Lost and Found (6 page)

"I love a nap every once in a while, but it sure would be
nice to hear that you're going out on a Saturday night and
doing something. Saturdays always remind me of getting to
spend time with the kids, when you and Derek would go out for dinner."
That brought tears to my eyes. He and Mom were the best
grandparents that way. They enjoyed their Saturdays with
the kids and the kids always looked forward to seeing their
Gamma and Papa every weekend.

"This might make your day then, Dad. Claud got me out of
the house today. We went and ate breakfast and did girl stuff.
You know, manicures and pedicures and we actually went
to a little boutique and bought some dresses." Hopefully
that will keep him from worrying about me too much.

"Oh honey, that's great! I'm thrilled you got out of the house. Thank God for Claudia! I can't wait to tell your
mother." I could tell that he was grinning over the phone. I
guess I really did have everyone worried. It's the first time
I've heard my dad sound so happy about anything in a long
time.

"She had to pull my leg a little to get me to go, because I
sure didn't want to. I have to admit I did have a lot of fun
and it kept me from well, thinking too much. Ya
know?"

“Yes honey, I do know and I also know that today would
have been Derek's birthday and I've been worried about you
all day and was wondering how you were dealing with it,
and I meant to call you sooner, but it's been a busy day
around here." He sounded tired through the phone.

"Are you and Mom ok? Are you both feeling alright?" Oh, I
don't know what I would do if something happened to
either one of them and I'm sure the added stress of
worrying about me all of the time probably doesn't help
matters.

"We are fine Sweetie, don't you worry. Your mom gave me
a bunch of honey do's for the day. I swear she would make
a great prison warden. Don't you dare tell her I said that either! I will deny it!" He chuckled, but I knew he didn't mean it. Dad was the
biggest procrastinator I knew, so I'm sure there was a lot he
had put off and Mom had probably just promised him his
favorite dinner for payment, if he would get everything
fixed that needed done.

"Oh Daddy, I won't say a word. Mum's the word! No pun
intended, hehe."

"Haha. You're a funny girl. I love you and think about you
every day and I'm really glad that you got out of the house
today, honey. You sound better than you have in a very long
time."
Now that I think about it, I've laughed quite a bit today. I
heard my dad clear his throat and he lowered his voice, which meant that what he was about to say was serious.

"Your Mother and I have been talking to Claudia a lot
lately about how you've been doing and I don't know if
Claud has told you or not, but we have been talking about
an in treatment program for you."
I had to admit that I kind of thought this has been discussed,
as much as they have been talking the last few weeks.
Every time I would walk into the living room and she was
on the phone, she'd get real quiet and get off the phone and
say it was work stuff. I knew they had been talking about
me, because she would say my name before I would walk in,
but I didn't want any confrontation, so I never called her out in her lie.

"We were just trying to figure out a way to help you deal with everything, because honey, it HAS been a year and a half and I know you don't want to, but you do need to, well, just DO something! Anything, besides what you
have been doing. And don't get upset. It was out of love
and worry for you that we discussed it anyway." I
could hear the sincerity in his voice and he sounded like he
was going to cry. The last thing I want to do is make my
dad cry.

"Well, don't check into any white coats yet, Dad. I'm
going to be ok. I realized today that how I'm dealing with
this is affecting you all as well. As a matter of fact, I
really need to get off of here and start getting ready, because
my day isn't over yet. I'm going with Claud to a business
meeting over drinks and then we are going to dinner."
There. That should make him feel better.

"Oh, that is wonderful, sweetheart. You have made your old
man happy! Go. Go get ready. I need to go tell your mom
what a great day you've had. Have fun tonight, sweetheart!
I'm sure your mom will be calling you tomorrow to see
how your night went." I could tell that he was very happy
and excited for me.

"I sure will, Daddy. I love you and give Mom a hug and a kiss from me. Bye, Dad."

"Bye, sweetheart. And I sure will. A big kiss right on the
lips! Haha."

"Haha. Ok.. You're such a mess. Goodbye." And then I
hung up the phone.
I leave my bedroom and go into the living room to see if
Claudia is ready to start on my hair, and she has our dresses
out along with our shoes and some jewelry she bought.

"Oh, you're awake! Awesome! Are you ready to get this
party started? Yay! I'm so excited! Follow me to my
salon! I have some great ideas for your hair! Bahahahaha."

Oh no. Her evil laugh. Now I'm scared, but I am excited to go out, which is a good thing, because it’s been a very long
time since I've been excited about anything.

CHAPTER THREE

I hate to admit it, but Claudia did a fantastic job on my hair.
She curled every bit of my hair into long bouncy curls and
pulled my sides up and held them together with a sterling
silver clip. After having everything on, including a
necklace she let me borrow, I looked in the mirror and couldn't believe that it was me staring back. I've never
considered myself beautiful, but looking into the mirror at
myself with my hair done and a little bit of makeup on, I certainly felt it.

We walk into the bar at the Plaza and I look around, and it
doesn't look like a bar at all. It looks like an old library,
mixed in with a saloon with big mahogany wood round tables and wooden chairs that match. There is an almost antique feel about the whole place.

"Oh I see him. He's over in the little corner over there."
She pointed to the corner to the far right and honestly, he
didn't look like a P.O.S. from where I was standing. I followed her to the table, when she waved and took off towards it.

"I feel like a lucky man tonight! Not only do I get to look at
one beautiful woman, but two!" He stands up and extends his hand out to me and I shake it.

"It’s very nice to meet you. My name is Paul Scott. And
you are?"
He put his other hand on top of
my hand and started rubbing my hand, and looking at me
from the bottom of my feet all the way up to my face and then lowered his eyes to my cleavage. He realized I
noticed what he was doing and smiled at me. What a jerk!

"Olivia Porter, it’s very nice to meet you as well." I had to
tug at my hand to pry it out of his hands.

"Are you any relation to Claudia?" I know he was looking between us to see if there was any resemblance.

"Mr. Scott, it doesn't matter if we are related or not. I didn't
bring her with me for you to inquisition, or ogle her. You
said you needed to talk to me about the case, so let’s talk
about the case." Saved by the bell. Or shall I say
Claudia. I ducked my head and smiled inwardly.

"I apologize, Claudia. You are right, but I'm not blind and Olivia is very beautiful, I must say. Would you ladies like
something to drink?" He sat down after we were seated and
waved the waitress over.

"We will both take a Cosmo." Claudia didn't even think to
ask what I wanted. I've never had a Cosmo. I rarely drink,
but when Derek and I would go to dinner, I would usually have a glass or two of white wine. I guess Claudia noticed me shuffling my feet, because she reached over and patted
my hand and gave me a reassuring smile.

"Ok Paul, let’s hear it. Why are you upset this week?" I
could tell by Claudia's tone that she really didn't want to
meet with him this evening.

"Claudia? What has you all up in a tizzy? I'm just asking
you to do your job. I got a call from Denise's attorney this afternoon, still asking for half of my assets and she wants at
least 100 million, before she will settle. I'm a little upset
about it." He looked like he was about to cry right there in

front of us. I felt sorry for him, until I heard what he said
next.

"Marissa and I just want this over, so we can get on with our
lives. I wasted twenty years with that woman and gave her four
kids that she has turned against me and I just want to be
done! I want to keep my chateau in Tuscany. Marissa
really loves that place and I want to keep the house in
Malibu, the penthouse in Miami, and my penthouse here. I'll
give her the lake house in Tahoe, the house she's living
in now, and $500,000 a month for child support and alimony, but that's it! Nothing more than that!"

He actually looked Claudia in the eye after saying that load
of crap. How many homes does he own? I assume
Marissa is his girlfriend and was probably his mistress. No wonder Claud calls him a Piece of Shit!

"Paul, to be fair, there's not a judge in the whole United
States that is going to go along with your request. You
refused to have her sign a prenup and she has witnesses to
that. How about we try to come up with some numbers here? Will it really hurt you to just give her $100 million?
That's like a drop in the bucket for you!" I can tell that she really can't stand this man and I can't
imagine anyone wanting to be anywhere around him. He looks to be in his late forties, rather handsome, but that's about
as far as it goes. UGLY on the inside! I wonder how old
Marissa is. That made me smile. She's probably barely twenty-one
and has him at her beck and call.

"Claudia! That is not acceptable. They don't call me Paul
Orville Scott for nothing!" I was taking a drink of my cosmo when I heard his full name and spit it out.
He really is a P.O.S.

Even his initials say he is. He frowned at me and
continued on his rant to Claudia. “I always get what I want! So you need to get with her lawyer and offer him this deal and let me know what he
says." I looked at Claudia and she had her fake smile on, but
she looked like she was about to hit someone.

"Ok Paul. I will call him first thing Monday morning and
make the offer. If that's what you want me to do, then I'll do it." And that was the look of Claudia swallowing crow that
was looking at me. Me personally?
I would have told him to kiss it where the sun doesn’t shine
and maybe thrown a drink in his face. I feel so sorry for his
future ex-wife, Denise. I don't know if I would want to take him to the cleaners or take whatever he offered and never speak to him again.

"Now, that's my girl. I knew you would get this done!" He
winked at Claudia and then he looked up towards the
doorway and waved at someone and then
waved them over. Oh surely we aren't getting another
drink. I could tell that she is ready to go, because she looks
rather miffed and apologetic to me.
Claudia raises her head up to see who the POS is
looking at and she gets a huge smile on her face, and jumps
up out of her seat and starts running across the bar yelling,
"Cash! Omg Cash!" She jumps into the arms of a rather tall dark headed man, who had to lean over to pick her up.

"Claudia! I haven't seen you since we graduated from O
State. How have you been?" He is twirling her around and
then I look at him, I mean really LOOK at him, and I have
never seen bluer eyes in my life. They were the color of sapphires, they were so blue, and his
smile with the dimples on each side of his cheek spread all
the way up his high cheekbones to his eyes. Was this an old
lover of Claudia's? She sure never mentioned a gorgeous ex
named Cash from college and we tell each other
everything.