Chapter 21

My internship occupied me pretty much all the time. When I wasn't working, I could usually be found in Troy's apartment. It really does have a lot of adavantages living in the middle of the city. But instead of ordering something from the deliverly services, I cooked for myself. Or at least tried to.

The first week was weird. Although I didn't have time to think about Troy in the morning, I did miss him in the night. I feel lonely in such a huge penthouse, with only Mrs. Smith coming in every thursday and monday.

Troy's birthday is in exact three weeks. Two of them he still will spend in another country. I thought about his birthday present. But what can you give a man who already has everything he wants? It's impossible to give him something he will like.

And then it hit me. There's one thing he doesn't have. One thing he hasn't seen yet. Someone he had been looking for a long time now. His father.

I looked for documents about his father in his office. Every folder, every drawer... I looked everywhere. Then I saw it: his safe. I didn't know the combination. For the whole second week I thought about combinations, which could open the safe and therefore the way to his father. But no combination I tried was right. In the middle of the second week I gave up and started to search for him on my own. I only knew his name: William Bolton. I didn't know his birthdate, neither I knew the way he looks. A night filled with google and callings, I finally had a birthdate and even some locations where he had been. At the moment, he was in California. But how am I going to get to California before Troy returns? I couldn't take the bus or the train, it would take too long. And for the plane... Well, I don't have the money. Then I remembered the Black Amex card. For emergencies, he said. This definitely was one.

So, I booked a redeye to California. He has several vineyards in California and he was currently there to pick out some wines. So that's why Troy loves wines so much. It's in his blood I guess. But as soon as I got to the vineyard, his housekeeper told me that he had left two days ago. He was now in a small town in Nevada. At the airport, I booked another flight - this time to Nevada.

I decided to stay in a small motel for the night. The next morning I asked the motel owner if he knew William. I was lucky, because he did know him. He directed me to a local diner, in which he has breakfast when he's in Nevada. With a smile filled with victory, I walked into the diner. He wasn't there. I didn't see him. I asked the waitress and she said that he had left the State yesterday evening to fly back home. As I asked her where "home" was, she shrugged. She didn't know. She said that he lives in Illinois. But she didn't know the city. Crap. I was stuck.

As I left the diner with his picture in my hand, a voice called me.

"Hey, I heard you're looking for William Bolton."

I turned around and faced a man with a beer in his hands and a leather jacket. A jacket I own myself. "Yeah. You know where he lives?"

"What will I get from you if I tell ya?"

I shrugged, "What do you want?"

"You're from New York, aren't you?"

"How do you know?"
"This is a small town, honey. News travel fast."

I nodd.

"I'd like to have a bus ticket from Nevada to New York City."

I nodd, "Deal. Where does William live?"

"In Chicago. I don't have an adress, but I'm sure you'll do fine once you're there."

"How do you know William?"

"We met in High School..." he traveled off. "My bus ticket?"

"Where's the nearest shop?"

"Follow me." he said before he walked off.

I followed him, "What do you want in New York City?"

"I'd like to visit someone there."

"Long lost love?"

"No."

"Mother?"

"No."

"Father?"

"No."

"Daughter?"

"A hundret points." he said as we reached the shop. He held the door open for me.

I walked in and ordered the busticket. 300$. I took out the black Amex to pay for it. Another emergency.

"You're pretty rich, huh?" he asked me as I handed him the ticket.

I put the black Amex back into my purse, "No. But my boyfriend is."

He nodds, "You're pretty, it must've been easy to find some rich men in New York City."

"It was a little more different than the usual Cinderella Story." I said as we left the shop. "What's the name of your daughter?"

"Amanda. Amanda Biels."

My mouth fell open, "Seriously?!"

He looked at me confused, "Why would I lie about that?"

"I know her. I know Amanda. We studied at Yale and worked together. She said that you left her at the age of two."

He shruggs, "Had my reasons..."

I nodd, "Good luck finding her."

"Good luck finding William."

I bought a ticket to Illinios by plane - a redeye again. I couldn't sleep on the plane. Well, I slept for a couple of hours, but I don't feel rested.

As soon as I touched the ground of Illinois, I started looking for him again. Within one day I had his adress. He was living in a huge expensive building. But I couldn't bother him now. Not in the middle of the night. I sighed, so close and yet so far away.

I slept in a local hotel, not far away from his building. In the morning, it was a sunday, I walked out of the hotel - straight into his building. The concierge told me that he was actually at home right now, which would make me pretty lucky since he seems to be on the road most of his time.

I smiled as I walked down the thin long hallway on the third floor of the building. I stoped in front of apartment number 3452. I knocked and took a deep breath.

That's what brought me here. To his apartment door.

The door opens only a couple of seconds after I knocked.

"Yes?" A man with dark brown hair and icy blue eyes looks at me. His age about fifty, but he is in good shape.

"William Bolton?"

He nodds, "I'm sorry, should I know you?"

I shake my head, "I'm Gabriella Montez. I know your son."

"Troy? You know Troy?"

I nodd, "He's the reason why I'm here."

He holds the door open for me, "Come in, Gabriella."

I walk into the luxury apartment. It's not as big as Troy's penthouse, but therefore it is more homelyhomely.

"Take a seat." he says, pointing to a comforable beige couch.

I sit down and smile at him, "It took a while to find you, Mr. Bolton. I'm glad I finally did."

"Call me Will."

"Will, then." I say smiling.

"So, you said you know my son Troy?"

I nodd, "Yes. He lives in Manhattan. He has been looking for you for quite a while actually. Three years. But he couldn't find you yet."

"I've been looking for him as soon as his mother informed me about him. Do you know how Lilly is?"

"She's dead, sadly. She died when Troy was four years old. Two years later he got adopted by a very nice family. Meredith Grey and her husband adopted him. She's a surgeon, so they have no financial issues."

He nodds, "If only I knew... I would have gotten..."

"Why haven't you found him yet? I mean that was twenty years ago."

"I couldn't find Lilly. I didn't know he got adopted. Lilly told me that she was pregnant with my child just two days before I had to leave the country with my family. My father was a Marine, which meant we had to leave the country more than we wanted. When I got back, Lilly was gone and I had no idea where she was. I didn't know where she went with my child."

"Did you know that she took drugs?"

His shocked eyes answer my question.

"Troy told me that she took Crack. It was her biggest addiction."

"She was a fine lady when I met her. We fell in love right away. The only thing which devided us was our social status. I was wealthy, always had been since generations, but she... She was a simple normal girl. My parents didn't agree to our relationship. They did everything to keep us apart."

"Kind of like Romeo and Juliet."

He smiles, "Yeah. Only that she died in the end..."

I place my hand over his, "I'm sorry you got to know it this way. I thought you were informed."

He smiles sadly, "I'm glad I at least got informed. But why isn't Troy here?"

"He's in Russia at the moment. He doesn't know I'm here. He also doesn't know that I've been looking for you since the last three weeks."

"When will I be able to meet him?"

"His birthday is at the end of the next week. On Saturday."

He nodds, "His twenty-seventh."

"Yes."

"So I'm going to be your birthday present?"

I shrugged, "I think he would like it. You both would."

He smiles at me, "A fine girlfriend he has there..."

Yeah and seven other girlfriends. "How did you and Lilly meet?"

"In summer break. As always I've spent it in Florida - on Fisher Island. Me and my friends had a blast, we went surfing from the morning 'til the evening. Then we usually went to parties at which we met more girls than we could have counted. Unlike my friends, I wasn't a womanizer, although I had the right look and the right kind of money for it. One day, I went into a diner to get something to eat after a long surf section... Lilly was my waitress. I fell in love with her right away. Her smile, her blonde locks and those amazing green eyes... She was perfect. Perfect until I introduced her to my parents - they clearly told us that we shouldn't be together. We're not from the same status. But we kept seeing each other for the whole summer. Then, after four amazing weeks, we got separated as we both went to back home - me to New York City and she to Los Angeles."

"And then what happened?"

"We saw each other in our free time. Spring Break, summer break... Thanksgiving, we just kept seeing each other. But one day, my father told me that we had to move to England. His job required it. So we moved, although it broke my heart. I wrote her a letter, since it wasn't enough time for me to fly over to LA."

"What's your last memory of her?"

He smiled softly, "Her running at the Californian beach, wearing a white summer dress. Her locks flew in the wind... Her smile was filled with so much happiness."

"Did she tell you that she was pregnant?"

He nodded, "Her reponse letter was filled with that information. But I couldn't tell my parents - neither could she tell her's. As soon as she graduated, she left Los Angeles behind herself and moved to Chicago. She didn't give me an adress. She didn't even give me the name of my son. All she said was that she was happy - happy because a part of me stayed with her."

"And you? I mean... Didn't you search for her?"

"Of course I did. But there wasn't a Lilly Clark living in the States anymore. She changed her name. I've spent years looking for her - ten to be exact. But..."

"You didn't find her." I finished his sentence with a sad smile on my lips.

He nodded.

"It was pretty hard to find you, actually. There are many Boltons in the States..."

"Yeah, I do have a pretty big family." he says, "I'm glad you found me."