It wasn't as easy to locate Grace Farrell as Oliver Warbucks had thought it would be. Despite his best efforts, no money spared of course, to locate her she seemed to have disappeared off the face of the Earth. She had left his home and hailed a cab heading east, this much he had be able to discern from the security guard at the gate.
"She wasn't gone that long before we realized she was missing Punjab!" Oliver Warbucks lamented that night after he had tucked a rather overwrought Annie into bed. Her friends had tried to comfort her but Annie was quite inconsolable. The little girl had had an exhausting two days filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
"Someone who does not wish to found, can rarely be found Sahib." Punjab answered.
"Well, blast it!" Oliver spluttered. "Drake! Get me a drink!"
That night Oliver Warbucks had a terrible nightmare. He dreamt of Annie dangling from the bridge and felt Grace clutched to his side, then suddenly Annie was gone from the bridge (Where was she?) and was replaced by Grace struggling to keep her grip. Oliver watched in horror as her fingers detached from the metal and he heard her scream as she plummeted to the ground below...
"Grace! No! Graaaace!" Oliver woke up in a sweat, his bed sheets tangled around him. He was sitting straight up, his arms stretching out as if he could catch her somehow.
Two days of desperate and futile searching for the missing secretary went on until Oliver decided to call off the investigation.
"You're not going to look anymore Daddy? You've just got to! Miss Farrell is out there somewhere and she is probably alone and scared."
"Annie, Punjab is right. Miss Farrell does not want to be found. New York is a large city – she could be anywhere. She might not even be in New York anymore. We need to try something different to bring her back."
"If Miss Farrell was here, she'd know what to do." Annie said wistfully.
"What did you say Annie?" Oliver turned to the little girl.
"Well, it's just that Miss Farrell knows all kinds of people and stuff right. She'd know how to find a missing person. 'Cause that was her job right, as your secretary."
"Annie, I think you've got a good idea there!"
"I do?" Annie hated seeing Daddy Warbucks so sad about missing Miss Farrell. She liked seeing him light up for the first time in a couple of days. But she wasn't really sure what idea she had come up with.
"I'll advertise for a new secretary! That way Grace will know that I am serious about making her my wife and she'll come back."
Annie could sort-of see how that made sense, but still didn't understand why it mattered if Miss Farrell was Daddy's secretary or not. If they loved each other, who cared what anyone else thought?
And so the next morning there was a large advertisement in the newspaper outlining Oliver Warbuck's need for a new personal secretary. In writing the job description it became apparent to Oliver how absolutely indispensible Grace had been and he doubted that anyone could fill her shoes. Not that he really wanted anyone else; all he wanted was Grace back by his side. If only he had realized that long ago perhaps none of this insanity would have transpired.
Grace Farrell trembled as she read the page-long description of her former job. Any hope she had now of keeping that job was obviously long gone. She should have known that the moment she impulsively and emotionally left his home. She was, despite herself, rather impressed with the long list of job requirements that Oliver had outlined – minute details of things she had done for him, things she hadn't known he had even noticed such as ensuring his favourite meal was ready when he returned home from a long trip or ensuring that his father's cufflinks stayed polished. Looking after his new daughter was not among the job details and for that, at least, Grace was thankful.
She knew she was strong enough to move on, find another job – though admittedly not one with the perks she had enjoyed while working for Oliver, but still a job. She was well-educated and had an impeccable résumé. But she wouldn't have been able to bear the thought that she could be replaced so easily in the care of Annie. She had loved that little girl from the moment she had seen her in that closet in Miss Hannigan's horrible orphanage, and it was her love for that little girl that had prompted her to be so bold with her boss that day on the terrace when she had asked if they could keep her. Funny, at the time it had never occurred to her that she might find herself not living there. Without a wife in his life Grace had taken on many of the household roles traditionally filled by the 'woman of the house' and she had begun to rather fancy herself and Mr. Warbucks as a bit of a team. A platonic married couple, if such a thing could exist.
And then Annie had inserted herself into their lives and in less than a week everything was upside down and topsy-turvy. Emotions and feelings she had long suppressed were suddenly brought to the fore; and Oliver had started showing a side of himself she had never dared dream possible.
Grace turned on the radio in the hotel she was staying in; just in time to hear the announcer declare: "...bucks search is on for a new personal secretary! Which leads us to ask – where is his old one? Sources close to the billionaire Warbucks say that Miss Grace Farrell left his employ quite suddenly in the wake of his pending adoption of a little orphan girl, who was kidnapped and successfully recovered late last week, and can't be found. Mr. Warbucks has reportedly spent $25,000 on detectives to search for Miss Farrell after she disappeared 3 days ago. Rumours are swirling suggesting everything from funds embezzlement to a lover's quarrel. Miss Grace Farrell – if you are out there please contact us at this station for an exclusive interview and help put an end to this mystery."
Grace shut off the radio and buried her face in her hands. So much for her impeccable résumé and finding another job! And so much for protecting Oliver's image, never mind her own reputation. She had left to avoid scandals of this kind from marring his character but they had surfaced anyways! What was she going to do?
Oliver turned the knob on the radio off so vigorously it broke off in his hands. Cursing he threw it across the room. "Damn press!" he shouted.
He hoped and prayed that wherever Grace was that she hadn't heard that. She would never come back to him now – her reputation was in tatters, thanks to that 'report'. He had never heard anything so un-newsworthy in his whole life.