Fanfic: B&S episode 605: part 2/4
Season 6 - Episode 5 - A FRACTION TOO MUCH FRICTION
By Marea67
About: Brothers & Sisters (general)
Rate: Can’t go higher than PG-13, as this is American Television, but I may add a few ‘deleted scenes’ here and there. ;)
Disclaimer: Just escaping from reality here, not created for financial gain
Summary: It is my very own season 6, you guys! Go with it! ;) Don’t complain! If YOU can do better, post your own story! (I dare you!)
***** PART 2/4 *****
Justin opens the door to his house. It’s been a while since he’s been here. The damage done by the earthquake has been repaired, but somehow Justin doesn’t want live here anymore. Regardless of his attempts to make the house his own, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the place was Rebecca’s and not his.
Tyler had felt the same way and had preferred to not move in with him, even when the necessary repairs had been done. She too felt like she was intruding. But…. soon enough this place would be empty as well, because Justin only came here to clean up and take with him what he needed.
They had made a triage in the furniture, so all the large objects where either gone to the hotel and about to be picked up to be destroyed. All that is left is what has remained in several of the closets and cupboards that belong to the house, like the ones in the bedroom and the kitchen.
He opens the first box and the first cupboard in the kitchen. Dishes and bowls end up in the box. When he gets to the mugs it gets a bit harder. Just closing his eyes, he can see Rebecca before him, holding the mug, filled with tea, and those big brown eyes are laughing at him.
He lets her favorite mug roll between his fingers, wondering why she didn’t take it with her when she left. Did she think he’d ever use it? He places it on the kitchen-sink, not sure if he wants to take it with him, when he hears his phone ring. Expecting it to be Dan, he’s surprised to see Rebecca’s name pop up on the display.
“Rebecca?”
“Hi, Justin…. Are you busy?”
“Kinda… No, not really…. just… cleaning up.”
“Oh.. Am I calling you at an inconvenient moment?”
“No, no, don’t be silly.” Justin’s heart beats faster though. “You can call me anytime you want, you know that…. You’re in South-America somewhere, I heard?”
“Yes, with my dad and … my fiancé.” It sounds like it’s the first time that Rebecca says the word out loud.
Justin holds his breath, waiting for something to happen. Pain, sadness, remorse, anger, but all he can seem to say is:
“Oh, you’re engaged? Congratulations!”
“Thank you.”
For a moment the silence over the lines is oppressing and Justin feels like he can’t breathe. He even wonders at some point if Rebecca is still there, but then he hears he voice again.
“I didn’t mean to keep it as a secret .. or something.” She says.
“Of course not.” Justin replies.
“He proposed to me quite a while ago, but, though I said yes, I somehow felt weird about telling anyone…? We kept postponing it, because it was so busy, but I just told my dad… Finally!...
And … that is when I knew that I had to tell you first. I …. I didn’t want you to hear through other channels….”
“Like your mom and mine? Who knew that those two would become internet-buddies?” Justin jokes.
“Nobody is more surprised than us. I can tell you that.” Rebecca laughs too and for a moment the tension is gone. “Justin, I’m sorry for everything that happened and how they happened. I should … not have given up on you like that … Or on us….” Her apology surprises Justin a bit.
“I think we’ve both moved on. In fact, I’m in our old house to clean out the cupboards and such. Tyler and I are moving in together.”
“Oh.” It sounds like Rebecca hadn’t quite expected that, so Justin grins a bit to himself.
“Yeah, Scotty inherited a hotel. Tyler helps him manage it. We’ve moved in there.”
“Wow!... Ahm.. Lucky you.” Rebecca sounds cheerful again.
“And you? What are your plans?”
“I’ve been looking all over the net for wedding-dresses… and things… so that I have an idea of what I want when I go back to New York.”
“You’re really thinking ahead. Found anything interesting?” Justin picks up Rebecca’s favorite mug and gently puts it the trash-can, not making too much noise.
“I … I ended up on the same site where I saw the wedding-dress for our marriage… And I remembered that day on the beach… The hard wind that nearly blew us away. Kitty fainting on the beach. I never expected to spend my wedding-night in a hospital.”
“Well, technically speaking it wasn’t our wedding-night, because we weren’t married just yet… And then when we finally did get married and I wanted to give you a special wedding-night in a special place, by renting the old ranch, we ended up with a house full of people…” They both start to laugh.
“We did have good times, didn’t we? Looking back on it?”
“Yes, we did.” Justin confirms.
“I thought so too.” Justin hears a male voice in the background.
“That is Rick, calling me. We have to leave…. Justin it was nice talking to you…”
“It was great to hear your voice too.”
Justin puts down his phone and hoists himself on the kitchen-sink. His legs dangle as he looks around, realizing that it’s time to really say goodbye. For a moment, he can almost see Rebecca in the kitchen with him, smiling at him, then the vision fades. Justin takes one last look at the mug on the bottom of the trash-can and he knows it was the right choice.
*****
“Tommy, why did you send back the mushrooms we ordered?”
“Have you seen how expensive they are, uncle Saul?”
“Yes, I know, but they are for an expensive dish. I need the better mushrooms. I can’t simply open up a tin can from the super-market.”
“I took other ones.” Tommy says annoyed. He’s not a complete idiot.
“Tommy, these are less expensive, true, but when you prepare them, they get this awful sick color that makes them look like they’ve been on a shelve too long. They look disgusting for what we need them.”
For a moment Tommy considers going up against his uncle, but then Saul says the only words that Tommy doesn’t want to hear:
“Scotty would have ordered them. He knows what we need.”
“He’s not here now, is he?” Tommy replies sarcastically.
“No. Unfortunately not.” Saul says, just as dryly and Tommy walks away angry. Saul is looking to make his life difficult. He just saw a way to prevent Scotty from spending too much money and he had interfered. Alright, maybe it was the wrong choice, but he had to learn this business too…
And after years of playing second fiddle to his dad, to Sarah, to Saul, to Holly… he had had it. He wants something that he really can sink his teeth into and Scotty is normally in charge of Café 429. If he’s to replace Scotty for the time being than Tommy should be the one in charge and not someone else.
*****
“Seth.” Kitty wraps her arms around him and their kiss keeps them occupied for a moment.
“It’s so good hold you again.” Seth sighs. “Nothing against telephones but I missed this.” He hugs her even tighter, when he notices something between them.
“I don’t mean to insult you, but have you been gaining weight? You have a bit of a belly under that sweater.” Kitty steps back and proudly shows him her belly, without saying a word, but it doesn’t take Seth that much time to guess what is going on.
“You’re pregnant? … Still?” He’s confused.
“Yes…”
“You said you had an abortion.”
“No, I said I went to the doctor to have one.”
“What’s difference? Isn’t that what I just said? …. Oh, wait…”
“I had every intention to go through with it. I sat on that table. I thought I was ready, but I had to wait… and it took so long… and I thought about it some more and …. I couldn’t do it.”
“But you made me believe that you had done it?”
“You assumed I had done it.” Kitty corrects him and Seth looks at her with disbelief written all over his face.
“You could have told me that you hadn’t done it.”
“I wanted to, but then you were so happy that I killed our baby and…. It hurt so much.”
“So you continued to lie?”
“I never lied. I didn’t tell you the full truth, but I never said that I had an abortion either.”
“But you knew that I thought you had and you didn’t correct that mistake?”
Kitty falls silent for a second and then gets a sheet of paper out of her pocket.
“This is proof that I’m still healthy, the cancer has not yet returned.”
“I don’t care. You lied to me.”
“But don’t you understand? I’m fine! It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“It matters to me. You knowingly and willingly let me believe something you knew wasn’t true. But in the end it doesn’t matter, because the end justifies the means? Is that what you’re trying to say?” The conversation doesn’t go exactly as Kitty had planned and her eyes fill with tears over Seth’s anger.
“I wanted this baby…” She whispers.
“And what Kitty Walker-McCallister wants, Kitty Walker-McCallister gets, right? Is it going to be like that, like a spoilt child, you whine and you cry until you get what you want and when that doesn’t help, you go behind my back?
Is that how we are supposed to build a life together? If you can’t have it one way, you’ll find another? You play word-games like ‘I didn’t really lie, but I didn’t tell the full truth either’. Come on! At you age? I had expected you to be slightly more educated than this.”
“If I would have told you the truth, we would have argued about this even more.”
“Because we’re not arguing now? You can’t have an abortion now, because it’s too late and that solves the issue? What planet do you live on? It doesn’t solve anything. I still feel the same way I did two months ago.
I feel, that I have legitimate reasons why I didn’t want you to be pregnant. I love you and your health was, and still is, at stake. You may not have agreed with me, or I with you, but it didn’t give you the right, to ignore me on this as if I don’t exist and just go on being pregnant and lie to me about it.
Oh sorry, ‘not tell me the full truth’, because heaven forbid, you should be misquoted on the topic of willingly keeping important information away from me. And what am I supposed to do now, huh? Do you seriously believe that I can be happy with this?” Seth is furious and Kitty has never seen him like this before.
He grabs his bag and his coat.
“Where are you going?” Kitty asks.
“I don’t know, but I’m out of here. My mom won’t mind if I sleep in her guest-room while go look for a place of my own.”
“Seth! What about us?” Kitty asks.
“What about us? You make all your decisions on your own. I don’t matter. What I think? Irrelevant, if it doesn’t fit on your list. How I feel? Who cares? All that matters to you are your own feelings.
Well, fine. Do it on your own. You’ve made it perfectly clear that whatever the fate of that baby would be, it is not my problem or my concern. You can do it all on your own. So, thanks for letting me off the hook then. Have fun. Send me a card when it’s born, so that I know if it’s a boy or girl.
Or, maybe better, let me guess, and if I’m wrong, don’t correct me, after all, you wouldn’t really be lying. I would be the one making the wrong assumption and that makes everything my fault and keeps your conscience clear!” Without another look at Kitty he leaves her house, slamming the door behind him.
*****
Jill smiles at Kevin and puts her signature on the piece of paper.
“And that was my review. Olivia is doing excellent. She loves living here. She’s well, she’s happy. I wish I had more parents like you and your husband.”
“I’m glad you could make time in your schedule….” Kevin answers.
“Well, someone cancelled an appointment just before you rang, so it was more of a coincidence. Besides, I was happy to see Olivia again, even if briefly. She’s doing so great, lost some weight, grown taller, she’ll be a young lady before you know it.” She laughs. “You needed me for something?”
“Yes. I have a former client, a young client. His name is Mateo Paresa. He’s fifteen years old. I met him last year. I was his lawyer. He was afraid of his dad, kept running away, breaking in, stealing things. I managed to help him stay out of trouble by reconnecting him with his grandmother and he’s been living with her ever since.
He’s doing great in school, really wants to make a future for himself. Except, … His grandmother will need surgery, extensive surgery, she won’t be able to look after him for months. He’s scared that he’ll have to go back to his father. To my knowledge he has no other living relatives.
It would seem that his grandmother tried to find him a place to stay, but her friends have declined. Mateo thinks that his troubled youth could be at the root of that. I’d hate to see him get sent to a home or, even worse, back to his father, who is indeed very abusive when drunk, a state he’s in several times a week.
I know, Mateo will run away from home again, live on the street again and I don´t want that either. I want to help Mateo, but I don’t know how.”
“Well, you were right to be looking for people in the boy’s social network or that of his grandmother, but if that is impossible, it will be more difficult. We cannot force anyone to take that young man into their home.”
“I know.”
“Not giving up so quickly though. You have the file on him here?” Jill asks.
“This is all I have.” He hands over a heavy file to Jill, who immediately starts to look through it. Her experienced eyes glance over documents, as she registers information and starts to realize it will not be easy to find this young man a home.
She looks at Kevin and sees how impatient he is for an answer. She smiles.
“I see that he broke in to Café 429, but that you and Scotty decided not to press charges?”
“That’s right. Mateo was just seeking attention and a place to stay.”
“A week prior to that, you two found him asleep on the doorstep of Café 429? You took him in for the night?”
“It was just one night. He slept in the spare-room we had then. Couldn’t very well leave him on the street, could I? … Well, I could have at the time, but Scotty wouldn’t let me.”
Kevin shrugs slightly embarrassed and Jill gives him a questioning look.
“At the time, I was still in a very negative place… So was Mateo. I remember that, the night we found him on a doorstep, he asked me if he could take a shower and he was so pleased afterwards, that he was clean and smelled good.
Scotty made him something to eat and Mateo was so happy with that too. Just the simplest things in life. A shower, a bit of food, breakfast the next day…. “ Jill smiles as she sees Kevin’s face become softer, as he talks. “I think that it was Mateo’s case that really shook me up, made me start to realize that there were so many kids out there.
Kids who’d love to have parents and, even if he or she wouldn’t be biologically ours, we could still love them in return. He was one of the catalysts for Scotty and me adopting Olivia, I assume.” Jill closes the file on Mateo and looks at Kevin, wondering if she should give him a suggestion.
“Kevin, I wonder if, under the circumstances, we could not consider Mateo’s lawyer and his husband as a part of Mateo’s ‘social network’? After all, it would seem he put quite some faith on you and Scotty.”
“Me?” Kevin asks surprised. “I… I couldn’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“I already have 2 kids, a husband who works 60-70 hours a week, my own job and a high-maintenance family who demand all my attention. Where on Earth would Scotty and I get the time to look after Mateo as well?”
“He’s fifteen, so he’s not like Daniel or Olivia. He’s older, more independent… He might need guidance, but not your full attention like, for instance, Daniel would.”
“Guidance? … Like he’ll take any advice from me. He talks back all the time and thinks he can lecture on me on how the law works….” Kevin huffs.
“And you love that.” Jill says with a certainty, that catches Kevin off guard. “You have a soft spot for him. That is the reason why you’re so concerned about him, isn’t it?”
“Alright. I agree…” Kevin reluctantly admits. “I might actually like him.”
“Then, let’s see what we can do.” Jill laughs.
*****
Saul looks through the reservations. Again two double-bookings! How hard is it to get it right? He picks up his phone.
“Mrs. Lockhart? Yes, this is Saul Holden from Café 429. I’m sorry to inconvenience you, but there seems to have been an error in our books?
I see you have a reservation for 7 o’clock, Tuesday night?... You don’t? Wednesday? 7.30? Are you sure?” Saul flips the page over. The time at 7.30 is reserved but with no name attached. “I thought it would be a misunderstanding, because you always dine here on Wednesdays. Thank you for clearing this up.” Saul smiles.
But his smile disappears after the conversation has ended and he marches straight to Tommy’s office and puts the book in front of him.
“You’ve put Mrs Lockhart and Mrs Jensen on the same time on Tuesday, when one of them has a reservation for a day later.” He accuses.
Tommy sighs.
“I know… I made a mistake, but I remembered that one on them had made a reservation for the next day, so I reserved that time and I would see who would show up on Tuesday and then the one that wouldn’t, would be for Wednesday.”
“Tommy, this is not a way to run the restaurant. When guests have made reservations, we use their names also as extra courtesy towards them. You lead Mrs Jensen to her table, you ask what Mrs Jensen wishes to drink. Make it personal. You can’t do that if you don’t know who you’re dealing with.
Some people have been coming back here for more than a year now, and though Scotty and I remember many of them by name, not everyone does and certainly not you. You have to put extra effort into satisfying your customers, into be just an nudge better than the others.”
“Yes. Uncle Saul.” Tommy replies between clenched teeth.
“I don’t think it is that difficult to understand, is it?” Saul asks, more irritated than he should be. Tommy made a mistake, which shouldn’t be so bad, everyone can make it.
“Can I go on with my work now?” Tommy asks and a frustrated Saul leaves his office.
*****
Julia knocks on Elizabeth’s door before entering. Elizabeth is on her bed, quietly playing with just her doll.
“Sweetie, I’m sorry. You’re right, I’ve been too busy to really pay attention to you and I’m sorry about that.”
Elizabeth sits up a bit more and looks at her mother. She doesn’t seem angry anymore.
“’s Alright, I guess.” She says. “I know you’re busy, but … I want to play with Olivia and see if Daniel is walking. So, why can’t I play at the restaurant with them, while you do what you need to here? Olivia can baby-sit me?” She suggests and Julia laughs.
“Are those words coming from ‘Mommy, I don’t need a stupid baby-sitter’-Elizabeth Walker?” She teases and Elizabeth smiles as well.
“Olivia is fun.” She confesses.
“Then maybe I should meet her first…” Julia answer. “And ask your uncles if it is okay?”
“Today?” Elizabeth expectantly asks.
“Tomorrow.” Julia promises. “We’ll surprise them.”
“Really?” Elizabeth asks.
“I swear.” Julia replies and Elizabeth jumps in her arms.
*****
End of part 2/4
**** COMMERCIAL BREAK*****
By Marea67
About: Brothers & Sisters (general)
Rate: Can’t go higher than PG-13, as this is American Television, but I may add a few ‘deleted scenes’ here and there. ;)
Disclaimer: Just escaping from reality here, not created for financial gain
Summary: It is my very own season 6, you guys! Go with it! ;) Don’t complain! If YOU can do better, post your own story! (I dare you!)
***** PART 2/4 *****
Justin opens the door to his house. It’s been a while since he’s been here. The damage done by the earthquake has been repaired, but somehow Justin doesn’t want live here anymore. Regardless of his attempts to make the house his own, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the place was Rebecca’s and not his.
Tyler had felt the same way and had preferred to not move in with him, even when the necessary repairs had been done. She too felt like she was intruding. But…. soon enough this place would be empty as well, because Justin only came here to clean up and take with him what he needed.
They had made a triage in the furniture, so all the large objects where either gone to the hotel and about to be picked up to be destroyed. All that is left is what has remained in several of the closets and cupboards that belong to the house, like the ones in the bedroom and the kitchen.
He opens the first box and the first cupboard in the kitchen. Dishes and bowls end up in the box. When he gets to the mugs it gets a bit harder. Just closing his eyes, he can see Rebecca before him, holding the mug, filled with tea, and those big brown eyes are laughing at him.
He lets her favorite mug roll between his fingers, wondering why she didn’t take it with her when she left. Did she think he’d ever use it? He places it on the kitchen-sink, not sure if he wants to take it with him, when he hears his phone ring. Expecting it to be Dan, he’s surprised to see Rebecca’s name pop up on the display.
“Rebecca?”
“Hi, Justin…. Are you busy?”
“Kinda… No, not really…. just… cleaning up.”
“Oh.. Am I calling you at an inconvenient moment?”
“No, no, don’t be silly.” Justin’s heart beats faster though. “You can call me anytime you want, you know that…. You’re in South-America somewhere, I heard?”
“Yes, with my dad and … my fiancé.” It sounds like it’s the first time that Rebecca says the word out loud.
Justin holds his breath, waiting for something to happen. Pain, sadness, remorse, anger, but all he can seem to say is:
“Oh, you’re engaged? Congratulations!”
“Thank you.”
For a moment the silence over the lines is oppressing and Justin feels like he can’t breathe. He even wonders at some point if Rebecca is still there, but then he hears he voice again.
“I didn’t mean to keep it as a secret .. or something.” She says.
“Of course not.” Justin replies.
“He proposed to me quite a while ago, but, though I said yes, I somehow felt weird about telling anyone…? We kept postponing it, because it was so busy, but I just told my dad… Finally!...
And … that is when I knew that I had to tell you first. I …. I didn’t want you to hear through other channels….”
“Like your mom and mine? Who knew that those two would become internet-buddies?” Justin jokes.
“Nobody is more surprised than us. I can tell you that.” Rebecca laughs too and for a moment the tension is gone. “Justin, I’m sorry for everything that happened and how they happened. I should … not have given up on you like that … Or on us….” Her apology surprises Justin a bit.
“I think we’ve both moved on. In fact, I’m in our old house to clean out the cupboards and such. Tyler and I are moving in together.”
“Oh.” It sounds like Rebecca hadn’t quite expected that, so Justin grins a bit to himself.
“Yeah, Scotty inherited a hotel. Tyler helps him manage it. We’ve moved in there.”
“Wow!... Ahm.. Lucky you.” Rebecca sounds cheerful again.
“And you? What are your plans?”
“I’ve been looking all over the net for wedding-dresses… and things… so that I have an idea of what I want when I go back to New York.”
“You’re really thinking ahead. Found anything interesting?” Justin picks up Rebecca’s favorite mug and gently puts it the trash-can, not making too much noise.
“I … I ended up on the same site where I saw the wedding-dress for our marriage… And I remembered that day on the beach… The hard wind that nearly blew us away. Kitty fainting on the beach. I never expected to spend my wedding-night in a hospital.”
“Well, technically speaking it wasn’t our wedding-night, because we weren’t married just yet… And then when we finally did get married and I wanted to give you a special wedding-night in a special place, by renting the old ranch, we ended up with a house full of people…” They both start to laugh.
“We did have good times, didn’t we? Looking back on it?”
“Yes, we did.” Justin confirms.
“I thought so too.” Justin hears a male voice in the background.
“That is Rick, calling me. We have to leave…. Justin it was nice talking to you…”
“It was great to hear your voice too.”
Justin puts down his phone and hoists himself on the kitchen-sink. His legs dangle as he looks around, realizing that it’s time to really say goodbye. For a moment, he can almost see Rebecca in the kitchen with him, smiling at him, then the vision fades. Justin takes one last look at the mug on the bottom of the trash-can and he knows it was the right choice.
*****
“Tommy, why did you send back the mushrooms we ordered?”
“Have you seen how expensive they are, uncle Saul?”
“Yes, I know, but they are for an expensive dish. I need the better mushrooms. I can’t simply open up a tin can from the super-market.”
“I took other ones.” Tommy says annoyed. He’s not a complete idiot.
“Tommy, these are less expensive, true, but when you prepare them, they get this awful sick color that makes them look like they’ve been on a shelve too long. They look disgusting for what we need them.”
For a moment Tommy considers going up against his uncle, but then Saul says the only words that Tommy doesn’t want to hear:
“Scotty would have ordered them. He knows what we need.”
“He’s not here now, is he?” Tommy replies sarcastically.
“No. Unfortunately not.” Saul says, just as dryly and Tommy walks away angry. Saul is looking to make his life difficult. He just saw a way to prevent Scotty from spending too much money and he had interfered. Alright, maybe it was the wrong choice, but he had to learn this business too…
And after years of playing second fiddle to his dad, to Sarah, to Saul, to Holly… he had had it. He wants something that he really can sink his teeth into and Scotty is normally in charge of Café 429. If he’s to replace Scotty for the time being than Tommy should be the one in charge and not someone else.
*****
“Seth.” Kitty wraps her arms around him and their kiss keeps them occupied for a moment.
“It’s so good hold you again.” Seth sighs. “Nothing against telephones but I missed this.” He hugs her even tighter, when he notices something between them.
“I don’t mean to insult you, but have you been gaining weight? You have a bit of a belly under that sweater.” Kitty steps back and proudly shows him her belly, without saying a word, but it doesn’t take Seth that much time to guess what is going on.
“You’re pregnant? … Still?” He’s confused.
“Yes…”
“You said you had an abortion.”
“No, I said I went to the doctor to have one.”
“What’s difference? Isn’t that what I just said? …. Oh, wait…”
“I had every intention to go through with it. I sat on that table. I thought I was ready, but I had to wait… and it took so long… and I thought about it some more and …. I couldn’t do it.”
“But you made me believe that you had done it?”
“You assumed I had done it.” Kitty corrects him and Seth looks at her with disbelief written all over his face.
“You could have told me that you hadn’t done it.”
“I wanted to, but then you were so happy that I killed our baby and…. It hurt so much.”
“So you continued to lie?”
“I never lied. I didn’t tell you the full truth, but I never said that I had an abortion either.”
“But you knew that I thought you had and you didn’t correct that mistake?”
Kitty falls silent for a second and then gets a sheet of paper out of her pocket.
“This is proof that I’m still healthy, the cancer has not yet returned.”
“I don’t care. You lied to me.”
“But don’t you understand? I’m fine! It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“It matters to me. You knowingly and willingly let me believe something you knew wasn’t true. But in the end it doesn’t matter, because the end justifies the means? Is that what you’re trying to say?” The conversation doesn’t go exactly as Kitty had planned and her eyes fill with tears over Seth’s anger.
“I wanted this baby…” She whispers.
“And what Kitty Walker-McCallister wants, Kitty Walker-McCallister gets, right? Is it going to be like that, like a spoilt child, you whine and you cry until you get what you want and when that doesn’t help, you go behind my back?
Is that how we are supposed to build a life together? If you can’t have it one way, you’ll find another? You play word-games like ‘I didn’t really lie, but I didn’t tell the full truth either’. Come on! At you age? I had expected you to be slightly more educated than this.”
“If I would have told you the truth, we would have argued about this even more.”
“Because we’re not arguing now? You can’t have an abortion now, because it’s too late and that solves the issue? What planet do you live on? It doesn’t solve anything. I still feel the same way I did two months ago.
I feel, that I have legitimate reasons why I didn’t want you to be pregnant. I love you and your health was, and still is, at stake. You may not have agreed with me, or I with you, but it didn’t give you the right, to ignore me on this as if I don’t exist and just go on being pregnant and lie to me about it.
Oh sorry, ‘not tell me the full truth’, because heaven forbid, you should be misquoted on the topic of willingly keeping important information away from me. And what am I supposed to do now, huh? Do you seriously believe that I can be happy with this?” Seth is furious and Kitty has never seen him like this before.
He grabs his bag and his coat.
“Where are you going?” Kitty asks.
“I don’t know, but I’m out of here. My mom won’t mind if I sleep in her guest-room while go look for a place of my own.”
“Seth! What about us?” Kitty asks.
“What about us? You make all your decisions on your own. I don’t matter. What I think? Irrelevant, if it doesn’t fit on your list. How I feel? Who cares? All that matters to you are your own feelings.
Well, fine. Do it on your own. You’ve made it perfectly clear that whatever the fate of that baby would be, it is not my problem or my concern. You can do it all on your own. So, thanks for letting me off the hook then. Have fun. Send me a card when it’s born, so that I know if it’s a boy or girl.
Or, maybe better, let me guess, and if I’m wrong, don’t correct me, after all, you wouldn’t really be lying. I would be the one making the wrong assumption and that makes everything my fault and keeps your conscience clear!” Without another look at Kitty he leaves her house, slamming the door behind him.
*****
Jill smiles at Kevin and puts her signature on the piece of paper.
“And that was my review. Olivia is doing excellent. She loves living here. She’s well, she’s happy. I wish I had more parents like you and your husband.”
“I’m glad you could make time in your schedule….” Kevin answers.
“Well, someone cancelled an appointment just before you rang, so it was more of a coincidence. Besides, I was happy to see Olivia again, even if briefly. She’s doing so great, lost some weight, grown taller, she’ll be a young lady before you know it.” She laughs. “You needed me for something?”
“Yes. I have a former client, a young client. His name is Mateo Paresa. He’s fifteen years old. I met him last year. I was his lawyer. He was afraid of his dad, kept running away, breaking in, stealing things. I managed to help him stay out of trouble by reconnecting him with his grandmother and he’s been living with her ever since.
He’s doing great in school, really wants to make a future for himself. Except, … His grandmother will need surgery, extensive surgery, she won’t be able to look after him for months. He’s scared that he’ll have to go back to his father. To my knowledge he has no other living relatives.
It would seem that his grandmother tried to find him a place to stay, but her friends have declined. Mateo thinks that his troubled youth could be at the root of that. I’d hate to see him get sent to a home or, even worse, back to his father, who is indeed very abusive when drunk, a state he’s in several times a week.
I know, Mateo will run away from home again, live on the street again and I don´t want that either. I want to help Mateo, but I don’t know how.”
“Well, you were right to be looking for people in the boy’s social network or that of his grandmother, but if that is impossible, it will be more difficult. We cannot force anyone to take that young man into their home.”
“I know.”
“Not giving up so quickly though. You have the file on him here?” Jill asks.
“This is all I have.” He hands over a heavy file to Jill, who immediately starts to look through it. Her experienced eyes glance over documents, as she registers information and starts to realize it will not be easy to find this young man a home.
She looks at Kevin and sees how impatient he is for an answer. She smiles.
“I see that he broke in to Café 429, but that you and Scotty decided not to press charges?”
“That’s right. Mateo was just seeking attention and a place to stay.”
“A week prior to that, you two found him asleep on the doorstep of Café 429? You took him in for the night?”
“It was just one night. He slept in the spare-room we had then. Couldn’t very well leave him on the street, could I? … Well, I could have at the time, but Scotty wouldn’t let me.”
Kevin shrugs slightly embarrassed and Jill gives him a questioning look.
“At the time, I was still in a very negative place… So was Mateo. I remember that, the night we found him on a doorstep, he asked me if he could take a shower and he was so pleased afterwards, that he was clean and smelled good.
Scotty made him something to eat and Mateo was so happy with that too. Just the simplest things in life. A shower, a bit of food, breakfast the next day…. “ Jill smiles as she sees Kevin’s face become softer, as he talks. “I think that it was Mateo’s case that really shook me up, made me start to realize that there were so many kids out there.
Kids who’d love to have parents and, even if he or she wouldn’t be biologically ours, we could still love them in return. He was one of the catalysts for Scotty and me adopting Olivia, I assume.” Jill closes the file on Mateo and looks at Kevin, wondering if she should give him a suggestion.
“Kevin, I wonder if, under the circumstances, we could not consider Mateo’s lawyer and his husband as a part of Mateo’s ‘social network’? After all, it would seem he put quite some faith on you and Scotty.”
“Me?” Kevin asks surprised. “I… I couldn’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“I already have 2 kids, a husband who works 60-70 hours a week, my own job and a high-maintenance family who demand all my attention. Where on Earth would Scotty and I get the time to look after Mateo as well?”
“He’s fifteen, so he’s not like Daniel or Olivia. He’s older, more independent… He might need guidance, but not your full attention like, for instance, Daniel would.”
“Guidance? … Like he’ll take any advice from me. He talks back all the time and thinks he can lecture on me on how the law works….” Kevin huffs.
“And you love that.” Jill says with a certainty, that catches Kevin off guard. “You have a soft spot for him. That is the reason why you’re so concerned about him, isn’t it?”
“Alright. I agree…” Kevin reluctantly admits. “I might actually like him.”
“Then, let’s see what we can do.” Jill laughs.
*****
Saul looks through the reservations. Again two double-bookings! How hard is it to get it right? He picks up his phone.
“Mrs. Lockhart? Yes, this is Saul Holden from Café 429. I’m sorry to inconvenience you, but there seems to have been an error in our books?
I see you have a reservation for 7 o’clock, Tuesday night?... You don’t? Wednesday? 7.30? Are you sure?” Saul flips the page over. The time at 7.30 is reserved but with no name attached. “I thought it would be a misunderstanding, because you always dine here on Wednesdays. Thank you for clearing this up.” Saul smiles.
But his smile disappears after the conversation has ended and he marches straight to Tommy’s office and puts the book in front of him.
“You’ve put Mrs Lockhart and Mrs Jensen on the same time on Tuesday, when one of them has a reservation for a day later.” He accuses.
Tommy sighs.
“I know… I made a mistake, but I remembered that one on them had made a reservation for the next day, so I reserved that time and I would see who would show up on Tuesday and then the one that wouldn’t, would be for Wednesday.”
“Tommy, this is not a way to run the restaurant. When guests have made reservations, we use their names also as extra courtesy towards them. You lead Mrs Jensen to her table, you ask what Mrs Jensen wishes to drink. Make it personal. You can’t do that if you don’t know who you’re dealing with.
Some people have been coming back here for more than a year now, and though Scotty and I remember many of them by name, not everyone does and certainly not you. You have to put extra effort into satisfying your customers, into be just an nudge better than the others.”
“Yes. Uncle Saul.” Tommy replies between clenched teeth.
“I don’t think it is that difficult to understand, is it?” Saul asks, more irritated than he should be. Tommy made a mistake, which shouldn’t be so bad, everyone can make it.
“Can I go on with my work now?” Tommy asks and a frustrated Saul leaves his office.
*****
Julia knocks on Elizabeth’s door before entering. Elizabeth is on her bed, quietly playing with just her doll.
“Sweetie, I’m sorry. You’re right, I’ve been too busy to really pay attention to you and I’m sorry about that.”
Elizabeth sits up a bit more and looks at her mother. She doesn’t seem angry anymore.
“’s Alright, I guess.” She says. “I know you’re busy, but … I want to play with Olivia and see if Daniel is walking. So, why can’t I play at the restaurant with them, while you do what you need to here? Olivia can baby-sit me?” She suggests and Julia laughs.
“Are those words coming from ‘Mommy, I don’t need a stupid baby-sitter’-Elizabeth Walker?” She teases and Elizabeth smiles as well.
“Olivia is fun.” She confesses.
“Then maybe I should meet her first…” Julia answer. “And ask your uncles if it is okay?”
“Today?” Elizabeth expectantly asks.
“Tomorrow.” Julia promises. “We’ll surprise them.”
“Really?” Elizabeth asks.
“I swear.” Julia replies and Elizabeth jumps in her arms.
*****
End of part 2/4
**** COMMERCIAL BREAK*****