Disclaimer: I don't own, and you know who does.
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Charles West, who never once in his life went by Chuck, sat nervously in the diner, watching the dozen plus uniformed police officers enjoying their lunches. Of course, he knew it was to be expected at a restaurant located near the main LAPD building. He knew it's location was precisely the reason he'd chosen it that day.
It took him a little while to find the place, first on line, then in person, but Charles's patience and persistence paid off as Detective Sergeant David Vega, part of LAPD's computer Crime division, made his way into the diner, flanked by his partner, Gary. 'It's odd, neither him or his partner looks like the kind of person who'd work with computer crime, and yet, here they are...' Mister West thought. "Detective Vega, over here." He waved briefly.
"Mister West, right?" David asked as he made his way to the table the other man had been holding for them for the past half hour. Gary took a seat next to his partner, ignoring the glare Charles was giving him.
In his life, Mister West had found that not that many people he met could ignore his glare. Partially because of the position he now held in his company, and partially because his glare mirrored his daughters. Or perhaps it was the other way around. Either way, that glare sent a very clear message, that the person glaring didn't care if the recipient lived or died, they just wanted what they needed from that person, and then they'd be done with them. However, these police officers, they were far stronger, made of sterner stuff, and ignored any glare he might generate. "Yes, that's me." Charles said. "If you don't mind..." His eyes glanced once again to Gary.
"Gary is Tori's godfather, so if this has to do with her, he has every right to stay and listen." David explained.
"Oh, this may have something to do with her." Mister West said. "Mister Vega..."
"Officer Vega." Gary corrected.
"Officer Vega, I come to you seeking advice." Charles hated opening this way, because it sounded weak. But in his life, he'd learned that asking a favor isn't weakness, not if it solved a problem he couldn't deal with on his own. 'Far better to owe a favor then fail.' He reminded himself. "I used to like my daughters boyfriend, but now he's becoming an obstacle to her future."
"Um, are you sure you wanna be admitting that here?" David said, glancing around at all the other officers.
"Oh, I mean no harm to the boy." Charles amended, almost chuckling. "None that my daughter won't inflict on him anyways. No, my problem is, I finally realized the nature of their relationship, and I need to figure out how to put it to an end, and direct her towards a better, healthy relationship." He shook his head. "And no, it's not that he's a bad boyfriend. Honestly, if I felt she'd be happy with him, then I'd leave well enough alone. No, Jade, you remember her, right?"
"She's the one they voted most likely to become a serial killer, right?" David asked, aware how bad it made the pale girl sound.
"Oh yes. I assure you, we were quite surprised when she won that award, since in my day, you only were eligible for such yearbook honorifics if you were a senior." Mister West said, his face stone. "But my child is no serial killer." For a moment, there was a glint in his eye that hinted at something lacking, like maybe a sense of humor. "And even if she became one, I doubt anyone would ever prove it." A hint of a smile spoke volumes about his pride in her seeming ability to deceive the police. "No, I'm here because my overly creative girl is in denial of her own sexuality." For several seconds, he let that hang. Then, as no one really reacted, he sighed, moving forward. "Simply put, she's gay, but in total denial of her true feelings. Now I need to figure out how to put an end to this charade of a relationship she has with Beck before she hurts him, and her own reputation."
"Wait, assuming your right, wouldn't being gay hurt her reputation?" Gary chose to speak.
"I had worried a bit about her future, but now, given the trends, I figured she'd be better off out and open about her desires, then repressed, secretly hating the person she was becoming." Mister West answered. "Besides, we live in California, Los Angeles, one of the most tolerant places in the entire county. And, should she go into entertainment, she'd be no worse off happily involved with a girl then miserably involved with a boy. No, Jade needs to realize her true attractions, and open up, stop living in denial, so she can be happy."
"How can you be sure?" David took his turn. "I mean, yea, you have good intentions, but forcing someone into any kind of lifestyle can cause major damage."
"I suspect my daughter has hate 'abused' herself" he made quotes in the air "in order to gain release, all while thinking about your daughter." Charles said, not pulling any punches. "I'm not pretending your girl feels the same, just pointing out what I discovered. And no, I didn't barge in, just…" he shifted, obviously somewhat uncomfortable talking about this. "She got louder then expected one night, and she was calling out 'Tori,' who I believe is your daughter." He looked around, as if what he'd confessed wasn't embalming enough. "Plus, I get to read her diary, and while she hasn't come out and admitted it, it's there, between the lines."
"You read her diary?" Both Gary and David asked, shocked to that betrayal of trust.
"Oh, I meant it when I said I get to." Charles informed them. "Jade gave me permissions years ago, and hasn't rescinded it any time I brought it up. And, because she's in denial, she has no idea how obvious her confessions in that book are. So, I came to you for advice, and because..." The stoic man looked nervous.
"You're hoping I have that kind of relationship with my own child, where she'd tell me things like who she's crushing on." David finished for him. "I don't. Frankly, I have to rely on Trina as my spy, cause she usually has a surprisingly good idea where Tori is emotionally."
"Tori's been crushing on Jade for over a year, probably since they first met." Gary said. "What? Girls tell their godfather things."
"Trina told you, right?" David pushed.
"Holly needed advice." Gary told his partner. "I think she's reading Tori's diary. Anyways, the point is, we can't just push them to date and expect things to work out. We have teenage children here, and they are very unpredictable. Yes, you could probably forbid Jade from dating Tori, and maybe, just maybe, that would push her into it. But long term, it's gonna take far more then just reverse psychology to get either of them into a relationship." He sighed. "We just have to accept it, neither is ready."
"Beyond my own issues with needing to fix things, I have another problem with waiting." Charles admitted. "You know who William Marshal is?"
"Part of the secret elite who have those huge homes in Beverly hills, right?" Gary said. "Guy has deep investments in just about anything legal that makes money here in the city, as well as multiple things outside the Los Angeles area."
"He's also my boss, and doubles as Jade's godfather, even though we don't follow that tradition..." Charles said, once again looking momentarily uncomfortable. "But Bill, as he lets, no insists his friends call him, has long liked Jade. Mister Marshal also is one of the so called secret homosexuals in the city, from a time when they could be an open secret, but never openly admit to what they were. That puts him in an odd position. It seems the only heirs he has are people who he neither likes, or like him."
"And what does this have to do with Jade?" David asked.
"I'm wasn't planning on pressuring my daughter, outside of wanting her to be happy, until I found out that my boss may be thinking of putting her in his will." Mister West explained. "He's fairly old, and so the sooner that decision is made, the better. I mean, even a small trust fund would protect her as she tries to break into entertainment. And, given that my boss is very worried about the trouble a young homosexual might have finding work, he's far more likely to give her something if she's gay." His hand went up to stop any comments. "Not forcing her, all things considered. But Billy claims to have excellent Gadar, whatever that is, and has insisted for years that Jade's a lesbian, albeit in heavy denial. How, I'll never know. I Mean, I never once cared about who she loved. Her maternal grandfather, however, that man is judgmental as anything..." He let that thought hang.
Gary chuckled. "So, if Jade realizes she's gay, she may wind up with a stipend to live on for the future?" He asked. "And so far, her only real crush is Tori? I get why you needed to see us. Again, though, we can't force anything."
"Actually, we can." David said. "Not gonna pretend it'll be long term, but to end Jade's bullying, Trina's been pushing Tori to ask Jade out."
"Like that would work." Gary scoffed. "Wait, maybe it would, from what Mister West here just said. So, Tori may be asking the big bad of the school out, huh?"
"So what we need is a way to make Jade say yes?" Charles asked. "Yes, I like that idea. You get your daughter to ask Jade out, and I'll think of some way to get Jade to agree."
"No, you get one of her friends to do it for you." Gary advised. "I'll talk to my cousin, see if she'll help."
David looked worried. "I don't know, Cat's not all there."
"You're related to Cat Valentine?" Mister West wondered, showing surprise for the first time.
"My second cousin." Gary said. "I only found out a few years ago. And I only knew she was one of Tori's friends from when I helped arrest that crazy stalker, Ponny."
"Oh yes, the girl Jade got in trouble for attacking." Charles chuckled. "Fawn Liebawitz. Hard to believe my daughter saw her for what she was, and not just a uniformed police officer..."
"Just glad she did, cause I didn't need that psycho, armed mind you, doing anything to hurt my children." David said.
"What ever happened to her?" Mister West asked.
"She's been locked up in a mental institution." Gary said. "We made sure she didn't escape that time. Still, Jade helping out, it's why we didn't charge her with assault." He laughed. "That, and we found out she just put a bald cap on Catarina, and surrounded her with red hair."
"Which explains how her hair grew back so quickly." Charles said, smiling. "I can't believe Jade was so restrained."
"Off point." David said, even as he chuckled. "I'll get Trina to get Tori to ask Jade out. You, if you can, prepare Jade to respond in the best possible way. Tori really isn't good at taking rejection."
"Yea, Sikowitz needs to help her, the way hes been helping Jade." Mister West smiled. "Oh, yea, Sikowitz has been deliberately avoiding giving Jade leads until he feel she's gotten better at taking rejection. He told me that would help her in the early days of her show business career."
"Look, we should just meet one day, hash out the wild stories we have about your kids, as well as the adventures they seem to go through sometimes." Gary said. "But for now, I think we have a plan. Mister West, I hope this works, and I'll be calling Cat soon to get her on board." He sighed. "I just have to convince her that they'd make an adorable couple."
"And a power couple." Charles added.
"And we meet up again in about a week, compare notes, and see what, if anything, we need to do from there." David finished. "So, we should grab lunch while we're here." He pointed at Mister West. "Need anything?"
"No, I'm good." Charles said. "I need to get to a work lunch at Maestro's anyways." He stood up and offered his hand. "Gentlemen, lets hope this plan works out."
The three men shook hands, each smiling as they came to an agreement. 'It doesn't need to work out, Jade just needs to date a girl.' Charles said to himself as he made his way out. 'Still, I hate doing this now. In just four years, we'd be setting them up to eventually get married." He chuckled to himself, even though he lacked a normal sense of humor. 'Who know, with luck, we may still be setting that future up. Jade, my dear, you're going to be happy whether you like it or not...'
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Not sure where I was, mentally, when I wrote this. Still, kinda liked it. Not all my chapters will be so prenatally supportive of Jade with Tori, but this one was.
Thoughts?