Chapter 7: Worth A Thousand Words

When Mia arrived home from school she frantically searched the house for her grandma, but couldn't find her anywhere. "Gram?" Mia called.

Mia went from room to room searching to no avail and became increasingly concerned because it wasn't like her grandma to go anywhere without leaving a note. Finally Mia noticed the door leading to the attic was slightly ajar, so she pushed the door open and began to ascend the dark stairs. Mia hated the attic and tried to avoid it at all costs.

When she reached the top of the stairs, Mia's eyes scanned the room. She was reluctant to completely enter the attic if it could be avoided. She spotted her grandma kneeling in the far corner of the attic and felt a huge sense of relief. "Hey Gram," Mia said softly.

Claudia turned around. She had been lost in thought and was startled to see Mia; she hadn't realized how late in the day it was. She attempted to wipe her tears away before Mia saw them, but it was too late.

"What's wrong Gram?" Mia rushed the rest of the way up the stairs towards her grandmother.

"I'm fine Mia," Claudia said tearfully and hugged her granddaughter.

Mia sat down on the filthy floor next to Claudia and that's when she noticed the pile of photos. Unbeknownst to Mia, her grandmother had never been able to destroy the photos she had collected of Angel. Claudia kept the photos hidden in an old square tin beneath a loose fitting floorboard in the attic.

"Oh my God," Mia said when she saw the photos. She immediately snatched one of the photos from the pile.

Claudia no longer cared what Martin wanted because Angel's words about being held captive had been plaguing her ever since she heard them.

"She's beautiful," Mia said, holding up one of the photos of her mother dressed in a cheerleader uniform wearing a beautiful smile. Mia discarded that photo for another and in turn another. Each picture told the story of Angel's life up until the age of fourteen when Angel left home. Mia could tell from the photos that her mother had been happy, except towards the end when several of the photos depicted Angel feigning a smile. In those photos, Angel was obviously pregnant and the sparkle in her eyes was noticeably absent.

"Your mother has always been stunning," Claudia whispered, picking up one of the photos, "You should see what she looks like now."

Mia whirled around to face her grandma, "You've seen her?"

Claudia was tired of secrets, "Yes, Frank brought her over here yesterday morning, but your grandpa walked in and ordered her to leave."

Mia sensed something like that must have happened and now it was confirmed. She couldn't believe it. "I want to see her," Mia said with determination.

Claudia reached out and put her hand on Mia's shoulder, "You need to wait until Popoff says it's OK."

Mia became enraged, "If I have to wait for Popoff to decide it's OK, I'll never see her," and with that Mia scooped up the pictures along with the tin and rushed down the attic stairs to her bedroom and slammed the door.

Claudia quickly followed after her, "Mia."

Mia wished she had a lock on her bedroom door, but Popoff wouldn't allow it. Claudia knocked and Mia knew it was just a matter of time before her grandma entered. She began to sob in frustration and that's when Claudia opened her bedroom door and rushed inside, taking Mia in her arms, "Shhhh," she attempted to soothe Mia.

Mia held the photos in her grasp, "I'm never giving these back," she said to her grandma.

Claudia nodded, "You can keep the photos, but please try to calm down a little Mia," Claudia said softly.

Mia became enraged, "Calm down? Calm down!"

"There's still a lot you don't know about your mother," Claudia said.

"You mean the fact that she's a prostitute?" Mia asked practically screaming, "I heard Popoff say it the other night."

"Mia," Claudia gasped, surprised her granddaughter knew.

Mia had taken all she was going to take. She stood up and grabbed the tin and shoved all the pictures of her mother back inside of it, and then she shoved the tin inside her book bag. She abruptly grabbed her jacket and before Claudia knew what was happening Mia rushed out of her bedroom and down the stairs carrying her book bag, continuing out the front door and out onto the street, just as Angel had done the day before. Mia was determined to find her mother and she didn't care what it took.

"Mia!" Claudia called and attempted to chase after her granddaughter, but Claudia was no match for a slender fourteen year old and by the time Claudia got tired of running after Mia on foot and got in her car to continue the search, Mia was nowhere to be found.

Jordan had purchased cigarettes and cooked a nice dinner with the hope Angel would relax and talk openly to him.

"Would you like some more wine?" Jordan asked, picking up the bottle and filling his own glass.

"Sure," Angel said quietly, "You are a fantastic cook."

"Thanks," Jordan smiled, pouring some more wine into her glass.

Dinner was over and it seemed surreal to Angel that she was sitting in Jordan's house dressed in nothing other than his tee shirt and briefs. Her feet were becoming cold from the hard wood floor, but everything else was perfect.

Jordan was watching her carefully, and he could tell her feet were getting cold, so he stood up and went to his bedroom and got a pair of thick wool socks from his drawer and brought them back, "Here, these will complete your outfit," He smiled as he handed her the socks.

Angel gratefully took the socks and placed them on her feet.

"Listen Angel," Jordan began, "There's another reason I bought you smokes and cooked you dinner."

Angel braced for the worst.

"I was hoping maybe we could talk," Jordan said, "I would really like to know more about you."

Angel had only known Jordan for a matter of days and if he thought she was going to trust him enough to open up to him, he was insane. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"Tell me what happened fourteen years ago," Jordan said.

Angel had never told anyone about her encounter with Coach Bills, even though it was often on her mind and she didn't think now was a good time to start.

"Take your time," Jordan said with encouragement.

Angel knew Jordan knew more things about her and her life than he was letting on. "Why don't you tell me what you already know so I don't waste my breath," She said, realizing she was dying for another smoke.

Jordan could tell she wanted a cigarette by the way she was fidgeting and he contemplated letting her smoke in his house, but then he came to his senses, "I know a little about your family," Jordan finally said. "I was good friends with Frank for a lot of years, so I got to know your family quite well."

"Even Mia?" Angel asked.

"Yes, even Mia," Jordan said, "I assume she's your daughter."

Angel got a far off look, "I haven't seen her since she was an infant."

Jordan realized this was going to be more difficult than he anticipated. He could see the pain on Angel's face when it came to Mia. "What made you leave all those years ago?"

"Don't," Angel said and abruptly stood up, "I'm not going to talk about this with you or anyone else," And she grabbed her cigarettes and stormed out onto the patio for another smoke.

Jordan realized she came by her stubbornness naturally, considering Martin was her father and Frank was her brother. He allowed her to have her smoke in peace and sat sipping his wine and watching her through the glass doors that led out to the patio. He could see she was shivering from the night air and he knew it wouldn't take long for her to decide to come back in, so he waited.

Angel thought about Jordan's questions and realized she didn't feel like talking to him about anything. She was very confused about everything she had been through in the last several days, including the spanking Jordan had given her. She stubbed out her second cigarette and turned to go back inside, grateful for the warmth, "OK Parker," she said as she came back inside, and then she recalled the spanking he had given her, "I mean um, Jordan," she corrected herself, "I want to propose a deal. You want to know about me? Then tell me about you; including Reno."

Jordan was surprised by her request and he leaned back in his chair. "I'm going to need to think about that first," He finally said.

Angel nodded, "Take all the time you need, just let me know what you decide," she said as if she had the upper hand in the situation, even though it was obvious she didn't.

Jordan looked at her for awhile, "Reno is something I never talk about with anyone."

"Me either," Angel said. She didn't see how someone like Jordan could ever possibly understand anything about her life, especially Reno.

Jordan hoped what he suspected about Angel and Reno wasn't true, but somehow he knew deep down inside it probably was. Whenever he thought about the possibility that continued to plague him, he wanted to cringe. At the very least, he wanted to go to Red's Barn and sit at his regular table and have a tall glass of beer so he could forget about the past. Red's was his escape from reality, just like it had turned out to be Angel's escape, but he knew he couldn't take Angel there with him right now because it wasn't good for her, and he didn't want to leave her alone, so he pushed thoughts of retreating to Red's completely out of his mind, "Did you think anymore about my job offer?" he asked.

"You mean the receptionist job?" She responded.

Jordan nodded, "I really need a receptionist and it's not a difficult job."

Angel wasn't sure she could do any job no matter what it was. She hadn't ever been part of the regular workforce, "What would I have to do?" she asked warily.

"Well my nurse Meredith would show you how to schedule appointments and answer phones," Jordan smiled, "It's really not that difficult."