Serendipity By Rocky

CHAPTER 16

Sherri stood in the lawyer's office with her arms wrapped around herself, leaning against Larry's desk. Feeling very much adrift, the half-revealed facts left her uncertain what to think. On one hand she wanted to dance around like a little kid at her marvelous good fortune, and immediately on the other, she was filled with foreboding over the violent way her sitter had attacked her father.

The younger Stafford daughter wasn't the sharpest pencil in the box, but she knew she was angry. Everyone seemed to know what was going on but her. 'Damn it! Even Mother knew more about what was going on, and she couldn't even pass a urine test.'

By the time her sister and her lover entered the office, Sherri was so worked up that her eyes were nearly yellow with anger. She said nothing, watching as they came in and took a seat. Moving from the desk, she paced back and forth, her jaw clenched and rigid. Finally she stopped in front of Amy's chair and leaned down, bracing her hands on its arms. "Are you going to tell me what is going on?" Her eyes were shiny as she begged to be let in on the cosmic joke that was her family.

"Our whole life is a lie Sherri." Amy began. "For starters, Carson Stafford is your father--but he isn't mine." She leaned back in her chair, watching a cloud of disbelief pass over Sherri's face.

"What?!" Sherri staggered back like she'd been slapped. "Where'd you get a stupid idea like that?"

"It's not stupid--it's true."

Sherri glared angrily over at Rory. "What kind of lies have you been filling her head with?" The dark haired woman looked back nonplussed, crossed her arms and raised a brow, simply refusing to be baited.

"Sherri…" Amy tugged gently at her sister's arm, forcing her to turn back to face her. "This has nothing to do with Rory, other than the fact that she has been there for me through this whole horror." Softening her tone, Amy gave Sherri's arm a little squeeze. "I'm not even sure if Dad knows that he's not my father."

"How can you say that and still call him Dad?" Sherri asked. Her voice was small and guarded, fearful of the truth that Amy was offering.

Amy shrugged sadly. "Even though I'm mad as hell at Mom and Dad, and I may never forgive the way they've treated me, I still love them Sherri. No matter what you think of me, I want you to know that I love you too."

Sherri paled and released a little puff of air, blinking a few times before collapsing into the chair behind her. Closing her eyes and pressing her hands to her lips, she sat statue stiff for several long seconds. "You went away… " She whispered and then paused to catch a breath. "I thought you hated me."

Sliding down to one knee in front of the auburn headed woman; Amy moved Sherri's hands away from her face and pulled her into a hug. "Oh Sher, I could never hate you. You're my little sister. I was mad at you, …but I could never, ever, do that."

Looking down with a tear washed grin, Sherri joked. "Are you sure You're my sister?"

Giving her sister a squeeze, the blonde grinned back in relief. "Yes, I'm sure. We both have Mom's nose for starters." She turned to the Exec. "Rory, can you hand me my birth certificate?" The tall brunette dug through her brief case and handed her the requested document. "There's more… Look at this." Amy said, holding up the paper.

Sherri brushed the tears from her face and sniffed before she scanned over the words, then gasped. "Uncle Paul was your father!"

Nodding quietly, Amy reached out and squeezed her little sister's hand. "One more shocker… You have a four year old half brother too, his name is Josh."

The color ran out of Sherri's face, her eyes rolled back into her head and she slid limply out of the chair into Amy's arms, flattening her to the floor. A voice came out from under the fainted woman. "Baby… could you please help me get my sister off me?"

Fighting to swallow a chuckle, and struggling on her knees; the Exec managed to aid in getting the stocky woman off of her lover and over onto a loveseat in the corner of the office. "Do all you Stafford women pass out when you get bad news?" She asked cheekily, swinging Sherri's feet up to dangle over the armrest.

Eleanor burst into the office just as Amy was patting Sherri on the cheek. She rushed forward to grasp a limp hand and glare at her older daughter. "Amanda Pauline! What did you do to Sherri-Louise?"

Rory looked up in surprise. "Pauline is your middle name? It's not on any of your documents."

Backing away from her mother who was hovering over an awakening Sherri, Amy shook her head sadly and buried her head in Rory's shoulder. "God! I can't believe that I forgot about that. No one ever called me that but Mom. I haven't heard her call me that in twenty years, and then it was when she was mad at me."

Rory frowned. This was an interesting revelation. Funny how guilt reveals itself in the strangest ways. It was almost like a criminal returning to the scene of the crime.

Sherri groggily looked around, seeing her mother. "Mom?" She asked in a little voice.

Eleanor rubbed the hand she held between her own. "I'm here dear. Now what did Amanda say to make you so upset?"

"Sh… sh… she…" Sherri stammered, "she told me that I have a little brother named Josh."

"What that's ridiculous!" The look of menace that Mrs. Stafford fired at the other women in the room twisted her face into an ugly scowl. "I have just about had it with your lies young lady." Her disgust was obvious as she regarded her daughter in the tall woman's arms. "Isn't it bad enough that you do unspeakable things that shame your family…" She stopped mid-rant to grasp the photograph that Rory held in front of her nose. "Oh my…" she gasped weakly and collapsed, head and shoulders, onto Sherri.

"Good grief!" Was all the Exec said, as she watched the photo of Carson's second family, then his first wife, slide in slow motion to the floor.

Greta Heinz sat at the vanity in the lounge of the senior staff ladies room inspecting her makeup. She prided herself on her carefully stenciled brows and that she always had the latest shade of lipstick whether it complemented her coloring or not. Making a kissing face at the mirror to ensure her lip-liner was even, she heard the voices of two the senior administrative assistants at the bank of sinks on the other side of the wall.

"…so Harland is in a panic and set up a meeting with the board, I just typed up the memo and sent it out." The first voice said in a conspiratorial tone.

"You mean it's true?" The second voice asked.

"Oh yeah, I talked to Donna, who talked to Madge, who just happened to be walking passed the Western Sales office and she said…" The sound of the first voice was drowned out for a moment by the sound of rushing water in the basin. "…Rory Winters is going to be the next veep."

If Ajax's eyes had gotten any wider, they would've popped from her head and bounced off of the mirror in front of her. Clamping her jaw and sucking in a deep breath through widened nostrils, she abruptly stood and marched out of the door before the two stenos entered the lounge.

The memo was sitting on her desk when she returned to her office. Picking up the paper in shaky hands, she read it three times before the words made it past the blood building up in her eyes. She blinked. The memo simply said that there would be a meeting of the board to review Rory's contract. A wave of relief flowed over her and Greta dropped into her chair. She heaved a sigh and tapped her cheek with one chubby, perfectly manicured finger. There was still time to stop Intercorp from making a huge error.

Unlocking the bottom drawer of her desk, she pulled out the false bottom and retrieved a thick file from the hidden space. The admin exec grinned as she ran her hand over the manila cover. 'That witch is never going to make Vice President, not if I have anything to do with it!' She thought venomously.

Carson glared Larry Twist across the small boardroom. "So Twist, you realize that we will be contesting this will of Christen's." The Banker stated petulantly.

Larry simply smiled. "I wouldn't advise it Mr. Stafford, but you are welcome to try." He held up a copy of the thick document. "I can't think of a single point of law that would allow you to get a judge to overturn this will, and if you do decide to pursue this fool's errand, I will be delighted to represent Amanda--pro bono." The lawyer tossed the will back down on the table. "For a man living in a glass house, the last thing you should be doing is picking up a hand full of stones."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Carson demanded leaning into the table and scowling at the tall lawyer.

"Ancient law, Mr. Stafford, ancient law." Larry pushed his glasses up on his nose and tilted his head down, regarding the shorter man. "Are you familiar with the Golden Rule Mr. Stafford?"

Carson's patience was rapidly wearing thin. He wished could chew on a couple of the antacids in his pocket but he didn't want to give the lawyer the satisfaction of seeing that he was getting to him. "Get to the point, Twist!" He growled angrily.

Years of working with people, both in and out of court, allowed Larry to play the banker like a fine violin. Keeping his face impassive, he crossed his arms and waited a beat. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you…"

"I'm aware of the saying, Twist. Make your bloody point!" Twin veins pulsed at Carson's temples, his color deepened.

"My point is, Mr. Stafford, that you shouldn't hire a private investigator to watch someone, without realizing that you too could be watched."

Carson sputtered and took a step backward. His indigestion rolled in his chest and a throbbing pain worked up the left side of his neck and into his jaw. Reaching up, he struggled to loosen his tie that was suddenly strangle tight. The pressure that kept him from pulling a fresh breath turned into a violent ache that radiated down his left arm.

Larry rushed forward to catch the older man as he fell to his knees. He eased Carson to the floor and then reached up onto the table to punch the intercom button on the phone. "Lisa!" He called into the speakerphone. "Get an ambulance! Mr. Stafford has collapsed!" Leaning out of the boardroom door he shouted into the hallway. "Does anyone know CPR?"

At the far end of the hallway Rory came out of Larry's office. "I do." She said, as she swung herself back down the hallway on her crutches. She came up to Larry and looked past him to the banker on the floor. "Oh Shit!" She exclaimed and tossed her crutches aside, falling to her knees beside the prone man. She unknotted his tie and unbuttoned the collar of his shirt. Unable to find a pulse, she quickly extended his neck and blew four strong breaths before sliding her hands up to find the end of his sternum to begin chest compressions.

In her head she was counting out the compressions needed before the next breaths. 'ONE, oh shit, TWO, oh shit, THREE…' She finished the fifth compression to find the receptionist, Lisa, kneeling at the banker's head ready to give him two more breaths before Rory did another series of five compressions. The two women worked side by side keeping the banker alive, until finally, long minutes later, the ambulance arrived and they were able the hand off to the paramedics.

The earlier pouring rain of the morning was slowly easing back to a heavy drizzle as the day stretched into late afternoon. Murray stepped out of the car and popped open a compact umbrella. As he walked up the drive, he noted that the house was much as George had described it in his reports, quiet and undistinguished from all the others on the block. Advancing onto the low single step at the front door, he rang the bell and waited patiently.

Shortly, a woman's face appeared in the window of the door before it swung open. "Hello, what can I do for you?" She asked, her voice polite but curious.

Murray coughed nervously to clear his throat. "Good afternoon Ma'am, are you Gertrude Stafford?"

Trudy frowned at the man standing in the rain on her step. "Yes. …Do I know you?"

"No Ma'am, I work for your husband." Murray produced a State Unity Banks employee ID, and held it out. "I been sent to inform you that your husband has fallen ill and to escort you to the hospital if you wish."

The family room for the CCU was a bland little space. Two sofas, at least twenty years out of date, sat at opposing walls with a matching overstuffed chair at the back wall between them. Eleanor sobbed quietly into a sodden tissue, while her youngest daughter tried to console her. Across the room on the other sofa, Amy leaned into Rory's shoulder with her eyes closed in introspection of the whole terrible day. A flag of truce hung between them as they waited for news on Carson's condition.

The phone sitting on the small end table beside the empty chair rang, and made everyone almost jump out of their skins. Amy reached over and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Ms. Stafford?"

"Yes."

"It's Murray Hodgekiss, we're downstairs."

"Were you able to find them then?"

"Uh huh, they're with me now."

Amy looked over at her mother and hoped she was doing the right thing. As if reading her mind she felt Rory squeeze her other hand, and she drew in tight breath. "Bring them up Murray. I've already told the nurse at the desk that you might be coming."

A few minutes later there was a light tapping at the door, Amy rose to open it, admitting the private investigator and a very subdued Trudy Stafford carrying her son. The little boy buried his head in his mother's shoulder, very shy in this strange place, with all these strange people. Josh was very aware that his mom was upset. The man had said something that he didn't understand, but it had made her cry. He hugged tight to her neck, afraid to let go.

Amy's heart broke for the woman that her father had pulled into this web of deceit. She admired the silent courage in the way she carried herself into the room and sat in the chair, settling her son in her lap. Stepping over to stand beside Murray, she asked in a low voice. "Did you tell her?"

Murray ran his hand over his mouth as if he was wiping away a bad taste. "Yes. That has got to be the worst thing I've ever had to do."

"Don't think I don't appreciate this. She deserves to know what's going on. Thank you Murray."

He opened the door again and glanced over at the dark haired woman and her son sitting in the chair. "She took it a lot better than I thought she would, but I also think she's still in shock." He gave Amy a small smile of support and moved out into the hallway, shutting the door behind him.

In a matter of seconds, the painful tension grew exponentially until it threatened to smother everyone in the room. Amy crouched down in front of the chair and offered her hand. "I'm so sorry about all this. My name is Amy, I'm Carson's oldest daughter."

Hesitating only slightly, Trudy took the proffered hand and shook it. "I know, Carson has a picture of both you and Sherri in his den at home."

Amy frowned at the revelation. "You knew?"

"Yes …I mean no." Trudy said trying not to look at the other Mrs. Stafford on the sofa at the end of the room. "I mean I knew about all of you, except that your mother looks very much alive."

Sucking in air through her teeth, Amy was lost for words for a moment. "This whole thing is painful for all of us, but let's wait to see how Dad's doing before we try to resolve anything."

"Have you heard anything?" Trudy asked, her eyes almost begging for some good news.

"No, not yet, but I expect that they'll let us know what's going on soon."

The hands on the large round industrial clock above the door moved slowly across its face. Eleanor had discovered her Egyptian heritage once again and refused to accept that Trudy was even in the room, by attempting to lose herself in an old and dog-eared copy of Reader's Digest. The second Mrs. Stafford, however, kept looking over at older woman like she was seeing a ghost.

Succumbing to a late night and an early morning, combined with the exhausting round of CPR, Rory snored softly into her lover's ear. Her broken foot had started to throb earlier, and Amy insisted that she take her pain medication and prop the cast on the low table that held the phone. Within minutes the tall woman was out like a light, slumping over slowly to come to rest on the blonde woman's shoulder.

Amy turned her head slightly and dropped a small kiss on the sleeping woman's head. Glancing up across the room, she caught her sister watching her with a wistful smile on her face. She smiled back. It was a good feeling to have her sister back. Amy promised herself that she would be a bigger part of Sherri's life from now on, no matter what happened.

Harland chewed on his bottom lip and idly rubbed his chin, while he watched the flying polish cloth slap over his shoes under the practiced hands of Bernie, the owner of the best shoeshine stand in town. The Personnel Manager wanted to look his best today; he didn't like having to get approval from the board for anything, but in order to bolster Rory's contract, he was on the verge of doing exactly that.

"All done Mr. Winters." Bernie announced with an expert snap of the cloth.

"Thanks Bernie, looks great as usual." Harland said, hopping down from the stand and handing the man a ten-spot. Glancing at his watch, he realized that he had better get a move on if he was going to go over the contract proposal a final time before the meeting. He was in such a hurry that he almost ran over Greta as he headed out of the elevator. The big woman fell into step with him and followed him into his office.

She tossed her copy of the memo onto his desk and scowled at him. "What's the meaning of this Harland?"

Harland simply looked disgusted and handed the paper back. "Exactly what it says in the memo Greta, nothing more, and nothing less."

Ajax leaned across the desk until she was breathing on Harland's blue paisley silk tie. "Why on earth would we be reviewing Rory's contract? The ink is still wet on the last one."

Swiveling back in his chair, Harland took back control of his own space and smiled a smile that more closely resembled a sneer. "You will find out at the meeting just like everyone else. I will not have you or any of the other middle management chiefs jinxing this!" Harland emphasized his point by slapping his hand down on the proposal before Greta could see what it was. He slid the document into his top desk drawer and narrowed his eyes. "Now if you don't mind, please leave my office--I have work to do!"

Greta left in a huff, growling at Robert as she passed by his desk. The young man watched as the large bulk of a woman went grumbling out the personnel offices. He waited patiently until he was sure she was well down the hall before allowing a string of quiet sniggers loose into the room.

Bedlam ensued an hour later in the big boardroom upstairs. Directly after Harlan explained what he suspected about headhunters going after one of their executives, hurricane Ajax blew through the room with a violent fury. Despite the raised eyebrows and long frowns around the table, no one else in the room said a word during the shouting match between Harland and Greta.

The Chair allowed the raised words until the shouting devolved to name calling. "Ms. Heinz… Mr. Winters!" He called, trying to bring order back to the meeting. "Both of your concerns in this matter have been duly noted." Looking from one to the other, he stared down his nose daring them to speak. "However we will not truly be able to consider this proposal until Mrs. Winters is present to answer questions from this board." Gathering up his copy of the document and the files Greta presented to the board, he pushed back his seat and stood. " Harland, find Rory and get her here. Until then, Ladies and Gentlemen, this meeting is adjourned."

Staff scuttled in every direction as the boardroom doors opened and the senior staff filed out, leaving Hardly and Ajax glaring at each other like two bullies on a playground. By the time both of them made it to their respective offices, the rumor mill was grinding at light speed.

Hundreds of miles away on a lumpy sofa in a hospital waiting room, Rory slept on her lover's shoulder; blissfully unaware that civil war had broken out at Intercorp.

(c) 2000 S. Day

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