As much as, Stephen wanted to throttle Jonathan, he composed himself enough to step aside and waive him in. Once inside, he directed Jonathan to his study, where before closing the sliding doors, he nodded slightly to Walter, a familiar cue to him, that they are not to be disturbed.
Jonathan stood near the sofa with his hands in pocket, expecting the "Protective Daddy" speech, but, in Stephen Edwards' English upper crust manner. However, as Stephen approached him, he offered Jonathan a seat and a Brandy; Jonathan accepted both, knowing full well he'd need them.
In handing Jonathan his Brandy, Stephen stared into his, asking, "to what do I owe this visit dear boy?"
Jonathan, wanted to tell him, he's not his "boy", but he knew it wasn't an insult, it was simply Stephen Edwards way of communicating.
"Stephen", Jonathan began, "I need to know where Jennifer is, as there are some very important things we need to discuss, and I cannot locate her despite the lengths I've gone to; she could be anywhere, but I've had zero success in finding her." "So, all of the extensive resources at your disposal have been fruitless in locating my daughter, your wife, is?" "Tell me Jonathan, why is that?"
Jonathan took another drink of his Brandy and continued, "Stephen, I've put some of my best investigators in my company, along with some whom I served in the navy, all with highly classified clearances, and combined, they've come up with zero, not a trace, nothing, not even crumbs or minute clues on Jennifer's travels or whereabouts." "As a result, I came to realize that Jennifer, at least for now, doesn't want to be found and the only way, she can do that, is assistance from a former high ranking OSS officer, who specialized in stealth reconnaissance, one well versed in hiding in plain sight with numerous and varied contacts around the world, who also happens to be her father." Stephen shook his head slightly at that accurate description, but without fully acknowledging his hand in Jennifer's "Get Away." He wanted Jonathan to explain himself and the behavior, that led to his only child to leave for world away, to heal from his actions.
"Jonathan, while what you say is true, about my past that is, my question wasn't about your inability to find Jennifer, it was about why she chose to run from you, in fact leave you, at least temporarily – My daughter has never in her life run from something difficult or that she couldn't handle, she's concretely stubborn, despite any odds and it would normally take hurricane force winds to keep her away." "So do tell, what have you done to make her disappear from your world?"
Jonathan finished his Brandy, requested another and waited... Stephen honored his request, then offered him the floor with a sweep of his hand.
Jonathan began with incident at the MET Gala – "Stephen, while Jennifer and I were at the MET Gala in New York, we ran into an old business rival of mine, one who I despise immensely. I've known this man for too many years and he, Elliot Manning, made every attempt to make my life hell in the past; to thwarting me in business, low balling contract negotiations, where I was the competitor, to paying people to assume Hart Senior Management roles, in order to cook the books for IRS investigations, to literally setting my boat on fire, in order for him to win a prestigious race, we were both involved in." Well, I thought I'd rid myself of him, since I'd heard he relocated to Australia – half-way around the world couldn't be further enough, but it was good start.
"Well, lo and behold, there was Elliot at the bar, per his usual, as Jennifer and I were ordering our drinks." "Elliot noticed us and that I was holding Jennifer around the waste; he introduced himself as if we were old college buddies and congratulated me on having the beautiful Jennifer Edwards on my arm. I was puzzled that he knew Jennifer, but then realized that she is known worldwide for her incredible Journalism skills, so his knowledge of her was then, unsurprising." "Of course, Elliot being Elliot didn't stop there – He then proceeded to tell me and anyone else who would listen, how great" … Jonathan stopped himself, realizing that this was Jennifer's father he was revealing this to, and a great shade of red overcame his face." Stephen surmised what Jonathan was about to say and since he himself, was privy to that dark time in his daughters' life, having to hear every detail of her attack, these statements made by Elliot and repeated by her husband, wasn't going to hit as hard as, Jonathan thought. Stephen spoke softly, "Please continue."
"Stephen, Elliot stated with emphasis", Jonathan took a pained, deep breath, "stated with emphasis how good Jennifer was in bed!" "Describing in detail the shape and color of her breasts, her backside and how well her body held and comforted his!" Jonathan wouldn't share Elliots exact words on that last statement, as they were beyond crude. "Elliot continued to describe his and Jennifer's night together, how she liked rough sex and her penchant for specific positions and claiming that she set about to sleep with him, under the guise of writing a story about the top New York businessman of the year – except he stated that she never got the story, but, he "got and had her"! My blood was boiling at that point, but, when he mentioned the child they created, as a result of him having her, and asking if he could have visitation rights, I lost it and went after him." But, before I jumped on him, I noticed how silent Jennifer was, almost crouching in fear of Elliot and realized that they indeed did know each other intimately, that maybe her fear was of my finding out, and it hurt Stephen, it really hurt." "I know my ego and caveman mentality is front and center here and it's not fair, considering Jennifer and I weren't even in each other's atmosphere at the time of her relationship with Elliot, but I was still shocked, shocked that she would even have anything to do with the likes of him". "So, I jumped on him and beat the daylights out of him and before I could finish him, I was being pulled off by what I thought, was a burly security guard, only it was our driver for the night, and he quickly shuttled us out of the Gala, and back to the Limo."
"This may not be what you want to hear Stephen, but, in the Limo, I took all of my hurt male pride out on Jennifer, refusing to hear her side and between boring holes in her with my eyes, to ignoring her, by telling her I didn't want to hear what she had to say, she broke down." "We were dropped off at the Penthouse, because I needed to wait to and see if I was going to be charged with assault, but, a contact in the NYPD, called to say that eyewitnesses reported that I was provoked, but, it would be best if I left for L.A. immediately and the rest would die down, as not one witness would assist Elliot in identifying me or support his side of the story."
Jonathan took a deep breath before looking up at Stephen, expecting to find disparaging and disapproving eyes, but all he found was a signal to continue, as Stephen knew there was more.
"After we boarded the plane, Jennifer again tried to explain, stating that it wasn't what Elliot made it out to be, but my response wasn't the greatest. I said, that if it wasn't, how did he know what her breasts looked like, not to mention other parts of her body, then asked if she was with him, without clothing, then yes, it was exactly how he made it out to be. I then asked, if she was going to tell me about Elliot's child, that she had carried – a child she so willingly and obviously wanted, unlike mine. At that, Jennifer yelled that there was no child, due to an accident and stormed off to the back of the plane, where the bedroom is, and we flew back in silence to L.A.". "Jennifer didn't try again until we got home and while I thought my anger had subsided somewhat, it flared up again, as she mentioned Elliot and us having to talk – So, I told that and I'm ashamed of myself for this, but, I told her that I couldn't even look at her at that moment and I left the house." "I went to the apartment at Hart towers and stayed there until I could calm down, as I knew I needed time, in order to return to a rational state, before going home to discuss this with Jennifer. Unfortunately, it took me several days to get over myself and my ego, as I returned to a Willow Pond, absent of Jennifer. I looked for her to apologize, but Max told me she left and had refused to give him any forwarding information. I contacted my best investigative man, Stanley Friesen to find Jennifer, because if there's anyone or anything to be found, he can find it. Sadly, Stanley wasn't able to garner a single bread crumb, not a trace of her phone, airline flight, rental car; absolutely nothing. That's when I asked my old Navy buddy Bill McDowell for help and with all of his top contacts, some similar to yours, he also came up with nothing, like Stanley.
"Stephen, that is when I realized that she must have used you, her father to disappear and honestly, I can't say that I blame her, for if it were I, I'd probably have done the same thing. I can't apologize enough for how I hurt Jennifer and it's true, what happened is my fault, I'm just looking for a chance to make amends, listen to Jennifer, support her and try and change her wanting to come home – I'll do anything, move heaven and earth if I have to, to have her back again!"
Stephen nodded slowly, silently thinking, "Well my boy, this is a start", but knew the next step would be he himself explaining Elliot to Jonathan, to give him additional insight on how to best precede to bridge that gap to his wife – Stephen wasn't looking forward to rehashing this, but, it was a must, if it was going to possibly save his daughter's happiness and that happiness was always tied to Jonathan, once she met and married him.
"Jonathan, thank you for being brutally honest in your failings as a man and husband to my daughter! Most men I think, would take the opposite route and continue to blame their wives, especially in a matter such as this, but you've taken full responsibility and while I don't care for the behavior, I do care that you've taken a stand-up position. Now, I'm going to tell you a story, one of ugliness, pain, hurt and brutality; it's not going to be comfortable, but, I want you to have a front row seat, in the same manner my daughter did to this story – and you may want to pour yourself another Brandy, as this is by no means, something that can be dressed up, it's raw.
Jonathan spoke, "I think I've had enough Brandy, but before he could say another word, Stephen interjected, "Son, you may want to pour that Brandy, because your wits will certainly be about you, when you hear what I have to say."
Jonathan went to the liquor stand to pour himself another Brandy and turned to offer Stephen another glass – Stephen handed him his glass and Jonathan filled both, returning to the sofa.
Stephen stood up and began pacing, staring deeply into the amber liquid, before speaking, he took a sip. "Jonathan, before I begin, tell me why you're here, aside from your tale being between your legs, why else?" Sighing, Jonathan spoke, "It wasn't just my tale between my legs and realizing that I was wrong in this, it was also Max – Max has a way of opening my eyes and seeing the truth, even if I glue them shut on purpose. My behavior and arguments about Jennifer aren't suited for me nor are they for her and Max helped me to see that." Stephen understood, as told Jonathan point blank, "Jonathan, if it wasn't for my version of Max, Walter, you would not be sitting here right now – In fact, you would probably be in handcuffs for trespassing or possibly my having you disappear for your antics involving my daughter. However, Walter helped me move beyond that – so here we are, and now, I'll begin."