Cancelled (10 page)

Johnathan shook his head, but inside he was steamed. “I told him we're together this morning.”

Alexis grimaced. “How'd he take it?””

“Fine. But I'd be prepared for some teasing.” Johnathan took a few long strides and gave Alex a kiss before leaving the office for the day. “Oh, and don't take any notes he wants to give you.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” He disappeared down the hall and out the door. Cherry blossoms littered the sidewalks in nature's confetti. He wasn't too happy with spending the night away from Alex, but maybe it would be good to get a handle on his intentions towards her.

Simms & Lyle were not only Johnathan's personal lawyers, but also on retainer by his company and stepmother. Anna introduced Theodore Simms to Johnathan years ago. With the number of shady lawyers in this town, he was thankful to have a team he could rely on.

“Mr. Michaels! Good to see you. I hope I didn't keep you waiting long.” Theodore Simms approached Johnathan to shake hands. Turning away from the nosy receptionist and her flirty eyes, Johnathan was happy to escape the brown leather and hunter green trimmed lobby. There was an unfortunate print of ducks and marsh grass that Johnathan hated, for no particular reason. He just hated having to look at it.

“Not at all. I've been here just a few minutes.”

“Stephanie, could you please bring the documents I asked you to print concerning Mr. Michaels to my office?” Turning back to Johnathan, Mr. Simms offered hospitality. “Would you like anything to drink?”

“Water would be great.”

Simms spoke once more to the receptionist. “Coffee for me and a glass of water for Mr. Michaels.”

“Absolutely, Mr. Simms.” Stephanie flashed a smile of perfect teeth Johnathan suspected were veneers.

As Johnathan followed Simms to the back of the practice, his lawyer turned around to explain the new receptionist. “Amy is out on maternity leave, so I have my niece filling in. She's starting her first year of law school at George Washington in the fall.”

“It's a good school. My girlfriend almost went there. Lucky for me she chose UVA, or we might have never met.”

“Oh you're seeing someone? That's good to hear.” Mr. Simms was in his late fifties and had a similar twinkle in his eye that Anna wore when talking about Johnathan's future. It dawned on Johnathan that he could probably ask Mr. Simms for advice about his situation with Kellie and Alex and get not just legal expertise, but also his life experience.

“I am and you know her fairly well.” Johnathan smirked.

“Ah, Miss Rodriguez. I wondered when you two would wake up and notice one another.”

For crying out loud, did everyone see this coming? If Anna, Eric, and now Mr. Simms all knew he and Alex were perfect for each other, why the hell didn't anyone speak up when he was dating that catty witch? Or dissuade Alex from Kyle?

“Lovers are always the last to know.”

“Too true.” Mr. Simms laughed at his young client. “Too true.” Stephanie stepped through the open doorway to the office and handed out the drinks. She pulled the file from a hand-quilted shoulder bag that rested against her hip.

“That's ingenious.” Johnathan couldn't help but comment on the utility of her bag. He'd never seen an assistant wear a bag to carry files so hands could be free to carry other items. He wondered if he could convince Zach to wear such a bag. In a manlier fashion, of course.

Stephanie turned to Johnathan and grinned. She slightly raised her pencil gray slacks and showed off a pair of nude Manolos trimmed in black. They made her pedicured feet look sexy as hell. “You'd limit how much you have to walk if you wore these, too.”

Stephanie nodded to her uncle and closed the door behind her as she returned to her post. Johnathan took a deep breath. That was Simms' niece, for crying out loud.

After glancing over the documents to make sure they were in fact Johnathan's, Theodore Simms handed over the entire package. Johnathan studied the front page with his net worth while Simms pulled up his notes from the last time they met.

“Are you still considering purchasing a permanent apartment downtown?”

“No. I have another...entanglement...to discuss with you.”

Simms took a sip of his coffee and placed the gold-trimmed china cup back on the saucer. He sat forward in his high-back leather chair and focused on Johnathan.

“I might be a father soon.”

“Congratulations! Alex didn't mention anything two weeks ago, but now that you mention it, she did have a small bounce to her step.”

“No, she doesn't know.”

Theodore Simms' eyebrows furrowed. He braced himself for the explanation.

“Alex and I didn't start dating until after the Hedis benefit in February. The end of February. I met a woman the night of my birthday. She told me about her condition a few weeks ago.”

“Are you sure the baby is yours?”

“About 80%. We're having an amnio done...to be–to be sure. I should find out the results sometime in the next few months.”

Theodore closed his eyes. The slight waiver in Johnathan's usual steady voice exposed his anxiety.

“What are your intentions if the baby is yours?”

Johnathan inhaled deeply through his nose. He resented being asked if he would do the right thing, but he knew too many men didn't. “I am paying for all of the medical bills. I want at least joint custody and a favorable visitation schedule.”

“Paying for the bills is good if we have to go to court. Judges like men that step up before knowing the paternity results. Any chance you can get the mother to sign a custody and child support agreement before the baby is born?”

His bottom jaw slid to the left as Johnathan reflected on his last conversation with Kellie. She wanted him to be nothing more than a check.

“Er...things didn't go so well at her first appointment.”

He expected many responses but laughter wasn't one of them as Mr. Simms let out a deep, belly bellow. The man could certainly use time on a treadmill. Before Johnathan could ask, his lawyer turned around the large picture frame sitting on the right corner of his walnut colored desk. The glass was divided by thin pieces of black wood, with sports and school pictures of three different children smiling back.

“I went through this three times. My wife is the smartest and most vicious trial lawyers in Maryland, but when she's pregnant? Logic goes out the window. I get a touchy, hormonal, but beautiful stranger on my hands. Be nice. Be too nice. Custody fights can drag on for years.”

Years? The legal costs alone would get astronomical and Johnathan figured he'd probably be ordered to pay her expenses, too. He'd do anything for a do-over of the first appointment.

Theodore Simms knew when to talk and when to be silent. Watching the anguish fight over his client's features, he reread the notes on his computer.

Johnathan snapped out of his melancholy watching Simms hunt and peck for keys. The man couldn't type? How did he never notice this before?

“So, about my taxes.” Johnathan returned his attention to the small packet of papers with a black binding. Scanning the overview of his net worth, he didn't notice any discrepancies. Upon seeing his tax bill abnormally high this year, he finally noticed the large goose egg in Jennifer's trust fund.

“Why is Jennifer's account empty?”

Simms frantically pulled up more screens in his computer. He vaguely remembered Johnathan calling him at the beginning of the year concerning the account.

“Here it is. We sent a check for the full amount on February 1, requiring dual signatures at your request.”

“I never signed a check!”

Simms frowned. This had to be a mistake. Accessing the banking account for the trust fund, he pulled up a scanned copy of the check. There was Johnathan's signature, in a clearly female hand. Even if he hadn't seen Johnathan's cramped, engineer's signature a million times, Theodore Simms would never place the overly loopy Johnathan and circle over the “i” in Michaels as a man's signature. He turned the screen towards his client.

Johnathan glared at the screen in shock. There was a signed check with his name, but not by his hand.

“Fucking Nancy.”

After asking for a copy of the scanned check page and briefly discussing his legal options, Johnathan left his lawyer's office in a rage. This was unforgivable. She stole not just from him, but from Jenn. Not trusting his anger, he decided to call a voice of reason after he returned to his apartment. But right now, he needed to kill a few hours before she would wake up.

Fur Elise
sang out from Johnathan's cell phone at 1 AM his time. Fumbling to answer the phone, he knocked over the empty scotch bottle keeping him company in the living room. It was only half-full when he started, but by the time he finished it, he wasn't in any shape to go get more.

“When you coming home?”

“Bonjour to you, too,” Anna replied.

“I'm serious.” Johnathan stifled a belch from the receiver.

“Are you hurt? What's wrong?” Anna's tone reflected the hard edge her stepson kept to his.

“No. My life is just going to hell.”

“I'm attending Easter services at the cathedral, but I can be home as early as Tuesday. Why do I need to come back before Memorial Day?”

“I'm going to be a father.”

Anna squealed with delight only a grandmother could express. “How wonderful! When is Alexis due? Is she showing yet? Oh, I hoped it would be good news. I mean, I hoped you were going to tell me you're getting married first, but never mind that. We can throw something together that's small before if she's self-conscious, and a bigger affair after the baby is born—”

“Mom. Mom! It's not Alex.”

A slight cackle of an imperfect connection prevented total silence.

“If it's not Alex, then who is it?”

“A girl. Kellie. I met her the night of my birthday.”

“Johnathan Daniel Michaels. Are you telling me instead of the smartest and most beautiful woman in your life, some tramp I don't even know is having my grandbaby?”

“She isn't so bad. She's studying to be a pharmacy tech.”

“She part of the group Eric runs with?”

Johnathan paused. He made a wide pinch with his thumb and middle finger to rub his eyes. Quickly, he debated how much of a bad impression he should let Anna have about Kellie. An even bigger mess would be Anna and Kellie not getting along.

“They know of each other. I don't think they regularly hang out.” He made a mental note to warn Eric not to mention Callum or Kellie to Anna. Johnathan rolled his neck 360° to work the kinks out from passing out on his couch.

“Hmm. What does Alex think about all of this?”

“She doesn't know.” Braced for more angry backlash, when Anna didn't react, Johnathan briefly wondered if she was pulling him into a false comfort before yelling more. He waited and waited for the tongue lashing that never came.

“That makes sense.”

“You're serious?”

“You can't possibly know for sure if you're the father or not. I can see holding off on telling anyone.”

“Alex isn't just anyone, she's my girlfriend.”

Anna seemed flustered to Johnathan. There was a strangeness to her tone he couldn't place.

“Yes. Well. Get yourself a good lawyer. I've read all about these girls finding the richest man they can to foot the bill of a bun that was already in the oven.”

“Anna, I've already spoken to Theodore Simms. Please have an open mind about Kellie. My best hope to avoid a custody battle is to play Mr. Nice Guy. I can't bring her around if you secretly don't like her. Believe me, she can tell.” Johnathan still felt guilty at the way he handled his disgust for Kellie's lifestyle when he met her. How could he pass judgment? Didn't he take the same pills that night? Then again, it was different. The baby wasn't growing inside of him.

“I'll be home as soon as I can change my flight arrangements. It will be tough with the holiday. But we can talk more when I get home, it's getting late there.”

“Wait, that isn't it. Nancy cleaned out Jenn's trust fund.”

“What!? How in the hell did she get access to that account?” she hissed.

“I sent a dual sign check to Jenn for the full amount so she would believe me I set aside money for school. Nancy forged my signature. The entire $25,000 is gone.”

“Oh Johnathan, why did you send a check to that house? You should have paid the school directly.”

“I know, I know. But Jenn is having a hard time applying to schools, and I needed to assure her she had the means to go anywhere she wants. Josh and Ava's accounts are fine, I don't think she knows they exist.”

Anna sighed into the phone. A few seconds passed before she responded.

“It's a very noble thing you did, making those accounts for your brother and sisters. Have you contacted the authorities?”

“No, Mr. Simms recommended I talk to you first.”

“He is such a smart man.” After sharing a soft chuckle, Anna's voice became more serious than her stepson's. “Give me a few days after I get back. I'll get the money back for you. Let me talk to Nancy Jean.”

“That money's gone and spent! We both know that. How are you going to force her to pay it back?” Johnathan calmed the anger in his voice. It wasn't Anna who stole from him and Jenn. It was Nancy Jean. Always her. “I don't know what you can really do about it. I want to call the police and throw her ass in jail.”

“Trust me. I have more dirt on Nancy Jean DuBose than even she knows. I'll get the money back, one way or another.”

“But—but....”

“No buts. Let me do this for you. Consider it my last time going into battle with her.” Johnathan yawned and looked at the time. “You get yourself to bed, it's frightfully late there. I will send you my travel arrangements once I've made them.”

“Okay. 'Night.”

“Good night. Don't worry. It'll all work out, one way or another. You're going to be a great father.”

Johnathan walked to his bedroom feeling hopeful. If Anna could understand the situation, maybe Alexis could too. Once he told her. At nearly 2 AM, Johnathan fell asleep without bothering to undress.