Her scream caused him to scream. Calista watched her intruder stumble towards the light switch. A few moments later, they were flooded in light

"St-stop...my poor throat can't take it anymore," he said. He was coughing as he hobbled towards her with his cane.

Step. Step. Tap.
Step. Step. Tap.

Calista's eyebrows rose in wonder as she watched an older man slowly make his way back to her. He was wearing a velour smoking jacket. He had dark slicked back hair with tufts of white above each ear. His light blue eyes were framed by a craggy expression. He smiled, showing off a set of porcelain dentures.

"Cluck, cluck, my little duck," he said before sitting on her bed. He squinted as he examined her. "Your brother said your mind is as soggy as wet pancakes."

Calista tried clearing her throat which burned after screaming.

"Don't tell me you forgot me too?" His made a clucking noise with his mouth before smiling at her again. "It's me. Pop Pop!"

"Pop Pop?" Calista whispered.

"Duckie, don't you remember me? You're supposed to forget the bad but not the good. You must always remember the good."

Calista didn't know how to respond. He pulled out a cell phone from a pocket of his jacket and twirled it in front of her. "This is called a smart phone. I'm not sure why it's so smart though. If it was smart, it'd tell me the meaning of life or how to solve a Rubix cube."

Calista watched him fiddle with the screen before giving an excited squeal. "Ta da! Here it is Duckie. Proof that I'm your Pop Pop."

It was a picture of Calista Dover and him wearing matching Karate outfits. They were both black belts.

"I know Karate?" Calista asked.

"You really don't remember?" He sighed and flapped his arms around like a young child would. "I wish I could forget things too but then your brother would say I have Dementia. Or Alzheimer's. I was so scared when you were gone, Duckie. He wanted to put me in a nursing home. Can you believe it? Me? His Pop Pop."

Calista's mouth felt dry. She would never have imagined that the head of Dover Industries was a man who referred to her as Duckie and himself as Pop Pop. Calista mentally corrected herself. He wasn't the head of anything. That was Sebastian.

"Do you smell pancakes?" he asked, sniffing the air.

Calista shook her head.

"I feel like eating pancakes. Did you want to make your Pop Pop some pancakes? Peanut butter banana pancakes. I once went to a diner that sold them and they were so delicious. The waitress there hit on me. I would've married her if it wasn't for your grandmother's jealous streak. That and having two wives is illegal."

"What are you doing, Pop Pop?" Sebastian Dover's voice was loud even from the hallway.

"Sebastian!"

"I told you not to bother Calista tonight. She just came back from the hospital. I heard her screaming and rushed up here," Sebastian said. He glanced at Calista. "Are you okay?"

She nodded.

"Sebastian, I have something very important to tell you." Pop Pop stood up and placed a hand on his grandson's shoulder before leaning in.

"What is it, Pop Pop?"

"I just farted."

Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"Duckie and I were going to make pancakes. Peanut butter banana pancakes. I once went to a diner that sold them and they were so delicious. The waitress there hit on me. I would've married her if it wasn't for your grandmother's jealous streak. That and-"

"Yes, Pop Pop...you've told us before." Sebastian helped steady the older man as he struggled with his cane.

"Don't get uppity with me, young man. You're never too old to get a whipping from your Pop Pop."

"Pop Pop, I am too old to get spanked."

"I didn't say a spanking. I said a whipping. That's pancakes with whipped cream. Sugar free to teach you a lesson." Pop Pop turned back and pointed at Calista. "You're different but you're still just like her. Beautiful like a fairy. Isn't that right, Sebastian?"

"Yes, Pop Pop. Calista is very beautiful. Are you ready to go to bed now?"

"Yes, you're getting too uppity with me, Sebastian. I don't know why you're like this," Pop Pop said. He shook a finger in front of Sebastian's face. "Don't act like you know everything. For someone who was named after a cartoon lobster, you should be a little more humble." He waved Sebastian close. "Come here and I'll tell you a secret even my smart phone doesn't know."

Sebastian waited patiently for his grandfather to whisper his secret and asked, "What secret doesn't your smart phone know, Pop Pop?"

The old man leaned in and whispered, "I farted again."

_________________<<_<<_<__<

As Sebastian Dover's personal assistant, Roger Lambert was many things. Efficient was on the top of the list. He tapped his stylus against his tablet, while informing Calista of her brother's plans.

"He wants a nurse by your side until you're ready to go back to the company," Roger said.

"I never worked at the company," Calista argued. Online articles had told her that much. Her voice was still scratchy but the doctor had advised her to keep talking. She sipped her lemon-honey water.

"He intends for you to take a position as his secretary."

"Doesn't he already have a secretary?"

Roger's brows furrowed. "Do you not want a position at the company?"

Calista looked away from Roger's brown eyes. She felt as though everyone could see through her and at any moment the real Calista Dover would walk through the door, finger pointed, calling her out for being a fraud.

"Who is the company's lawyer?" Calista asked. She was staring at the embroidered pillow in her lap.

"What an unusual question. The legal team is made up of several lawyers. Why do you ask?"

Calista shrugged. "No reason."

She wondered if she'd run into Adam, her husband. He worked for Dover Industries. She needed to talk to him if she wanted to find out if he had anything to do with her being at St. Anthony's church. Before she could return to her true identity, she had to know the truth.

Roger gave her a curious look before referring back to his tablet. "I'll be contacting the nursing agency today to hire someone for you."

He turned to leave when Calista stopped him.

"Wait...I want to choose my nurse."

"There's no need. I'm perfectly capable of--"

Calista Dover was not Calista Hargrove. She was supposed to be loud and wild. Strong. Everything Calista Hargrove was not.

"So am I, Roger. I want to choose my own nurse. I will choose my own nurse."

Roger opened his mouth, ready to argue, but seemed to think better of it. She wrote down a name and handed it to him.

"I want her as my nurse."

Roger gave a slight nod before exiting the room.

Calista smiled. She still didn't know what happened the night she was found at St. Anthony's church but pretending to be the rich heiress known as Calista Dover was buying her time.

________________

"She asked about the legal team," Roger told his boss.

"That's strange," Sebastian said. He was reading through the contents of a red file that had been on his desk for several weeks.

"Yes."

"Is she on to you?" Sebastian asked.

"No, sir."

"And you've gone through all her personal belongings from her apartment?"

Roger nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Very well. We'll continue with the plan."

Roger turned to leave and Sebastian tapped his fist against his mahogany desk. "Roger, don't let her find out what you're doing. You know what happens to people that fail me."

Roger cleared his throat before nodding. After he left the room, Sebastian continued reading through the red file. He pushed it aside before picking up the thin pink journal that had been found in his adopted sister's belongings.

He opened the book to an ear-marked page. His fingers softy stroked the paper before he dared look at the first sentence of Calista's entry.

5/1/2014

I think I've fallen in love with Sebastian.