A Diamond In The Rough- Chapter 24 (Julian, Eve, Whitney, Ivy)
by EvianForever
 

Chapter 24
 

The limousine came to a stop in front of a two-story, red-bricked townhouse in a middle class neighborhood. Eve opened the limo door on her own, anxious to get out and see her daughter. The limousine driver grabbed onto the door from outside and held it open for her. Eve started to step out and then looked back over her shoulder at Julian. His face was suddenly gray with worry. He looked like he was about to pass out.
 

“Julian, it’s going to be all right,” she said, reaching out to touch his hand. “Whitney is a mature, sensitive girl. She will come to love you, I know. It will just take time.”
 

Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, Julian nodded at his beloved Eve. “I just want to make a good impression on her,” he began. “She means so much to me. She’s our daughter – yours and mine. God, knowing that we share a daughter has made me the happiest man in the world.”
 

Eve smiled, sliding her fingers along his hand. “She is our special creation, Julian, the evidence of our love for one another. You are going to find out soon what a wonderful girl she is. There is a lot of you in her really…”
 

“Oh no,” Julian said, cracking a slight smile. “I was hoping she took more after you.”
 

“Well, I’m sure you will see me in her too,” Eve laughed. “But I was referring to Whitney’s take on the world – it’s very much like your own. She has to see it to believe it. She’s not one to get swept away on a whim.”
 

“And you’re sure that’s like me?” Julian asked, remembering his recent abduction of Eve for the sake of love.
 

Smiling, Eve nodded. “I know what you’re thinking, dear, but the romantic kidnapping aside, you are the most down to earth person I know…You use good judgment about everyday matters, and Whitney does too.”
 

“Everyday, business kinds of things...I’ll agree with that,” Julian said softly, “but throw in romance with the lovely Dr. Eve Johnson, and all bets are off.”
 

“Well, thankfully Whitney has yet to become starry-eyed over a young man, but when she does, we will be ready.” Eve exited the limo, and bent down to smooth out the wrinkles in her pantsuit.
 

“Oh, I don’t even want to think about that – my daughter dating!” Julian said, following her out the curbside door. He straightened the tie around his neck. “Does this look OK?” he asked, the look of nervousness returning to his face.
 

“It’s fine,” Eve said, reaching up to straighten the tie with her fingers. “I bet you’re feeling that way about Whitney because the thought of having a daughter is so new to you.”
 

Julian nodded. “She’s still a baby to me,” he said. “I feel like a brand new father seeing his child for the first time in the hospital. But my child is suddenly grown and may not be up to seeing me.”
 

“She will come to love you, when she gets to know you, Julian, but it will take time. Are you ready to go on in?”
 

He took a deep breath to calm his rapid heart. “Ready as I’ll ever be,” he said.
 

Eve reached out her hand to Julian and he took it. The two walked hand in hand to the front door of the townhouse.
 
 

Whitney opened the door as soon as the bell rang. “Hi, Mom,” she said quietly, managing a smile for her mother, whom she had not seen in quite awhile.
 

Eve and Julian entered the house, and Whitney closed the door behind them.
 

Julian glanced at Eve nervously, and then his eyes fell on his daughter. She was beautiful! She reminded him so much of Eve at that age – attractive, delicate, such fine features…and there was that same aura of confidence about her, hidden behind a degree of sexuality. Julian shook his head at that one - he didn’t even want to think of his beautiful daughter as a sexual being, but he knew that she most certainly had quite a few gentlemen eyeing her from near and afar. How he wanted to protect her from them! Already he was assuming the role of protective father.
 

Whitney’s eyes shifted from Eve to Julian. She looked the man who was her father over from head to toe. Just like she thought – he was a rich snob. She could tell from the way he was dressed. Sure, he looked good for a man his age, and the suit was to die for, but he had such an air of smugness in his eyes, like he was all that. What on earth did her mother see in him? She could spot a snake and a phony from miles away. Why was her mom taken in by this jerk? This jerk was her father, she realized again…
 

“Whitney,” Eve said, taking her daughter’s hands in hers. “I want you to meet your father, Julian. Julian, this is Whitney, our beautiful daughter.”
 

Julian smiled and nervously held out his hand to Whitney. Whitney looked at Eve, who nodded, dropping her own hands so her daughter could greet Julian properly.
 

Slowly, Whitney reached out her hand to her father. Julian grasped it warmly in his, shaking it affectionately. “Pleased to meet you, Whitney,” he said. “Your picture doesn’t do you justice. You are as exquisite as your mother.”
 

Whitney blushed and looked down, removing her hand from Julian’s grasp.
 

Eve forced a smile, trying to think of a way to deal with the awkward silence. She could tell her daughter was not warming up to her real father. “Whitney, I haven’t had time to tell Julian a lot about you. Why don’t you tell him about college – let him know what you are studying.”
 

“What are you taking in school?” Julian asked. “I bet you are a terrific student if you’re anything like your mother, the doctor.”
 

Whitney suddenly glared at Julian. “I used to think I was a lot like my mother. Now I’m not so sure.”
 

The atmosphere in the room had suddenly become a lot icier. Eve looked at Whitney with a mixture of both sympathy and disappointment. “Honey, I know this is all so tough for you, learning that the man you thought was your father really isn’t, but…”
 

“No, Mom! There are no ‘but’s’! My whole life has been turned upside down. There I was, in the hospital, and I found out that Daddy wasn’t really my father! Then you two had a fight, and you left for God knows where…”
 

“Whitney, you know I had to get away, after what your father had done.”
 

“I know, Mom, I’m not forgiving what Daddy did. I am furious with him. But can’t you see it’s a lot for me to take? To lose my father all of a sudden – and to gain…” she looked at Julian, her feelings for him now more apparent than ever. She loathed him!
 

Julian felt his heart breaking inside. His worst fears were being realized just now. His daughter wasn’t just slow to warm up, she utterly despised him! And he couldn’t blame her.
 

Eve stepped forward and placed her hand on Whitney’s arm in an attempt to calm her down. “Whitney, sweetheart, if you will just give Julian a chance…”
 

“A chance! Like the one he gave you all those years ago?!” Whitney shouted, brushing her mother’s hand off her arm. “What kind of chance did you have back then, to raise your child with her real father? None! He just abandoned you and me!”
 

“Julian didn’t know I was pregnant, Whitney,” Eve said softly. “He didn’t know about you.”
 

“He still abandoned you to marry some socialite,” Whitney snapped, her eyes flashing in anger.
 

Julian lowered his head in shame. “She’s right, Eve. I was a damn fool. I take full responsibility for what happened. I was a total idiot back then.”
 

“And a racist pig too, right?” Whitney blared, all of her inhibitions suddenly gone. “Why don’t you just admit the obvious?”
 

“Whitney!” Eve protested. “I don’t believe you just said that. Your father is not a racist. If he were, would he be with me?”
 

“Oh, Mom, there are plenty of racist white pigs that have slept with black women on a lark. Check out the history books,” she hissed, and then realized by the stunned looks on their faces that she had gone too far. “OK, maybe I shouldn’t have said that,” she admitted guiltily. “You wouldn’t be here if that’s the way you felt about things. I know that.”
 

“I’m glad you do, Whitney,” Eve said, looking intently at her daughter. “I think you owe Julian an apology.”
 

“No, she doesn’t, Eve,” Julian said softly. “I would probably feel the same way if I were in her shoes. And, Whitney’s right in a way. Not about me…but my father was most definitely a racist. And yes, Whitney, that is the main reason he forced me to marry someone else. I’m sure of it. He wanted to do all he could to keep me and your mother apart, while scoring a business deal for the family.”
 

Whitney shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t believe my own grandfather…” She shook her head. “To find out you have someone like that in your family, in your blood. It’s almost incomprehensible.”
 

“Whitney, honey, I know this is a big shock for you – all of it. But I want you to know that Julian does care about you. He is here for you – for us.” She reached back to touch Julian’s chest as he stepped up behind her.
 

“I know that I need to give you time, Whitney,” Julian said soberly but gently. “I will wait until you’re ready for me to be a part of your life. I don’t want to force anything on you.”
 

Eve turned to look at Julian. She could see the pain in his eyes as they met hers. She smiled to give him courage, and then turned to face her daughter once more. “Julian is right, Whitney. It will take time. We will give you the space you need to learn to accept all of these changes.”
 

“We?” Whitney asked. “What do you mean by that, Mom? Are you two together – I mean permanently?”
 

Eve again turned to look at Julian. He nodded, letting her know that it was all right with him to reveal anything she felt necessary to satisfy their daughter’s curiosity.
 

“Your father and I are back together, Whitney. It wasn’t something I had intended when I left here. We just ran into each other the other day, and well…one thing led to another.”
 

Whitney rolled her eyes. “I figured as much.”
 

“I love your mother, Whitney, with all my heart. She’s the only woman I have ever loved,” Julian revealed. “I hope you believe that. I would never do anything to hurt her. She is my life – and now you are too.”
 

Eve smiled at what Julian had said. She hoped it would sink in. “I love Julian, Whitney. I know now I always have. What we have is something special; it brought us you. I hope that someday you can be happy for us. There’s nothing I want more in the world than for you to accept your father and my relationship with him.”
 

Whitney nodded, her eyes brimming with tears. “I…I can’t deal with this now,” she stammered, running from the room.
 



 

Ivy was sitting in the hotel restaurant, eating the sorry excuse for a lunch the waiter had so joyously delivered. She was just making note to report this fraud of a four-star hotel when her cell phone rang.
 

“Ivy Crane here,” she spoke into her phone. “Yes?...Really?...Are you sure about this?...OK, stay on it! You may be worth those dollars I pay you after all.” Ivy lowered her cell phone to the table and grinned wickedly. She knew exactly where that lousy ex-husband and his little coffee-colored tramp of a girlfriend were…
 

Ivy paused for a second, as something dawned on her. Whitney Russell, the name the private investigator had given her…Wasn’t that TC and Eve Russell’s daughter? She seemed to remember the name from an earlier report. Why would the harlot be taking Julian to see her daughter so soon? Unless…Ivy drew in a deep breath. “Oh, Julian, you rotten son of a…” She smiled suddenly, an evil grin spreading across her face. “Oh, but you and your little girlfriend have made a big mistake. I know exactly how to get revenge on both of you now.”
 
 
 
 

Chapter 25
Chapter 23
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