14

That day, Chrissy also began her first day at Skyline Publishing. Sarah, as she had no school to go to at this point, came with Chrissy, much to the dismay of most of the staff. It didn't even help when she explained to them that Sarah was autistic and that she had nowhere else to go. Their blatant inconsideration of her child bothered her quite a bit, and instantly had her wondering if she'd done the right thing by leaving Hawaii. Everything about L.A. seemed wrong. The smog that infested the air made her and Sarah cough and wheeze. It had nothing on Honolulu's crisp, clean air and tropical scent.

Not only that, but L.A. didn't have Steve McGarrett. She'd missed him almost instantly after they'd parted at the airport. As she'd glanced back at him one last time, she could have sworn she saw tears glazing his eyes. It would seem impossible to most people, as he came off so tough, unemotional, and focused. To her, though, it was no surprise. Steve had revealed things to her in their conversations that she was sure he hadn't told anyone else, even Danny. It broke her heart to think that she'd made him so upset that tears had actually threatened his eyes. From what she had gathered, he hadn't even been able to cry when his parents died. Apparently, he didn't have a heart of stone like everyone assumed. However, it didn't matter now. They'd broken up, and it was likely he'd never talk about things like that with her again.

Early in the afternoon, as Chrissy glanced over the stack of memos, a knocked sounded from the other side of her door. When Chrissy got up from her desk and opened the door to her office, she about fell over when she saw her mother standing on the other side of the door.

Chrissy hadn't seen Ann Raines in over eight months, but her mother looked the same as ever. There was not a part of her short dyed blonde hair out of place, and she was immaculately dressed in an Armani business suit. As always, her makeup was caked on to cover up any slight skin imperfections. Chrissy could instantly tell that her mother had gotten some type of plastic surgery done because the few wrinkles that had once appeared on her face were no longer there. She's obviously spent my father's money well, Chrissy thought.

Ann folded her arms over her chest. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the prodigal daughter."

Chrissy greeted, "Hello, Mother."

Ann inquired, "Is that the way you greet your mother when you haven't seen her in eight months and left without a word?"

Chrissy nodded. "Yeah, I guess it is."

Ann walked past Chrissy into the office. "Well, I guess that shouldn't surprise me, considering all the stories I've heard about your escapades in Hawaii."

Chrissy laughed. "I would hardly call what happened in Hawaii escapades."

Ann sat down in the chair in front of Chrissy's desk. "What do you call living with a man you barely know, Chrissy, and especially a man of the repute of your boy toy?"

Chrissy seethed, "Don't you dare talk about Steve! You don't know anything about him!"

Ann replied, "Actually, I hired a private investigator to look into your lover a bit. Surely, you could have picked a man who made a little more money than that to play mistress to. I mean, a task force leader? Really?"

Chrissy shot back, "I'm not a little girl anymore. I don't have to answer to you. However, I do want to set you straight on a few things. One, I am not Steve's lover or mistress or whatever you want to call it. I never had sex with him, for your information. Two, despite what you like to think, Steve and I were living together because my life was in danger. The reason I left L.A. was because I was receiving threatening notes from Dad's killer, Wo Fat. Someone broke into my new house in Honolulu a couple of months ago. That's when Five-0 came into the picture. Steve investigated the situation a little and decided that for security purposes, it would be best if he took me to the Five-0 safe house. He stayed there with me and Sarah purely for safety."

Ann retorted, "However, from what I discovered, you and this, um, Commander McGarrett have seen each other since your living arrangement ended, correct?"

Chrissy nodded. "Yes. We developed a relationship."

"Ah. So not only were you whoring around with this 'Commander McGarrett,' but the two of you were also well on your way to destroying your brother's good name."

"Oh, so that's what this is all about? You weren't as worried about what I was doing as you were about me ruining Michael's public appearance. I get it."

"Do you realize the stories you were creating, Chrissy? I mean, you told this Five-0 that Michael raped you and that Sarah is his biological daughter. How ridiculous does that sound?"

"It doesn't matter how ridiculous it sounds, Mom. It's true. Michael did rape me and I got pregnant."

"Look, you might have been able to pull that one over with that dinky little Hawaiian task force, but it's not going to work with me. You might as well just quit while you're ahead."

Chrissy laughed bitterly. "You'll never believe me, will you? Michael's word always was superior to mine in your eyes, and it still is from the grave, isn't it?"

"Well, what was I supposed to believe? You always had your head stuck in those romance novels and could barely discern fantasy from reality. Who was I supposed to listen to? The clear-headed, realistic son or the head-in-the-clouds daughter?"

"Maybe you could have tried believing all of your children, Mom. I haven't even brought Adam into this, but he could say a lot of the same things."

"Adam should have listened to us and got into the publishing business with Michael and your father. Instead, he had to get into all that law enforcement crap."

"And you made damn sure he couldn't do it any more, didn't you? You and Dad were determined to make sure Adam had to get into publishing come hell or high water, weren't you? I don't understand it. That's what Adam really loves. He's a great detective, and it's what he wants to do. It doesn't matter to you, though, does it? As long as everything works out just the way you want it to, it doesn't matter how anyone else feels about it. Am I right?"

Ann bolted out of her chair. "Is that how you talk to your mother? If it is, it certainly wasn't the way I taught you!"

Chrissy laughed, "Mother, I was raised by the nanny you hired for me. The only thing I can honestly say I learned from you is that I never want to be anything like you."

"You are such an ungrateful little brat! Maybe I should tell you about your real father. You wouldn't be walking with your head held so high if you heard about that, I bet!"

Chrissy felt like her whole body was going to collapse. She choked out, "W-what?"

Ann looked down at the floor. "Well, David and I were having a rough patch in our marriage, so I had what would politely be termed as an indiscretion with one of our lawn care workers. David never knew, and when I found out I was pregnant, he just assumed you were his. It actually revitalized our marriage."

Chrissy's mouth hung open. She stuttered, "W-who w-was it?"

Ann played with her perfectly manicured nails. "Curtis Cantrell."

Chrissy's eyes grew even larger. "Curtis Cantrell? Mom, that guy was only in his thirties when I was in my teens! How old was he when you were sleeping with him?"

Ann swallowed hard. "Probably eighteen or nineteen. I'm not sure."

Chrissy felt the shock wash over her, and it was quickly replaced by anger. "How could you cheat on Dad, and with Curtis no less? You were, what, thirty-four when I was born?"

Ann nodded, "Yes, but you have to understand that your Dad and I were going through a rough time, honey."

Chrissy shook her head. "No relationship gets so rough that you have to resort to cheating."

"When you get married, you'll understand."

"No, I don't think I will, Mother. Not even a rough patch in a marriage excuses cheating. If I was really in love with my husband, there would be no reason I would cheat on him. By the way, quit talking to me like you're my best friend. Since you've been here, you've called me a whore more than once and trash talked the man I'm in love with. Did you know I had to leave him because of the stupid clause in Dad's will? I know you easily could have found two replacements for me and Adam, but you wouldn't do that, of course. You made Adam and I come back to Skyline so that we could be under your control again. Am I right? Never mind. I don't want to hear the answer. All I want is for you to get the hell out of my office. You've already subjected Sarah to things an eight-year-old should never have to hear."

Without another word, Ann Raines left Chrissy's office. It left Chrissy almost alone with her thoughts except for Sarah's chatter. However, even Sarah's talking couldn't stop her from contemplating whether or not she'd made the right decision to give up everything she'd had in Hawaii for all of this constant drama in L.A. She knew what she had to do, but she was going to wait until exactly the right time.