The Return of the Prodigal: Part III
Ethan looked at his best friend, his eyes downcast, thinking that today was a one off, never to be repeated. "Maybe there is something that can be done about your missing documentation; being a Warbler does come with a whole set of advantages after all my friend…"
"What do you mean?" said Drew, looking up as Ethan checked his watch then pulled out his phone.
"Nick is not the only one of our group that has made himself a place in the political world; Trent has also done very well for himself."
"I know that he was working for Burt, but there isn't much that he could do about my problems, even as the leader of the Democrats in the house."
"Ah, but that is it you see; Trent doesn't work for Burt anymore," said Ethan with a grin. "He is now being recognised for the talent that he always was by a much higher authority. In fact, even you have probably heard one of the speeches that he has written for his new employer recently…back at the end of January possibly…"
Drew looked puzzled for a moment as Ethan dialled a number, and then it dawned on him, his eyes going wide. "Wait, Trent wrote… he is working for the…"
"Yes, and yes. Now he has always been an early riser, even at the weekend, so he should be up by now…." He listened to the telephone ringing in Washington DC, all those miles away, and was pleased when a familiar voice answered it in short order.
"Hey, Ethan, what are you doing calling me at just before 7am? I thought that you always slept later on a Saturday?"
"Normally I do, but it is actually just before noon where I am right now."
"Wait, what?"
"I'm in London, Trent, sat across a table from Drew…"
"Oh my God! That's fantastic! Is he coming back? Please tell me that he has finally seen sense!"
"He has, but there is a major problem. We need a very big favour, and there is only one person that we know that has any chance of being able to deliver it."
"I am guessing that one person is me? Anything that I can do to get Drew home I will do, you know that…"
"Right; to cut a long story short and avoid details, Drew has no passport, or any other sort of ID, thanks to the actions of you know who. I need him to be able to collect a new passport yesterday so to speak, and there is probably only one man that can authorise something like that with an embassy."
"My ultimate boss… Look, I hate to say this, but with no sort of ID papers, I don't think even I could get that done for you."
"You are in a better position that I am to call Dalton though, and ask them to access the files that they have there; the file on Drew that will have a photocopy of his first passport, and as they were the ones that put us through our driver's ed courses, they should also have a copy of his first driver's licence…"
"I had forgotten about that… yes, with access to that, it might well be possible… Okay, so nothing ventured, nothing gained. I will get in touch with the Oval office right now; the President is an early bird like me. I will call you right back as soon as he tells me his decision. There is no guarantee though that he will say yes; none whatsoever."
"I know, Trent, and I also want you to know just how grateful we both are that you are even considering doing this for us; I just hope it doesn't get you into trouble."
"I hope so too. Anyway, I will try my best, which is all that I can do. I will call you as soon as I can. Give Drew my love…"
Ethan hung up, and turned back to face Drew, who was looking down at the table again. "How could I have forgotten about those files at Dalton, Ethan? If I had only remembered them myself then maybe this could all have been over by now; I could have been home years ago…"
"That is not important now; what is important is that we get you home as soon as we can, and hopefully that will be tomorrow. If Trent can't get the President to authorise it, then we go to Plan B instead; we call Thad, and get him to retrieve your files. He can copy them again, make them into an E-mail attachment, and then we can print them off somewhere and take those to the authorities; hopefully that would be enough to get the ball rolling."
The sound of Ethan's phone ringing made them both jump then. One look at the screen showed him that the caller was Trent, and part of him did not wish to answer the call, in case it was the worst possible news. He had no choice though…
"Ethan, I spoke to the President, apologised for even asking first, and explained all the facts to him. He had me on the speakerphone, and the Vice President was there too… As you know, one of her campaigns currently is in the area of spousal abuse, and well, I think you have her to thank for the speed of the decision. Make your way to the embassy in London as soon as you can. They will have been notified, and all the documentation from Dalton will be on its way in the next 5 minutes. I called Principal Lefevre, rather than Thad, and she is en route to the office to send it through. Tell Drew I am looking forward to giving him a big hug, and introducing Cormac to his new uncle."
"Thanks so much Trent. Once again, you have saved the day for the rest of us. We are both forever in your debt," said Ethan, before hanging up on his friend. He turned back to face Drew, and one look at his best friend's face was enough to make him cry, just as Drew was. "So, we need to get to the US Embassy, whose location I am afraid I am unsure of, like yesterday. Is there someone that can look after Evie, because it might not be the quickest of processes, and she will quickly get bored waiting."
"The nursery has a drop-in play session on Saturday afternoons; I can take her there. I will go and get her ready, give her a sandwich for lunch. Now luckily, I do know where the embassy is, and it is probably easiest if we take a cab there… I still can't believe that this is all happening… I keep thinking that I will wake up, and that the last two days will all have been a dream…"
"Trust me, Drew, this is all very real. Go and get that beautiful little girl of yours ready… Actually, do you have a recent passport sized photo of her; we will need one…"
"I do; I will bring it along with all her documentation. Now this is happening, I just want to get out of here. I need to get away. I have been a fool for too long, and thankfully now I have seen the light. I am going home, wherever that may be…"
As Drew headed upstairs to get his daughter ready, picking up his own mobile to call the nursery in advance, Ethan reflected for a moment on the momentous events that had all taken place in less than a day. Twenty four hours ago he had been on his way to his office, no plans for the weekend other than heading to the Spotlight Diner, and quite possibly the synagogue, where he was always guaranteed a warm welcome, despite his status as a gentile. He had begun to forget all about Drew if he was honest, his old friend no longer haunting his thoughts on a daily basis. Now he was thousands of miles from New York, sitting in the well appointed kitchen of his best friend's home, plotting to engineer the other man's return to the country of his birth.
Drew's final words before he had headed upstairs still rang in his ears; "home, wherever that may be." He knew instinctively where he would like his best friend to be able to call home; he had two spare bedrooms in his apartment after all, and Jeff would have no objection to Drew and his daughter using them for however long they wanted. They would be safe there, and they would also have the benefit of so many friendly faces close by; indeed, Beats would be right upstairs. However, there was no guarantee that Drew would wish that; he might chose instead to return to his parents in the anonymity, safety and peace of rural Ohio. It was after all his friend's choice, not his to make…
He considered suddenly if he should make a call to the Symons; after all, his mother was desperate to hear news of her son, and he had promised that if he heard anything he would tell her at once, but he quickly decided that he would wait until he had her son back on American soil. He did however send a quick text to Nick, to tell him that he and Drew would be busy, but that he would be back that evening, once all of the issues had been resolved. The response was immediate, telling him that he would be welcome back at any time, and in any case, he and Jeff would not be straying too far from home that day…
At Drew's insistence, Ethan left the house first, on his own. He asked him to do so as the neighbour across the street, whose curtains had been twitching as he and Nick had stood there early, was a great friend of Lucy, and would not hesitate to report to her that her husband had left the house with a strange man. Ethan saw his friends point, and as he emerged from the house, he made a show of shaking Drew's hand, much to the confusion of his friend. He was also carrying a small black book he had grabbed in the kitchen; it had reminded him of something he had carried on two occasions to support Sebastian… "It looks like the Book of Mormon," he whispered to Drew as he shook his hand. "I'll notice her if she is looking, then make a bee line for her front door next. If she does answer, then I know the correct spiel…"
Drew had to stifle a laugh at that; he closed the door, then as he waited for his daughter to be ready, he took a look out of the window. He smiled as he watched his best friend head across the road and ring the bell of that awful woman. Then Evie was in the hall; as he examined her to make sure she was perfectly ready, he heard the sound of raised voices across the street, and he couldn't help but laugh. That made his daughter smile, as she couldn't recall the last time her daddy had laughed out loud…
"Okay, so you can't tell anyone at the nursery that Uncle Ethan is here. He is going to meet us there, but you have to pretend that you do not know him. Then, when we get back home tonight, I will need you to chose your favourite toys and books, just a few of them, so that we can pack them away to take with us when we leave."
"Are we really going away daddy?"
"Yes, and very soon. It will be so much better where we are going, I promise."
"I'll miss all of my friends at nursery, but I will make new ones, won't I?" said Evie with a sad smile.
"I know that you will. Now, when you see your friends today you have to pretend that you will be seeing them again soon, but you might not be; remember that when you are saying goodbye. Right, so off we go - and if we seen Uncle Ethan as we are walking to the nursery…"
"We don't know him," said Evie. Drew took his daughter's hand, and they headed out, walking down the street in the direction of the nursery school.
A quarter of an hour later, Drew and Ethan were sat side by side in the back of a black London taxi cab as it headed towards the US Embassy, located these days in a modern building in the Nine Elms area, instead of in the historic location of Grosvenor Square. For once the traffic in London was light, and they made remarkably swift progress. Ethan had his fingers crossed that everything would go to plan, and that there would be no unforeseen hitches in obtaining everything that they needed. A part of him wondered if he should have told Trent about Evie, but he did not foresee any issue with getting her a passport.
As the cab dropped them off at the gate, there appeared to be a major obstacle; the sign outside stated that it was open to the public only on a Monday to Friday basis. Drew's face fell, but Ethan was sure that Trent would not have sent them on a wild goose chase, so he headed towards the door, his passport at the ready, hoping that the guard would give them the news they needed. At first, the sight of it did little to make the expression on the face of the guard change. "We are here to see about an emergency replacement passport for my friend here; he is a US citizen who has been the victim of a terrible crime. I know that officially you are closed, but my contacts at the Oval Office should have called through and made the necessary arrangements. As you can see, my name is Ethan MacKenzie, and my friend is Mr Drew Symons. If you could check for us, I would be grateful."
The guard's expression had altered slightly at the mention of the Oval Office, and he checked his computer screen; he soon found their names on the system, and the note stating from whom the urgent request had originated made his eyes open wide. He turned back to look at them, this time with a smile, and said, "When I let you through the gate, you need to turn left to the reception area; you will be met there by Ms Baptiste, the duty officer. I hope that everything gets sorted out for you gentlemen."
They passed through the gate, and as they followed his instructions, Drew whispered to Ethan, "What do you think made his attitude change?"
"I should think there might have been a note stating the request was from either Mrs Obama, or the President himself," Ethan replied.
They entered the reception area, to see a woman standing there with a tablet computer in her hand. She looked down at it, then at Drew with particular care. She nodded to herself, then said, "Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am pleased to tell you that we have been sent all the necessary paperwork from your old school, and Mr Symons, you are clearly the person shown on the passport I have a copy of. Now I understand from the White House that this is a rush job. You will be pleased to know that we have already started to prepare your new passport, and we will have all the other documents you need ready in a couple of hours…"
"Actually, ma'am, there is a little something else that we need to discuss," said Ethan. "My contact in Washington, who liased with the Oval Office, is unaware, as was I until this morning, that Mr Symons has a three year old daughter. Naturally, she will also be requiring a passport."
"A daughter; that does change things, but only a little. The E-mail that we received from the Oval Office did disclose the reasons why this need to be prioritised; we are aware that Mr Symons is a victim of domestic abuse. That alone is a good reason to speed up the usual process in creating his new documents. A child however does make the situation a little more complex; your partner will have a claim on the child, and sadly, even in these instances, the courts do tend to favour the mother in custody arrangements."
"That isn't the case here; my wife is not the mother of my child. She refused to allow herself to fall pregnant; she took the contraceptive pill for the entire duration of our marriage, even when she informed me that we were trying for a family in the first months. She knew how much I wanted a child, and after an incident in which she went too far, and left me so badly injured that she found herself subject to an enquiry into her conduct, she decided that I would be allowed to use a surrogate. They in their turn declined all parental rights over my daughter, and signed papers to that effect, which I have here. My wife also refused to have anything to do with my daughter, and although I suggested that she be named on the birth certificate, she declined in the strongest of terms," Drew replied, pulling out the pile of papers as he spoke. He produced the birth certificate from them, and handed it directly to Ms Baptiste, who scanned it carefully for a few moments.
"That does make this process a lot easier than it might have done. I take it that you have a picture of her?"
"Yes, of course. A few weeks ago, I was with her in the shopping centre at Shepherd's Bush, and I took her into one of those photo booths for a laugh; told her to pretend that we were going on holiday. As a result, she is doing everything she has to, to the letter," replied Ethan, digging in his wallet and pulling out one of the photos, which he handed to Ms Baptiste.
She took a look, and smiled. "She is a very beautiful little girl. Based on this, I would say that there will be no trouble whatsoever in getting her a passport. Yours is already being processed, thanks to that information from your friend. I will need a few details from you about your daughter, and then we can get her passport under way too. It will all be ready in around two hours at the most."
"That's quick!" said Drew, a huge smile on his face.
"It's normally a lot longer, even in these circumstances; however, when the instructions come from the Oval Office, things do get sped up…"
With the paperwork completed, Ms. Baptiste showed Ethan and Drew to a waiting room, then hastened off to deal with another issue. Ethan took the opportunity of knowing that all of the documentation would be in place to open up the airline app on his phone to check the timings out of Heathrow the following day; he spotted one just after 4pm, and turned to Drew. "Right, so is your wife working tomorrow? If she is, then I see a great flight back to New York…"
"She is, yes, and she starts at 9am, so there will be extra time for us to get away."
"Right, so the flight is at 4.15pm, so we would need to be ready for noon at the latest, allowing for traffic and security; is that something we could achieve?"
"Yes. I can have a case packed for me and Evie by then."
"Two cases. I have business flyer perks, and so we will be flying back in that class, which means a double luggage allowance - and as I only came with a cabin bag, there will actually be another allowance now I think of it. So, six cases altogether."
"Six cases! The only problem is that I think we only have two large cases in the house."
"We can buy another four on the way back; that way, none of Evie's toys or books need be left behind. Of course, when we get back, you can come and stay with me in the West Village; I have plenty of space in my apartment."
"Temporarily, yes, but I can't expect to impose on you forever. I'll need to find a job of some sort pretty quickly, then I can save up money for a deposit and rent. To be honest, I am pretty much flat broke. All the money that I did have was either spent on buying the house outright, or went into our joint account - well, she calls it that, but I don't have access to it. In any case, the last time I saw the balance, it was negative anyway."
"She took all of your money on top of everything else?" said Ethan, outraged at the idea. "All of it, even the money you inherited from Wes?"
"She kept saying that we were married, and therefore, what was mine was hers…"
"…but obviously not vice versa. Look, I can lend you have the money for a deposit if you need your own space, but honestly, I don't mind how long you need to stay with me. You're my best friend after all."
"I know that, and I appreciate it, but… I don't know if I will be able to handle it. Everyone there will know how much of a fool I have been, and maybe it would be easier to deal with if I go somewhere that no-one knows what I did."
"Well, the offer is there, and stays on the table," said Ethan sadly. He really wanted to beg Drew to stay, to help fill in the void in his life, but he said nothing. After all, Drew had been ordered around by other people for so long; he had to be allowed to make these kind of decisions himself now.
In the end, Ms Baptiste was back in just over 80 minutes, presenting Drew with two shiny new passports, and much to his surprise, a birth certificate and an Ohio Driver's Licence. They both thanked her profusely, but she just shrugged it off. "It was no problem, trust me; always happy to help someone get themselves out of a problem. Now go and get home, and take good care of that lovely little girl of yours."
It was only once they were standing outside the embassy again that Drew began to cry, and Ethan could understand why he was. He wrapped his arms around his friend, and just let him weep for a while. Then, his friend's tears subsiding, he was back to being all business. "It is probably best that you give me all of those documents; if certain people happen to find those in the house, then we will be right back to square one."
"Worse that that; I think that she just might kill me and Evie," said Drew quietly.
Ethan made no reply, although he could feel his blood boiling in his veins. He carefully placed the new documents in the inside pocket of his jacket, and then said. "Now, we need to find a cab, and go somewhere that we can obtain those new cases; then we get you back home to begin packing; stuff that she will not notice has gone for a start."
"Agreed," said Drew, "although I still can't actually believe that this is really happening. This time tomorrow, I am going to be at the airport, and getting ready to head home at last…"
It was easy enough to find the new cases that they required in a large supermarket on the way home, but quite another matter to smuggle them unobserved into the house in Launceston Place. In the end, Ethan alighted from the cab halfway up the street, and went ahead, his little black book once more in his hand, and returned to the front door of Lucy's spy. He knocked loud and long, but there was no answer, and the curtains did not twitch. At the same time, the cab pulled up across the road, and Drew got out, and managed to get the cases in without being seen. Ethan joined him in a few moments; the new cases were placed in the hall cupboard upstairs, as it had a key, and could be locked. Drew pocketed the key, and then they left once more, to head to the nursery to pick up Evie.
Ethan's intention had been to leave Drew at the gate, and let him pick up his daughter alone; however, the weather was warm and sunny, and the children were not inside, but playing in the garden. The moment that Evie saw them she shouted out, "Daddy! Uncle Ethan!" That outburst did not interest the other children, but it did immediately draw the attention of the nursery teacher who was supervising. On seeing Drew, she smiled, and headed over in their direction.
"I should go!" whispered Ethan to his friend.
"No, it's too late for that," replied Drew. "It's okay; Lucy doesn't even know where the nursery is, let alone any of the other parents or staff… Good afternoon, Miss Frobisher. I hope that Evie has behaved herself for you this afternoon."
"She did, as always, Mr Symons. I am just glad that we were able to help you out in your time of need," the lady replied, before she turned her attention to Ethan. "I am Abigail Frobisher, and you must be the 'Prince' Ethan that Evie has confided in me about in quieter moments when it is just the two of us. You certainly fulfil the handsome part of her description very well."
"I'm flattered that you think so, ma'am, but I am really quite ordinary, and certainly not a prince," Ethan responded with a touch of colour to his cheeks and a self deprecating smile.
Drew however had other concerns. "She told you all about Ethan… she wasn't supposed to repeat those stories…"
Miss Frobisher turned back to Drew, and with a sadness in her smile, said, "Mr Symons, I have been teaching for a good few years now, and trust me, I can see the signs. Tales about a handsome prince riding to the rescue are more common than most people would admit, but it is usual an evil king they will be fleeing from, not a wicked queen…" Drew suddenly went very pale, and Ethan had to grab him to steady him on his feet. "Don't worry; I have never met your wife, and this will remain between the three of us. I do know people that can help you, if you need assistance of course."
"I did; I have needed it since before Lucy and I married," said Drew, and Ethan was surprised at just how frank his friend was being. "However, the prince, my best friend in the world, has managed to find me and has ridden to the rescue. We will be leaving for the States tomorrow."
"So soon… That is good. I will miss Evie, and indeed you. You were always one of my favourite parents, and her smile could brighten up my day the moment that I saw it…" She stopped, as she spotted Evie approaching, now wearing her jacket, and sank down on her haunches to be at her level. "So your prince has come, and this means that I have to say goodbye to you Evie. I will miss you, and our little chats, but I know that you will be happier wherever you and your daddy go than you are here."
"I will miss you too," said Evie sadly, before flinging her arms round her teacher to hug her close…
Ethan parted company with Drew and Evie on the street corner. His friend needed to head home and start packing, and in any case, Ethan was starting to feel the effects of his long journey and subsequently busy day. "I will get a taxi arranged to pick me up at 11.50, and we will be here for you at noon. That will leave us plenty of time to get to the airport and check in. if anything crops up in the meantime that you think I need to know, if there is any change in her schedule, then call this number." He pulled a bit of paper from his pocket, and scribbled down a number. "It is Jeff's number. I will tell him that if he answers the call and hears her voice, then he is to tell her that he was being consulted about painting a portrait of her - you know, make her think that she has just ruined something special by being distrustful of you."
"I doubt that would bother her… Anyway, if you don't hear from me, then everything is going to plan. I wish it was tomorrow now…"
"It will be here soon enough. Take care," said Ethan. Drew nodded, and with a wave from Evie, he headed in the direction of his house. As he walked, he put Jeff's number into his phone, and on a whim, sent his friend a text so he would recognise the number if he had to call tomorrow. A reply came in seconds, and he deleted it, so nothing could be found…
Ethan meanwhile headed back the way he had come with Nick that morning, but in his head he was processing all the additional jobs that needed to be done. First off, there was the small matter of the house. Drew had told him he had bought it outright; if that was the case, then there was no way that his friend was leaving his main asset to her; it was all he had left of the money he had once had after all. He wondered if Nick knew of a good realtor, and more importantly, could find a good divorce lawyer. Drew just wanted to leave, but he was never truly going to be free as long as the marriage certificate was in place. He also wanted to confirm something with Great Ormond Street; if Lucy had indeed been the senior surgeon that he was scheduled to meet on that day back in February, then he had a weapon that he could use against her in the divorce, albeit a questionable one. Still, the end justified the means - plus she had thought nothing of using blackmail to get Drew to marry her; it was fitting then that blackmail could be used as a weapon to obtain his best friend his divorce…
Three hours later, Ethan found himself sitting on the sofa in Nick and Jeff's living room, a smile on his face. Nick had made a few calls for him whilst he had been speaking to the hospital, and they had established quite a few things. Firstly, Drew did indeed own the house; there was no mortgage being paid, and no bills outstanding. With that fact established, it had then been just as easy to find out who had sold the property to Drew, and to ask them to place it back on the market; Nick had said that he was a lawyer, acting on his behalf, and at least half of that was true… The agent had been only too happy to do so, as there was such a strong demand for the type of property in the area, and he anticipated a sale in a matter of hours once it was made available. They had also managed to find a divorce lawyer; she had listened, and had informed them that from what she had been told, it was an open and shut case. Ethan had just smiled, and had asked her to write up formal papers, something she was only too happy to do, and promised they would be ready in the morning. That would give Ethan another nice gift for his least favourite woman in the world…
