modus operandi

noun

1. a particular way or method of doing something

When I woke the next morning it was already getting late and I quickly put on a dressing gown and rushed on crutches to the breakfast sun room, but Wallace had already finished his meal. I hobbled to the railing next to the grand stair case and called down to him, just as he was leaving through the front door.

"Wait, Wallace, please wait." I saw him nod, and then realised how rude I was being in high society. "Um, sorry. I'll be a moment, please wait."

I went back to my room for the paper bag that held his thank you gift then used the lift to reach him on the ground floor. I was almost puffing by the time I reached him, already beginning to lose my high fitness level.

"Sorry, and thank you for waiting. I'd like to pay back the money for the surgery and thank you for your help and care. I wanted to give this to you yesterday afternoon, but, um..." My face flushed hotly as I remembered sobbing onto his shirt.

"Its OK, Lily. You don't need to give me anything."

"I know, you already have everything." I giggled, then rolled my inner eyes at myself.

"Um, I think this is fitting for a man who started out in engineering. I'm not sure what kind of engineering you studied in, but I hope this is suitable." I handed him over the gift bag as my mum arrived down the stairs with Jac-jac.

"Are you eating breakfast, Lily?"

"I will shortly. I wanted to catch Wallace before he left for the office."

"Morning, Big Sis." Jac-Jac leaned over towards me while still in his mum's arms. He gave me a sloppy kiss and we shared a smile.

"Suck up..." Eyva appeared out of nowhere and walked straight out the door for school.

"Eyva!" Wallace growled at her.

"Don't worry about her, Sir. She's still getting used to having others in her family. Give her time." I place my hand on Wallace's arm to hold him off from following after his daughter to tell her off.

"OK, Lily. Thank you for the gift."

"What did she give you, Wallace?" My mum is curious.

"OK, just give me a moment, I'll open it quickly." He handed his work case to his driver by the door and unwrapped the bag and tissue paper from the wooden box. It looked a lot more rough looking in the pristine and polished foyer of the mansion. I wondered then if I'd made a mistake.

"Um..." My face flushed with embarrassment.

"What is this?" Mum was intrigued, so was Jac-jac who leaned in to view it.

"Open it Daddy!"

Wallace carefully opened the obviously old box and found inside the brass theodolite that I'd purchased for him. He lifted it up to take a closer look.

"I have seen one of these in years. How thoughtful, Lily." He gave me a wide smile. "Thank you for this. I'll treasure it." I could tell he was just humouring me with his words, but I appreciated the sentiment anyway.

"Um... I found it yesterday in the big antique store in town. It has the initials 'M.O.' on the side, right there." I pointed them out to him as he turned it around for me to find. "I learned that your grandfather was named Morris Overmeyer and I knew he was also an engineer when he first started out." I shrugged but saw the look of surprise on his face.

"It was a long shot, but I wondered if maybe this also... belonged to him..." I mumbled the last part, trying to pull of an awkward feeling. Wallace didn't say anything, but moved into his office on the ground floor near the back garden. Mum with Jack and I followed him into the room.

It was lined with books, both old and new, years of history right there. His old wood and leather desk sat front and centre with large over stuffed seats before it. Wallace walked right past his desk to a side table that held a brass lamp with green glass shade, like the ones found in banks back in the day. He picked it up and turned it around for all of us to see the M.O. on the side. It was a match for the one on the theodolite.

There was also a fountain pen with a gold-filled engraved overlay, same initials, M.O.

"Oh, my goodness, how wonderful." My mum exclaimed. Then Wallace pulled from next to the wall, an old wooden tripod. Set it up to standing and took the theodolite from the box and connected it to the exact same fittings on the tripod, which also had the initials, M.O.

"I asked the store manager about the stand when he mentioned one. He said it was sold shortly after the items ended up in the store. You had it all alone."

Wallace finished putting everything back in place, then stood back and took a photo of the theodolite on the tripod then a close up of the instrument showing the initials.

"I'm going to send this to my father, he'll be so jealous." He ginned at me, looking like a cheeky child doing something mischievous.

"Thank you, Lily. This means a lot to me. I will treasure it." This time, his declaration of treasuring something I've given him was filled with sincerity. He came over and gave me a careful hug then gave Jac-Jac one as well when the little Angel demanded it. "I better get to work before I miss my first meeting. I'll make sure my assistant gets you what you need today for your transaction, Lily." He kissed my mum goodbye and murmured sweet nothings in her ear that made her blush, then walked us all out of his office and went off to work.

"Lily, that was amazing! Where did you find such an amazing gift?"

"I did a little research about Wallace in recent days, and most of the website and news articles talk about how he started off in engineering as he followed in his father's and grandfather's footsteps. I then found out there was such a thing called a theodolite, what they used to use in olden days for surveying." I shrugged my shoulder as we stepped into the elevator and moved up to the family floor. "I wanted to give him a thank you gift that was different. And I think I nailed it, didn't I?" I couldn't help bragging to my mum.

"Yes you did. Really nailed it this time. Well done. I've never seen him to genuinely happy about a gift like this before." She chatted for a while as we moved to the breakfast sun room and finished our meals. She then left quickly with Jac-jac for work and I waited and pondered at the table until a maid came in with my ringing phone.

"Miss Lily, your phone is ringing. I was cleaning your room and was able to bring it for you." She handed it over and I answered it.

"Miss Lily? This is Wallace Overmeyer's assistant, Darren Kumar. I've been instructed to give you bank details for a loan repayment."

"Hi, yes I'm Lily, Wallace's step daughter. Thank you." I then proceeded to tell him my personal email address as I haven't set up my business addresses yet. He doubled checked the spelling and said goodbye. A moment later my phone dinged with an incoming email with the bank details to Wallace's private account. I smiled and paid him the $145,000 that I owed, and only that much, as no one had paid for the private physio yet. I can now do that on my own.

[Thank you for the medical fees loan. All paid up. And thank you again for helping with the compensation. It was a lot of work and I appreciate your help. I am glad you love the gift. Enjoy showing it off to your dad! :-)] I sent a text to Wallace and he replied with a matching smily face.

"Sigh..." I sigh a big sigh then begin thinking about everything I need to set up today, email, domain name, website hosting, limited liability company registration, apply for a business number and a tax number with the tax department and register my company name 'Pyrus Projects' as my trade mark. SO much to do. I quickly write notes on my phone while the mansion staff clear away the breakfast table and pour me another coffee with honey.