Serendipity By Rocky

Chapter 5

Eleanor Stafford plucked nervously at imaginary lint on one sleeve of her cashmere sweater. She glanced around the small waiting room and straightened her skirt for the hundredth time, settling to clutch her over-sized purse into her lap. The young woman perched at the reception desk was ignoring her on purpose, she was certain. Rising and walking the two steps across the room to inspect the print that hung beside the entryway, she threw a glance over her shoulder at the woman. 'Playing a video game.' She thought angrily at the soft sound of the tap tapping of the keyboard.

The quiet buzz of the intercom caused the secretary to pick up the handset of the phone; she spoke in low tones for a second and looked up at the waiting woman who looked back expectantly. "Mrs. Stafford, Mr. Twist will see you now."

"Thank you." The small round woman said, flashing the receptionist with a condescending smile.

Larry Twist looked up from the brief he had been studying when the door to his office swung open. He could almost hear the drums as the short, round, red head marched into his office. "Mrs. Stafford, won't you please have a seat." He said, indicating a guest chair in front of his desk, trying to ignore the set jaw and the steely glare she was giving him. "Now what can I do for you?"

"Mister Twist why is Amanda staying in Chrissy's house?" The anger of the short little woman would have been more menacing if not for the comical way her brows knit together forming a single line.

The Lawyer was a tall man, who looked boyish despite his fifty-plus years and thinning sandy hair. He pushed his glasses up onto his nose and leaned forward, clasping his hands on the desk. He was trying to even out their differences in height and not appear to be towering or imposing, especially if he wanted to defuse the waves of anger that were spilling out at him. "Mrs. York's last bequest stated specifically that Miss Stafford, as her executor, be able to live at her home until the reading of her will."

Eleanor's posture changed slightly. She appeared to be absorbing the information as one hand went up absently to play with the strand of pearls at her throat. "I see."

"Frankly I'm surprised that you were unaware of that fact Mrs. Stafford. As a beneficiary in your sister's will all this was out-lined in the letter we sent you."

Chewing on her lower lip the older woman was deep in thought for a moment. Coming to some sort of a decision, she looked up at the lawyer and shrugged. "Carson must have gotten the letter, that's the sort of thing that he would take care of." Looking self-satisfied with this answer the aggressive posture returned. "This just won't do, Mr. Twist, you must do something."

Something in the angry gray eyes caused the lawyer to lean back and think out his words carefully. He steepled his fingers. "I don' think I understand what you are getting at Mrs. Stafford. You expect me to do something… about what?"

Eleanor pursed her lips in exasperation. The man simply had no grasp of the situation at all! "Amanda living in that house." She leaned towards the desk and emphasized each word with a pointed right index finger tapping on it's top. "You must tell her to get out immediately!"

The tall man sighed inwardly and looked at his watch. "I'm sorry Mrs. Stafford, your sister's house is her niece's to live in, I have no power to ask her to leave even if I had a reason to."

"…But you do not understand Mr. Twist! She has someone staying there with her!"

"It is her legal domicile, Mrs. Stafford, she has every right to have a guest in her home if she wishes." Larry Twist tilted back still further in his chair repelled and revolted by the blatant animosity and ignorance of the small woman that was now leaning, palms down, across his desk.

Eleanor was not a exceedingly bright woman, but she was crafty. She simply had to get the lawyer to understand the deep importance of removing Amanda and that 'Woman' (she shivered at the thought) out of Chrissy's house. Being unable to reveal the unsavory nature of her mission she decided to take another tack. "What if I was to tell you that Amanda is damaging the property?"

 "I can not see why she would do such a thing, Mrs. Stafford. After all she is also a beneficiary of the will. Damaging the property simply makes no sense."

"Yes but it is true. My daughter, Sherri-Louise, went out to check on the house yesterday and she surprised Amanda and her 'Guest' and they had damaged the master bath causing extensive flooding; also they threatened Sherri-Louise and started destroying the kitchen as well."

Larry winced at the acerbic tone of the accusations laid out before him. Having met and spoken with Amy Stafford many times in the last few weeks since her Aunt's death, he was very skeptical that the nice young woman was capable of what her mother was ranting about. Paul and Christen York had been good friends of his. They spoke of their niece like a daughter, with love and pride. Their opinion of Carson and Eleanor Stafford, however, was now being confirmed …In Spades!

"The only action I can take at this point is to talk to Miss Stafford about your claims." The lawyer stood up to recapture the offensive. "I am curious, Mrs. Stafford, how your daughter came to be in the house in the first place. If she was not let in, how did she 'Surprise' Amanda?"

Over-shadowed by the tall man, who had come around the desk to sit on its corner, Eleanor sat back in her chair. "Like I told you before, she was checking on the house. I wasn't aware that Amanda was staying there. Sherri-Louise let her self in with Chrissy's key."

Larry frowned. "Are you saying that your sister gave you a key?" He found this very hard to believe considering the stained relationship that had existed between the siblings.

"Well no, she didn't. The key was in her things when we picked them up from the hospital." Angered that she had to explain such a simple thing to a lawyer of all people, Eleanor's tone was clipped and terse. "I really don't see what you are driving at, Mr. Twist."

"I believe we have a problem here. Mrs. York's personal effects were only to be released to myself, as her counsel of record, or to her executor, Miss Stafford." He paused and looked at Mrs. Stafford directly in the eye. "…If you or your other daughter have misrepresented yourselves to obtain her effects you maybe liable for fraud and theft."

Like a defective puppet, Eleanor's jaw worked up and down, no sound coming out. Finally she managed to spit out, "How dare you…" clutching her purse to her breast and standing up. Even standing she still wasn't as tall as the lawyer seated on the desk.

"Take it Easy Mrs. Stafford," Larry took the short woman by the elbow and guided her to the office door. "I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding. Please bring in Mrs. York's effects, including the keys, and I'll speak with Amanda on your behalf. If she agrees, there should be no reason to call the police."

With the word 'Police' Eleanor's eyes bugged out and she mutely allowed the tall man to gently escort her out of his office.

Larry waited until the shaken woman had left through the front door. "Lisa," He said to the young woman at the front desk. "Get me Amy Stafford on the phone." He turned back into his office shaking his head at the total cluelessness of Eleanor Stafford. What should have been the straightforward last wishes of a sweet and dear lady, was now devolving into a messy family dispute. Larry HATED it when things got messy.

A hand shot up out of the covers and slapped at the offending alarm, when knocking it onto the floor and under the bed didn't stop the loud ringing, a mop of blond curls slowly emerged from under the covers. One green eye cracked open slightly and stared stupidly at the phone while it rang two more times. Dragging the handset back under the covers and settling her head back on the warm breast that she had been using as a pillow, Amy asked sleepily. "Hello?"

"Hi Amy, it's Lisa from Lambert, Beck, and Twist could you please hold the line for Larry."

"Huh? …Oh hi, sure." She waited.

Amy felt the body under her shift slightly as the larger woman began to waken. Two arms circled her shoulders in a good morning hug and lips pressed to her brow in a soft loving kiss.

"Mmm… Good Morning!" Amy tilted her head back for a proper good morning kiss.

"Hello? Amy?" The Lawyer's voice came from handset. "I hate to tell you this but it's quarter past twelve."

Amy tried to suppress a surprised giggle. "…Hi Larry. Sorry, I had a late night." She looked up, her eyes pleading for the roaming hands to cease, so she could concentrate on the phone call. "What can I do for you?"

"I hate to bother you with this but I had a visit from your mother this morning and she was very upset."

"Oh Gods, is this about that thing with Sherri yesterday?" Amy could feel a knot of pain rising behind her eyes at the very mention of her mother.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. She seems to think that you and your guest are wrecking your Aunt's house."

Amy sat bolt upright, causing a sound of pain by her bed partner from where her elbow had landed. "She said WHAT!" The slight headache was rapidly progressing to a full-blown skull cramp.

"Don't worry, I have your mother's hysterical version." The Lawyer chuckled. "I just thought I should call you for the real story."

Amy made a nervous short laugh. "Sorry baby." She whispered holding her hand over the mouthpiece, and kissing the spot she had injured. "Yes, I have a guest staying with me. No, we are not wrecking the house."

"Well, your mother says that your sister came over to check on the house and you had flooded the master bath and when she asked you about it, you and your guest attacked her and trashed the kitchen."

At first Amy was angry. She ran her fingers through her hair and rubbed her forehead with heal of her hand. When her lover's finger's started massaging her temples, she felt too good to be angry. She smiled instead. "Did mother mention where Sherri got the key for the house in the first place?"

There was pause for moment from the Lawyer. "Yes, that's what I really want to talk to you about. I could care less about your fight with your sister; it's none of my business. However, your aunt's personal effects are. I told your mother that if she returned the property of the estate, I would ask you not to press charges."

"I could have my mother arrested?" The evil part of Amy's mind played with the idea of her mother in jail with a large woman named 'Marge' for a cellmate. 'Shit it would serve her right!' She thought.

"Yes in theory, you could. I checked with the hospital and apparently 'you' signed for Christen's things."

Amy's anger was gone. For once in her life she had the upper hand over her mother and rather than a vindictive route, she decided to take the high road. She smiled at Rory, who was idly playing with a lock of Amy's hair. "So if I had the stuff 'I signed for' there would be no reason to send mom and Sherri to the big house, right?" She snickered and gave the tall woman a playful kiss.

"I see that we understand each other completely." Larry replied laughing as well. "I can't guarantee they haven't made copies of the keys though."

"It's already been taken care of. The locks were changed yesterday." Amy winked at her own personal locksmith.

There was snort on the other end of the line. "Great, I'll let you know when I receive them then. Good-bye Amy, it's been a pleasure talking to you."

"Bye Larry, and thanks for calling." Amy hung up the phone and indulged her self in a long hard taste of her lover's lips only to be lost in a mutual case of contagious giggles.

The horseplay finally subsided long enough for Rory to catch her breath. "Well GOOD Morning to you too!"

The sound of the doorbell rang out. "Can you see who's at the door?" Amy called up from the laundry room. "I'll be up in a sec…"

Putting down the knife she had been using to make sandwiches, Rory tightened the belt on the robe she was wearing and walked to the front of the house. Through the small window in the door she could see a tall sandy haired man standing on the front walk holding a plastic shopping bag. A perverse sense of boldness over took her and she swung the door the wide extending her hand. "Hello. You must be Larry… Hi, I'm Amy's houseguest, Rory Winters."

The first thing Larry noticed about the woman who had answered the door, besides the bathrobe she was wearing, was the fact that she almost looked him in the eye. 'Wow, she must be almost six feet tall.' He mused. He glanced down at the floor. 'In her bare feet…' He looked back up at her disarming smile and shook the proffered hand warmly. "Yes I'm Larry Twist, pleased to meet you. Is Amy in?"

"Yes she'll be right up, she's down in the laundry room. You'll have to forgive the way I'm dressed." Rory said embarrassed by the quizzical expression on the lawyer's face as he glanced up and down. "I know this sounds cliché, but I literally have nothing to wear at the moment."

"That's all right, I should have called to say I was coming." Larry said smiling apologetically.

Their combined embarrassment was brought to an end by Amy's cheery voice coming down the hall. "Hi Larry, why don't you have a seat in the front room." She handed the laundry basket she was carrying to the taller woman. "Here, sorry I forgot what you were wearing." She whispered. "Go get dressed." Giving the belt of the robe a little tug, an evil little smirk on her face, she watched as Rory disappeared into the bedroom with the clean clothes and then turned to the other room to speak with the Lawyer.

The tall man stood waiting in the living room. He waited until Amy had taken a chair across from him to be seated. "How are you doing?" He asked reaching over the coffee table to give her hand a small squeeze.

Amy was immediately put at ease by the friendly gesture. She wished in the back of her mind that her father were more like this soft-spoken gentleman. "I'm Okay, I guess. Mostly I'm glad that this nightmare is nearly over."

Reaching down Larry gathered up the shopping bag at his feet and placed it on the small table between them. "I checked the manifest. Everything seems to be in here. Did you want to check it over?"

Amy stared at the plastic bag. County General was written on the side. A lump rose in her throat and she tried to force it back down. "No it's all right Larry. That's just her purse and her clothes, isn't it?" She didn't even open the bag to look. A burning sensation in her eyes warned her that tears were trying to well up, so she looked into the understanding hazel eyes of the lawyer. "I didn't think that this was going to be this hard."

Larry patted her hand. "Amy I know how much you loved your aunt and uncle, they both spoke of you often. You were the child they couldn't have, and they loved you dearly." He smiled and nodded to Rory as she entered the room; this time more appropriately dressed in faded jeans and a polo shirt. "I'm so glad that you're not alone for all this." The Lawyer stood and waited for the other woman to take a seat beside Amy.

Rory lifted a hand and squeezed Amy's shoulder. "Hey." She said softly. The tall woman was only mildly surprised when her lover turned into her arms, sobbing softly. She ran her hand up and down the smaller woman's back, shushing quietly. Glancing to the man on the sofa, all she could see on his face was nonjudgmental empathy. They waited patiently while Amy regained her composure.

Amy leaned back but didn't break the embrace. She sniffled softly and excepted a handkerchief from the lawyer to wipe her eyes and nose. "I thought I was done with that."

"You're only human Honey." Rory gave the young woman a small squeeze and released her to sit up. "It's not healthy to keep sorrow bottled up."

Larry gave no reaction to the term of endearment, or if he had any reaction, he carefully kept it to himself. "I'm terribly sorry but I really must be going." He looked at his wristwatch. "I did want to warn you though, I don't think that your parents, mainly your mother, are going to be willing to let this go. I've seen this too many times before. Sometimes the distribution of a final estate brings out the worst in people. So call me if there is anymore trouble from your family and I'll do my best to sort it out… Okay?" He rose to leave, holding out his hand to Amy.

The young writer clasped the man's large hand in both of hers. The lawyer frowned looking at the bandage that stood out on one small hand. She met his eyes with a small shy grin. "Cut myself destroying the kitchen." The tall man raised one eyebrow but said nothing.

The two women walked Larry back to the front door. "Don't forget what I told you." He said with one hand on the knob. "Call me."

"I will, you can count on it… and thank you so much. I know you didn't have to bring Aunt Christen's things out to me personally, and I want you to know that I deeply appreciate it."

After the lawyer had left, Rory pulled Amy into a long comforting hug. "Hungry?" She asked into the blond curls that covered one soft pink ear.

"You cooked?"

"I suppose, if you call meatloaf sandwiches cooking." Rory grinned and kissed the end of Amy's nose. "I thought you might want to keep your strength up."

"Now that you mention it, I am feeling a touch peckish. Wrecking the house, a trip to the ER, and a night of some of the best sex I've had in years, really can work up a girl's appetite."

"You forgot to mention running riot through my fine unmentionables." Rory added with a grin and a wink. Then she paused for a second and frowned. "What do you mean 'Some' of the best sex?"

Amy snickered and buried her face in Rory's chest. "Oh, the best sex I ever had was yesterday morning!"

"Even with the broken sink?"

"Especially the part with the broken sink." Amy paused, looking up into the blue eyes that could see all the way into the bottom of her soul. "Rory, can I ask you a stupid question?"

The lanky executive stared back into her lover's eyes soberly. "You can ask me anything, smart, stupid or anywhere in between."

The small hand lifted to the smooth cheek. Amy seemed to be carefully composing her question and needed tactile proof of beautiful woman before her. "All this mess with my family isn't too weird for you is it? Most people would have split after that scene with my sister or the lawyer warning me that my mother is out to get me."

Rory's eyes crinkled at the corners with a quiet understanding smile. She placed her over the small one at her cheek. "I have just been through the messiest divorce of the century and I've discovered I'm not crazy just gay; after that your family doesn't scare me. If anything, they only makes me mad because of the hurt they have put you through."

"Really?"

The tall woman's smile spread to a wide sparkling grin. "As you put it so aptly the other night 'Abso-frigging-lutly'!" She was rewarded with look so full of love that she pulled the petite woman into an embrace that lifted her off of the floor.

Amy wrapped her legs around Rory's waist and snuggled into the taller woman's neck. "I don't think you were crazy just in denial." She stopped to put several kisses at the pulse point, her hands running up into the long raven hair. "Maybe, I'd like to think, you were just waiting for me."

"I'd like to think that too. My whole life makes much more sense that way. Why I let myself be farmed out to midwest. Why I put my career ahead everything, including relationships. I almost feel sorry for Harland, he thought he had landed the perfect trophy wife; that turned out to be a cold fish. The physical part of our marriage was such a disappointment to both of us. He 'Hardly' ever did it for me either."

 Can I ask another stupid question?" Amy felt her lover run her hand up and down her back while she smiled sadly and nodded. "Why did you marry him?"

The shoulders under Amy's hands shrugged. "We were each other's dates at company functions for a few years; it just seemed like the next logical step at the time. You know 'Old Maid' syndrome. I was more in love with being Mrs. Harland Winters, than the man who gave me his name."

A loud rumble that Rory felt more than heard came up from the young blonde's stomach. It signaled the end of their serious discussion, much to her relief. She laughed and ruffled the blond curly locks. "I better feed that monster you got in there. I hope it likes meatloaf sandwiches."

She made it to the kitchen carrying Amy, and only bounced off of the wall once.

© S. Day 1999

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