About 20 minutes later, Jennifer came back into the penthouse. She was very visibly frustrated.
"What happened?"
"The desk clerk wouldn't give me any information about whether or not my father was here in the hotel, whether or not he had a reservation, whether or not he had ever stayed here, ever. And I explained to her that it was a very delicate situation of utmost importance. She didn't care. She wouldn't budge".
Jonathan reached over and picked up the phone.
"What is your father's name?"
"Stephen Edwards".
Jennifer headed back to the table to get her plate so she could finish her sandwich.
When she came back to the living room, Jonathan was hanging up the phone.
"He's in room 618. Max, can you run down to room 618 and ask him to come up here please?"
"Sure thing, Mr. H."
"Um, Max. Don't tell him I'm here-I want to break that to him gently. If he asks what for, tell him there's an art client up here that needs to speak with him about a painting".
"You got it, Miss Edwards".
"Thank you, Max".
She sat down and anxiously waited for him to come up.
A few minutes later, Max was coming back through the door. Stephen was right behind him.
"Mr. Edwards, here is your painting".
He walked into the living room and saw Jennifer.
"Jennifer! My sweetheart, is that really you?"
"Yes. Oh Pa, I missed you so much".
She ran to him and hugged him as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Sweetheart, the FAA called and said you were on a plane that crashed. How is it that you are standing here?"
"Well, Jonathan and I were on the plane together. Oh Pa, this is Jonathan Hart. And you met Max".
"Hello, everyone".
"Sit down, Pa."
They sat down and she explained everything to him.
"So, here I am, no clothes, no id, no money. Jonathan graciously said I could stay here and he would pay me to help him out, so I accepted. As soon as the bank in London is open, I will call them and see if they can get me access to my accounts. And then I guess I'll go shopping".
"I'm so thankful you are alive. I had no idea you were even coming to the states when the FAA called".
"I know. I wanted to surprise you".
They spent about another hour chatting and then Stephen looked at Jennifer.
"Well, I don't see any point in attending the meeting tomorrow. So, I think I am going to see if I can get a flight to Germany tonight, so that I can get back to work".
"Great idea".
He pulled his wallet out and handed her several bills.
"Go shopping on me, sweetheart".
She leaned forward and kissed his cheek.
"Thank you, Pa".
"Jonathan, Max, it was lovely meeting you both. Jonathan, thank you for taking care of my daughter. I appreciate it".
"My pleasure, sir".
"I'll call you soon, Pa. I love you".
"I love you too, and I'm so glad we are having this conversation".
She walked him out and then returned to Jonathan.
"Well, Mr. H., I guess I don't have to go to that meeting either".
"No, Max, I want you to go. Take some really good notes on what they say. I am interested to see how they are going to play this off".
"When are you coming back to Los Angeles?"
"I haven't decided. I have to get my cast off end of next week, and they will decide if they are going to give me a walking cast or what, so probably after that".
"Great."
"Jonathan, it's time for another pain pill".
"Yeah, it is. Can you get me a glass of water, please?"
"Certainly".
She ran to get him water, while Max helped him up off the couch.
"She's one terrific lady, Mr. H."
"Yeah, she is. We are just friendly acquaintances though".
"What are you waiting for, Mr. H.?"
"It's complicated, Max".
Max helped into his bedroom, and he had just gotten settled into bed when Jennifer appeared in the doorway.
"Oh, I have your water…"
"You can come in, it's alright".
She walked over to the bed and handed him his water glass. She got one of his pills out and handed it to him.
"The bottle says you should sleep for several hours, so if it's alright, I think I'll go shopping while you do".
"It's fine. Take one of the keys with you, when you go."
"Ok, I'll be back later".
She left his room and he fell asleep a few moments later.
***A few hours later***
Jennifer came back to the penthouse. Max had left a note that he had gone out and would be back soon.
Jonathan was still sleeping.
Jennifer had bought a few outfits, a purse, a wallet, and her makeup, skincare, and hygiene line.
She hung everything up in the closet and put a few things in the drawers of the dresser and then went to the living room to relax.
She picked up the phone and called her bank in London and tried to get them to send her new bank cards in New York, but they wouldn't give her access because she didn't have a permanent address in New York and couldn't tell them her bank account number.
She hung the phone up and tried to figure out what to do.
Jonathan woke up a couple hours later. Max was still out.
She heard him getting up and went to go help him.
They slowly headed to the couch, and she helped him get his leg propped up and get settled.
"Are you hungry?"
"I could eat."
"What would you like?"
"Well, Max probably hasn't gone to the store to buy big groceries. So, why don't we order something? There's a great restaurant across the street that delivers. Steaks, seafood, pasta, salads, whatever you want".
"That sounds great".
"If you look in the kitchen, in the drawer next to the fridge, there are menus. The name of the restaurant is Heartbreaker's."
"Got it".
She went to her room and grabbed her purse and then grabbed the menu.
They perused it and she finally decided on a salad with grilled shrimp.
She went to pull some money out of her wallet, but Jonathan stopped her.
"I've got it, it's alright".
"Thank you".
He called and placed the order and then turned on the TV.
About 10 minutes later, there was a knock at the door.
She got up and answered it.
"Hi, I'm looking for Jonathan Hart and Jennifer Edwards. I'm Ryan Alexander, I'm with the FAA."
"I'm Jennifer Edwards."
"May I come in?"
"Certainly".
She led him to the living room.
She sat next to Jonathan, and Mr. Alexander sat across from them.
"We are going to have a press conference in a couple hours, where we will announce the results of the investigation into what happened to the plane. We are also going to announce you two as survivors of the crash".
"And if we don't agree to that?"
"You don't have that option. You will be announced as survivors no matter what".
"Mr. Alexander, Jennifer has brought up a good point. Has it occurred to you that we might not want the publicity?"
"I understand that it might be difficult having a spotlight on you for a few months, but that's not my concern. My concern is primarily on disclosing what happened on the plane during the flight that caused it to crash".
"Was it engine failure?"
"Yes, it was. We believe faulty parts played a role".
"So, why can't you just say that, instead of mentioning our names?"
"I am simply following protocol, Mr. Hart."
"Well, your protocol needs to be changed."
"I agree with him".
"Look, it's a matter of public record. I would think you would want people to know that you survived the plane crash".
"Not if they didn't already know I was on the plane to begin with. And I would prefer to tell people in my own terms, and this isn't my terms".
They argued everything they could think of, but in the end, they lost the argument.
Jennifer refused to answer anymore of Mr. Alexander's questions, and walked him to the door.
Jonathan told him the FAA would be hearing from his lawyer.
"That would be a waste of your lawyer's time, Mr. Hart. Believe me."
After he left, Jennifer came and sat back down next to Jonathan again.
"Did you get your stuff straightened out in London?"
"No. I called the bank but they won't help me because I don't remember my bank account number. I never bothered to memorize it".
"What bank is it?"
"London National".
"Well, I tell you what. You can use my car service tomorrow to go get an ID here, at the DMV. And then when I go back to London in a week or so, you can tag along and go to the bank in person".
"I appreciate it. This is turning out to be a huge hassle".
"Yeah, for me too".
"Have you told your company that you are alive?"
"I called one employee and had him do a phone tree".
"I see".
"I suppose we are lucky that they didn't announce the plane had crashed right away. The press on this could have been much worse".
"Yes, I agree. It just infuriates me that they won't respect our wishes to not have our names publicized. I mean, you and I survived the plane crash, and yet they've treated us like an enemy from the start".
"I agree. If they insist on outing us to the press, then we should out them. We should tell the press how they treated us".
"That's a good idea. And I think I'm going to do an expose on the airline company, Regent Airlines".
She got up and grabbed a notepad and a pen and started writing down everything she could remember.
Jonathan stared at her in amazement.
Max got back just in time to go to the meeting. He promised to come back and give them all the details.
Jennifer helped Jonathan get settled in the bed again, and got him another pain pill.
She decided to take a nap herself, and went into her bedroom and climbed into bed.
She was just about to fall asleep when the phone started ringing. She quickly went and grabbed it so as not to disturb Jonathan.
"Hello?"
"Hi, this is Meredith Barrett, from News Channel 4. May I please speak with Jonathan Hart?"
"I'm sorry, he's not available right now. I can take your number and give it to him".
"Certainly. How about Jennifer Edwards, is she available?"
"No, she isn't".
Jennifer took down the number and hung up.
Two seconds later, the phone rang again.
"Hello?"
"Hi, this is Patrick Carnes, Action News 35. I am looking for Jennifer Edwards or Jonathan Hart?"
"I'm sorry, they aren't available now. Would you like to leave a message?"
She took the message and then hung up.
For the next 45 minutes, the phone rang non-stop. Jennifer took message after message after message. It seemed like every single news station in the country was trying to get ahold of them. They had offers to appear on Oprah, Ellen, CNN, all the major network morning shows, all the local shows, and many more. And it wasn't just TV, it was magazines and newspapers as well.
She had just taken the last message when Max came back.
"Hi, how was the meeting?"
"Not well. Mr. H. isn't going to like this".
He handed her the packet he had been given.
"They gave the reporters our phone numbers?1? Have these people never heard of privacy?"
"I know. I'm afraid he's about to get lots of phone calls".
"About to isn't the word. I've been taking messages for about an hour now. Every news outlet for miles has been calling, plus the major ones".
"Yikes. Does he know?"
"No, he's asleep."
"Well, when he wakes up, it won't be pretty".
"That's what I'm afraid of".