Authors Note: I'm almost finished! I'm still working out the ending, but it should be up shortly. If it's not, I'm sorry, I'm going on vacation soon and it might be awhile after that. Thanks for reading and being so patient with me, I know this story's taking an incredibly long time to complete!!
Chapter 14: Angela's idea
"I want to adopt him," Jack said breathlessly to the secretary at the front desk. She perked up for the first time all morning and then buzzed for the head of the orphanage. This time, a very sophisticated lady walked through the side door, already grinning about the future adoption.
"Hello, I'm Mrs. Grise. I hear you want to adopt Daniel. He's one of our longest residents. He's been living here since birth. He's never been in foster care, much less in a real home, which I'm sure you can provide for him." the woman said, shaking Jack's hand firmly. She escorted him to her office, where he was handed a mountain of paper work and one pen that refused to work well. Mrs. Grise did not make small talk, she simply typed at her computer and asked him questions like "Have you ever committed a felony?" Jack took a deep breath, looked at the clock which flashed 11:10 at him in neon lights before beginning the long adoption process.
Minkus stormed out to the desk only five minutes later and demanded to see Mrs. Grise.
"No can do," the secretary said in monotone. She offered no other information and began fielding calls for the orphanage. Stewart leaned across the desk and grabbed the phone. With a violent tug he ripped it from the wall.
"It's very important that I speak to your boss. Stewart Minkus will not be made a fool of!" he said through clenched teeth. His maneuver had frightened the secretary enough that she buzzed Mrs. Grise over the intercom. She tried to sound normal as she told Mrs. Grise that there was a matter that she had to attend to immediately in the lobby.
Then, white faced, she went back to the computer. Minkus still held on to the phone for emphasis. He didn't let go until Mrs. Grise appeared from her office.
"What is it Maureen?" she snapped, before seeing Minkus. Her expression changed completely as she tried sucking up to him. "Mr. Minkus, how pleasant it is to see you."
"What kind of security system do you have here, Mrs. Grise? Do you screen people who walk in at all or do you let any Joe off the street back to see the children, despite their background. You are lucky a rapist didn't get in here today Mrs. Grise." growled Minkus. He glared at her and watched her crumble.
She stuttered around for words before she regained her good sense. "I don't follow, Mr. Minkus,"
"You were aware of my meeting with the boy this morning, correct? I sent you a large check to ensure that no one else adopts Adam, and certainly no one else comes to visit him." Stewart continued in an icy voice. He was tired of being messed with, particularly by his childhood tormentor Cory Matthews.
Mrs. Grise nodded her head, "Mr. Minkus, no one else had seen the boy since then. I respect your wishes."
"Clearly you do not! When I arrived today and went back to see Adam, the secretary said that Mr. Minkus had already arrived and had been back in the lounge for an hour! One complete hour with no interference! I did not arrive any earlier than 9:45 am, Mrs. Grise. A complete stranger had walked in and taken my appointment!" By this point Minkus was shouting. Mrs. Grise had gone completely white. She shot a look at Maureen, who had yet to touch the phone.
"I'm so sorry, I will send security to take care of it immediately. " Mrs. Grise promised and went to the intercom. Instantly two burly security officers appeared and were dispatched to the lounge. Cory would have no warning the officers escorted him out of the building hopefully, thought Minkus, by force.
There was one more matter Minkus wanted to take care of, and that was finalizing the adoption. He knew that if he had custody of the child then she would stay in New York with him. The adoption had to be finished before it was too late.
Cory and Topanga's moment was interrupted by a knock on the lounge door. Startled, Topanga went to open it, only to be pushed aside by two security officers. "Sir, you'll need to come with me. We have orders to escort you from the premises." one said. Cory was then grabbed by the arm and ushered out the door.
He cast a look back at Topanga, who stood speechless by the door, unsure of what to do. Adam toddled over to her and asked her where Cory was going. Topanga didn't answer, she didn't know.
When Cory entered the lobby he found a triumphant Minkus standing there with a very dignified woman, Cory assumed correctly that she was in charge.
"How dare you assume my identity and try to steal my child!" spat Minkus, walking over to Cory, who was pinned helplessly by two guards.
"Honestly Minkus I just wanted to see my wife's child. I never 'assumed' anything." Cory insisted, furious at what Minkus was doing to him.
Without warning, Minkus punched him in the stomach. "The name's Stewart." he growled, as Cory doubled over. "Take him away," he said to the guards like he owned the place.
He probably did, Cory thought as he was thrown out into the street. Clutching his stomach, he almost yelled back a corny threat like 'You'll never get away with this!" but he refrained from doing so. He watched as Minkus told Mrs. Grise that he wanted to finalize the adoption, and then turned away in disgust. Minkus sure did gain muscle, he thought, holding his stomach. As he sat dejectedly against the building, a shadow fell over him. It was Angela, fresh from her long hike from the law firm.
"What are you doing out here?" she demanded, looking inside and seeing Minkus shaking hands with Mrs. Grise.
"I'm not allowed on the premises. Two security officers kicked me out. What can I do?" Cory explained, hardly raising his head.
Angela pulled Cory up. "You can't let him win. Are you sure the adoption is unstoppable?"
"No, I just know it's about to finalized." Cory admitted, unsure of what Angela was getting at.
"Do you think that Minkus did anything illegal with this adoption? Like slip the money under the table, because bribing someone, particularly a government employee working at this government run orphanage is illegal." Angela asked, starting to pace.
"I honestly don't know," responded Cory.
"Let's pretend that he did, because I wouldn't put it past him. This place is easy to get into, seeing as how they didn't even check your identification when you went to see Adam. I have a plan, but it involves a little role playing, which we might need money for. Would you mind getting some out of an ATM? I saw one about a block west of here." Angela instructed.
Cory knew he didn't have much money left, but if the plan worked (whatever it was) he could get Topanga back, and that was worth all the money in the world. He nodded, and followed Angela's directions as she went inside to see Shawn and all that he knew about Adam's adoption.
"Let's get the adoption finalized," Minkus told Mrs. Grise after Cory had been thrown out. She was still shocked about the punch, and how quickly Minkus recovered from his outburst. Mrs. Grise tried to shake it off quickly as well.
"I'm afraid I'm working on an adoption currently, which requires my services. When I'm through with it I'll be happy to finish yours." she said cheerfully. Minkus looked very displeased with this, but Mrs. Grise stood firm. She had only a little more to do with Daniel's adoption, and he came before Adam having never before been placed in another's care.
Daniel was more of a troubled child than Adam, and therefore hard to place. Adam could be adopted by anyone; he was friendly and precocious, what most people wanted in a four year old. Daniel needed to come first. She sent Minkus back to the lounge and rejoined Jack right as he finished the paperwork.
"I'm sorry about that," she said with a toothy smile. Jack waved it off and handed her the papers.
"If you don't mind, I'm going to go back with Daniel while you check it all out," he said, and quickly excused himself.
When he entered the backroom, he found that Angela had joined them and talking quietly with Shawn in the corner. Eric was still rolling the nerf ball with Daniel. "The adoption's almost done," Jack said with a smile.
For the first time all day, Daniel smiled too. He knew that he was going home soon, and would see his best friend as much as he wanted. Only the adults wished they could know the same.
Shawn had told Angela exactly what she wanted to hear. She met up with Cory soon after and they began to put their plan into action. If all went right, Adam would never fall into the hands of Mr. Stewart Minkus.