Chapter 130

The meeting broke up when Mom left to answer the phone. Both Amy and Mrs. Devon said that they had work to do, so they went to their offices leaving just Dad and me.

Dad asked, “Did you have breakfast?”

“Yeah, but it was a while ago, what about you?”

“All I had was coffee. Let’s get a bite to eat; I want to talk to you.”

We went to a coffee shop down the street from the agency and Dad was quiet on the way. It was obvious that something was bothering him, and he looked serious when he asked, “Are you sure that you want to do this?” after we ordered.

“Yeah, I am. I think that I’d be crazy not to. Is there a problem?”

“Not with you, but I’m concerned about Erin. You’re going to be gone a lot, so am I, and so is your mother. Amy said that she’d look after Erin, but she’s going to have her hands full with school, so I’d like you to keep your eye on her when you’re around.”

“Sure, Dad, I’ll be happy to. Why, do you think she’s into something?”

“No, but she’s almost sixteen and she’s a beautiful girl. She starts that acting class tomorrow, so she’s going to be there every day until school starts and she’s still doing some things at the studio according to Myrna. That means that she is going to away from home a lot too and I worry about her.”

“Myrna watches out for her when they’re at the studio, doesn’t she?”

“Yes, but she says that Erin’s career is about to takeoff, and Myrna has kids of her own to keep track of.”

“I see what you mean. Erin’s a smart girl and I don’t think that anyone will put anything over on her, but she’s also pretty hard-headed, and she’ll find a way if she decides to do something, and there’s not much that we can do about it.”

“I know, but you two have always been pretty close, so let her know that you love her and make sure that she knows that she has a big brother if she needs one.”

“I will, I’ll talk to her right away, so when do you start travelling?”

“I leave a week from Sunday. I’m going to be making personnel changes in all our locations, and I’m starting on the east coast. I’ll be gone for at least a month.”

“But you just got home!”

“I know and I’m not looking forward to it, but that’s what the job is about and it’s what I’m going to be doing most of the time for the next year, so I’ll need you to pay as much attention as you can to what’s going on at the house with your Mother travelling too.”

“That’s going to be tough; you heard what they want me to do.”

“Yes, I did, so we’ll all have to make an extra effort to keep the family close, and don’t forget that you have another sister to be concerned about as well.”

“You mean Megan?”

“No, I mean Amy. Her life is changing too, and she’s going to need reassurance once in a while.”

“Amy is the strongest person I know, Dad. Have you listened to her when she negotiates a contract? Nothing fazes her.”

He raised an eyebrow and said, “You’re right that she’s strong, but she’s also a young girl. Just because she doesn’t seem to react to things doesn’t mean that nothing bothers her, and don’t forget that she’s about to take on a huge project at UCLA. She’s going to try to do something in a year that takes normal people two or three times as long to complete. It’s going to be intense and she’s going to need some TLC along the way.”

“I see what you mean. She’s always there when I need her, so I guess that it’s time that I gave something back.”

“I suggest that you do. I know how she feels about you, but she’s going to be spending a lot of time at school and as pretty as she is, I bet that there are plenty others who would be happy to pay attention to her if you don’t.”

“Okay, Dad, I will.”

We finished our breakfast and Dad said that he had things to do when we got back to the agency and he left.

Jasmine told me to go to the conference room when I got back inside. Mom and Myrna were sitting with Gail Adams and the people she’d been talking with in the lobby. Mom looked up and said, “You’re welcome to stay, but this is going to take a while and Mr. Martin wants to go over everything when we’re finished, so if you have someplace to go, it’ll be several hours at least, and maybe longer.”

“You’re going to finalize things today?”

“This is to find out exactly what their offer is about, what their terms are, and precisely what your responsibilities will be, then you have to agree with everything, of course. This could take some time. I’ll give you a call once we get things ironed out.”

“Okay, Mom, Does Erin need to be picked up today?”

“No, she’s in a studio car. They’ll drop her off here.”

“Okay, I’m going to take off.”

“Fine, we’ll call you later. Will you be at the house for dinner tonight?”

“No, Nell is flying out in the morning, and I want to spend the evening with her.”

She said, “Okay, Dear,” and went back to the paperwork.

I saw Jasmine leaving on the way out and asked “Lunch?”

“Uh huh, I’m meeting Stan. Do want to join us?”

“Dad and I just ate. How are you and Stan getting along?”

She actually blushed, then she answered, “Fine, he’s a great guy.”

She had a smile on her face and I said, “You look happy. It sounds like things are going well.”

“Yes they are. I-I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.”

“That’s great! He seems like a nice guy and I know that he feels the same way about you.”

She had a hopeful look on her face when she asked, “You think that he does?”

“I know that he does. I told him that you were the one who sent me there the day that you sent me to the bank. He fainted and fell on the floor as soon as I mentioned your name.”

“HE DID NOT!”

“He Sure did. The manager and I had to pour water on him to wake him up.”

She gave me a playful swat on the arm and said, “You’re full of crap, Pete,” but she was grinning

I started to feel nervous and a little down on the way home. I was excited about what was happening, but my life was about to change and I realized something. I had decided something that would affect my entire life by agreeing to their offer. Mom and Dad had let me think for myself for quite a while now, but I always knew that they were in the background watching out for me. This was different. This was all my decision and it was scary.

It was quiet when I got to the house, so I sat down to think about things. I began to realize that there was more; a LOT more, along with what was about to happen.

Dad wanted me to keep track of both Erin and Amy and spend some time with both of them, and there was Kristen. I told her that I loved her and that we would talk at least several time a week while she was gone. Then there was Megan. Nell had asked me to be her brother and watch out for her, and there was Nell of course. I was suddenly faced with things that I’d never had to before. I suddenly had responsibilities.

I’m not worried about Megan. I’d look after her as best I could and try to be the brother she never had, but she really didn’t need much from me when she had Nell. God help anyone who tried to do something bad to Megan when Nell was around. I’ll keep my eye on her when Nell isn’t here, but I think that Megan will be okay.

Erin and Amy are family and they are the ones I’m concerned with. I’ll do whatever it takes and devote any spare time I have to let them know that they are loved and that I’ll be there if they need me.

Kristen is a different story. Things are going to be more difficult with her being gone so much and with me now being away as well. Thinking about that made me feel uneasy. I missed her. I missed her a lot.

Then there’s Nell. I was getting a headache and I had to force myself to think about something else. I then remembered that Tammy said that she had something to tell me the last time I talked to her, so I called her cell.

She said, “This is weird,” when she answered, “I’m on the other line with Kristen and we were just talking about you. Hold on while I tell her that it’s you.”

She put me on hold for a minute, and she said, “Call her when we get done. So, what’s up?” when she came back.

“You said that you had something fun to tell me the other day. Is it about Marla?”

“No, Marla’s fine. She’s running the La Jolla location now and she’s doing great. The thing I wanted to tell you about is something Tony is working on. I think I told you that his dad was going to back us. He said that he would fund one store at a time and he would fund another one as soon as the store got going and started to make money. That was great, but it was going to take five years to really get going and another few years before we could start to do some of the things that I have in mind. Well, I got a call from his grandfather a couple of weeks ago. What a nice man; we talked for an hour and a half and he called again with some questions the next day and he called again the day after that. I haven’t heard from him since then, but Tony says that he might fund the whole thing if he wants to get involved.”

“When will you know?”

“We’re waiting for him to get back to us, and he wanted to know about you by the way.”

“What did he want to know?”

“Just general stuff. I get the impression that he and Kristen talk a lot and he wanted to know how I felt about you.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I started to tell him how you and your family saved my life, but he said that he knew all about that. He wanted my impression of you.”

“What did you say?”

“I told him that you were my Prince Charming and that I loved you.”

“You did. What did he say to that?”

“He knows what you and your family did for me. I guess he thought that I was just being grateful.”

I started to tell her that she should be careful what she said because of Kristen, but she interrupted, “But you are my Prince Charming. I do love you and I always will.”

This was getting heavy and I wanted to change the subject, so I asked, “How is Marla doing?”

“She’s doing great. Her only problem is with Jay.”

“What’s the matter; aren’t they getting along?”

“It’s not that, she likes him a lot and he’s nuts about her, but he started flying down there after work every day. It was beginning to bother her and she had to tell him that she couldn’t see him for a while. He didn’t talk to her for a couple days when she did, then he called her out of the blue and asked her to marry him.”

“Wow, I didn’t realize that he was that serious. What did she say?”

“She told him that she wasn’t ready and he got pissed off and hasn’t talked to her since.”

“That sounds bad?”

“I don’t know, maybe he’s just impulsive. Call him and try to find out what’s going on. Have you talked to Meg in the meantime?”

“Not since we got back from La Jolla. Why, what’s going on with her?”

“She moved in with Lane.”

“NO KIDDING! Wow, that was fast. Are you still grooming her to run the new store that you’re building?”

“We had permit problems that held us up a little so I brought her over to work with me in the office here in Beverly Hills. She surprised the heck out of me. She’s an absolute whiz at this stuff and I’m going to try to keep her here. Did you know that she has an accounting background?”

“No, I didn’t. All I knew about her is that she wanted to be an actress, but it doesn’t surprise me. She’s a sharp girl and I think that she’d be good at whatever she did. Do you think she’ll stay?”

“I think she will. It’ll allow us to expand sooner than we hoped if Tony’s grandfather comes through with some money, and she can go a lot farther in the business end of things than she ever could by running a location.”

“So how serious are she and Lane?”

“She’s in the next room. I’ll get her and you can ask her.”

“Okay, but I want to know about you first. Have you and Tony set a date yet?”

“Tony wants to get married right now. He said that he’d like to have a big wedding. I think he thought that it would please me, but the Mariani family is too well-known and I’m concerned that I would be an embarrassment to them if someone recognized me, so I told him that we had to wait a while.”

“Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

“W-What do you mean?”

“You’re so gorgeous that now no one will recognize you.”

She was quiet for a second before she said, “I guess I have changed, and it’s all because of you, my prince.”

I heard someone say something in the background just then, and she said, “Damn, I gotta go, call me back when you get time. I’ll get Meg for you.”

Meg picked up a minute later, so I said, “Boy, I leave you alone for a minute and the next thing I know you move in with some old guy. What’s with that?”

She chuckled, “I was going to wait for you, but I hate standing in line.”

“That’s not the reason. You moved in with him because he’s almost thirty and you’re hoping he’ll soon die of old age and leave you all his money.”

That cracked her up and I asked, “C’mon, what’s going on?” when she stopped laughing. “You’ve only known him for a little while. Isn’t moving in with him a pretty big step?”

“Yeah, it is, and I swore that I wouldn’t do something like that, but my roommate moved out and I couldn’t afford the rent by myself, so I hung an ad on the bulletin board at the studio. All I got was a bunch of actors wanting to move in and pay their share if and when they got work. Lane waited until I was at work one day after I told about it, and he came over and moved all my stuff to his place.”

“Does he have a nice place?”

“God, yes, the place is huge, I have an entire wing to myself.”

“Your own wing eh, does it have a bedroom and everything?”

“It has a bedroom, a sitting room, and even a small kitchen.”

“You’re not going to use the bedroom much I hope.”

She giggled, “Not much, Lane is a great cuddler.”

“So you really like him eh?”

“Yeah, he’s a great guy.”

“And you feel safe there?”

“I actually do. What’s going on, why are you asking all these questions?”

“Moving in with him was kinda sudden and I want to make sure that you’re okay.”

“Hmm, I guess both Tammy and Marla were right. You really do watch out for your friends.”

“Sure I do, but I’m worried about Lane in this case. I’ve seen you eat, and I’m afraid that he’ll have to take out a second mortgage in order to keep you fed.”

That got another laugh, then she added, “Speaking of friends, have you talked to Monique?”

“Not for a while.”

“What happened between you two, I thought that you were getting along fine?”

“It’s a long story.”

“It must be. Does she have a sister, by the way?”

“Uh huh, her name is Alice, she’s an actress.”

“Does she look like her?”

“Not at all; why?”

“Stop by a newsstand. There’s a European fashion magazine named ‘Bonsoir’ and the girl on the cover looks almost exactly like Monique, but it said her name is Gabrielle.”

“I’ll go by a newsstand and take a look, but tell me about you and Lane in the meantime. How serious is it?”

She sighed, “Okay, I didn’t tell you everything. I think that I’m his first serious girlfriend in quite a while and I wonder how long it’ll last.”

“What’s the problem? Why don’t you think it won’t last?”

“It’s the way he is when we’re alone. He’s fine when we’re with other people, but he’s so gentle with me when we’re alone that it’s like he’s afraid I’m gonna break or something. It was fun for a while, but I want someone who knows what they want and isn’t afraid to go for it.”

“It sounds like he went for it when you were in La Jolla.”

“That wasn’t his idea, it was mine. I got horny after catching you in bed that night, so I went to his room and attacked him.”

“Uhh, Jay doesn’t know who I was with that night, does he?”

“Not that I know of, I didn’t say anything to him.”

“Thanks, it won’t happen again.”

“Don’t be too sure; you should hear the way that Marla talks about you.”

“That’s nice, but let’s get back to you and Lane. Why do I get the feeling that you’re not all that happy? He’s rich, he’s good looking, he treats you like a princess, and he’s crazy about you. What else do you want from a guy?”

“I honestly don’t know. It just seems like something’s missing.”

“I hope that you find out what it is; he seems like a great guy.”

“He IS a great guy, but he does weird things. He changed the locks on my side when he moved me into his place, including the door that leads to the rest of the house, then he gave me a set of keys to everything including that door, and said that it locks on my side and he didn’t have keys to anything in my wing.”

“Uhh, I guess that he wanted you to feel safe, even from him.”

“That’s not all. We talked a little about the girl he used to be with. He said that they were about to get married at first, but he found her with another guy, but he later referred to her as his wife. He said that he didn’t want people to think badly about him by finding out that he had lived with someone without being married when I asked him about it. So I asked him what WE were doing and he said that we were housemates. I pointed out that we were sleeping together and he said that because I might change my mind is why he gave me the entire wing. I was trying to tell him that I wasn’t going to change my mind when he added that I could still stay there if I did change my mind. I mean, c’mon! That’s just weird!”