I DO NOT OWN LIZZIE MCGUIRE! Again, thank you for the reviews. I'm glad that you like the story so far. Keep reading!

Chapter Seven

The next Monday morning, Gordo sat in his office at home, talking to his financial advisor, Joseph, who sat on the other side of the desk. Gordo played with a vintage camera while Joseph was going through some random numbers that Gordo didn't care to be paying attention to at all. He sighed. The past forty -eight hours had been somewhat crazy for him, although he couldn't explain why they were crazy.

For one thing, that kid, Jake, had asked Hailey out. Just as he was beginning to like the kid, too. Hailey told him on Saturday afternoon that she wasn't going to homecoming. Instead, she was going to go see a movie with Jake. He wasn't sure why he assumed their relationship was innocent. Jake seemed harmless enough. When he walked out on the porch to give Jake his money for the week and saw them kissing, he didn't know what to think. If Hailey had told him that it was just a friendly kiss, he probably would have believed her. But Hailey revealed to him the next day, or yesterday, what was going on. His precious niece and the new kid were dating.

This shouldn't have bothered him. He should have seen it coming, but at the same time, for reasons Gordo couldn't even begin to explain, this bothered him. Maybe it was the fact that he caught them kissing. Hailey had been on dates before with guys, but he'd never seen Hailey kiss a guy. Hailey had also never been on dates where one of them could drive, either.

For some reason, anyway, this distracted Gordo. Hailey was growing up right before his eyes, but Gordo hadn't made any drastic changes to his personal and social life for years. Certainly not since Hailey came, anyway. As Joseph rattled out more numbers, Gordo put the camera down and tried to concentrate on what Joe was saying. Gordo sighed again, trying not to seem too bored. He hated these meetings.

Joseph must have noticed this, because he stopped reading, looked up at his client and said, "Is something wrong, David?"

"What?" he asked, then when he saw the look on Joe's face, he realized that he probably seemed less interested than usual, "Oh, no, I'm sorry. I just have a lot on my mind. Please, continue."

"Uh-huh," Joseph said, but he didn't go back to the papers. In fact, he set them on the desk and took off his glasses, "David, I've known you for over a decade. I've been handling your money for just as long. In fact, I don't mean to be rude and don't take this the wrong way, but I often feel like I am the closest thing you have to a friend ho is your age. Am I wrong?"

Gordo frowned. This man knew him better than anyone, didn't he?

Joseph cleared his throat, "You are also a walking contradiction to most people. You are the happiest person I've ever met at your age, and yet you're also the loneliest person. You are the coolest bachelor I've heard of, but you don't seem to have a real social life. Does this ever bother you?"

Gordo didn't know what to say. Every once in a while, Joe would bring this up, and Gordo never thought much of it. Gordo was happy in his own way and loved his life. He thought it was that simple. Lately, though, it seemed a lot more complicated. Gordo couldn't help but feel like there was something missing in his life…like a part of his heart wanted a completely different life. But was he about to reveal any of this to Joe? Hell no.

"I'm fine," he insisted, "other than a little stressed, I'm fine."

"Have you ever thought about taking a break for a few months?"

"What? You mean, like going on sabbatical? I don't need that."

"Actually," Jo said, and he stood up and gathered his papers, "I think that's exactly what you need. I'm worried about you, David. So are your parents," he said, and he headed for the door, "do yourself a favor and concentrate a little more on your social life."

Gordo stood up and looked at Joe, confused, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Joe said, opening the door to let himself out, "go on a date or two. I'll see you next month." Joe let himself out.

Gordo shook his head to clear his mind. Did that really just happen? Did his financial advisor really just tell him to date? And since when did his parents worry about this?

Gordo sat back down and picked up the camera he was fumbling with minutes before. Before he could give much thought to what Joseph said, he got back to work. This was his life and he would do whatever he wanted to do with it.

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After spending the majority of her lunch break trying to deal with caterers for the party for her parents, Lizzie hung up the phone and felt like screaming. Then, she reached for her bagel under her desk and barely got one bite into it before the phone rang. It was her mother, Jo.

"Hey," Lizzie said, "I just got off the phone with the catering company. They'll be at your house at two to set up."

"Great," Jo said, "but that's not while I called."

"Oh?" Lizzie asked.

"Lizzie? What are you doing on Friday night?"

Last time Lizzie checked, nothing. "I don't know, mom. Why?"

"Well," Jo started, "what would you say if I invited the boys over here for the night to give you a break?"

"I don't need a break, mom. The boys are fine."

"Lizzie, we all need breaks at some time in our life," Jo paused, "Do you remember that Parish boy?"

"No…" Lizzie said, "I don't remember anyone with the last name 'Parish'."

"It was one of Matt's friends growing up. His name is John."

"Okay…"

"Well, anyway, I play bridge with Jackie Parish, and she recently told us that John's divorce is final and he's coming to stay in Hill Ridge for a while."

"Mom…" Lizzie said, having a feeling that she wasn't going to like what her mom was about to suggest, "what is your point?"

"Well, I think it might be nice if the two of you got together on Friday night and had some sort of a date."

"MOM!" Lizzie almost yelled, "with Matt's friend?"

"Honey, he's thirty-five. He's only three years younger than you. He has two children, just like you, except for they are girls."

"Mom, no! I'm not doing this."

"Why not?"

"I'm not…ready." Okay, well, maybe she was ready to meet new people, but the last thing Lizzie wanted was to be set up by her mother.

"Lizzie, please," her mother said, "He's a really nice guy."

Lizzie sighed. Maybe her mom wasn't so out of line to suggest dating. Maybe she needed some sort of social experience to confirm her sanity. Would she be so crazy to agree to this? "Fine," she said, finally, "I'll go."

"Oh, honey!" Jo exclaimed, "I knew you were strong. Just tell the boys to come here straight from school. That will give you some time to get ready and be home as late as you want to come home."

"The boys don't have to stay with you. I trust them to be here for a couple of hours."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. Jake will probably be going out on Friday, anyway, and Andrew will probably want to be dropped off at the movies, anyway."

Jo said she would have John call her and then after saying goodbye, they hung up. Lizzie couldn't believe she just agreed to go on a date. She shrugged, finished her bagel, and went back to work.

888

Wednesday during lunch, Hailey called home and told her Uncle Howard that after school, she was going to go with the recycling club into the city and clean up the park. He told her to pass the information onto Uncle David, and that she wouldn't be home until around eight.

Meanwhile, Jake text messaged his mom about recycling club, figuring this was enough to ensure that she wouldn't be worried.

The bus left right after school and the person in charge asked that they leave all of their belongings at school so they wouldn't have to worry about them getting stolen. Jake and Hailey, along with about thirty other individuals, were off to the city without their cell phones or any contact information. They didn't know that an hour later, their parents would be freaking out.

It all started when Gordo had just gotten home after spending the afternoon at the library, researching some information for his upcoming movie. Right as he got home, his parents were leaving, announcing that they were going to a funeral and then a dinner party and wouldn't be back for dinner. Howard forgot to relay the message about Hailey and the recycling club.

At three-thirty, Gordo tried calling Hailey on her phone. When she didn't pick up, he figured she had forgotten to turn in on after school and decided not to worry about her yet.

At four, Gordo tried her again, but she didn't answer. Maybe they got tied up at the Digital Bean, or something…

At four-thirty, he began to worry. He called her again, left a message for her to call him, and decided to try Jake's phone number as well. His cell phone was off as well. Then, he remembered that Jake left him with some phone numbers, so he reached in his back pocket and found Jake's home number. He called and no one picked up. Here wasn't even a messaging service.

Five minutes later, he called Jake's house again. He didn't like worrying, especially since most of him felt like there was nothing to worry about. He just needed some sort of assurance. This time, when he called, someone picked up. It was a male voice, but it didn't sound like an adult, "Hello?" he said.

"Um, Hi," Gordo asked, feeling a little awkward, "Are you Jake's brother?"

"Yes sir."

"Is Jake at home?"

"No, sir."

Okay, maybe something was wrong, after all. After sighing loudly, Gordo spoke again, "Is one of your parents home?"

"My mom just walked into the door."

"Can I talk to her?"

"Yes, sir. Hold on," the guy said, and after he heard muffled voices talking to one another, he heard a woman's voice, "hello?"

Gordo cleared his throat, "Hi, Mrs. West?"

On the other line, there was a pause, "Who is this?"

Funny, he thought, her accent wasn't southern at all. "I am Hailey Isaacson's uncle, her guardian. Hailey is a …friend of Jake's." Gordo wasn't sure how much Mrs. West knew about Hailey.

There was another long pause and Gordo couldn't figure out what was going on, "Oh," she finally said, "Is there a problem?"

"Jake isn't there is he?"

"No, I don't think he is here."

"And Hailey isn't there, either, is she?"

"No, I'm sorry. I only met Hailey a couple of days ago. She's a sweet girl…"

Gordo cut her off, "Do you know where they could be?"

"No, I'm sorry. I just got in."

"So Jake didn't call you?"

"No."

Gordo sighed, "I don't know where Hailey is, either, but I have a feeling they are together."

There was another pause, "Have you called the police?"

"No, I don't think this is a concern for the police just yet, but I would like to know where she is so I can stop worrying."

Lizzie sighed, "Maybe we should meet up and put our heads together and start searching. There has to be some sort of an explanation for this," she paused yet again, "Where do you live?"

"No, I'll come over to your house. You're new in town and I don't want to have to worry about you getting lost." He didn't mean to sound rude, but he didn't have time to think about manners, "Where do you live?"

The woman told Gordo where he lived and he said he would be over in a few minutes.

888

After Lizzie hung the phone up, she decided to try and call Jake. Like Hailey's uncle, she didn't think there was a reason to call the police quite yet, but she was worried about her son. She trusted him to be responsible with a car and she would never forgive herself if there were some sort of car accident or something else.

Three minutes later, the doorbell rang. When Lizzie opened the door, she hardly expected to see the face that she saw staring back at her. For a moment, she studied his face before it finally clicked, "Gordo?" she said, not moving to let him in.

Gordo stared back at her as his heart stopped as he saw his old best friend looking at him and waiting, "Lizzie?"

Suddenly, something clicked. Jake's accent…Jake West…coming from Texas. He had no idea what to say.

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To be continued soon…actually, I cut this chapter so I could leave you hanging a little bit. Also, I need to change some things with the part I cut, so it shouldn't be too long until I come up with chapter eight.