his dark brown eyes showed a greater satisfaction with her decision. He said nothing but watched her for a moment and nodded. The concentration on her face as she came to her decision and the way she bit on her lip as she made it was cute. “If this doesn’t work out, then we hear nothing and lose nothing. I promise you though that if he does respond, or if we get any kind of hint as to where he is then I will give you full disclosure on it. Here,” he pushed the PaDD across to her, “for you. It has information about the Xahean man that I have been able to find out. Take it, read it if you like when you have time. If you see something in there that makes you want to change your mind just let me know, my contact details are included. I’ll make the request to the trust tomorrow so you have time to go over it.”

Atticus Wolf

Looking from the PaDD to Atticus and back at the PaDD, Kaili inhaled and slowly reached for the device. She wanted to know what he had found out and yet she was a little afraid. Afraid to learn something she wouldn’t like. Afraid of rejection. And still she hoped. Hoped for a positive outcome. Or that, at the very least, she would be able to stop wondering and move on. Preferably without getting hurt to badly in the process. “Thank you,” she replied with a small smile and looked back up at him. “Is there anything else we should discuss right now?”

~Dr. Luana Iolani Kaili