PARIS-THE RITZ CARLTON HOTEL
After the Police had arrived back at her door, Jennifer's heart instantly shattered as the Detective said the words she never wanted to hear, "I'm sorry Ma'am, But your husband is dead" and Presented her with Jonathan's watch and his wallet but the signet ring she'd given to him on their first anniversary was gone.
She instantly dropped to her knees and cried until she was exhausted, the Police Officers understood and offered to call Max for her but she knew that she had to be the one to tell Max, Jonathan was a son to him and There was no one more important to him than that.
Jennifer picked herself off the floor and called Max, he'd decided that there was a Poker Game in Palm Springs he couldn't miss but left her a phone number to call in case of an emergency.
The phone rang and rang until a female voice picked up
"Hello, I'm looking for Max" Jennifer wasn't sure if she'd dialed the right number
"Oh Sure," the voice oozed, "Maxxy, it's for you Baby" she must have handed Max the phone
"Ello" Max gruff voice came on the line, "Who's dis"
"Max, it's me, something's happened….Jonathan's dead!" Jennifer wailed
Max wasn't sure what if he'd heard her correctly, "Did you say…Dead, Mrs. H what happened?"
"He was killed an explosion," She collapsed to the floor and cried until she hiccuped and felt dizzy.
"Stay there, I'm on my way," Max ordered, he would get to the bottom of what happened to Jonathan, one way or another.
"Max, there's nothing you could do here in London except .." her voice trailed
"You want to activate the code?" Max wasn't surprised, it was something Jonathan had told them earlier.
"Yes, Call Marcus and I'm sure he's heard by now if he has any questions, I guess I can answer them," She looked around, the hotel room seemed so large and empty.
"Right." Max's voice went quiet, "Call when you've landed"
She nodded and hung up the phone, turning back to the Police, "Are you positive that my husband is dead, what about his remains" she choked on her tongue
"I'm sorry Ma'am," the Police officer shook his head, "There's nothing"
Jennifer watched them leave and held onto Jonathan's watch, she'd remembered that for his birthday one year, she'd had Harry Winston design a diamond watch that each number represented a letter in his name. She sat down on the couch and remembered when he told her about the code.
Max was off to Vegas, another one of his famous gambling trips and they were finally alone in the house, she'd gone outside for a bit to give Freeway a walk and when she returned, he called her into the office where there was stacks of papers on the desk
"Darling, I need you to sign a few papers," He said sitting behind the mahogany desk.
"Like what?" She sat down on the edge of the desk, "It's a bit late for a prenup," She laughed
"No these are papers for Power of Attorney in case something happens to me," He said putting his arms on her legs
Her eyes instantly filled with tears, she couldn't imagine her life without him, she whispered, "That's awful, why would you think of that?'
He wiped her eyes , "Darling, it's not to upset you but with this new contract with the military and having to go overseas especially in times of War, We have to be realistic, You hold the keys to the Castle and I want you to be prepared. Now Max has this information as well as Marcus so if you should need help, there is someone there who will be able to help you,"
She nodded, his business was his life and he needed comfort that she would step up as his wife.
"Now, we have three trusts set up, Our Joint Bank Account, A Trust Fund for Emergencies and .." He paused.
"And?" She could see the pain in his eyes, "Oh Jonathan,"
"A Trust Fund for our future children," He said quietly
"You've heard what Dr. Kendall said, " She leaned over and hugged him, They'd tried for so long but nothing had happened, eventually they both got tired of trying so hard for nothing and Although Dr. Kendall had said that it could happened, because she was over 35 there was a limited chance that it was possible and so they had decided that maybe it wasn't in their plans.
"Well just in case," He hugged her back, "If Something should happen to me, You need to Key Marcus in with the Code- "JackalJen" That allows you to take immediate control of the Company."
She nodded, she was a board member so she knew how they worked but she'd never imagined that she would take control of the whole company, it's not something she ever wanted.
"I'll do it if you promise to come home safely to me," She kissed him and he pulled her into his lap.
Making love on the desk was one of her favorite things.
The next few days, as word began to spread about Jonathan's death, she suddenly felt like a Prisoner inside that hotel room and when the Police said that she could back to Los Angeles, she wondered if it would be worse in their own town.
The Flight on Hart 1 made her cry, she wondered around their private suite and wrapped herself in Jonathan's favorite robe he wore when they took long flights.
She finally fell asleep just before they were about to land and woke up to the Flight Attendant announced that they were on the Tarmac, That Max was coming on board to escort her down so she could make a speech, He'd offered to do it for her but she felt that as Jonathan's wife, it was one of her responsibility.
What she did agree to was that Max would stand beside her, He'd insisted that she not be alone, that they grieve together and so she waited until the plane's stairs were dropped and Max was brought on board.
Max walked quickly up the stairs and on board, she stood up from her seat in the window and he immediately wrapped her in what Jonathan called a Max hug.
"He was the best" Max whispered in her ear, all the contacts in the world had proved to be useless, that Jonathan was indeed dead.
"He really was," Her eyes watery and her voice cracked, "Do you remember when you told Jonathan that we were like Romeo and Juliet, Gable and Lombard?"
"Yeah," Max nodded remembering that conversation with Jonathan
"Well now you can add another name to that list. Jonathan and Jennifer,"
They disembarked the plane, the Tarmac was covered with Press, all shouting her name, for a moment she felt afraid until Max took her hand, she put her sunglasses on.
Standing in front of the Microphone, She took a deep breath and spoke quietly, "My husband was a good man and his death is a shock to the community, I thank you for your kind words and ask that you respect our privacy at this time. My husband left specific instructions that no funeral take place and that instead of flowers, please donate to the Mission Street house, where he called home for sixteen years. I will be taking over as CEO for Hart Industries as was my husband's wishes that it remain our family," She paused," I also want to thank the Paris Police for all their hardworking in helping us during this time. I know that a lot of lives were lost and My goal for Hart Industries is to help those victims as well. Thank you,"
The Press began shouting questions but she couldn't hear and she was exhausted, Max took the lead and pulled her toward the car.
The Driveway home, She hadn't noticed that it was raining, "How long has it been raining?"
Max, sitting across from here, "Since Two Days ago"
She nodded and continued to stare out the window until they pulled into the gates, She felt a sharp pain in her chest seeing the giant H and when the driver pulled up to the house, she didn't want to go in.
Max broke the silence, "Freeway will be so happy to see you"
She nodded, "I missed him too," As the Driver stopped, She realized that this was the beginning of a new life she never wanted.
Max got out first then held the door open for her, She got out and walked to the door.
Jennifer remembered the first day they walked into the house, They'd just gotten engaged in London and were house hunting, staying at the Savoy hotel when Jonathan wanted to take a ride, figuring that they hadn't been outside in a few days she agreed and off in the car they drove.
When they got to Willow Pond road, He asked if she would close her eyes, she was curious as to why, she knew that this was a house but she listened and when he pulled the car up to the carport, he shut it off and ran over to open her door.
She stood wobbly and taking her arm, Jonathan guided her to the front door and pushed it open, then practically shoved her inside, she stumbled and when she opened her eyes, the entryway was littered in roses and a bucket of champagne was sitting in the middle of the room.
Jonathan was like a kid in a candy store, she remembered how he'd pulled her all over the house, "This will be Max's room, off the Kitchen, Upstairs we can have a huge master suite and down the hall can be the baby's room, What do you think?"
She had to laugh, "I think we're going to need to go furniture shopping and fill this place up"
Jennifer snapped out of her haze when she heard little paws skid across the hardwood floors. Freeway.
Except he was looking for Jonathan, he skidded past her and to where Jonathan usually came in calling for him.
She sat down on the floor, "Freeway, Come here Baby," He bounded over to and licked her face, she buried her face in his fur, "He's not coming back,"
Max brought in her luggage and took them upstairs, she got off the floor and followed slowly behind him.
Max opened the door to the master bedroom, everything frozen as if it were waiting for them to come back, His books on the side table, His pajamas folded on the bed, Pillow scrunched the way he liked.
It was too much for Jennifer, "I'm going to take a shower,"
Max nodded and started unpacking her suitcase.
She turned the water on and took her clothes off, standing in the hot water she collapsed, She cried harder than when she lost her mother, harder when her Father left her at Boarding School..She sobbed from the depths of her soul.
Max heard her wailing and knew that she had to grieve, this was the beginning of her new self but also knew that she could get pneumonia.
It wasn't the first time he'd accidentally walked in her on, often she was dressing and was only wearing a towel, it was nothing sexual, she was practically his daughter.
But still, when he heard her cry, he knew what Jonathan would do, he got a towel and pulled her out of the shower wrapping the towel around her, he let her cry.
"Oh Max, what are we going to do?" She cried
"Mr. H wouldn't want us to stop our lives, we gotta keep living. Mr. H was all about adventure and that's what we'll do." Max knew Jonathan better than she did and she knew he was right.
AMERICAN HOSPITAL -PARIS
It had been several days since the mystery patient had arrived, he'd lost his vision and memory in an explosion but he had least regained consciousness, The doctors knew that he was American but without anything further to go on, they were at a cross roads.
All they knew him as Charlie.
"Hello Charlie!" The Doctor would greet him," How are we today?"
"We are not doing well," He would grumble, this was frustrating, He was being poked and prodded with no results..
Half the doctors couldn't come with a reasoning for his memory loss except to think that maybe he'd gotten conked in the head with something heavy. And The hope his vision would clear up so but they kept a large bandage across his eyes just to avoid infection.
While He'd been unconscious, he'd mumbled asking for his "Darling", but had no recollection of saying it.
The Doctor had decided that maybe speaking with a Psychologist may help this mysterious patient. To Jog His Memory in a way the Doctors couldn't.
A another voice entered Charlie's hospital room, "Hello My Name is Jenny, May I call you Charlie"
That name caused a pause in Charlie, almost like a flicker, "Yes I suppose it's alright"
"Why, I see you've come here after an explosion, do you know what happened?" She asked gently not wanting to pry, she could see he was already distressed.
"No I can't remember anything, I was ..in a store ..' He ran his hands through his chestnut brown hair, "I think"
"Okay, we'll find that out later, You sound American, where are you from?"
Charlie was at a loss, nothing was clicking and he was growing tired.
"We can Try Later, Just one more question."
"Sure .."
"What is your last name?"
Charlie Paused, "Maxiumus, I think"
