Chapter Twenty Five of L&L
Author’s Note: Thank you so very much for my friend Kathy (kittie8571) who is the Beta of this story!
Chapter Twenty Five: Three arguments, two decisions and one break up
The first thing he noticed was the new security system Jack had installed at the firm. Ennis thought that it now looked as if they were entering the inside of a spaceship. Each of the attorneys and staff members had his own personal card, without which he couldn’t access the elevator or the parking lot. There were different levels of security cards, the highest being the one in Jack's possession, and the lowest given to the first year associates in the firm. The entire firm was now protected by the newest model of security cameras and alarm systems. Two security guards wearing bulletproof vests now stood by the main entrance, which Ennis rarely used. The looks of them made Ennis ill with the memory of Carl, the dead security man. Jack had told him that the entire firm had been at his funeral and that he could barely survive the experience of it. The family had been greatly compensated, but it was difficult not to feel guilty about what had happened. Ennis tried to remember that the real murderer was behind bars and no one but him could be blamed.
Still… just looking at the floor where his blood had been was disturbing. Jack had changed the place as much as he could, and Ennis could easily see that he had done it on purpose, but there was still a mix of emotions coming from his office. Mrs. Campbell said nothing_ she was even quieter these days_ but Ennis could see that she wasn’t that pleased either. So, as soon as he could, he asked Jack to move him to a different office. Of course his wish was granted. The only annoying detail was that his new office was right next to Frederic’s and the man was more irritating than ever.
“So, Ennis, what do you think about my proposal to the board members?” Frederic asked when Ennis had left for a snack in the middle of the morning.
“Jack told me something about it and Dave filled me in on the details.” Ennis wasn’t going to give him more attention than that.
“And?” Frederic insisted.
“And what do you think I think?” Ennis asked already annoyed. “It’s ridiculous, is what it is!”
“Come on! Clearly you can see the advantages of a publicity campaign like this. We don’t even need to use your testimony. We have Mrs. Campbell!”
“Frederic…” Ennis said patiently, pushing Frederic away by his forearm. “Look at her. Do you think she can handle something like that? Do you think that it was a walk in the park for her?”
“There’s no reason we shouldn’t…” Frederic replied, offended by the way Ennis had manhandled him.
“I was there.” Ennis said firmly. “She was crying the entire time… when he shot her, she was so weak her head fell in a pool of her own blood… I’ve worked on thousands of murder cases and it was never as scary as that moment.”
“Great…” Frederic sighed, the words had finally reached him. “So I’m the bad one now?”
“What do you want me to think?” Ennis tried to remember that it was Frederic in front of him. The guy had a problem with thinking outside of his own box. “You’re being selfish and clearly not thinking about her.”
“This is more than a work place, Ennis. This building is a business and in business, love and war, everything is acceptable. You should leave your feelings outside, as I try to do every day.”
“We can’t leave them outside, we’re dealing with people not robots. Frederic… not everything is worth your soul.” Ennis looked at the confused face of Frederic.
“Right… I guess the board members are going to love that little catch phrase.” Frederic shook his head. “The Valvardsy firm would have done it and that’s why we’re losing clients to them.”
“No! That’s why we’re better than them.”
“Whatever! I can’t understand you sometimes.” Frederic said resignedly. “I guess that’s what Jack sees in you. Weird plebeian attitudes!”
Ennis couldn’t help it, he laughed out loud. Frederic was genuinely confused with their conversation. He laughed a bit more as Frederic cursed out loud and walked to his office without another word. Ennis didn’t feel offended at all. For the first time he could actually say that he had had a normal conversation with Frederic Dawson.
A few feet away, the gorgeous man that was Frederic’s secretary, looked shocked at the scene, while Mrs. Campbell, too lost in her work, didn’t even see his boss fighting over her.
Jack signed through the glass to the chauffer, and with a quick smooth movement, stepped outside of the car.
He was surprised by the bad weather and could not help but shiver with the icy breeze. It was midday, but he could barely see the sun, blocked by the tall buildings and the grey clouds in the sky. It was a cold autumn day and the city was looking as melancholic as ever, with occasional rain and the depressed look of the people passing by.
Jack sighed again. He hated the city on these days.
A young man wearing the restaurant’s uniform smiled at him as he opened the door for him, but Jack couldn’t bring himself to smile back. The weather had already ruined his mood. He hoped that his lunch with Uncle Daniel would lift his spirits.
He was quickly taken away from the line of people waiting for a table to be led to the table where his uncle was waiting. The red haired man was already nursing a drink that looked like a whiskey and Jack frowned immediately. As an attorney, he had seen enough cases of successful people losing everything to drugs or alcohol. Enough cases to make him lose the simple pleasure of a scotch or two. Jack remained restrained on the beer or champagne and couldn’t help but disapprove anytime someone else did otherwise.
“Good to see you, son.” The red haired man said with a smile.
“Me too.” Jack said, but his voice lacked any real enthusiasm.
“Come on, son! Don’t be like that, I’m sure that better days will come.”
“I just realize how depressed most New Yorkers are.” Jack frowned in thought. “Sad faces influence so easily… I guess I just can’t be in a good mood.”
“The weather is crappy but there’s no need to blame our beautiful city for that.” Uncle Daniel said proudly. “New York is still one of the finest places in the world.”
“You should run for mayor.” Jack smiled. The waitress came with the carte du jour and he asked for a lemonade while they waited for their food, previously ordered by Uncle Daniel.
“Hmmm. That's an interesting thought. Perhaps I really should run for mayor.” Uncle Daniel said, scratching his chin in wonder.
“Please! Politics can eat a man’s soul.” Jack stated seriously. “But then, I couldn’t picture many people as well suited as you. And everybody knows I’m not keen on the current mayor.”
“I think it's too late for me, anyway. I should have joined politics when I was younger.” Uncle Daniel focused on Jack. “But you could yet do it…”
“No way in hell they’re going to catch me on that.” Jack answered quickly. “And, lest we forget, I’m openly gay so that chance is closed forever.”
“The times, they are a-changin'…”
“Is that what you have been doing? Hmm?” Jack asked with humor. “You’ve disappeared the last week planning my campaign for mayor?”
“No. Unfortunately I had been away for more serious reasons.” The larger man sighed and Jack felt his heart constrict in fear.
“Please tell me there’s nothing wrong with you!” Jack demanded.
“It’s not me, son. I’m fine… the diet is not going so well, but I even managed to lose some weight this time.” Jack relaxed in his chair; there was no need for alarm, although he couldn’t see any lost weight on Uncle Daniel’s large frame.
“Then what’s with the secrecy? You’re dating a married woman now?” Jack asked curious.
“No, nothing like that.” Uncle Daniel frowned in worry, but Jack’s impatient glare made him talk. “Do you remember the last time we talk about Hanna Olson? You were worried about how to approach her?”
“Yes…” Jack said hesitantly.
“You didn’t tell me, but I was able to draw my own conclusions. You still suspect her to be related to your father?” It was a half question, because Uncle Daniel’s tone left no doubts.
“Yes, the facts hadn’t refuted that possibility.” Jack said carefully, trying not to offer too much information. “But what does that have to do with anything?”
“Stepsister, right?” Uncle Daniel asked calmly.
“What did you do?”
“I kept my own detective working on the case.” The tone was as serious as it could ever possibly be with the joyful man.
“Why? And what have you done?” Jack was mostly confused.
“I thought maybe an approach by someone not clearly related to Enrique could help.” Uncle Daniel’s voice sounded soft. “For God's sake, you’re the spitting image of the man! They would have noticed right away.”
“They?”
“I went to talk with Hanna and her husband.” When Jack didn’t say anything, Uncle Daniel continued. “I wanted what everyone else involved wanted -- a DNA sample from her.”
“And you just went there and asked her for it?” Jack asked in disbelief; the whole story with Hanna Olson was getting stranger by the minute.
“Of course not! First I wanted to ask her about Enrique, about what she knew about him… what had really happened between her mother and him.”
“And?” Jack asked, getting impatient.
“The moment I mentioned Enrique Twist, I was no longer welcome in her home.” Uncle Daniel shrugged. “As simple as that.”
“She snapped at you? Kicked you out of her house?” Jack asked puzzled.
“Yes. Her husband led me to the door and asked forgiveness on behalf of his wife.” Uncle Daniel recalled.
“So she can’t hear about my dad without losing her manners?” Jack frowned. “What do you think? Did she look like a Twist to you?”
“Not really, but then…”
“She must know something, that’s for sure. But what's with the attitude?”
“If she is Enrique's daughter and she knows, how come she never asked for her part of the fortune?”
“Perhaps she doesn’t want more than what he left her.” Jack explained.
“I’m sorry, son.” Uncle Daniel said softly.
“Yes, well, you should be. Why hadn’t you told me about this?” Jack was annoyed.
“I thought it would be better this way.”
“I was thinking about visiting her. What I am going to do now?”
“I don’t know, son. I just hope I didn’t mess things up even more for you.”
“Forget it. She probably would have done the same thing to me.” Jack sighed. “Dad should have told me something about this. Why hadn’t he?” Jack asked to no one in particular.
“Nothing new on your mother’s diary? I was very intrigued when we talked on the phone.” Uncle Daniel thanked the waitress, as the young blond woman served them their meal.
“No, nothing. But you weren’t as curious as I was when you wouldn't tell me where you were.” Jack recollected. “You should have told me. Perhaps Mary could have worked with your detective. It seems to be quite difficult to find anything about that place.”
“Yes, I had the same difficulties. I was hoping the conversation with Hanna would bring more information to the table, but we’re stuck at the beginning again.”
“But where something begins, another ends…” Jack murmured to his plate, still untouched.
“What do you mean?” Uncle Daniel asked confused, already tasting the roast beef.
“There was something written in my dad’s riddle that spoke about that.”
“You know… I’ve been thinking about it too. Maybe it’s something related to the church where he used to go every Sunday. He did mention the holy family and if I’m not mistaken, the triangle used to be a Christian symbol, or still is… I’m not sure.”
“How’s the church related to my mum’s diary?” Jack asked in disbelief.
“How was the aquarium related to anything else?” Uncle Daniel asked with a small smile. “Your dad was brilliant and you should not expect this to be easy.”
“That’s the last thing on my mind.” Jack said making a note to visit the place as soon as possible.
Ennis had lost count of how many times he had felt tired that morning. It seemed that every deep breath he took gave birth to a deeper sigh. His leg was hurting more than he had expected and not even the emergency pill he had taken half an hour ago managed to help much. Perhaps Jack had been right and he should have just stayed at home for another week or two. He was going to cry like a five year old at the next session of physiotherapy tomorrow.
At least the final statements of his court case went pretty well and his client had been impressed with the fact that he had managed to stand on his feet the whole time, not to mention the surprised eyes of the jury. It had been worth every second of pain he was feeling right now.
Ennis waved at another familiar face as he walked out of the court building, carrying nothing but his briefcase - he missed his cane already - but he was forced to turn around immediately.
“Long time no see, Ennis.” It was like hearing the voice of someone presumed dead.
But actually, it was only Helen Carrilho’s voice.
“You have some nerve.” Ennis murmured closing his eyes to suppress the sudden anger; she couldn’t have picked a worse time.
“I see that you’re mad at me.” Helen managed to sound surprised.
“No, Helen… I’m so happy to see your disloyal face!” The tone was full with sarcasm.
“I was on my right…” Helen began defending herself immediately.
“Of selling information about my personal life to the media?” Ennis snapped immediately.
“I…” Helen looked surprised.
“You did, didn’t you? I can almost imagine the pleasure that it must have given you.”
“I didn’t do it.”
“Our investigation confirmed it, Helen. Stop lying, you’re not that good at it.”
“You can’t prove anything!” Helen’s attitude change dramatically and Ennis felt like he was seeing her for the very first time.
“You’re right, it just means I never really knew you. So don’t came talking to me, acting as if we’re friends.”
“I care about you, Ennis. But we were never really friends.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “We could never have been.”
“You don’t know the meaning of the word care.” Ennis forced his legs to move away. “You betrayed your father’s firm for a stupid crush on a gay man!”
“I know my own reasons! And you know nothing about it.”
“You’re lucky that I don’t! Because if I caught you, just for a second, passing on secret information, I'd make sure you’ll pay for it!”
“I’m smarter than that, Ennis.”
“Just stay out of my way.” Ennis walked faster, his knee wasn’t helping.
“Did you receive my flowers?” Helen asked when he was almost out of reach.
“No.”
“Than Jack must have thrown them out.” Helen accused.
“Then he did me a favor.” Ennis started to walk to the door again.
“This is not over, Ennis.” The angry tone was back. Helen was cycling between extremes. “We’re going to see each other a lot sooner than you think.”
“I know.” Ennis murmured, mostly to himself.
He left the building disturbed by the sudden realization that Helen wasn’t yet out of their lives.
The chauffer drove Jack to the Twist mansion without a word. The man had always been quiet, but since Enrique had died, he was even more so. Carlos, the chauffer, had only started to work at the Twist mansion a few years ago, when Enrique had gotten tired of driving around the city. Usually he would work with the gardener during his free time but when Enrique got sick, Carlos used to drive him everywhere. Jack supposed that the man missed his father, since Jack rarely used his services.
“Thank you, Carlos.” Jack said when they reached the garage.
“It was a pleasure master Jack.” The man said with a nod.
But the tone on his voice made Jack doubt his words. Carlos definitely didn’t like him much, Jack could sense it every time they talked. There was simple animosity that Jack could really understand. Maybe Carlos was uncomfortable around gay men or didn’t like to work for one.
Jack kept thinking about it as he walked from the garage to the main door. Edward, having heard the car, was waiting for him. But instead of the usual welcome smile, the older man was wearing a worried look.
“Is there something wrong, Edward?” Jack asked immediately.
“Thank God, you’ve come, Master Jack.” Edward placed his hand on the back of his shoulder and guided him gently and quickly to the inside of the house. “I’m afraid my dear Matilda is getting worse.”
“But she told me she was fine yesterday on the phone.” They spoke quietly, aware that the maids could hear them.
“Master Jack, we need to call a doctor. If we can’t convince her to go somewhere, then we must bring the help to her.” Edward pleaded with him.
“You’re right. You make the call, I’ll go see her.”
“Thank you. I couldn’t possibly do it by myself. She would certainly refuse to see him.”
“Don’t be so sure that with me here, things will be that much different.” Jack admitted, moving quickly to the upstairs bedroom.
He took a deep breath before opening the door. Usually it was difficult for him to see her hurt, but she was more stubborn than anyone else he knew and if he wasn’t completely sure that she needed medical help, she would find a way to convince him otherwise.
“Jack, you came.” Matilda said sweetly, the moment he opened the door.
She was sitting on the bed, obviously immobilized by the pain, but still smiling as if nothing was happening. She was good at hiding the signs of the leg pain; she had gained that ability during the many years of her long life. She had lived with the pain for more than 40 years.
She was nothing but a little girl, living in Mexico, when she had fallen on a piece of sharp glass. Her mother treated the wound, but was unable to prevent the infection that spread throughout her small leg. The times were hard and they had very little money. When they finally took her to the doctor, the infection had already reached her bone. The doctors said she was saved by a miracle, but the pain and the weakness were always there.
Years later, already working for Enrique, she was forced to have surgery to remove a portion of the bone. The doctors explained to her that it should have been done all those years before, except a surgery like that would have cost a lot of money that Matilda’s family didn’t have. She had been condemned to limp for the rest of her life, but she had been happy on that day. She was convinced the problem was over for good. Until a few years later when the pain slowly started to return.
“Of course I did.” Jack bent down and kissed her forehead. “Edward told me you weren’t feeling that well.”
“The weather doesn’t help, it’s been so cold lately.” Matilda complained tiredly.
“Did you sleep at all?” She looked very tired.
“Not much, my dear.” She confessed, what genuinely surprised Jack.
“I asked Edward and he’s calling a doctor right now.” Jack interrupted her protests. “Please? I want to be sure that nothing’s wrong.”
“I hate doctors.” She sounded so desperate, so out of character for her.
“It will be alright. I’ll stay right here next to you.” Jack pushed a chair closer to the bed.
“So tell me?” Matilda asked after a few minutes of silence. “How was your lunch with Mr. Smith?”
“As usually Uncle Daniel started one of his big confusions with good intentions.” Jack used his hand to project invisible quotes in the air. “He decided that Hanna Olson would be delighted to meet him.”
“Did she tell him anything important?” Matilda asked curious.
“No, not really.” Jack omitted most of the details, as he usually did for Matilda’s sake.
She had always taken his father in high regard and Jack wanted to respect that until he had no other choice but to surrender to the truth, because partly he too wanted to believe in the image Matilda had of his father.
“I know that she isn’t related to your father. He would have told you otherwise. He would never have lied to you, Jack.”
“He never lied to me, but he liked to leave out as much as possible. And not even you can deny that!” Jack almost shouted.
“He did it for your own good.” She smiled and took a deep breath. “How’s the riddle going?”
“The diary is amazing. I’ve been having a lot of fun. My mom was an adorable child.”
“I never met her.” Matilda closed her eyes and rested her head on the pile of pillows below her. “You should come and read parts of it to me.”
“I don’t have that much time.”
“Bring Ennis and stay for a day or two.” Matilda insisted.
“Perhaps, we will.” Jack answered, only in hopes of making her feel better.
Veronica was waiting inside of her car, just in front of Ennis and Jack’s building. The moment Ennis stepped out of Dave’s car, for he still couldn’t drive, she was right next to him, looking anxious to talk to him. Ennis recognized the look easily.
She had broken up with Kenzei. He was sure of it. After so many discussions about it, she was determined to do it today during a lunch date.
“Are you ok?” Ennis asked as he opened the door a few moments later.
“Is it alright to say that I’m feeling fine?” She asked softly.
“Sure. Are you?” Ennis closed the door behind them.
“I don’t know.”
“How did he react?”
“He pretended it didn’t affect him. I could see he was mad and mostly hurt.” Veronica walked to the living room. “But I guess it was only his pride since he didn’t make any move to stop me or try to win me back.”
“Really?” Ennis sat on the couch and dropped the heavy suitcase.
“It wasn’t as hard as I expected.” Veronica confessed. “Kenzei and I really grew apart these last few months. I guess I didn’t fully realize that until now.”
“Sometimes after you realize that something is wrong, it's much easier to accept the fact that it’s over.” Ennis explained softly.
“I just hope that I wasn’t with him for the simple fact that he reminded me of my father.”
“We all have a bunch of silly reasons to why we choose our partners. It’s the reasons that make us remain with them that really matter.” Ennis frowned in thought. “But you should really rethink your relationship with your father.”
“How do you always know the right thing to say?” Veronica asked with a small smile.
“It’s just facts. Conclusions reached from my own experience as an observer and of what I read. It’s something I’m good at.” Ennis tried to explain.
“Still, it is impressive and a bit unnerving too.”
“I’m not good at giving comfort, so this…” Ennis waved his right hand between them. “It’s the best that I can do.”
“Thanks, Ennis.” She moved and laid her head on his shoulder, hugging his free arm.
“You’re welcome.” He felt happy, mostly because her actions didn’t bring any discomfort to him.
He really had a soft spot for Veronica.
Author: I’m finally back! No need to say that updates are few… I’m still in love with this story and I’m planning to write a sequel! So please bear with my lack of time, you’ll be reward. :D
On the next chapter: Ennis spends some alone time with Nicholas, with surprising results! He also visits Veronica to plan a new surprise to Jack. While Jack finds courage to visit Enrique’s church.