Madeline
Chapter Sixteen - That I Belong
Gordo
I woke up and stared at the screaming alarm clock for a full minute before reaching over and slapping it off. Four a.m. was definitely too early for any day, let alone a Friday. I was scheduled to begin reshooting the damaged scenes today and it was just my luck that it coincided with a large number of meetings with everyone from the producers to the sound technicians who were having some troubles with the actors and their voice-overs. I was really not looking forward to my day. I suddenly missed the past two weeks of doing nothing more than being with my daughter even more when my phone began ringing before I had even sat up in bed.
"Hello?"
"Morning you, just calling to make sure you got up like you asked me too." Her voice went a long way to relieve any lingering sadness from a night alone in a hotel room. "So, this is what it will be like when you're shooting movies?"
"Pretty much, but I really only stay close to the set the entire time because I never really had a reason to be at home, but now that I do. . ." I let my thoughts trail off with my words and for a moment we both sat on the phone in silence. The picture of Lizzie, Madeline and me as a family was playing itself out beautifully in my head.
"I guess I can live with that, as long as I am Mrs. David Gordon." I smiled into the receiver and laughed lightly.
"You will be, I promised didn't I? I even got you a certain ring."
"Yes you did." She sighed heavily into the phone. "So why did I want to wait until next summer again? I mean that's like ten and a half months away from now. Matt will be done with college by then, well unless he's a rock star touring the country. Do you know how excited he's been since he spent that day recording with that orchestra?"
"Yes I do know, Miranda has asked me to hit him over the head with a bat just to shut him up more than once. But as for why you wanted to wait, you wanted time to try and get Matt okay with the idea of your mom coming to the wedding and possibly your dad. I personally am with Matt on this one though, but I love you and this is your wedding day so I want you to do whatever you feel would make it the best."
"Do you think I should forget about my dad and just concentrate on my mom? She never really did anything, although she didn't help us out at all either."
I rubbed my chin with my free hand and thought about my answer for a few heart beats before answering. "Honestly? I don't see Matt ever being okay with the idea of being in the same area as either of your parents. He really has a lot of hatred built up for them, it's pretty obvious now that I listen to his demo." She sighed again, sounding defeated. "When are you planning on letting him know your plans?"
"I actually already did. Last night after I talked to you, me and Matt got to talking and I laid out everything for him. It went about as well as I had figured it would, maybe a little better." I rubbed my forehead at her words.
"I thought we had agreed to tell him together, you know, moral support and everything. I would have felt better if I could have been there with you, but it doesn't matter now. What did he say?"
"He um, basically said that I had to choose who I wanted at the wedding more, them or him. Then he told me he had to leave before he regretted anything and just left the house. It's the only reason I was actually awake at five in the morning, I've been checking his room about every fifteen minutes when I wake up from trying to sleep." I could hear the worry in her voice for her brother and truthfully I felt the same worries creeping into my mind. "It's not like him to not call, Gordo. He's gotten pissed and left for a few hours before, but he always called from the first pay phone to let me know he would be back after he'd had time to think. I'm really worried I pushed him too far with this."
"Lizzie, I'm sure he's just fine, don't worry okay? He probably just forgot or something, he's got a lot to think through this time, it'll be okay." As I said each word, I truly hoped they were the truth and I tried to trust them. In the few weeks spending time with Matt two things had become clear, one- he was a creature of habit, if he did something more than once he would always do it without thought the exact same way; and two- he never missed or forgot a thing. It had started to get annoying how he seemed to always know exactly what Madeline was doing and where she was doing it at.
"Gordo, thanks for trying, but we both know Matt better than to think he just forgot something. The boy is a walking date book and surveillance team all in one. I wish having Madeline could have had the same effect on me, but I'd never remember anything without him to remind me. Besides, I have to worry about him, it's a big sister thing."
"Lizzie. . ."
"Hold on, I think he just came in the front door." She cut off any other words of comfort I could have found. There was silence over the line for a few minutes, eventually replaced by talking in the background. "Gordo, can I call you back?"
"Actually, I have to get going in like fifteen minutes, so why don't you just fill me in on everything later tonight okay?"
"Sounds good. Thanks."
"Anytime. I love you."
"Love you too." She barely got the words out before the line clicked dead. I hung the phone back on the receiver and headed for a quick shower before dashing on towards what would no doubt be a very long day. I opened my bag and found everything I could possibly have forgotten sealed inside plastic baggies and laying on top of my clothes with a note.
David,
You really need to pay attention when you pack, I swear you'd forget your head if it weren't attached, plus you know how your mother worries anyway.
Gabriel
I smiled at the note as I read it through another time. For yet another time in my life I wondered how I had ever gotten anything accomplished before being blessed with Gabriella. The circumstances weren't the best, but I was glad to have received such a great friend in return. I lifted my bag onto the bathroom counter and pulled out everything I would need and flipped the shower on. I sent one more wish for a quick, easy day to the open air and stepped into the too hot flow of water. Not a great way to start any day, especially at five fifteen a.m. on a Friday morning.
VvVvV
"Congratulations!" Peter Vangriel's shout greeted me as I walked into the room crammed full of every possible audio/video device known to man. "On both the kid and the engagement!"
"Thanks, Pete, but how do you know- or do I even want to know?"
"No fears my esteemed director, the tabloids haven't caught a whiff of the news yet. Mr. Williams told me all about it the other day when we were going over cut offs for dubbing in his music. That Matt guy sure has a lot of ideas running through his head. I swear the two of them together in one room was the scariest thing I've ever witnessed, and I've been to A/V technical conferences." He made a mock shiver of fright then smiled. "Hope I'll be seeing more of him around, kept John preoccupied and that's always a good thing."
I laughed at the older, balding man. "I'm sure John would love to hear about that." He pretended to act horrified at the idea of me saying anything. "Now, what's the problem your guys are having with the voice-overs?"
"My guys aren't the problem, your actors are! Let me tell you what they've been. . ." I tuned out the following complaints, I knew them all already. They were always the same. I let my mind drift to Madeline, wondering what she was doing at the moment. Being that it was two in the afternoon, I was sure she'd be up to some project with Matt, if he was feeling in any mood for it. I was pulled back to my conversation by Peter's hand waving in front of my face. "You could at least pretend to listen to the same old complaints before telling me to do what I always do."
"Sorry, Pete. I've just already had a long day with those same actors and I've still got a few meetings before I can escape. It's no reason to blow you off though, I apologize."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just get going. I'll take care of everything here, and don't worry about it. I'm sure whatever your mind was on would like for you to get back to her soon as possible, I know my kids always miss me when I'm gone on a project." I returned his smile and thanked him before leaving the room and the problems in his hands.
Now all I had to get through were a few stuffy meetings and I was checking out of my hotel and heading home. Somehow, the three hour commute seemed a lot more worth it than it ever had before.
