Chapter 3
Julian finds something in Eve's apartment. Whitney, Fox, Teresa and Austin go to the American Idol Tryouts.
Pilar sat in the lobby of the apartment building that she had followed Roger Thorpe and Holly Lindsey to. She knew from that damned file, that his apartment was on the top floor. She also knew that technically, Roger did not live in it anymore.
She stood up. The doorman was looking at her. Pilar realized she couldn't keep lurking about down here. She had to appear as if she was in this building to see someone. Yet, if she waited outside of Roger's door, his neighbors would become suspicious.
Pilar decided she really had no choice, but to go up there, ring his bell, and somehow get him to listen to what she had to say. Because the more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that Roger Thorpe was the only one that could tell her why he had Martin's face!
Just as she was heading towards the elevator, she heard a woman's voice ask the doorman which floor Mr. Thorpe stayed on? The doorman asked who she was and Pilar saw the woman show some I.D., and say something about being a nurse.
A nurse? Pilar then thought back to seeing Holly Lindsey sneeze. There was no telling how long the woman had been out in the rain, without a coat or an umbrella.
Pilar waited until the woman got onto the elevator, then stepped on with her. She had just figured out how she was going to approach Roger.
****
Roger heard the doorbell ring, and came out of one of the back bedrooms. Holly had passed out and was now running a high fever.
He had made the decision not to call their daughter Blake, or anyone else about the matter. Because once he nursed Holly back to health, he was going to find out what Fletcher Reade had been blackmailing her with.
Roger had known Holly since she was a teenager. There was nothing about her life he did not know. Except for maybe the 20 something years they were separated, and he was working for the CIA.
But he had tried to keep up with her and his daughter's activities. Maybe it was something that had happened while he had been in California? Whatever it was, it was bad enough that Holly felt she had to drop her custody bid for Meg.
Roger opened the door without looking out, something he ordinarily, would not have done. But he knew it was the private nurse he had gotten a hold of.
When he looked out, he saw the private nurse, and another woman...who was pointing a gun in the nurse's back!
Pilar shoved the nurse inside, then leveled the gun at Roger. Roger put his hands up and stepped back. The nurse cowered behind him.
'Mr. Thorpe, she attacked me in the elevator!'
'Oh, I did not!' Pilar snapped. She then looked around.
'I heard her say she was a nurse. Where's the patient?'
Roger turned to look at the nurse. Somehow, he got the sense that this woman was not going to shoot up the place. Yet, this was the last thing he needed right now. Roger couldn't have imagined how he could've pissed this woman off! He'd never seen her before in his life!
'Ms. Lindsey is in the far back bedroom.'
The nurse nodded, eyed Pilar, then walked down the hallway. Pilar reached back and slammed the door.
If Roger was Martin, he was doing his damnedest to pretend as if he didn't know her! Pilar looked him up and down. This was really what she had wanted, to see this man's reaction to seeing her. He was surprised by the gun, and that seemed to be about it. She was sure he did not know her. But, he had to have some connection to Martin.
'Who are you and what do you want?' Roger asked coolly, moving closer, instead of farther away from her.
Pilar lowered her gun, then put it away in her holster.
'I need your help. Except for your name, you could be my husband's twin brother. So, either you're related to him, or one of you, had plastic surgery to look like the other.'
Roger's eyes widened, and he lowered his hands. He REALLY didn't need this right now! Yet, he was intrigued. Roger motioned for her to sit down in his living room.
'Come in, Ms....Ms....'
'My name is Pilar. Pilar Lopez-Fitzgerald. And I'm a federal agent.'
Pilar took out her credentials and held them up. Roger just glanced at them.
His eyes went over her again, as if he believed her name, but not her occupation. Pilar took him up on his silent offer and walked over to his couch to sit down. He walked over and sat down next to her. Pilar then proceeded to tell Roger everything she knew.
****
NEXT DAY-HARMONY
Julian had let himself into Eve's apartment(when she moved out of the mansion, it hadn't been difficult to find out where she was living. He had bribed her super into giving him a duplicate key to her apartment) and began cooking her breakfast.
Many people would probably be surprised to know that he could indeed cook. His father had sent him away, as a teenager, to one of those camps that shaped unruly boys up. One of his many chores there had been cooking.
Julian had taken off his sports jacket, and put on a apron, as he gently flipped a pancake. He was worried that Eve had not been eating properly. He was worried about her in general anyway.
Julian had decided last night, that it would be the last evening he spent without her. This whole disagreement was such patent nonsense! Yet, it had come between them. Eve was actually going to leave town to get away from him...or so she thought.
Chad had been successful in getting the hospital in Boston to rescind their offer to Eve. They would be calling her this morning to tell her the news. Chad also had her salary raised at Harmony Hospital, just to make up for the slight.
Julian looked at the eggs that were cooking on another burner. He wasn't worried about Eve getting angry about any of this, or suspecting his hand in it. When he thought about why, Julian realized it was because Eve wasn't very frightening when she was mad. He would just get through her anger, then convince her to come back home.
His cellphone rang. Julian peeked down a hallway, that he assumed housed the bedrooms. Every door was shut. Hopefully, Eve was sleeping in. He then walked towards her couch, where he had carelessly thrown his jacket, reached into an inside pocket, and pulled out his phone. He looked at the number. It was Bruce.
Julian quickly answered, then kept his voice low, as to not prematurely awaken Eve.
'Bruce, tell me it's taken care of?' he asked, walking around the apartment. As he listened to his friend's answer, Julian's eyes rested on a pill bottle that was sitting over on a table by the window. He walked over to it and picked it up, then read the side. His eyes widened.
'Thank you, Bruce. Believe me, I will owe you one. Goodbye.'
Julian hung up, tossing his phone into a chair. He then carefully read the bottle again. These were prenatal vitamins. Eve wouldn't just happen to have these here in her home, unless she was taking them.
He couldn't help but think about how tired she looked lately. And now he knew the reason why. Eve was pregnant with his child...and she had been ready to just leave town and not tell him a damned thing!!!
****
Eve awoke to the smell of something burning. Something like food.
She jumped up and headed towards her bedroom door, thinking that for once, she did not wake up with morning sickness. But then again, the day was young.
Eve opened her bedroom door, then eased out into the hallway. Her first thought was that Tony had broken into her apartment, and tried to cook something for her. Sweet thought, but not exactly what she needed to be dealing with this early in the morning.
But when she reached the kitchen area, she looked over and saw Julian sitting in a chair. Her prenatal vitamins were on a table in front of him. He was looking from them, to her. Eve then knew that the jig was up!
She turned and went into the kitchen, turning off the stove burners. There were burnt eggs and pancakes staring back at her. Eve looked over at Julian, who was now openly staring at her. Somehow, chastising him about almost burning down her apartment, didn't seem appropriate.
'How did you get in here?' she asked quietly.
Julian's eyes swept over her body. She was wearing a black, spaghetti strapped nightgown. She didn't look pregnant yet.
Julian stood up.
'I had the super make me a key awhile back.'
'Julian! What is the matter with...'
Julian reached down quickly and snatched up the pill bottle!
'Were you ever going to tell me?!'
Eve looked down and began rubbing her forehead.
'Yes.'
'When? When, Eve? When you were safely tucked away in Boston someplace!'
'There is no need to shout...'
Julian slammed down the pill bottle! It bounced off of the table and on to the floor. He then walked up to her.
'After what happened the first time, how could you cut me out of our unborn child's life?'
Eve looked away guiltily. Julian looked so hurt, that now, her decision not to tell him did seem irrational.
Eve looked at him again.
'Julian, please try to understand that this whole thing has been totally unexpected. I just couldn't deal with our break-up and a baby. Plus, you were so busy trying to cheat Chad...I couldn't deal with that and this pregnancy too.'
Julian took a deep breath.
'I will have someone come and get your things. You are coming back to the mansion with me, right now.'
'Julian! We still have things we haven't worked out!'
Julian crossed his arms.
'Like what? That I didn't forsake my family heritage to some stranger and live off of your salary?'
Eve gasped!
'I never would've expected you to live off of what I made!'
'Well it doesn't matter anymore anyway. By tonight, I will have half of the Crane fortune back in my hands.'
Eve shook her head sadly.
'Poor Chad.'
Julian closed the distance between them quickly and grabbed her shoulders.
'I don't give a damn about Chad right now, Eve! You have not been looking after yourself properly...and...I can't believe you weren't going to give me the chance to do right by you this time! I can't believe you would've been willing to carry another child of ours alone! You don't know what it did to me, to know that you suffered so before!'
Eve pulled away from him.
'No I don't, Julian! Do you know why I don't? Because you never, for one instant, thought about how it would have affected me to 'pretend' to be Chad's mother! I want my REAL son! And watching you play this loathsome charade out...watching how easily you could do all of this, tells me that you didn't think about my feelings at all!'
Julian stared at her. Somewhere down the line, he had just assumed that she was alright with the idea of their never finding their son. The fact that she was carrying another child of his, in some ways, to him, was like a second chance to do right by the child they were never allowed to raise.
Julian folded his hands together, as if he were praying. He looked down at them, then looked at Eve.
'I don't want to fight with you anymore, darling. I just want to take care of you. Tell me what I have to do to fix this? Tell me what it's going to take to get you to come home? Whatever it is, I'll do it. But I'm not leaving this apartment without you.'
At that moment, Eve suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She turned and ran back towards the bathrooms. She barely made it to the toilet basin, before her morning sickness kicked in.
Julian stared after her, dumbfounded. This is what morning sickness was like! He had never seen Ivy sick...except after they had sex together. And that was only done to conceive children.
But when Ivy had been pregnant, and during most of their marriage as well, she had had her own wing. So Julian never saw her go through any of the discomforts that came with pregnancy.
But to hear his poor darling wretching so, in the other room, wounded his heart. She sounded like she was dying, instead of just vomiting. Julian slowly made his way back down the hallway, to the bathroom.
Eve was sitting on the floor, her head resting against the toilet seat. She was breathing heavily.
Julian sat down on the floor as well, then wrapped his arms around her from behind. Eve did not fight him, but instead, leaned into him.
'It will be alright, darling,' Julian whispered, 'it will be alright.'
Eve said nothing, but allowed him to hold her. It felt right to be back in his arms. She was too tired to fight him. She would just let him take care of everything, for now.
****
AMERICAN IDOL TRY OUTS-BOSTON
American Idol Judge, Simon Cowell rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. Not only had some, no, MANY of Boston's most atrocious singers, just wasted his time this morning, but none of them were good looking worth a good @##&%!
He didn't think he'd make it a third time, judging this competition, if he couldn't lay eyes on someone he could fantasize about properly. Boy or girl, he didn't care which! That and he was quite stressed!
The media, and critics, were beginning to hype up the fact that none of his discoveries, Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini, Reuben Stoddard or Clay Aiken, were true break out hits. People were saying that a person could get famous being on the show, but were forgotten about, once it was over.
Simon believed there was a reason for that: none of those four people were that good looking! And looks were everything, as far as he was concerned. Give him image over talent, anyday!
'You were a little hard on that last singer, weren't you?' Paula Abdul asked him.
Simon slowly turned to look at her. What was she? The straight woman?
'You are kidding, aren't you? Never mind! Don't answer that!'
'I liked his version of 'Never Too Much'!' Paula protested.
'Well fine, Paula! And he's coming to Hollywood, isn't he? Randy and yourself got him in. But it's pathetically obvious that we're are going to be bored speechless with Luther wannabees!'
'Dude, it did work for Reuben. Maybe that's why we're hearing so many of his songs.'
Simon did not answer Randy. It would be a long season of his hearing the words 'Dude' and 'Dog' from his fellow judge. Simon was hoping he would save his limited vocabulary for when they were at least down to judging the final 10!
Randy gave Paula a look, and the two began conversing about other boring things. Simon snatched up the picture of the next person they were going to hear sing. His eyes widened. Now this was more like it!
The girl's name was Whitney Russell. She was 20 years old, from Harmony, Maine. Engaged. That would not do, Simon thought. He just hoped like hell she could sing at least one note!
****
Teresa fussed with Whitney's hair one last time, before she went in for her audition. Teresa had suggested that she blow dry it straight. She had reminded Whitney about another girl from last year's competition, a Kimberly something or another. She had had hair similar to Whitney's, and it was only when this singer's hair went from straight to curly, that Simon Cowell warmed up to her.
'And remember Whitney,' Teresa said, 'it is Simon you really need to impress.'
Fox was standing next to them. He preferred Whitney's hair curly, but, he suspected Teresa was right on the hair thing. That and the sad part about this was, if Whitney did make it into the top ten, the audience, in many ways, voted for or against someone, based on Cowell's comments.
Fox had actually met Simon Cowell, some years back. He had been a pre-teen and his parents had still been together. They had come to London on some trip(actually Alistair wanted them all there for some reason or another) At a party that he was allowed to come to, Fox had been introduced to him.
The impression Fox always had of Cowell, was that he was an aging, record executive, who liked his women under 25. That may or not be true now. Fox had heard rumors of his seeing one woman exclusively. He also still kept hearing rumors that Cowell liked men and women!
But, right now, the purpose was to get Whitney to the next round. He smiled down at her.
'Which song did you decide to sing?' he asked. Teresa looked at Whitney expectantly.
'I was thinking of going with 'Over The Rainbow'.' she answered.
Teresa frowned.
'What? Teresa I'm nervous as hell already!'
'Everyone sings that song! You should do something different!'
Fox pulled Whitney away from Teresa a bit.
'Go in there and sing what you want to sing. Blow them away.'
Whitney smiled up at him, then hugged him.
'Thank you, honey.'
Whitney then looked over at Teresa. She pulled her into an embrace.
'I know you're only trying to help. Thank you, too.'
'You know I love you, Whit.' she said, hugging her back.
'I know.' Whitney whispered. She then looked around.
'Where's Austin?'
Fox could care less! Austin, had pulled the 'CRANE' family strings, and made it possible for them not to have to sleep outside, and for them to get seen right away. Once again, Fox had wanted to play Whitney's hero, and had been unable to.
A producer walked out and over to them.
'Okay. Go on in.'
Whitney gave Fox and Teresa the thumbs up sign, before walking in before the judges. Fox and Teresa moved closer, so they could peek inside.
****
Whitney walked in before the judges, trying to exude confidence. She was wearing a light pink mini-dress.
She looked at each judge. Good God! Was it her imagination, or had Simon Cowell licked his lips when he looked at her?!
Slightly unnerved, Whitney focused in on Paula, who was so pretty and welcoming, and Randy, who smiled at her and nodded.
'Whitney Russell,' Simon Cowell's British accent boomed out at her, 'tell us why you think you're then next American Idol?'
Whitney cleared her throat. She felt like she was answering a question in a beauty pageant!
'I think I have all the things that you're looking for in the next American Idol, and I think I would be a good role model.'
It was a lame answer, but Whitney didn't want to spend a lot of time thinking of how to answer questions like that. She was too afraid she would forget the words to her song!
****
Fox looked at Teresa.
'Did you see that?'
Teresa waved a hand.
'I'm sure Simon's lips were cracked, Fox. They've been sitting there all day.'
'Yeah, but he also has a big thing of water, and Coke sitting next to him. Why doesn't he drink those if he's so thirsty?'
Teresa began to laugh, and patted him on the shoulder. Whitney began to sing 'Over The Rainbow'. Teresa suddenly looked around. Where was Austin?
****
Austin was horrified to see his ex-fiancee, Sami Brady, at the try outs!
'What the hell are you doing here?' he asked, looking her up and down. She was dressed in a very tight black tank top and black leather pants! Her blonde hair was straight and parted down the middle.
'I could ask the same of you.' she snipped, smiling.
'I'm here to support a friend, not that it's any of your business.'
'I heard about your 'inheritance'. That whole thing was really weird. Wasn't Alistair Crane your boss? You must have done a REALLY good job!'
Austin peered at her.
'I never knew you wanted to be a singer, Sami. I never even knew you could sing.'
'Well that's your fault, Austin. If you had ever bothered to get to know me at all, you would know that singing is what live for.'
'Instead of making everyone's lives miserable?'
'Ha! That was so funny, I forgot to laugh.'
'Then I'll do it for you, ha!'
Sami rolled her eyes.
'I have to get going, my number is coming up. Wish me luck?'
Austin eyed her. He then nodded. Sami smiled and walked away. Austin frowned.
The rules said you had to be between the ages of 16 and 24. He knew Sami's birthday was last month. So that made Sami 25!
Should he say something? Getting Sami to be honest on her own, was an impossible feat. Yet, he didn't have the heart to out her. And chances were, once they started doing the background checks, the powers to be would find out her true age anyway. Austin shook his head. He almost felt sorry for Sami. She was always her own worst enemy!
****
Whitney finished her rendition of 'Over The Rainbow' and awaited the judges criticism.
'You went a little high on some of the notes, but it was okay.' Randy said, his enthusiasm was lukewarm.
Whitney looked to Paula.
'A little pitchy, but I would definitely say yes to coming to Hollywood.'
Whitney smiled at her gratefully, then looked to Simon. Simon smiled at her, then stood up and began applauding.
'Masterful! Just masterful! You are definitely coming to Hollywood!'
Randy eyed him, then Paula. Paula raised a brow. Yes, this Whitney Russell had something, but her singing didn't call for a standing ovation!
Whitney grinned at him, grateful that he had liked it so much!
'Thank you! Thank you so much!' she squealed. She then turned and left the room. She hurried straight into Fox's arms! Teresa threw her arms around both Fox and Whitney.
Whitney's advancing to the next round, was the best news Fox had received in a long while. Since his inheritance had been stolen.
Fox let go of Whitney, and she and Teresa moved away a bit, and talked of the next thing she needed to wear. It was then, that the judges appeared out in the hallway. They looked like they were on some kind of break. Probably to stretch their legs.
Fox eyed Cowell. He looked almost the same as when he'd seen him as a kid. The guy must be using botox, Fox thought. As he walked by them, Fox saw him give Whitney AND Teresa, a lingering glance.
Great! Fox thought. Not only did he have to get Whitney through the next part of the competition, now he had to keep Simon Cowell's hands off of his fiancee!
****
Chad had been sitting in the library at the Crane mansion, looking over some overseas reports. But it was no use. He would need Julian's help with deciphering all of this information.
He wanted to make Julian proud of him. He wanted to carry on the Crane family name.
It would be nice if his mother, and his sisters, would be more accepting. He understood why Simone never contacted him. And his mother was just in shock. And Whitney...
Chad couldn't have the same feelings for her, that he had had when he wanted her to be his wife. He would just have to learn to deal with her on a sisterly level.
But Whitney as much as told him, she would never accept the idea that they were brother and sister. At first, Chad just thought she didn't want a brother, or it was hard for her to accept that she had been intimate with him.
But now, he wondered if it could be because, maybe, she still loved him? That she didn't want him to be her brother, because then, there would be no chance for them?
Chad put down the reports and stood up. It was then, that the butler opened the library door.
'These papers just arrived by messenger for your father. I'll set them in here.' he said, then left, closing the door behind him.
Chad looked at the 8 x 11 envelope that sat on the coffee table. Papers? Julian had said nothing to him about expecting anything.
Chad walked over to the envelope and picked it up. They were from some law office. Law offices usually meant serious business!
Chad walked back over to the desk and picked up a letter opener. He was practically Crane industries now. And if his father was in some sort of trouble, then he should know about it. Maybe he could help.
Chad then slit the envelope open.
Julian finds something in Eve's apartment. Whitney, Fox, Teresa and Austin go to the American Idol Tryouts.
Pilar sat in the lobby of the apartment building that she had followed Roger Thorpe and Holly Lindsey to. She knew from that damned file, that his apartment was on the top floor. She also knew that technically, Roger did not live in it anymore.
She stood up. The doorman was looking at her. Pilar realized she couldn't keep lurking about down here. She had to appear as if she was in this building to see someone. Yet, if she waited outside of Roger's door, his neighbors would become suspicious.
Pilar decided she really had no choice, but to go up there, ring his bell, and somehow get him to listen to what she had to say. Because the more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that Roger Thorpe was the only one that could tell her why he had Martin's face!
Just as she was heading towards the elevator, she heard a woman's voice ask the doorman which floor Mr. Thorpe stayed on? The doorman asked who she was and Pilar saw the woman show some I.D., and say something about being a nurse.
A nurse? Pilar then thought back to seeing Holly Lindsey sneeze. There was no telling how long the woman had been out in the rain, without a coat or an umbrella.
Pilar waited until the woman got onto the elevator, then stepped on with her. She had just figured out how she was going to approach Roger.
****
Roger heard the doorbell ring, and came out of one of the back bedrooms. Holly had passed out and was now running a high fever.
He had made the decision not to call their daughter Blake, or anyone else about the matter. Because once he nursed Holly back to health, he was going to find out what Fletcher Reade had been blackmailing her with.
Roger had known Holly since she was a teenager. There was nothing about her life he did not know. Except for maybe the 20 something years they were separated, and he was working for the CIA.
But he had tried to keep up with her and his daughter's activities. Maybe it was something that had happened while he had been in California? Whatever it was, it was bad enough that Holly felt she had to drop her custody bid for Meg.
Roger opened the door without looking out, something he ordinarily, would not have done. But he knew it was the private nurse he had gotten a hold of.
When he looked out, he saw the private nurse, and another woman...who was pointing a gun in the nurse's back!
Pilar shoved the nurse inside, then leveled the gun at Roger. Roger put his hands up and stepped back. The nurse cowered behind him.
'Mr. Thorpe, she attacked me in the elevator!'
'Oh, I did not!' Pilar snapped. She then looked around.
'I heard her say she was a nurse. Where's the patient?'
Roger turned to look at the nurse. Somehow, he got the sense that this woman was not going to shoot up the place. Yet, this was the last thing he needed right now. Roger couldn't have imagined how he could've pissed this woman off! He'd never seen her before in his life!
'Ms. Lindsey is in the far back bedroom.'
The nurse nodded, eyed Pilar, then walked down the hallway. Pilar reached back and slammed the door.
If Roger was Martin, he was doing his damnedest to pretend as if he didn't know her! Pilar looked him up and down. This was really what she had wanted, to see this man's reaction to seeing her. He was surprised by the gun, and that seemed to be about it. She was sure he did not know her. But, he had to have some connection to Martin.
'Who are you and what do you want?' Roger asked coolly, moving closer, instead of farther away from her.
Pilar lowered her gun, then put it away in her holster.
'I need your help. Except for your name, you could be my husband's twin brother. So, either you're related to him, or one of you, had plastic surgery to look like the other.'
Roger's eyes widened, and he lowered his hands. He REALLY didn't need this right now! Yet, he was intrigued. Roger motioned for her to sit down in his living room.
'Come in, Ms....Ms....'
'My name is Pilar. Pilar Lopez-Fitzgerald. And I'm a federal agent.'
Pilar took out her credentials and held them up. Roger just glanced at them.
His eyes went over her again, as if he believed her name, but not her occupation. Pilar took him up on his silent offer and walked over to his couch to sit down. He walked over and sat down next to her. Pilar then proceeded to tell Roger everything she knew.
****
NEXT DAY-HARMONY
Julian had let himself into Eve's apartment(when she moved out of the mansion, it hadn't been difficult to find out where she was living. He had bribed her super into giving him a duplicate key to her apartment) and began cooking her breakfast.
Many people would probably be surprised to know that he could indeed cook. His father had sent him away, as a teenager, to one of those camps that shaped unruly boys up. One of his many chores there had been cooking.
Julian had taken off his sports jacket, and put on a apron, as he gently flipped a pancake. He was worried that Eve had not been eating properly. He was worried about her in general anyway.
Julian had decided last night, that it would be the last evening he spent without her. This whole disagreement was such patent nonsense! Yet, it had come between them. Eve was actually going to leave town to get away from him...or so she thought.
Chad had been successful in getting the hospital in Boston to rescind their offer to Eve. They would be calling her this morning to tell her the news. Chad also had her salary raised at Harmony Hospital, just to make up for the slight.
Julian looked at the eggs that were cooking on another burner. He wasn't worried about Eve getting angry about any of this, or suspecting his hand in it. When he thought about why, Julian realized it was because Eve wasn't very frightening when she was mad. He would just get through her anger, then convince her to come back home.
His cellphone rang. Julian peeked down a hallway, that he assumed housed the bedrooms. Every door was shut. Hopefully, Eve was sleeping in. He then walked towards her couch, where he had carelessly thrown his jacket, reached into an inside pocket, and pulled out his phone. He looked at the number. It was Bruce.
Julian quickly answered, then kept his voice low, as to not prematurely awaken Eve.
'Bruce, tell me it's taken care of?' he asked, walking around the apartment. As he listened to his friend's answer, Julian's eyes rested on a pill bottle that was sitting over on a table by the window. He walked over to it and picked it up, then read the side. His eyes widened.
'Thank you, Bruce. Believe me, I will owe you one. Goodbye.'
Julian hung up, tossing his phone into a chair. He then carefully read the bottle again. These were prenatal vitamins. Eve wouldn't just happen to have these here in her home, unless she was taking them.
He couldn't help but think about how tired she looked lately. And now he knew the reason why. Eve was pregnant with his child...and she had been ready to just leave town and not tell him a damned thing!!!
****
Eve awoke to the smell of something burning. Something like food.
She jumped up and headed towards her bedroom door, thinking that for once, she did not wake up with morning sickness. But then again, the day was young.
Eve opened her bedroom door, then eased out into the hallway. Her first thought was that Tony had broken into her apartment, and tried to cook something for her. Sweet thought, but not exactly what she needed to be dealing with this early in the morning.
But when she reached the kitchen area, she looked over and saw Julian sitting in a chair. Her prenatal vitamins were on a table in front of him. He was looking from them, to her. Eve then knew that the jig was up!
She turned and went into the kitchen, turning off the stove burners. There were burnt eggs and pancakes staring back at her. Eve looked over at Julian, who was now openly staring at her. Somehow, chastising him about almost burning down her apartment, didn't seem appropriate.
'How did you get in here?' she asked quietly.
Julian's eyes swept over her body. She was wearing a black, spaghetti strapped nightgown. She didn't look pregnant yet.
Julian stood up.
'I had the super make me a key awhile back.'
'Julian! What is the matter with...'
Julian reached down quickly and snatched up the pill bottle!
'Were you ever going to tell me?!'
Eve looked down and began rubbing her forehead.
'Yes.'
'When? When, Eve? When you were safely tucked away in Boston someplace!'
'There is no need to shout...'
Julian slammed down the pill bottle! It bounced off of the table and on to the floor. He then walked up to her.
'After what happened the first time, how could you cut me out of our unborn child's life?'
Eve looked away guiltily. Julian looked so hurt, that now, her decision not to tell him did seem irrational.
Eve looked at him again.
'Julian, please try to understand that this whole thing has been totally unexpected. I just couldn't deal with our break-up and a baby. Plus, you were so busy trying to cheat Chad...I couldn't deal with that and this pregnancy too.'
Julian took a deep breath.
'I will have someone come and get your things. You are coming back to the mansion with me, right now.'
'Julian! We still have things we haven't worked out!'
Julian crossed his arms.
'Like what? That I didn't forsake my family heritage to some stranger and live off of your salary?'
Eve gasped!
'I never would've expected you to live off of what I made!'
'Well it doesn't matter anymore anyway. By tonight, I will have half of the Crane fortune back in my hands.'
Eve shook her head sadly.
'Poor Chad.'
Julian closed the distance between them quickly and grabbed her shoulders.
'I don't give a damn about Chad right now, Eve! You have not been looking after yourself properly...and...I can't believe you weren't going to give me the chance to do right by you this time! I can't believe you would've been willing to carry another child of ours alone! You don't know what it did to me, to know that you suffered so before!'
Eve pulled away from him.
'No I don't, Julian! Do you know why I don't? Because you never, for one instant, thought about how it would have affected me to 'pretend' to be Chad's mother! I want my REAL son! And watching you play this loathsome charade out...watching how easily you could do all of this, tells me that you didn't think about my feelings at all!'
Julian stared at her. Somewhere down the line, he had just assumed that she was alright with the idea of their never finding their son. The fact that she was carrying another child of his, in some ways, to him, was like a second chance to do right by the child they were never allowed to raise.
Julian folded his hands together, as if he were praying. He looked down at them, then looked at Eve.
'I don't want to fight with you anymore, darling. I just want to take care of you. Tell me what I have to do to fix this? Tell me what it's going to take to get you to come home? Whatever it is, I'll do it. But I'm not leaving this apartment without you.'
At that moment, Eve suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She turned and ran back towards the bathrooms. She barely made it to the toilet basin, before her morning sickness kicked in.
Julian stared after her, dumbfounded. This is what morning sickness was like! He had never seen Ivy sick...except after they had sex together. And that was only done to conceive children.
But when Ivy had been pregnant, and during most of their marriage as well, she had had her own wing. So Julian never saw her go through any of the discomforts that came with pregnancy.
But to hear his poor darling wretching so, in the other room, wounded his heart. She sounded like she was dying, instead of just vomiting. Julian slowly made his way back down the hallway, to the bathroom.
Eve was sitting on the floor, her head resting against the toilet seat. She was breathing heavily.
Julian sat down on the floor as well, then wrapped his arms around her from behind. Eve did not fight him, but instead, leaned into him.
'It will be alright, darling,' Julian whispered, 'it will be alright.'
Eve said nothing, but allowed him to hold her. It felt right to be back in his arms. She was too tired to fight him. She would just let him take care of everything, for now.
****
AMERICAN IDOL TRY OUTS-BOSTON
American Idol Judge, Simon Cowell rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. Not only had some, no, MANY of Boston's most atrocious singers, just wasted his time this morning, but none of them were good looking worth a good @##&%!
He didn't think he'd make it a third time, judging this competition, if he couldn't lay eyes on someone he could fantasize about properly. Boy or girl, he didn't care which! That and he was quite stressed!
The media, and critics, were beginning to hype up the fact that none of his discoveries, Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini, Reuben Stoddard or Clay Aiken, were true break out hits. People were saying that a person could get famous being on the show, but were forgotten about, once it was over.
Simon believed there was a reason for that: none of those four people were that good looking! And looks were everything, as far as he was concerned. Give him image over talent, anyday!
'You were a little hard on that last singer, weren't you?' Paula Abdul asked him.
Simon slowly turned to look at her. What was she? The straight woman?
'You are kidding, aren't you? Never mind! Don't answer that!'
'I liked his version of 'Never Too Much'!' Paula protested.
'Well fine, Paula! And he's coming to Hollywood, isn't he? Randy and yourself got him in. But it's pathetically obvious that we're are going to be bored speechless with Luther wannabees!'
'Dude, it did work for Reuben. Maybe that's why we're hearing so many of his songs.'
Simon did not answer Randy. It would be a long season of his hearing the words 'Dude' and 'Dog' from his fellow judge. Simon was hoping he would save his limited vocabulary for when they were at least down to judging the final 10!
Randy gave Paula a look, and the two began conversing about other boring things. Simon snatched up the picture of the next person they were going to hear sing. His eyes widened. Now this was more like it!
The girl's name was Whitney Russell. She was 20 years old, from Harmony, Maine. Engaged. That would not do, Simon thought. He just hoped like hell she could sing at least one note!
****
Teresa fussed with Whitney's hair one last time, before she went in for her audition. Teresa had suggested that she blow dry it straight. She had reminded Whitney about another girl from last year's competition, a Kimberly something or another. She had had hair similar to Whitney's, and it was only when this singer's hair went from straight to curly, that Simon Cowell warmed up to her.
'And remember Whitney,' Teresa said, 'it is Simon you really need to impress.'
Fox was standing next to them. He preferred Whitney's hair curly, but, he suspected Teresa was right on the hair thing. That and the sad part about this was, if Whitney did make it into the top ten, the audience, in many ways, voted for or against someone, based on Cowell's comments.
Fox had actually met Simon Cowell, some years back. He had been a pre-teen and his parents had still been together. They had come to London on some trip(actually Alistair wanted them all there for some reason or another) At a party that he was allowed to come to, Fox had been introduced to him.
The impression Fox always had of Cowell, was that he was an aging, record executive, who liked his women under 25. That may or not be true now. Fox had heard rumors of his seeing one woman exclusively. He also still kept hearing rumors that Cowell liked men and women!
But, right now, the purpose was to get Whitney to the next round. He smiled down at her.
'Which song did you decide to sing?' he asked. Teresa looked at Whitney expectantly.
'I was thinking of going with 'Over The Rainbow'.' she answered.
Teresa frowned.
'What? Teresa I'm nervous as hell already!'
'Everyone sings that song! You should do something different!'
Fox pulled Whitney away from Teresa a bit.
'Go in there and sing what you want to sing. Blow them away.'
Whitney smiled up at him, then hugged him.
'Thank you, honey.'
Whitney then looked over at Teresa. She pulled her into an embrace.
'I know you're only trying to help. Thank you, too.'
'You know I love you, Whit.' she said, hugging her back.
'I know.' Whitney whispered. She then looked around.
'Where's Austin?'
Fox could care less! Austin, had pulled the 'CRANE' family strings, and made it possible for them not to have to sleep outside, and for them to get seen right away. Once again, Fox had wanted to play Whitney's hero, and had been unable to.
A producer walked out and over to them.
'Okay. Go on in.'
Whitney gave Fox and Teresa the thumbs up sign, before walking in before the judges. Fox and Teresa moved closer, so they could peek inside.
****
Whitney walked in before the judges, trying to exude confidence. She was wearing a light pink mini-dress.
She looked at each judge. Good God! Was it her imagination, or had Simon Cowell licked his lips when he looked at her?!
Slightly unnerved, Whitney focused in on Paula, who was so pretty and welcoming, and Randy, who smiled at her and nodded.
'Whitney Russell,' Simon Cowell's British accent boomed out at her, 'tell us why you think you're then next American Idol?'
Whitney cleared her throat. She felt like she was answering a question in a beauty pageant!
'I think I have all the things that you're looking for in the next American Idol, and I think I would be a good role model.'
It was a lame answer, but Whitney didn't want to spend a lot of time thinking of how to answer questions like that. She was too afraid she would forget the words to her song!
****
Fox looked at Teresa.
'Did you see that?'
Teresa waved a hand.
'I'm sure Simon's lips were cracked, Fox. They've been sitting there all day.'
'Yeah, but he also has a big thing of water, and Coke sitting next to him. Why doesn't he drink those if he's so thirsty?'
Teresa began to laugh, and patted him on the shoulder. Whitney began to sing 'Over The Rainbow'. Teresa suddenly looked around. Where was Austin?
****
Austin was horrified to see his ex-fiancee, Sami Brady, at the try outs!
'What the hell are you doing here?' he asked, looking her up and down. She was dressed in a very tight black tank top and black leather pants! Her blonde hair was straight and parted down the middle.
'I could ask the same of you.' she snipped, smiling.
'I'm here to support a friend, not that it's any of your business.'
'I heard about your 'inheritance'. That whole thing was really weird. Wasn't Alistair Crane your boss? You must have done a REALLY good job!'
Austin peered at her.
'I never knew you wanted to be a singer, Sami. I never even knew you could sing.'
'Well that's your fault, Austin. If you had ever bothered to get to know me at all, you would know that singing is what live for.'
'Instead of making everyone's lives miserable?'
'Ha! That was so funny, I forgot to laugh.'
'Then I'll do it for you, ha!'
Sami rolled her eyes.
'I have to get going, my number is coming up. Wish me luck?'
Austin eyed her. He then nodded. Sami smiled and walked away. Austin frowned.
The rules said you had to be between the ages of 16 and 24. He knew Sami's birthday was last month. So that made Sami 25!
Should he say something? Getting Sami to be honest on her own, was an impossible feat. Yet, he didn't have the heart to out her. And chances were, once they started doing the background checks, the powers to be would find out her true age anyway. Austin shook his head. He almost felt sorry for Sami. She was always her own worst enemy!
****
Whitney finished her rendition of 'Over The Rainbow' and awaited the judges criticism.
'You went a little high on some of the notes, but it was okay.' Randy said, his enthusiasm was lukewarm.
Whitney looked to Paula.
'A little pitchy, but I would definitely say yes to coming to Hollywood.'
Whitney smiled at her gratefully, then looked to Simon. Simon smiled at her, then stood up and began applauding.
'Masterful! Just masterful! You are definitely coming to Hollywood!'
Randy eyed him, then Paula. Paula raised a brow. Yes, this Whitney Russell had something, but her singing didn't call for a standing ovation!
Whitney grinned at him, grateful that he had liked it so much!
'Thank you! Thank you so much!' she squealed. She then turned and left the room. She hurried straight into Fox's arms! Teresa threw her arms around both Fox and Whitney.
Whitney's advancing to the next round, was the best news Fox had received in a long while. Since his inheritance had been stolen.
Fox let go of Whitney, and she and Teresa moved away a bit, and talked of the next thing she needed to wear. It was then, that the judges appeared out in the hallway. They looked like they were on some kind of break. Probably to stretch their legs.
Fox eyed Cowell. He looked almost the same as when he'd seen him as a kid. The guy must be using botox, Fox thought. As he walked by them, Fox saw him give Whitney AND Teresa, a lingering glance.
Great! Fox thought. Not only did he have to get Whitney through the next part of the competition, now he had to keep Simon Cowell's hands off of his fiancee!
****
Chad had been sitting in the library at the Crane mansion, looking over some overseas reports. But it was no use. He would need Julian's help with deciphering all of this information.
He wanted to make Julian proud of him. He wanted to carry on the Crane family name.
It would be nice if his mother, and his sisters, would be more accepting. He understood why Simone never contacted him. And his mother was just in shock. And Whitney...
Chad couldn't have the same feelings for her, that he had had when he wanted her to be his wife. He would just have to learn to deal with her on a sisterly level.
But Whitney as much as told him, she would never accept the idea that they were brother and sister. At first, Chad just thought she didn't want a brother, or it was hard for her to accept that she had been intimate with him.
But now, he wondered if it could be because, maybe, she still loved him? That she didn't want him to be her brother, because then, there would be no chance for them?
Chad put down the reports and stood up. It was then, that the butler opened the library door.
'These papers just arrived by messenger for your father. I'll set them in here.' he said, then left, closing the door behind him.
Chad looked at the 8 x 11 envelope that sat on the coffee table. Papers? Julian had said nothing to him about expecting anything.
Chad walked over to the envelope and picked it up. They were from some law office. Law offices usually meant serious business!
Chad walked back over to the desk and picked up a letter opener. He was practically Crane industries now. And if his father was in some sort of trouble, then he should know about it. Maybe he could help.
Chad then slit the envelope open.
