Chapter 3
Erica was quite pleased with herself. She had plans to play matchmaker between Kendall and the new executive producer of New Beginnings, Josh Madden. Josh was a young, handsome, talented, resourceful man. Josh would distract Kendall from the ridiculous marriage between Kendall and Zach Slater. Kendall spending the night fits perfectly into Erica's plan.
"Darling, You must come over to my new offices. You cannot imagine the fabulous work Josh is doing. He is the best. I don't know how I would put a show together without him." Erica continued to gush.
Kendall tuned out her mother's declarations and thought to herself how the little twerp, Josh, blackmailed himself into that position. Josh knew about Kendall, Greenlee, and Simone breaking into the sperm bank, conveniently owned by Josh's father, Dr. Greg Madden. Josh persuaded Kendall to put in a "good" word with Erica in order to get the job as executive producer.
"Kendall, you should come by the studio and go to dinner with me and Josh." Erica was relentless. As though Kendall couldn't see the big neon sign over Erica's head. "Set Up Kendall and Josh."
"Thank you, Mother, but I couldn't possibly. Between Fusion and the Casino, I don't have time to break away. We are working on a big campaign for the holiday line, we are working non-stop." Kendall lied, well fibbed. Kendall was doing most of the work on the holiday product line because Greenlee had baby bootie vision and Simone was giddy in love, with Ethan.
"Well then, you MUST talk to Josh about booking time on New Beginnings. We could do a makeover contest with my audience. Oh that would be wonderful. You and Josh working together to put together this promotion." Erica beamed. She envisioned long hours, close quarters, intimate dinners. Chemistry would have to take over. Josh would woo Kendall away from Zach in no time. Josh would be nothing more than a short time fling, nothing-long term, anything, ANYONE, would be better for Kendall than Zach.
Kendall could see the evening falling off the tracks. 'Why? Oh, Why, Did I come out here?' Kendall consoled herself. 'How can I get myself out of this?' Before Kendall could speak up, a probably hurt her mother's feelings, her new step father spoke "Erica, Didn't we agree not to interfere in our grown children's lives?"
"But, Jack, Kendall and Josh would create a beautiful successful partnership, I mean, team to benefit Fusion. Remember Fusion involves both of our daughters." Erica answered Jack with a saccharine smile. Anyone that has been around Erica for very long knows that smile is not genuine.
"I am going to go check on Lilly. Maybe, get a snack." Kendall made a quick escape to the kitchen. Erica and Jack didn't notice Kendall quick departure. They continued to discuss how each should not meddle in the lives of Kendall, Greenlee, and Bianca. Kendall thought how Reggie and Lilly would take the brunt of Erica and Jack's parental attention, poor kids. Who is she kidding, Erica would never stop insinuating herself into Kendall's life. Kendall entered the fabulous gourmet kitchen, almost laughing out loud because of the uselessness of the room in the home of Erica Kane. Erica would never cook in this kitchen.
Lilly was sitting at one end of the kitchen island watching a small television. "Hi, Lilly." Kendall greeted her newest stepsibling. "Hello Kendall. The reporter on the news says it is very dangerous to drive on the roads. Was it dangerous driving your car here?" Lilly inquired. "Yeah, the roads were pretty flooded." Kendall responded while taking a peach out of the fruit bowl. Kendall continued "Did the news say when it will stop raining?"
"The news can not say, but the reporter said it will rain heavy until dawn." Lilly corrected Kendall. Kendall thought how irritating Lilly would become if they had to live in the same house. 'I would chew my own hand off to get out of this family trap.' Kendall giggled softly as Reggie entered the kitchen heading straight to the industrial, stainless steel goliath of a refrigerator.
"Hey Kendall. Are you staying the night?" Reggie asked while digging through the contents of the refrigerator. Lilly quickly followed "Kendall, are you staying the night? We can have a sleep over. But I do not want to tell ghost stories, because I will get scared." Kendall gently interrupted the teenage girl "No Lilly. No ghost stories. How about ice cream sundaes? I make a pretty mean, wait I mean good, good ice cream sundae" Kendall corrected herself. To better understand Lilly, Kendall and Greenlee did some research on Autism Spectrum Disorder. Persons living with Autism have difficulty with dual meaning words, so Kendall tried to avoid using slang or idioms when speaking to Lilly.
"I would like to have a sundae." Lilly replied. Reggie chimed in agreement "I'll get the bowls and spoons." Kendall thought that was a good idea considering she didn't know where anything was in the kitchen. Lilly continued to watch TV while Kendall and Reggie began making ice cream sundaes for the three of them. Kendall couldn't believe how much she was enjoying spending time in the youngest Montgomery children.
Lilly interrupted Reggie and Kendall's private kidding, "Kendall, Isn't the road to the Casino Route 48?" Kendall murmured an acknowledgement, as she liked chocolate sauce from a spoon. "The reporter on the TV is on Route 48, there is an accident." Lilly continued. Kendall not really paying much attention informed Lilly "route 48 can be a dangerous road, lots of curves, especially in the rain." Reggie placed a hand on Kendall's arm. Kendall looked to the television.
The reporter was wearing a yellow rain coat "Again, Route 48 is closed due to an accident with fatalities. A large box truck crushed a late model luxury sedan. The authorities believe a gust of wind forced the box truck to turn over crushing the silver sedan." Kendall's pulse began to race. She realized that her evening phone call to Zach was cut off due to the weather. Kendall mind started asking questions 'Was Zach at the casino tonight?' The reporter continued "The driver of the box truck sustained minor injuries, but the driver of the sedan has been declared dead on the scene. Authorities urge everyone to remain off the roads this evening due to the inclement weather."
The television camera panned to the wreckage again. Kendall noticed a green and white hang parking tag on the destroyed sedan. The parking tag was an employee tag from the casino. Kendall's car also had one of these parking tags and so did Zach's. The room began to spin and Kendall began to have trouble breathing. Erica and Jack came rushing into the kitchen from the den.
Everyone stared at Kendall. Kendall was not even conscious of the fact she had begun screaming, "NO, Zach." Kendall fell into Reggie's arms in a ball of tears.