A Fresh Start
Chapter One Hundred Sixty Seven
Jeffrey and Sam walk into Company. Buzz is at the counter tending to a customer. "You guys pick a table." He says, nodding towards the dining room, which seems to be almost full.
"There's a table in the back corner." Sam says, winding her way through the tables.
Jeffrey holds her chair for her before he sits down and they each pick up a menu. "I think I'm going to have the chili." Jeffrey says, looking at the menu.
"Really, the last time you had chili…."
"That wasn't Buzz's…."
"You had chili somewhere beside here?" Buzz asks, walking up to their table.
"Yeah, I know. I should have known better. Believe me when I say I paid the price and I won't do it again." Jeffrey says, looking around Company.
"You're pretty busy."
"First college game of the season, SFU Knights against the Oakdale Raiders, stomped them 20-3. It's better than last year." Buzz says, looking at Sam.
"Yeah, didn't they…?"
"It was a lucky block." Buzz says, as Jeffrey smiles. "So, we're celebrating." Jeffrey says, looking around.
"Well, maybe not that table." Sam says, looking at a table across the room.
"Yes, they have been rather quiet." Buzz says, looking at the table of men wearing the colors for Oakdale U. "So, you want the chili, what can I get you Sam?"
"I'll have the chili too." Sam says.
"1, 2, 3, 4, or 5?"
"What?"
"One alarm, two alarm, three alarm, four alarm or five alarm, how hot do you want it?"
"One will be fine?" She says, with a smile.
"Two chili's coming up." Buzz says. "Do you want anything to drink?"
"I'll have some tea." Jeffrey says.
"And I'll have water." Sam says, as she looks up and see Olivia and James walk in. Jeffrey catches her looking at the front door and he turns to look.
Buzz turns to look as well. "She's been in here a few times with him."
"Are they dating?" Sam asks, watching James as he holds her chair for her.
"I'm not sure, but he's always paying for the bill when they finish and they usually sit close together like they are now. Have you seen Ava?" Buzz asks.
"No, I haven't seen her since the wedding." Jeffrey says.
"I have seen her since we met to discuss the design for the house." Sam says. "William was leaving town and she was going with him to the airport when we left?"
"Well, let me get this order in and I'll bring your drinks out to you."
"Thanks Buzz." Jeffrey says. Buzz walks away
"I forgot about football season." Sam says, looking at Jeffrey.
"Oh no, you're still hoping for Atlanta to win a Super Bowl."
"It could happen."
"Sam, they haven't got a chance of making the playoffs let alone the Super Bowl."
"Where have the Bears been the last few years? They haven't had that much luck either for the playoffs in recent years."
"The Bears have a better chance than Atlanta."
"We'll see." Sam says, as Ava walks in. "Speaking of Ava." She says, noticing her walking towards them as Jeffrey turns around.
"Hi, you two." She says, walking up to their table
"Hi, did William get off okay?" Sam asks.
"Yes, he's back in San Cristobel." Ava says, sitting down with them as Buzz brings their drinks.
"Sorry, I got side tracked. Ava." Buzz says as he sits Jeffrey and Sam's drinks before them. "Are you eating Ava?"
"Sure, I'll have what their having." Ava says.
"Another chili, what do you want to drink?"
"I'll have some water, thanks Buzz." Ava says, as he nods and turns away. "It really is busy in here tonight. I almost didn't find a place to park."
"It's the first game of the season."
"SFU and Oakdale, I forgot about it. Listen, Sam I talked to the painters, they'll be in on Monday."
"Okay, I thought they were coming this week?"
"They were but their tied up on a job and should be finished by this weekend. Have you decided what you're going to do with your study?" Ava asks, looking at Jeffrey.
"I haven't decided for sure, but I thought I might look into having it soundproofed."
"We could do that, but there is a building behind the house. It might have at one time been a garage, maybe you could look at using that too. You're going to need a place to do busy for the Mayor's office." Sam says, looking at him.
"I'm not going to be Mayor forever eventually I'll go back to practicing law."
"Then you'll need a study where you can see clients."
"Is that building even safe?"
"I don't know. Billy could take a look and see."
"He's going to be busy with another project for me and right now I'm not sure it's a good idea for me to be asking Billy to be doing me any favors."
"Why? Is it because of Josh? He doesn't agree with the way Josh has treated you the last few months."
"What makes you say that?" Sam asks, looking at Ava.
"Because he told me, he thinks Josh is jealous of you but I can't see why… well I can see why." Ava says, looking at Jeffrey.
"I understand what you meant."
"Good, because you're the best Dad ever, but for some reason Josh is jealous of you, or at least that's what Billy thinks."
"For right now, I'm backing away from any projects that involve Lewis Construction, except for the ones they're already doing for me." Jeffrey says.
"That's quite generous of you." Josh says, from behind Jeffrey. They turn to look at him. "Could you back away from my family too?"
Jeffrey looks down at the table before he stands up. "I'm going to say this to you for the last time. I don't want your family. I have my own."
"Yes, I can see your family. The daughter from a night you were too drunk to remember and a wife…." Sam sees Jeffrey's fist clench and she gets up.
"Josh, you need to leave, now!" She says, placing herself between Jeffrey and Josh.
"Afraid, I'll hurt him."
"No, I'm afraid you'll both do something you'll both regret and since you are family, it's best if you leave, now!"
"Sam." Jeffrey says.
"Sit down Jeffrey, I'm asking as a doctor, not your wife. You can't fight him right now anyway. And you shouldn't want to fight him." She says, turning to Josh. "Jeffrey has done nothing to you. He has given you no reason for you to attack him and yet you insist on being an ass."
"He's given me no reason. He wants my wife and he's slept with my daughter, his own niece."
"I didn't…." Jeffrey says, moving to stand up. Sam puts a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"I can understand why Reva left you. Leave before I forget you're my brother-in-law fight you my self."
Josh looks at her for several moments. "Josh, if you will take any advice from me." Jeffrey says. "Now would be it and it would be this, you really need to leave. She's trained to be lethal."
"Is that a threat?"
"No, it's a warning, brother to brother. She's a trained Federal agent. She knows how to kill you, quickly and quietly." Jeffrey says, looking up at Josh.
Sitting at the table next to Jeffrey and Sam is a reporter from the Springfield Journal. When Josh leaves, he waves down the waiter and pays, following Josh out of Company, Josh is almost to his car before the reporter catches up to him. "Mr. Lewis." He calls. Josh turns to see who called his name. "I overheard the confrontation inside. Is it true that Mayor O'Neill is your brother?"
"Who are you?" Josh asks, looking at the man.
"Robert Wells, Springfield Journal."
"I've got nothing to say." Josh says, turning back to his car.
"Is it true that he slept with his niece?"
"I said I've got nothing to say." Josh says, opening his car door and getting in.
"You accused him of sleeping with your wife. Do you have any proof of the affair?" Mr. Wells asks, as Josh closes the door, starts the car and backs out of his parking place.
Sam walks back around to her seat as Jeffrey turns back to his dinner, suddenly realizing that he wasn't hungry anymore. "Do either of you want to tell me what that was about? And why were you referring to Josh as Dad's brother?" Ava asks, looking at both of them.
"It's a long story." Jeffrey says, looking at Ava.
"And what is it?" She asks, looking at him.
Jeffrey sighs and then he says. "I might as well tell you because it's going to come out. Reva approached me about having a DNA test run before Richard and Cassie's wedding, that test proved that I am Josh and Billy's brother."
"How can you possibly be Josh and Billy's…?"
"Mr. Mayor, Robert Wells, Springfield Journal. Can I ask you…?"
"I've got not comment." Jeffrey says, getting up. "Let's go." He says, looking at Sam and Ava.
"Mr. Mayor, Mr. Lewis accused of sleeping with your niece and his wife. Is that true?" Mr. Wells asks, as Jeffrey turns to him.
"You've got five seconds to get out of my face, Mr. Wells." Jeffrey says, taking a step towards him.
"Jeffrey." Sam says, coming around the table and getting between them. "I think you need to go, now." Sam says, as Buzz comes over.
"Something wrong, Jeffrey."
"No, can we have the check and boxes to go?" Sam asks, turning to him.
"Sure." Buzz says, leaving them.
"Ava, would you mind taking your father home?" Sam asks.
"No." She replies, turning to Jeffrey.
"I'll follow you in your car."
"Okay." Jeffrey says, smiling at her. "I'll see you at home." He says, turning to follow Ava out of the restaurant. Mr. Wells turns to follow him, but Sam steps in his way.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm protecting you and my husband. We're going to stay here until he's had enough time to get out of the parking lot." Sam says.
"You're obstructing the first amendment."
"Maybe I am, but I'd rather do that then bail my husband out of jail because you asked him something stupid and he assaulted you. What you overheard tonight was a private matter. Now I can't ask you not to report this. It would be wasting my time, but keep in mind whatever you write will do more than get revenue for your paper. It'll affect innocent lives." Sam says, as Buzz brings her the check and the boxes. She hands him a credit card and then she puts the food in the boxes as Mr. Wells, walks around her.
By the time he reaches the parking lot, Jeffrey and Ava are pulling out. He's standing at his car when Sam walks out a few moments later. He looks at her. "You wasted your time, Mrs. O'Neill and I'm still writing the story and I'll be sure to include the fact that you tried to keep me from publishing it."
"You do whatever you think is right, Mr. Wells." Sam says, walking to Jeffrey's car.
Ava and Jeffrey drive over to the loft without saying anything. She follows him upstairs and waits as he unlocks the door, holding it open, he lets her in before he walks in behind her. "Are you going to explain this now?" Ava asks, following him into the living room.
"I will once Sam is here." Jeffrey says, sitting down on the couch with Ava sitting beside him. Ten minutes later, Sam walks in. "Is everything alright." Jeffrey asks, as she walks into the living room.
"Yes, but I'm guessing that the headline for tomorrow's paper will be something about this."
"Did he try to question you?"
"No, but I'm sure he's going to report on the fact that I kept him from following you when you left."
"Does anyone want to explain to me what is going on?" Ava asks, reminding them that she was there and waiting.
Jeffrey turns to Ava. "I guess I'll start at the beginning. I never knew who my father was when I was growing up. My mother wouldn't tell me and over the years I had resigned myself to never knowing who he was, until the other day when Reva came to see me."
"Before Richard and Cassie's wedding for a DNA test."
"Yes, apparently a few months back she overheard Josh ordering one of their attorney's to destroy a file and not to tell her or Billy about it. Reva confronted him about it but he wouldn't give her a straight answer so they got into a fight. Billy overheard them and he came to see what was going on, Reva explained about overhearing Josh's orders and so Billy demanded to know what Josh was doing. Josh refused to answer, only telling them that they needed to trust him. Billy was suspicious so, he had their assistant track down all the files pertaining to Lewis business. All the files were accounted for after they searched."
"So the file that Josh ordered destroyed had nothing to do with Lewis business." Ava says.
"That's right but Billy wasn't satisfied with that. He decided to look into the personal files pertaining to the Lewis family, particularly their father's personal files. He flew to Tulsa to speak with the son of their father's personal attorney and at the time he wasn't able to help but a few weeks later, things changed and he contacted Billy again and offered to ship all of his father personal files pertaining to the Lewis family to Billy. When he received the files, Billy called Reva and they went through them. They ran across a file that was given to HB by a private Detective he had hired to find his third son. After they found the file they confronted Josh and Josh didn't deny destroying the file or that he knew that HB had another son. He insisted however, that neither Billy nor Reva say a word to me."
"So, how did you find out?"
"Like I said, Reva approached me before Cassie's wedding to ask for a DNA sample. She explained everything to me then and apparently she had a necklace that contained a lock of HB's hair. She gave that plus the sample I gave her to Rick to compare the two and apparently we are a match. I'm HB's son." Jeffrey says, looking at Ava
"So Billy and Josh are your brothers, my uncles."
"Yes."
"And you had no idea you were related to them in anyway."
"I had no idea. When my mom died, I gave up ever knowing who my father was. There were clues left but I never took the time to look into them."
"Clues, what clues?"
"The only one we know of for sure was that in your father's file for the agency it list his father as being from Oklahoma. I'm not sure how they found that out but that's what it says."
"I also found my birth certificate and it showed my full name."
"You're name is Jeffrey O'Neill."
"Yes, but my full name is Jeffrey Harland Billy O'Neill. That was one of the other reasons that Reva suspected that I was related to them."
"I suspected it too." Sam says, looking at Jeffrey.
"Why?" Ava asks, looking at Sam.
"Because of the type of name that Harland Billy is. It's a southern name and according to what your father told me his mom had never been outside Chicago or out of Illinois. And when you dad told me his full name I questioned him about it, and he told that no one in his family had that name."
"So where did she get it?" Ava asks, looking at Jeffrey
"From my father, HB stands for Harland Billy. She named me after my father but added Jeffrey on to it."
"So, you're Billy and Josh's brother, what was he talking about you sleeping with your niece?"
Jeffrey sighs softly, looking at Sam. "She might as well hear it from you before she reads it in the paper or hears the town gossip." Sam says.
"Alright, about a year before you came to town Josh's daughter Marah and I had a very brief affair after I cleared her of some legal trouble she had gotten into. She was confused and questioning life and love. I felt that it was better if we ended the affair before it got too serious. I arranged for her to go to Paris to work in a fashion house of a friend that I knew. She's been there ever since. And I haven't spoken to her since then."
"You didn't know she was your niece."
"No, I didn't. If I did it never…."
"You don't have to tell me that, I know it wouldn't have happened and Josh is damn fool to accuse you of it." Ava says, getting up and going over to Jeffrey.
"Thank you." Jeffrey says, as she sits down beside him, hugging him. "But I'm afraid the city of Springfield will not be as understanding as you or Sam has been. They are going to believe the news reports."
"What do you want to do?" Sam asks, as Ava goes back to her chair.
"I need to speak to George." Jeffrey says, getting up and going to the phone.
"George?" Ava asks.
"He works in the PR department for the Mayor's office. He'll have some idea what we need to do with this." Jeffrey says, dialing a number. After a couple rings, a man comes on the line. "Hello George, its Jeffrey O'Neill."
"Yes, Mr. Mayor." George says sitting up straighter in the recliner he was sitting in.
"I'm sorry to bother you at home, but I have a bit of situation that I need your help with."
"Of course sir. I would be happy to help."
"Could you come over to my loft? I don't want to get into this over the phone."
"Of course sir, I'll be right there." He says, getting up.
"Thank you George." Jeffrey says, hanging up. "Do you need the address?"
"Yes sir, let me get a pen and paper." He says, getting up. Jeffrey hears him rummaging around before he says. "Okay."
"The address is 3032 Spring Street #303."
"I'll be there within the hour, Sir."
"Thank you again." Jeffrey hangs up and then says. "He'll be here within the hour.
"Maybe we should tell Reva and Josh about this." Sam says.
"It's better to wait till we know what we are dealing with." Jeffrey says.
"Maybe we should call and find out if the Springfield Journal is going to run an article. I've got a few contacts from when I worked with Spaulding." Ava says, reaching for her phone.
"It might be a good idea we confirm there will be an article before we do anything." Sam says, looking at Jeffrey.
"Go ahead and call, it will give us more information to tell George when he gets here." Jeffrey says, as Ava dials a number.
After another couple rings, a man picks up. "Mark, its Ava Peralta." She says.
"Yes, I know. Listen Mark, I need some information."
"I do anything for you beautiful."
"I need to verify if the Journal is running and article about my Dad."
"I wondered if you would be calling about that."
"So, they are?
"I haven't seen the copy but Wells came in all fired up about an argument he overheard between your Dad and Josh Lewis. He was also fired up about Mrs. O'Neill keeping him from following your Dad after he left the restaurant tonight. From what I heard, he's threatening to sue for infringement on his first amendment rights."
"She wasn't infringing on his right. She was protecting him. So they are running an article, when?"
"It'll be in tomorrow morning's paper."
"Thanks Mark." Ava says.
"You're welcome and anytime you want…."
"Good-bye Mark." Ava says, hanging up.
"What did he say?" Jeffrey asks.
"They're running an article in tomorrow's paper and Mr. Wells is threatening to sue you for infringing on his first amendment right." Ava says, looking at Sam.
"Let him, if they run this without proof. We'll sue him for slander."
"He doesn't need proof. He was sitting right behind Josh when he heard our argument. He's a witness and can be used as proof along with anyone else that was in that restaurant tonight and over heard that argument." Jeffrey says.
"Surely, he needs more than that." Sam says
"The Journal is more of a gossip newspaper than and actual newspaper." Ava says
"So, it's tabloid."
"Pretty much." Ava says, as there's a knock on the door.
"I'll get it." Sam says, getting up. She comes back with a man about Jeffrey's size and height, though slightly older than Jeffrey.
"Mr. Mayor." George says, holding out his hand.
"George." Jeffrey says, getting up to shake his hand.
They sit back down before George says. "You said something about a situation you have."
"Yes, this evening I had… I have reason to believe that there will be an article in the Springfield Journal about an argument that I had with Josh Lewis while I was having dinner."
"What was the article about?"
Jeffrey looks at Sam. "You…."
"I know. It's going to come out anyway. I've recently found out that I am Mr. Lewis's brother, through a DNA test that was run on sample of hair that I provided Mrs. Lewis, comparing that sample to a sample of hair that was from Josh's father HB Lewis. We were a 99.9% match."
"I don't see the problem, Mr. Mayor. The Lewis's are a well respected family in Springfield. Being a part of that family should not affect your public image."
"Being connect to them may not hurt my public image but accusations that I slept with my niece will as well as accusations that I'm after Mr. Lewis's wife will as well."
"Did you sleep with your niece? And are you having an affair with Mrs. Lewis?" George asks, looking at Jeffrey.
"Yes and no." Jeffrey replies.
"I need you to be more specific if you want me to help you."
"Marah and I had a brief affair about two years ago now. At the time I had no idea that I was her uncle. I had given up on ever knowing who my father was when my mother died. As to Reva, I have never nor will I ever have an affair with her. She's a friend and when I was DA she was colleague."
"Why does Mr. Lewis believe that you slept with Mrs. Lewis?"
"You'll have to speak to him about that." Jeffrey says.
"Sir, I'm going to need more than that. Does he have any type of proof of an affair?"
"I'm not comment on what Josh has or hasn't got. You want to find out why he thinks I've slept with his wife you'll have to ask him."
Okay, the niece angle will cause problems. Some people will believe that you knowingly slept with her….."
"But I didn't. Until Reva approached me with the evidence that she and Billy found I never even considered the possibility that Marah… I could be related to her."
"If I remember correctly, you ended that affair, correct."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I thought Marah needed time to find her place in the world. She was confused about love and relationships. She has just broken up with Tony Santos and it hadn't been an amicable break up. And she had just found out that a man she was interested in was actually her half brother Jonathan, although it turned out that he wasn't her brother."
"So you slept with her on the rebound?"
"No! Of course not, I cared about Marah. She was sweet and loving and if we had been in different places and points in our life we might have been something more, but Marah needed these years in Paris to find herself."
"You arranged for her to become involved with the fashion house in Paris, is that correct?"
"Yes, I called in a favor from and friend I knew from my agency days. She was willing to take Marah in and train her, help her develop her talent. Talent I didn't want her to waste that's why I spoke to my friend."
"Some are going to believe that you sent her away to hide her away."
"Marah and I were open about relationship from the start. I helped clear her of the murder charges for the Caruthers case and then I felt it would do her more good to go to Paris than to stay in Springfield with me. Marah didn't want to go, but I made her see that it was for the best."
"You made her see. So, you convinced her."
"Why are you attacking him?" Sam asks.