Chapter 60: Developments

May 15, 1993, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

“That was very weird,” Tara said as we got into the shower on Wednesday morning.

“Never done that before, I take it?” I asked.

“No. And I doubt I’ll ever do it again. And we barely got any sleep!”

We both laughed at the repeated conversation sequence from the previous time.

“There was a lot less talking this time,” I chuckled.

“Sorry, but you looked like you needed it. Sex, I mean; not talking.”

“Thanks for not getting upset when I laughed!”

“When I asked you to go behind the net and stuff it in the back door? For the second time?”

“Yes,” I said. “You really surprised me.”

“You know how you try something once and you aren’t sure if you like it or not so you try it again? Now I’m sure!”

“It’s not everyone’s cup of tea,” I said. “And I promise never to ask again.”

We finished in the shower and I called room service for breakfast. We ate and dressed, then went out for a walk.

“I was really surprised when you decided to stay until Sunday afternoon,” Tara said.

“I was encouraged to get out of town,” I said. “Elyse, Samantha, Kara, Jorge, and my friend Kurt all felt I needed a change of scenery. Samantha and Kara felt you might be able to cheer me up.”

Tara laughed, “If I tell you something, will you promise to keep it to yourself and not get upset?”

“Who called you?” I grinned, squeezing her hand.

“Samantha. But she said she was calling on behalf of Kara as well.”

“Is THAT why you went for the ‘behind the net’ request?” I chuckled.

“I was encouraged to do whatever was in my power to make you happy and take your mind off your troubles.”

“How much did she tell you?”

“I suppose whatever part of the story she knows. Do you want to tell me the rest?”

We walked silently for a few minutes, then stopped at a café and ordered coffee. I decided I needed to get the opinion of someone who wasn’t involved in any way, and Tara seemed like a good choice. I told her everything, starting with meeting Jessica and ending with my conversation with Jorge on Wednesday. Our coffee cups were refilled four times while I related a shortened version of what had happened, minus the issues with my sister.

“I’m not sure what else you could have done,” Tara said. “Even a one-on-one relationship instead of your ‘circus’, as you call it, probably wouldn’t have helped. Obviously, I’ve only heard your side, but you were pretty hard on yourself.”

“As I said to Jorge, quoting Yogi Berra, ‘we made too many wrong mistakes’, and I made my fair share of them.”

“So what will you do now?”

“Focus on Kara and the kids.”

“No more fun?” Tara smirked.

“I never said THAT,” I chuckled. “Samantha and I are going to St. Martin with seven of her friends over Memorial Day. Samantha wants to join the ‘Mile-High Club’ in her dad’s Gulfstream!”

“You and seven eighteen-year-olds?” Tara laughed. “Oh my God!”

“Yeah,” I smiled.

“Forget what we did last night! If THAT can’t take your mind off your troubles for three days, you need to turn in your ‘red-blooded American male’ card and become a recluse!”

“We’ll see. What’s up with you and dating?” I asked.

“Off and on. I’m in no rush. I’ll be a Senior in the Fall. I’m still pretty young. Not everyone marries at 22 the way you did!”

“True. I’ll probably be back in August, if you want to see me.”

“I’ll make sure you have my home number. Just call when you know which days you’ll be here. I don’t want to miss out on great sex!”

“Sorry about last time,” I said.

“It’s what you needed,” she said. “And if that’s what you had needed last night, that’s what I would have done.”

“And tonight?” I smirked.

“You’re back to a game misconduct if you try THAT again!” she laughed.

“Noted!”

May 16, 1993, Chicago, Illinois

“How were your three days in Pittsburgh?” Kara asked when she met me at Midway.

“Good. Are you sure you’re OK with me leaving on Tuesday to go to California? And with Elyse going along?”

“You’ll be back on Friday, right?”

“Yes. Don’t forget that Alejandra’s wedding is on Saturday.”

“At the Catholic cathedral downtown?”

“Yes. And then on Sunday we have Samantha’s graduation. That’s at St. Xavier University on 103rd.”

“I’m sorry your Penguins lost,” Kara said. “We had all hoped that would cheer you up.”

“Tara did a good job,” I chuckled. “She told me Samantha had called her with your connivance.”

“She told you?”

“I guessed. Don’t worry, Kara. I know the two of you are doing your best to help me. But who’s helping you?”

“Kathy, and one of my ‘Chemistry Mafia’ friends, Janet. I need girls to talk to, just as you do!”

“How did things go with the kids on Saturday?”

“Not well. Ashley was crying when Jorge brought them back. She just doesn’t understand. I spent all afternoon cuddling her. Albert is angry, I think.”

“I’m not sure what we can do about that except comfort them. The ball really is in Jessica’s court. I was surprised you didn’t have Birgit with you.”

“I wanted to be able to talk to you,” Kara said. “She’ll tackle you when you walk into the house! So what did you do for three days?”

“Hockey, then just hanging out with Tara. We talked a lot and walked around the city. I was surprised when she went to church with me this morning.”

“The Orthodox Church you went to before in Pittsburgh?”

“Yes, the same one. I always feel peaceful during the liturgy and it helped.”

“Do you want to go more often?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Let’s get through the next few weekends before we change anything more.”

“That makes sense. Did you disappoint Tara again?”

“No, she’s very happy,” I said. “And if she’s not seeing anyone, and you’re OK with it, I’ll see her on my August trip to Pittsburgh. Well, assuming Elyse is OK with it.”

“Right now, all of us - me, Samantha, Elyse, Jennifer, Bethany, and Abbie - want you to be happy.”

“You need to be happy, too, Honey,” I said.

“I have you and the kids. Remember, that’s what I need to be happy. I’m sad about Jess, and I miss her, but I have you and the kids. And you have to be happy for me to be happy.”

“Is everyone coming to dinner tonight?” I asked.

“Yes, they were all very happy to switch the family dinners back to Sunday evening. Your sister is very worried about you.”

“I know,” I said. “So is Doctor Mercer. I think everyone is just waiting for the manic episode or for me to be depressed. But I haven’t felt even a hint of my mood going off either deep end.”

“Bethany said she felt you were too calm and holding all the emotion in.”

“Damned if I do, damned if I don’t,” I chuckled. “If I lose control it’s bad. If I maintain control, it’s bad because everyone is expecting me to lose control. But I get it, because of past history. I’ll just keep chugging along. Did Jorge say anything when he brought the kids home?”

“No.”

“OK. I’ll talk to him during the week.”

At home, as predicted, Birgit nearly tackled me when I walked in the door. I picked her up, kissed her, and carried her into the house. I unpacked my bag then joined the rest of the family in the sunroom for about thirty minutes before my sister and Ed arrived for dinner.

After dinner, I was surprised when Kara told me to go with Samantha rather than with her at bedtime.

“She only has two more weeks,” Kara had said firmly.

It was clear that the girls had worked out some kind of arrangement and I wasn’t going to fight with them, so I went with Samantha to her room.

“Have fun in Pittsburgh?” Samantha asked as we climbed into bed.

“I did! How were things here?”

“Crazy. I’m trying to finish High School plus deal with everything that’s going on with my family and Spurgeon Capital!”

“Did you meet with the lawyers on Friday as planned?”

“Yes. The plan is to offer each of the girls $1,000,000 in exchange for a commitment not sue my dad, Spurgeon Capital, Margaret Lundgren, or the Lundgren Foundation. That works out to $57,000,000, of which I’ll put up two thirds and Margaret Lundgren will put up a third.”

“She agreed to that?”

“Jeri did on her mom’s behalf.”

“Those numbers are mind-boggling,” I said.

“It’s nothing compared to what it could cost us if every girl sued us individually.”

“And the criminal charges?”

“This has nothing to do with the civil settlements. As of Friday, 106 counts of possession of child pornography, 312 counts of sexual assault, and 92 counts of solicitation of a minor. My attorney thinks he’ll plead guilty and end up with 35 years in prison. He’ll be over 80 when he gets out.”

“Damn. Why so many sexual assault charges?”

“Oral either way and vaginal constitute separate sex acts. And for any of the girls who were 17, it’s only the child porn charge.”

“Damn. They threw the book at him!”

“You were right about the potential to exclude the evidence. My dad challenged the warrants, but the court upheld them, accepting an anonymous tip. My dad is SURE Les did it in exchange for leniency.”

“What did they charge Les with?”

“Three counts of sexual assault, and three counts of solicitation, based on three of the girls saying they had sex with him. Supposedly they’re trying to decide if they should charge him with child porn, given he claimed he didn’t have access to the safe and my mom backed up that statement.”

“Did he have access to the safe?” I asked.

“I have no idea. But I’d testify he didn’t if they asked.”

“To make sure your dad thinks it was him.”

“Yes. My mom filed for divorce this week.”

“I’m not surprised. But it’ll be simple, right?”

“He won’t contest it if she doesn’t contest the pre-nup, and she won’t. Do we have to keep talking? I got an extra night and I want to make use of it!”

I chuckled, “Tell me what you want.”

“Make me feel good!”

May 19, 1993, Los Angeles, California

“How in the HELL did you get mixed up with that?” Ben Jackson asked as we sat in the LA Athletic Club on Wednesday evening.

“I met Samantha Spurgeon at a Foundation function last summer. My wives and I recognized just how bad things were for her at home and offered to take her in. The fact that her dad said ‘OK’ to that should tell you everything you need to know about him.”

“How much did you know?” he asked.

“Not much, really. I mean, I knew some of the guys at these functions chased teenage girls. And I saw Noel Spurgeon with some of the girls. Beyond that, not much.”

“You certainly find interesting ways to make your life exciting. I am a bit worried about losing Jeri as a programmer.”

“You and me both,” I said. “I’ve talked to a recruiter about hiring a top-notch Windows programmer, but we also have Kajri Cook, so we’re not left completely in the lurch. And the rest of Zo’s team is intact.”

“How will this affect the release?” Ben asked.

“It won’t. Given that the formal release of the next version is in less than a month, we were only doing bug fixes. She’ll be with us until the end of the month. And then we have a year before the next major release. We’ll find a good person.”

“And things at home?”

“No change,” I said. “We’re hopeful is all I can say.”

“I’m surprised at how fragile she seems,” Ben said.

“She had a pretty bad childhood,” I said.

“And you’re able to focus? Losing both you and Jeri would be pretty bad for NIKA and your customers.”

“I’m hanging in there. I’m talking to the same therapist who has helped me through all my challenges since I was fifteen. And I have quite a few people watching out for me.”

“So tell me what you think about the Lundgren Foundation.”

“Now? Or before?”

“Both, I suppose.”

By the time we finished talking about the Foundation, we’d finished dinner, dessert, and coffee, and I was very happy that I’d suggested putting him on the Board. My initial reasoning had been about sending the right message, but his take on the kinds of charity we should do was very similar to mine. When we finished our coffee, I shook hands with Ben and headed back to the InterContinental Hotel to join Elyse.

“How was your dinner?” she asked.

“Good. We talked more about the Foundation than anything, though we did talk about Jeri and Samantha.”

“Does he know you were at Samantha’s house when her dad was arrested?”

“No. And the Trib didn’t mention me being there by name. I was one of the ‘others in the home at the time who were questioned and released’. I made sure neither Jeri nor Samantha will say anything about it to Ben.”

“Come to bed with me?”

I didn’t need a second invitation and an hour later, we were cuddling together.

“What can I do to help?” Elyse asked.

“Just what you’re doing,” I said. “Just be there for me.”

“I know I’m probably repeating the same thing everyone else has said, but no manic feelings? No depression?”

“You are; and no. I think I told you I felt numb before. I still feel the same way. But I am going to go see her on Saturday. I’m taking the kids to see her before we go to Alejandra’s wedding.”

“Why? Just let Jorge do it!”

“Because I need to apologize to her for the way I spoke to her last week.”

“No you do NOT!” Elyse said vehemently. “You are NOT going to be the submissive wimp that apologizes for everything. Do you hear me, Steve Adams?”

“Elyse,” I protested weakly.

“No! Listen to me! She doesn’t love you or Kara! Get that through your thick head! Jessica doesn’t love anyone except Doctor Jessica Adams, Trauma Surgeon! She feels GUILTY about her kids, but only just barely!”

“I love her,” I said simply.

“I know THAT, you damned fool! And I’m trying to make sure you don’t do anything stupid! She hurt Kara very badly and NONE OF US will tolerate her hurting Kara further!”

“None of you?”

“Me, Jennifer, Abbie, Samantha, Kathy, and Bethany. And you shouldn’t either!”

“I want her back,” I said.

“No shit! But not that way. The only way you’re going to get her back is when she hits absolute rock bottom.”

“I can’t let that happen! It’ll destroy her career! And her!”

“Then you have a serious dilemma,” Elyse said. “The only way she’ll take a chance and try to let you love her is if she has nothing left. And you’ve repeatedly said you won’t let that happen.”

“There HAS to be a solution,” I protested.

“Then find one that doesn’t involve you being a fucking doormat! And one that doesn’t hurt Kara.”

“Shit,” I sighed.

“Will you please listen to what you called the Tetrarchy?”

“Isn’t Samantha giving up her spot?”

“Did Bethany?”

“No, I suppose not.”

“You know what Kara wants. Do your best to follow her plan, Steve.”

I shook my head, “She wants me to drown myself in sex this summer! That’s never worked before!”

“I think she has a different idea in mind,” Elyse said. “Call it a ‘last fling’ before monogamy.”

“What about you?” I asked.

“I don’t count!” Elyse giggled.

“So when the summer ends? Just Kara and you?”

“That appears to be her plan, yes, though subject to modification. Get it all out of your system.”

“And if Jessica comes back?” I asked.

“Oh for fuck’s sake! She’s not coming back, you idiot! And if, by some bizarre sequence of events she does, she has NOTHING to say about what happened after she walked out on you!”

“I kicked her out,” I said.

“She forced you into that position, you fool! She made sure she could blame you! You said it was a pretext from the start!”

“I assume you were deputized to administer this beating?”

“It seems to be my lot in life, doesn’t it?”

“It does,” I agreed.

“You finally have your act together, Steve. Don’t throw it all away on a girl who doesn’t give a shit about you!”