Burger glanced up at his clock, hedging on what to do with the rest of the morning. He'd be facing off against his old rival Perry Mason in court that afternoon, but there was nothing pressing on his schedule for the morning.
"I apologize, dad." The word 'dad' sounded strange to her ears. She'd never had an opportunity to call anyone that before. She stood and reached for her purse. "It was selfish of me to barge in like this. I should let you go so you can get back to work."
Hamilton's eyes widened at that. He wasn't ready to be parted from his daughter yet and he stood with her, preparing his case to talk her out of it. Snapping up the phone receiver he buzzed his secretary and put a hand up indicating for Helen to wait.
"I know this is the two minute warning, Ms. Miller, but I'm going to be out of the office for the rest of the morning. I have court in the afternoon so I may not be back in the office until tomorrow morning."
The district attorney hung the phone up after leaving instructions for how to contact him if something urgent required his attention before court; and then he smiled up at his pleasantly surprised daughter.
"I'm all yours, sweetheart. For the morning anyway. I suppose we should track down your mother and let her know you're safe and sound," Burger said, grabbing his coat and hat off the rack and getting the door for Helen.
"She said she was going to meet Della, Perry Mason's secretary for coffee this morning. That was where I was supposed to meet them, except I came here instead," Helen admitted, biting her lower lip. Her mother was no doubt worried sick and Helen knew it had been an awful thing to do to her.
"Then let's start there. Though as thrilled as I am to see you, Helen, you know what you've done to your mother was wrong and probably has scared the living daylights out of her, right?"
Suddenly, the floor had become rather interesting to the chagrined young woman. "I know. I'm kind of impulsive and impatient at times and sometimes it gets the best of me."
"Chip off the ol' block, huh?" Burger chuckled. "Believe me, you come by it honestly, but still, we don't want to be scaring your mom like this, okay? Now let's get out of here."
Burger led the way to his car, noting with some irony how much like him Helen seemed to be even though he hadn't been there to help raise her. Even more interesting was how easily and comfortably he'd seemed to have assumed the role of a father in just that morning. Shouldn't this first meeting have been more awkward between him and young Helen. Or was fate finally smiling on the hapless prosecutor by giving him a case he could actually win? He'd have to thank Alexandra for paving the way for him to have a good relationship with their child. Now if he could just find a way to have a lasting, renewed relationship with Alexandra.
Sure, it felt like he was moving a little fast, but hey, he wasn't getting any younger…
W^^^W^^^W
As luck would have it, Hamilton Burger bumped into Paul Drake just coming off the elevator that lead up to Perry Mason's office. Drake took note of the young woman with the district attorney and the resemblance to the same and gave Burger a warning look.
"If she's who I think she is, she's in for an earful from her mother upstairs," Paul said in that "just so you know" way he had.
"Is she still up in Mason's office?" Burger asked, shooting Helen an "I told you so" look.
Helen swallowed hard and tried a wan smile on Drake that prompted only a cynical "good luck" to Helen and a simple "yep" to Burger before Drake continued on his way out of the building.
They had no issues getting passed Gertie as Mason's receptionist knew full well to be on the lookout for a young woman answering Helen's description. Seeing such a woman with Burger, Gertie just waved them on into Mason's office.
"Well, I see the lost has been found…," Alexandra said, mock cheerfully from the table as Helen poked her head around the door and reluctantly entered the room with Burger nudging her from behind.
"And it appears that your theory was right on the money, Alexandra," Mason smirked. "Hello, Helen."
Helen ducked her head, a bit embarrassed that she was going to hear about it in front of others. "Hello, Mr. Mason. And am I that predictable?"
"Only to those who knew your father before you," Alexandra teased, though her expression was still pretty serious. Inwardly, she'd been terrified that something might have happened to Helen, but she didn't want Helen to see that just yet.
Mason caught the look out of his peripheral vision and wondered if he could let some of the tension out of the room. "You gave your mother quite a scare this morning, Helen."
Helen glanced up at Hamilton, who she was hanging close to. "Dad already scolded me, Mr. Mason."
She turned to her mother who was waiting expectantly. "I'm sorry, mom. I guess I got carried away."
"Or something. You need to learn patience and restraint though. One of these days that's going to land you in real trouble."
Burger put up his hand to stop Alexandra before it turned into the lecture he saw coming. If Helen was anything like him, she'd tune her mother out in T minus 10 seconds.
"Alright, Alex. I think she's been scolded by enough people today. You should have seen the look Paul gave her when we bumped into him downstairs."
The striking brunette stopped as Burger indicated, but she gave him a withering look. "Hamilton, you can't be serious?! Letting her off the hook that easily? Something bad could have happened to her out there. You should be with me on this."
"I am with you on this and I did say something to her. All I'm saying is this was obviously a big deal to her and I think that should be considered before biting her head off."
Alexandra didn't look convinced and was about to plead her case further when Burger strode over to her and gently guided her into the law library where they could continue in private.
"Is that what an old married couple sounds like?" Helen wondered aloud.
Perry and Della glanced at each other with knowing and hopeful smiles. Old married couple seemed to really agree with Hamilton Burger. Fatherhood too.