A Fresh Start

Chapter One

When Jeffrey left Olivia's suite, he decided to not to stay at the Beacon. Going up to his room, he grabs a change of clothes and heads to his loft. For some reason, instead of feeling sad about the break up, he feels relief. Lying down on the couch, he closes his eyes and falls asleep. The next morning he doesn't wake up until someone knocks on his door. Getting up, he answers the door on the second knock.

"Ava, hi." He says, holding the door open to let her in.

"Did you sleep in your clothes?" Ava asks, as she walks in.

"Yea, I guess I did." Jeffrey replies, closing the door behind her. "How did you know I was here?"

"I went by your room and you weren't there and Mike told me about this place so I thought I would check here."

"You want some coffee." Jeffrey asks, walking into the kitchen.

"Yea, that would be nice. By the way, do you know what day it is?"

"Umm, June 17th I think." Jeffrey calls, as he fills up the coffee pot.

"That's right, it's also Father's day." Ava says, walking into the kitchen.

"It is."

"Yes, and I thought we could spend it together with Olivia."

"Ah, there are a couple things I need to tell you." Jeffrey says, walking into the living room.

"What?" Ava asks, following him.

"First, Olivia and I broke up last night."

"What, why?"

"We can be friends. You'll still have us both, but she's never going to get past what happened, and I'm tired of trying to get her too. There are just some things that a person can't make happen."

"But I thought everything was alright between you too."

"I'll admit I've been thinking this for a while. Every time we got close to being together, she pulled away. Always came up with some sort of excuse for us to wait. I'm tired of fighting her. And yesterday was the final straw."

"What happened yesterday?"

"After we left the lake, we went to Cassie's farm so I could take Emma riding. I got a call from Cassie early yesterday morning and Olivia overheard it, so while I was in the barn helping RJ saddle a horse for me and Emma, she and Cassie were in the house. I walked in on her and Cassie and she's grilling Cassie about the conversation we had that morning and marking her territory. And when I asked her about who she called after you said that your phone hadn't rang, she said she called to talk to someone at the Beacon about a deal she's making. I checked her phone, she didn't call you and she didn't call the Beacon, she called Josh. And I realized that it would always be this way. We sort of had an argument after I confronted her about grilling Cassie and she left."

"So, you think it's over."

"I know it's over. I don't need her drama in my life right now, especially with the changes coming up for me. It's better this way."

"You said there were a couple things you wanted to talk to me about."

"Yes, about that. It has to do with Father's day."

"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this either?"

"Some things have come up and it might be better if we wait to next year to celebrate father's day."

"Why? It's today and you're my father."

"Maybe, we should wait and discuss this when Olivia is here."

"Just tell me!"

"Alright, there's a chance, a slim chance that I might not be your father."

"What?" Ava says, jumping up "Of course you're my father, you and Olivia, and that night at the embassy." She says, beginning to pace back and forth in front of the couch.

"Some new information has come to light about that night."

"What information? Why are you doing this? You're my dad." She asks, stopping to look at him before she begins to pace again.

"I'm not trying to hurt you Ava. I love you but there is a possibility that I'm not your father." Jeffrey replies standing up and reaching out to stop her pacing, turning her towards him.

"What did you say?"

"I said there's a poss…"
"No, before that."

"I said I love you."

"Then why are you saying you're not my father."

"Here, sit down and I'll explain." Jeffrey says, taking her hand and leading her back over to the couch. "Everything that you know about me and your mother and what happened in San Cristobel is the truth. I did meet her at a party at the US embassy, we were drinking and I did take her upstairs, but that's where things get a little fuzzy, and my memory differs from that of Olivia's."

"Why are you saying this now? Why didn't you say something when this all happened?"

"I don't know, maybe I felt guilty for all the things I had done when I younger and maybe I believed that I did rape her, the agency certainly had me convinced that I had done something that night. Although my memories didn't quite jive with their account, could I really say for certain that I didn't take advantage of her?" Jeffrey says, walking into the kitchen. Taking down a couple of cups he pours him and Ava a cup of coffee, carrying them both back into the living room.

"Okay, so your memory and Olivia's are different that still doesn't explain why you think you may not be my father." Ava says, taking the coffee.

"There's more."

"What?"

"Do you remember Edmund Winslow?"

"Yeah, Tammy and Jonathan's uncle, he's Richard Winslow's brother. He was married to Cassie for a while."

"That's right and he was at the embassy party that night."

"Okay."

"I was introduced to Edmund before the party started and I didn't get a good vibe from him. By the time Olivia arrived I was more than a little drunk. But I had to leave her a few times to take care of stuff for the Ambassador and every time I came back Edmund would be harassing her. I would chase him off till the next time and we did this through out the night."

"But how does that make you not my father?"

"When I took Olivia up to that room, we were fooling around and she passed out. After she passed out, The Ambassador's bodyguard came looking for me and he quickly realized that I was in no condition to handle the Ambassador's daughter so he offered to cover for me. I went back to Olivia and she was still passed out so I went to sober up before the Ambassador found me and I got fired."

"You weren't supposed to be drinking that night."

"No, I was on duty." Jeffrey replies, with a bit of a cocky smile. "Anyway, I left Olivia alone for about an hour and a half. But before I left for the night, I went to check on her. I thought she was still passed out until I sat down beside her and that's when we… well, you know."

"So, you left her for about an hour and a half and that's when you think Edmund…"

"Yes."

"Did you see him up there? Did he follow you up there?"

"I don't know. We were pretty drunk that night. But I swear that when I was with Olivia, it was consensual."

"You don't know for sure that Edmund was with Olivia."

"Yes, we do. After the party, Prince George approached the agency I used to work for and asked them to take care of a problem his son had created. And after seeing the videotape of me and Olivia going up to the room they decided to make me the fall guy for whatever Edmund had done."

"How did Prince George find out? Was he at the party?"

"For a while, but he left right after Olivia arrived. I don't know how he found out. Maybe one of his advisors found out, saw Edmund leaving the room and told his father. That doesn't matter. The point is…"

"The point is that you were accused of something you didn't do."

"Maybe not this time, but I certainly went upstairs that night with the intention of sleeping with her. I knew she was drunk and I knew she wasn't as old as she was pretending to be."

"So you were prepared to take advantage of her."

"Yes." Jeffrey replies sheepishly.

"And that's why you never said anything about what happened being consensual between you. You felt guilty because you had every intention of doing what Edmund may have done."

"No, I would never rape a woman. But yes, I did feel guilty because I was willing to take advantage of the situation. So since there is a possibility that I'm not your father, maybe we should skip Father's day this year."

There are a few minutes of silence before Ava says. "No, you're still my father and I want to celebrate with you."

"What about Edmund?"

"What about him? I don't even know him."

"He could be your father."

"We'll worry about that later." Ava replies, scooting over and giving him a hug as Jeffrey's cell phone rang. Picking it up, Jeffrey glances at the caller ID and then shows it to Ava. "Answer it." She says, nodding towards the phone

"She might want to…."

"Try and talk you into coming back to her."

"Yes."

"It's up to you." Ava says as she goes to get them both a fresh cup of coffee as Jeffrey answers the call.

"Olivia."

"I wasn't sure if you would answer."

"I wasn't going to…thank you." Jeffrey says, taking the fresh cup of coffee from Ava.

"You're welcome. Do you want me to go?" Ava asks, as Jeffrey shakes his head no.

"Who is that?" Olivia asks

"Ava."

"Oh, I wanted to talk…."

"There's nothing for us to say."

"What is Ava doing over there?"

"She wanted to talk to me about Father's day."

"Did you tell her?"

"Yes."

"You told her without me being there."

"Yes."

"I thought we were going to tell her together."

"We were, but after the subject came up and she insisted that I tell her."

"So, you just told her. She's my daughter too."

"This isn't a contest Olivia. She was upset, so I told her.

"You're right, I'm sorry. How did she take it?"

"She was upset and confused at first, but I think she understands."

"What did she say about Father's day?"

"She still wants to celebrate."

"And Edmund."

"She said we'd see about that later."

"Alright." Olivia says, obviously relieved "Emma was asking about you. She wants to go riding again."

"What did you tell her?"

"That you were busy today."

"Okay, but…."

"I know I need to explain to her that you're not going to be around anymore, but I couldn't tell her, not today. Its father's day and she doesn't have a Dad. I thought maybe you would…."

"No, I'm sorry about Emma, but Olivia it's better for all of us this way, especially Emma."

"I don't…."

"Olivia, I'm not going to argue about this. Ava's here and I need to get dressed so we can go."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know. We haven't discussed it."

"We could…."

"No, it's better if we don't see each other for awhile. You need to take care of whatever is going on with you. We'll talk another time."

"Okay."

They hang up as Jeffrey turns to Ava. "You want to go get some breakfast."

"Sure, Company?"

"Alright, let me get a shower and we'll go."

"Okay."

Jeffrey goes to get a shower. About twenty minutes later, they leave for company.

Buzz is behind the counter when Jeffrey and Ava walk in. Buzz's feelings towards Jeffrey have begun to thaw over the last few weeks as the feelings he had for Olivia began to fade, but he isn't quite ready to forgive him just yet.

"Hi, Buzz." Ava says, as they walk by the front counter.

"Hi Ava, Jeffrey." He replies.

"Buzz." Jeffrey replies, following Ava to one of the booths.

"Things seem to have thawed between you and Buzz." Ava says, sitting down across from him.

"Yes, he seems to have mellowed over the last few days." Jeffrey replies, as Ashley comes up to take their order.

"Good morning, what can I get you?" She says, smiling brightly

"You're in a good mood." Jeffrey says.

"Yes, yes I am. How are you Ava?"

"I'm fine, how's Coop?"

"He's fine. We spent the weekend together up at Laurel Falls."

"Really."

"Yes, we had a very nice time."

"I'm glad. I'll have omelet and toast." Ava replies, handing Ashley her menu.

"What would you like to drink?" Ashley asks, taking the menu

"Orange juice will be fine, and can you bring me some fruit.

"And I'll have two eggs, over easy, bacon and sausage and toast, coffee to drink." Jeffrey says, handing Ashley his menu.

"Alright, I put this in and we'll have it out in a few minutes."

"Thanks, Ashley." Jeffrey says. She walks away and Jeffrey turns to Ava, watching her.

"What?"

"That doesn't bother you."

"What?"

"Coop and Ashley."

"No, he's free to do whatever he wants to do." Ava replies, shrugging her shoulders.

"Really, I thought you were interested in getting Coop back."

"No, that's ship has sailed. Besides…."

"You're interested in Mike."

"Yea, I really like him."

"Just be careful, I know him and he can be a bit of a player."

"This coming from the guy whose little black book had every page full."

"How do you know what my little black book has in it?"

"I don't, but I do know your reputation."

"Yes, well…." Jeffrey shrugs his shoulders. "I can't help it if the ladies love me." He says, with a dazzling smile.

"What did Olivia want?"

"To talk, Emma wanted to know if we could go riding again."

"Oh, so are you going to take her?"

"No, it's better if she doesn't get attached to me. She needs to know that I'm not going to be around anymore, besides, we have Father's day to celebrate."

"So what do you want to do today?"

"I don't know. I've never celebrated Father's day before." Jeffrey says, as Ashley brings their breakfast.

"Then we'll just play it by ear."

"I do have an idea." Jeffrey says, picking up a piece of bacon.

"You do, what's that?"

"The Cubs are playing today." He says, after swallowing "Have you ever been to a baseball game?"

"No." Ava replies, shaking her head. "My mom didn't have time or the money to take me to a game when I was little and my dad left, so I never went to one."

"Alright, we'll go to the game."

"Do you have tickets?"

"No, but we can get them at the stadium. The game's not sold out."

"Alright."

They finish breakfast and then leave for Chicago and the game.

They both enjoy the game. Jeffrey bought Ava every type of souvenir there was to buy and spent the day explaining the rules of baseball to her. Afterwards he took her out for pizza before they head back to Springfield. When they get back to the Jeffrey's room, Jeffrey is in the bathroom. When he comes out Ava is waiting. "What's this?"

"It's your father's day gift." She says, handing it to him.

"You didn't have to get me anything?" Jeffrey says, opening the gift. "A shirt." He says, smiling.

"Yes, I thought I would go the traditional route this year since it's our first father's day, but I also have something else for you." Ava says, pulling out a larger package. "It's more personal." She says, handing it to him.

Opening the package, Jeffrey is surprised to find a large binder. Taking it out of the box, he puts the box on the floor before he opens the binder, surprised to see pictures of Ava when she was a little girl.

"I thought you would like to have some pictures of me growing up, and there's stuff from school, awards and ribbons that I won."

They spent the rest of the evening looking through the album until Ava remembers that she is meeting Mike for dinner. Grabbing her purse, Jeffrey walks her to the door. Hugging her tightly, he says. "Thank you for the album and the shirt."

"You're welcome, Happy Father's Day."

"Thank you."

She leaves and Jeffrey closes the door behind her. Picking up the album he looks through the pages of Ava's childhood again.

1.7