Chapter 20

AUDREY BOTTOMSLEY

I don’t mean to complain, well, I guess I am kinda; however there’s a reason I’m in no mood to go and sit in a lawyer’s office. Even though it was Friday morning, and it had been a few days since Jennifer and I had been at Silversmith’s office, here I was headed back to his den of iniquity. I felt the time span between my last visit and this one was way too short. I consider Richard an excellent friend but spending time hanging around his offices isn’t my idea of a good time. In addition, I knew I’d be stuck there for at least the entire morning. But I’d promised Jennifer I’d go with her and in a way, I felt a bit responsible, since I had recommended and introduced her to the barrister.

From the moment Richard told Jennifer he’d try and arrange a meeting with Bottomsley and her lawyer, Jennifer started getting terrified. As he provided her with updates throughout the week, her panic grew much more. When she called me early Thursday morning, panic stricken, to let me know she was frightened about the upcoming meeting, I had to try and calm her down. She didn’t even say hello, instead she started right in when I answered the phone, “Matt, I’m frightened. Please help. You know they’re demanding to see me. You have to help me; I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”

I finally got her calmed down enough so she could tell me in some sort of a coherent manner what was going on. She explained Richard had called Green on Monday after the two of them left his office, which I was aware of. Green was now demanding a meeting as soon as possible. Green claimed his client, Miss Bottomsley, was so distressed she was now under a doctor’s care. Green also insinuated there was a possible lawsuit waiting in the wings if Jennifer didn’t either withdraw her claim, or prove she was somehow related to Slim, which Green had said he doubted was possible since it wasn’t true. Jennifer begged me to go with her to the meeting. At first, I resisted, but after I realized she was crying on the phone; DUH!

Of course, I gave in.

What is it with women and tears? As if they know once the tears start to flow, a man can never say NO! To be honest, I was planning to go anyway, but the tears sealed my fate.

Jennifer and I arranged to meet in Richard’s office at the scheduled time. I checked to see if I was going to be available, making sure I could be there for her. From experience, I knew Richard wouldn’t have any problems with me bringing in BJ. However, I felt Bottomsley, and whomever she might have in her entourage, probably wouldn’t understand why a dog was present at her meeting. I still maintain; love me, love my dog, but I was willing to forgo having BJ with me today.

Once more I donned a suit and headed off to pick up Jennifer. When we arrived at Richard’s offices, his receptionist took us to a small, but luxuriously appointed room directly behind Richard’s office. I brought Jennifer in and had her take a seat. When I picked her up, I was shocked and worried. Jennifer appeared so pale and wan. The woman I’d dropped off last Friday and the woman waiting with me now didn’t look anything alike. From the looks of Jennifer, I could imagine how terrified she felt just being here. The idea of meeting the now infamous Miss Audrey Bottomsley was obviously enough to cause her great fear. If I had to be honest too, I was a bit apprehensive as well. Bottomsley’s reputation had preceded her.

I was thankful I’d thought to call ahead and ask Richard if he had a more private area than the front waiting room for Jennifer and me to wait. I knew what she dreaded most was having to meet Bottomsley in person. It was only at Silversmith’s insistence she was even going to be present when my attorney confronted the woman. Riichard told us he really didn’t care what Bottomsley or Green wanted, He wanted to see them.

I trust Richard, but I’ll admit I sure hoped he knew what he was doing. It was my belief Richard felt when Jennifer finally confronted Bottomsley, if Bottomsley was not on the up and up, the woman would cave and go away. At least at the meeting, Richard would see what she was trying to pull. Once Richard understood what Bottomsley was up to, he’d see if he could put a stop to it. I guess it was an okay strategy, but I felt the meeting would be hard on Jennifer.

At first, Jennifer sat with me so I could hold her hand and try to comfort her. After a few minutes, she stood and started to pace the room. She reminded me of a caged wild animal looking for a way to escape.

After around five minutes, there was a sharp rap at the door. She whirled and stared intently at the door as if it held some unknown danger beyond. It turned out to be Richard who asked us to follow him.

We walked from Richard’s office into a large adjoining conference room. He told us Bottomsley, and her entourage had arrived and were waiting downstairs in the main waiting area.

The new room had a long, expensive-looking wooden table occupying the center. At the far end of the room were floor to ceiling windows with a commanding view of Puget Sound. Clearly this was the office of a very successful firm. Several chairs sat along each side of the table, and at the far end of table was a phone. What surprised me was the presence of a few scattered ashtrays on the tabletop. In this day and age of all the anti-smoking information it was strange to see them.

The other three walls consisted of bookshelves stretching from floor to ceiling, each bookshelf packed with books. I wondered to myself if anyone had ever read all the books volumes crammed onto the shelves. Richard motioned us to take a seat at one end of the table next to him with our backs to the window. Richard sat at the very end of the table, and Jennifer sat to his left. I sat to the left of her. I don’t know if it was on purpose or not, but the only chairs left at the table were now on both sides at the far end. There wasn’t a chair at the far end of the table.

It was an interesting arrangement, because it did two things. The first thing was now the light coming through the window was behind us which put our faces somewhat in the dark, while it would make the others at the far end have to squint. It also left Richard as the only person in an ‘end of the table’ position. It put him in the power position at the table.

As soon as we were seated, Richard leaned over and placed a hand on top of Jennifer’s. Using a soft, gentle tone of voice, Richard spoke her, “Jennifer, please don’t worry.” The frightened look on her face didn’t waver. Richard continued, “Do you trust me?” Jennifer nodded her head slightly. “Then let me do my job. I’m here to protect you. Trust me. You will be a very happy woman by the end of the meeting.” With that he winked, patted her hand and once more asked her, “Do you trust me?” Jennifer nodded her head a bit harder, and this time gave Richard the slightest smile.

His reassurance seemed to help, and I saw her posture relax a little and her face didn’t have the “deer in the headlight” look it had before. In just a few moments there was a knock on the door.

I watched Richard push a button I hadn’t noticed before mounted flush on the table. The door opened and one of Richard’s secretaries ushered five people into the far end of the room.

I watched all five of them walk single file through the doorway and into the room. The first person in line was a small man with thin pale blond hair parted exactly down the middle and a pencil thin mustache. When I first looked at him, I thought of a tenor in a barbershop quartet. His movements were jerky and quick, and he reminded me of a small bird who was constantly in motion. From the way Don Green had sounded on the phone when I talked to him, I wondered if this might be him.

The next person through the door was a grossly large woman who could have been anywhere from fifty to seventy-five. Since she was the only woman in the group, I assumed this had to be Audrey Bottomsley.

I had no idea who selected the woman’s outfit or where she got her sense of style. She was probably very serious about her appearance, but she’d failed miserably. The woman’s hair was dyed an extremely ugly shade of blue, and yes, I said blue! In addition to the hideous color, she had it styled in a mass of tight little curls. Perched directly on top of her blue curls sat a funny little dark blue straw hat which was about the size of a cupcake. Sticking out of the top of the cupcake hat was a fake daisy. When she walked, the daisy swayed back and forth with her movements and when she stopped, the daisy bobbed a couple more times before it came to rest. Having witnessed this spectacle, I looked up at the ceiling for a moment, trying desperately to get a grip on my emotions. It was becoming more difficult by the second not to laugh aloud. I felt Jennifer’s hand reach over and she pinched my leg. I guess I must have snickered when I saw the woman and Jennifer was warning me.

And if anything could have been more absurd, there was Bottomsley’s dress. It resembled a tent, a very big, dark blue tent that came halfway down her calves. Her dress was huge, and her breasts were even more impressive - if that’s the correct word - than the dress. Her titanic breasts were ensconced in what I believed must be a heavily wired triple G bra. The front of her dress appeared to be dangerously strained, struggling to restrain them. It wouldn’t have surprised me if the seams of her dress finally ripped open at any moment due to the mass of her corpulent body and abundant breasts.

On one arm she carried what resembled a small suitcase, but I assume it was her purse. The color, you ask. Yes! It was also blue. Her stockings were droopy, and hung bagged around her ankles, and to top it all off, or should I say to bottom it all off, she was wearing badly scuffed blue shoes.

Her makeup would have done a clown proud. Her face was heavily powdered, and she had bright pink dots painted on her cheeks. Her lips were a dark red and I noticed some of her face powder had spilled onto the front of her dress.

Watching her move into the room, I was reminded of something. Suddenly it came to me, she resembled the prow of some large ocean-going container ship, which would push the waves out of the way rather than bob up and down like a smaller vessel would. My analogy spread to the four men who were around her. They made me think of four tugboats getting ready to move a large ship into a berth. As my mind raced through each of these successive thoughts, it was getting harder and harder to keep from laughing.

I tried to look at Bottomsley as objectively as I could and get a grip on my imagination. I noticed under her heavily caked makeup she had a very red face. Her face was completely round, and her features were exactly centered. She had a funny little nose, with a slight upturn at the end, giving her a swine-like appearance. Bottomsley possessed several chins and nestled among the folds of fat around her neck was what looked like a pearl necklace. In addition to her peculiar looks, her face was frozen in a permanent scowl.