Lucky Me (36 page)

I opened my mouth to say something and then closed it again when I saw how scary Frank looked. I nodded to tell him I understood and sat there silently until I heard his footsteps disappear behind me just like AJ's had. I counted to five in my head after I couldn't hear anything except my own heart in my chest, and craned my neck to look behind my shoulder. No Frank hiding behind my chair, ready to scare me. Just more lanterns, shadows and pretend Chinese shops.

I whipped my right hand out from rope and examined it carefully. The skin around my wrist was red, and the rope had cut in so far that it was almost bleeding. I blew gently on the raw skin, not knowing how that would help, but doing it anyway. Forcing myself to not burst into tears, I twisted my torso uncomfortably so I could see where my other hand was behind the chair.

“Come on!” I hissed, as I pulled the rope wrapped around my left hand.

It finally began to loosen and I sighed in relief. I yanked on it a little more, only enough so that I could slide my hand in and out of the loop like I could with my other one, but not enough that Frank would notice. Unfortunately there was no hope for my legs. Each one of my ankles had been tied to a separate chair leg and not together like my hands were. If I tried to untie them then I risked exposing the fact that my hands were free. There was no point even attempting to run for it. I'd never free myself in time, and there was no saying what Frank would do to me if he caught me trying to escape.

I did some breathing exercises and carefully took in my surroundings, trying to figure out what could help me in my escape. Finally, by the large dragon in the corner of the room, my eye caught a door handle. I leaned to the left on my chair, squinting to get a better look in the light from the lanterns. Yes! Definitely a door handle. All I needed to do was get past Frank.

I suddenly heard distant talking and I sat up straight in my chair, pushing my hands closer together.

“They're here!” Frank called from behind me in an almost singsong voice.

My heart began to race as I clasped my eyes shut in a mixture of anxiety and relief. Finally, Frank would get his money and leave us alone forever. Hopefully. I heard footsteps walking from behind me, and my eyes fluttered open just in time to see Frank reappear in front of my chair.

“Where are they?” I asked.

“Timing, Gia. It's all about the timing. You should know better,” Frank said, as if he were telling his child he was disappointed in them.

I waited silently, holding my breath as Frank mouthed
three, two, one.
Sure enough, after only three seconds I heard the very same door I planned to escape from, open.

“Oh, thank God,” I whispered, as my dad and Jack came into view, still in their tuxedos.

I tried desperately to hold back my tears, but they sprung to my eyes anyway. I had never been so glad to see Jack in my life, and never as appreciative of my father until that moment. We watched in silence as they approached, Ao Jie Kai re-emerging like a ninja from the dark corners of the set. Dad's face was painted with worry lines. He looked about twenty years older than he actually was, and was taking deep breaths as he walked over to us. Jack seemed a little calmer, but not at all relaxed. More than anything he looked ready to battle, which I hoped was something that would get us all out alive.

“Welcome!” Frank said with a cheerful smile. “Harry, old pal. Long time, no see.”

“Jesus, Frank!” Dad practically exploded in reply. “That's my daughter you've got tied up there! She's just a kid!”

“She's close enough to how old you were when you—”

“When I what?” Dad cried, clearly expressing all the frustration he had managed to keep bottled in until then. “I didn't do anything to you! This whole vendetta you've got against me is ridiculous!”

“Check them,” Frank said, and we all gave him a confused look.

AJ seemed to understand that the instructions were directed toward him, because he stepped into view and began patting down Jack, checking his pockets for any weapons. Jack extended his arms in compliance, locking eyes with me as Ao Jie Kai searched him. He gave me a nod so subtle that I would have missed it if I had blinked, just as AJ moved onto my father to do the same. When he was satisfied that neither had brought in any weapons, he stepped back silently into the shadows.

Fantastic. Jack had brought nothing along to defend us from a lunatic who had me tied to a chair. I know half an hour isn't much time, but the planning on his part was seriously shoddy. I knew we should have hired John Cena instead.

“Question,” Jack said. “What exactly am
I
doing here?”

“Are you serious?” I said incredulously, still half-crying. Jack cut his eyes to me, expressionless.

Typical. I was strapped to a chair in the middle of fake China and Jack wanted to know his role in the whole situation.

“You're here to make sure she cooperates,” Frank told him, cocking his head in my direction.

“Which means?” Jack said.

“So where's the money, boys?” Frank asked, ignoring Jack.

My gaze dropped to Dad's hands. No briefcase, so plastic bag, no nothing. I looked at Jack. His hands were empty too.

“I have a check in my pocket,” Dad told him, slowly pulling out a piece of paper from inside his tuxedo coat.

Frank snatched the check from Dad the second it came into view and inspected it thoughtfully. I sniffled.

“Did I not say five million cash?” he asked Dad.

“No,” Jack replied roughly. “You didn't.”

“Oh silly me,” Frank said, handing the check to AJ. “That check's not gonna cut it.”

“What?” Jack exclaimed. “No bank just hands you five million dollars on such short notice! It doesn't work like that!”

“It's okay, Jack.” Dad said in a surprisingly calm voice. “I'll give you whatever you want, Frank. Just please let my daughter go.”

“Well that doesn't seem fair,” Frank replied. “First, you show up late—”

“We're early!” Jack cried.

“Then you don't even have what I asked for. And now you want me to give you the one thing I have over you, right now? Yeah, no thanks. I think I'll keep her tied for a bit longer.”

“Come on, Frank!” Dad said, his desperation beginning to show. “What happened to you? We used to be best friends. Brothers. And now this is what it's come to?”

“Really breaks your heart, doesn't it?” Frank sneered, stepping closer to Dad. “Poor Harry and his poor little girl. Well guess what? You got yourself into this mess the moment you chose your fame over your best friend. Your so-called
brother.
”

Frank spat the word “brother” out like venom. All his cheeriness had disappeared from his face, and in its place was only hatred. It was at that point that I realized Frank was beyond the hope of reason. We just needed to figure out a way to get around him and run.

“I don't even know what you're talking about!” Dad cried, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. “You keep yelling about how I betrayed you, when all I did was support you!”

“Support me?” Frank said with a scoff. “So you were
supporting
me when you convinced Marty to give you a once in a lifetime role that made your career? A role that was given to me first!”

“What role?” Dad cried out in exasperation. “I don't understand!”

“
Piece of My Heart!”
Frank shot back, his loud voice echoing off the set walls. “That role was mine and you took it from me! You left me with nothing!”

Dad's face filled with confusion. “You were offered the lead in
Piece of My Heart?”

“Oh come on!” Frank exclaimed, glaring at Dad. “Don't act so surprised. You're not that good of an actor.”

“Frank, I swear,” Dad said firmly. “I didn't know!”

“So you're telling me,” Frank began. “That you
didn't
know I was offered the part? And that you
didn't
know Marty came to me, told me they decided to go with you instead. That they held another audition for you upon your request for a second chance, and they gave it to you instead of me.”

“Yes!” Dad cried. “That's exactly right. I didn't know any of that! And they never held another audition for me!”

Frank shook his head in disbelief. “You're lying.”

“Frank,” Dad said, steadying his voice. “I swear to you. I didn't know you got offered the role. You never even told me!”

“You never gave me a chance!” Frank snapped. “Nobody did. They just handed you the role like you got handed everything else.”

“That's not fair!” Dad said angrily.

“Oh give it a rest!” Frank replied, his irritation growing. “We both know that if you hadn't gotten that role then you would have made it big anyway! Your father was huge in the theatre! He probably helped you get that second audition.”

“Frank, be reasonable,” Dad said. “If what you're saying is true, then why did I need to steal your role? Why did I need another audition?”

Everyone fell silent as we thought about how logical his argument was. I made eye contact with Jack, who just stared back at me. He was as lost as I was.

“I don't need to know your reasons,” Frank finally said. “All that matters is that you stole my life from me! I was completely invisible to everyone after that! Every audition, every opportunity! It was just taken away!”

Dad opened his mouth to say something but Jack got there first. “If I may,” he said, holding up his palms so that the argument would stop. “I think you should talk to this Marty guy. Clearly he seems to be the cause of this misunderstanding.”

“We can't,” Dad replied with a sigh, looking at his hands. “He had a heart attack about twelve years ago and died.”

“Karma, I'd like to think,” Frank said, a hint of a smile across his lips.

Fantastic. The one man who seemed to really be at fault here was conveniently not alive to deal with the mess he created. Just swell.

“Well,” Jack said, awkwardly. “Okay then.”

“It wouldn't have mattered anyway,” Frank scoffed. “Marty always played favorites with Harry.”

“He was our agent, Frank!” Dad exclaimed, frustration growing in his voice. “If he really liked me more than you, then he wouldn't have even told you about the audition in the first place!”

“Ye—” Frank began, but Dad cut him off.

“And maybe he would have like you better,” Dad continued. “If you hadn't been messing around with his wife!”

I inhaled sharply without realizing, and whispered
oh snap
to myself. Frank had his very own Mrs. Robinson situation! I knew there had to be a more scandalous aspect to the whole equation. Ao Jie Kai, who had been so silent I had forgotten he was there, shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another.

“What?” Frank said, his voice becoming dead quiet. “What did you say?”

“Oh come on, Frank!” Dad said, shaking his head lightly. “We were best friends! You think I didn't know you and Monica were doing something?”

Frank's body went stiff as he looked at Dad in surprise. “T—That's . . . Y—You never said anything.”

“You were happy,” Dad replied with a light shrug. “I mean, I didn't think it was a great idea, but I figured it was none of my business.”

Suddenly everything became clear. Frank must have been offered the lead role in
Piece of My Heart
and in his happiness, he went and told Marty's wife first. Somehow, Marty must have found out about his wife, who I was desperately hoping was not like a sixty-year-old woman back then, and taken his revenge on Frank by blacklisting him. He probably called the producers, made up some story so they would drop Frank, and convinced them to go for my father instead. I guess it was just easier for Marty to lie to everyone than confront Frank and let him know the truth.

My theory clearly seemed to be shared by Frank, who was shaking his head as if rejecting the possibility that he could be the one to blame for his own misfortune.

“It doesn't matter now,” Frank said, shaking his head even harder. “None of it matters anymore.”

“Fran—” Dad began, calmly extending his hand toward his ex-friend.

“No!” Frank cried, slapping Dad's hand away. “Don't you dare pity me!”

In what seemed like a blink of an eye, Frank reached for something tucked into the back of his jeans hidden under his jacket and pulled out a revolver, aiming it at my dad.

“Frank!” AJ exclaimed, shooting him an alarmed look. “What the hell?”

“The money isn't going to cut it anymore,” Frank declared, his hand shaking a little as he tightened his grasp on the gun.

“Frank!” AJ hissed, coming up next to him in a panic. “Come on man, this wasn't part of the plan!”

“Let's be reasonable, Frank,” Jack said, his voice surprisingly steady. “No need to do anything stupid.”

“I'm done being reasonable!” Frank snapped. “Someone has to pay for what happened!”

Everyone was quiet for a few seconds, as Frank considered his options. I watched carefully, moving only my eyes. It's one thing to watch someone point a gun at your dad in a movie. It's a whole other thing to watch it play out in reality, where the possibility of him getting killed is a lot higher. Every part of my body was aching with fear.

“Frank,” Dad said calmly. “If you want to shoot me, then do it. But please let Gia go.”

I gave Dad an
are you serious
look, but he wasn't looking at me. His eyes were now glued to the gun that was pointed at him.

“Fine,” Frank said. “Works for me.”

“Wait, what?” I exclaimed in alarm, and everyone looked at me. “Are you insane?”

“Gia!” Jack shot me a warning glare, but I ignored him.