The Turns Life Takes (Eve/Julian) - Chapter 12
by yhh
“Leave my mother alone,” Simone demanded, as she dodged Julian’s temporary
assistant and ran into his office.
Looking up from his computer, he saw the angry teen heaving and looking
like the spitting image of her mother, in the same state.
"Mr. Crane, I'm so- -"
Waving off the temp, Julian kept his eyes on Simone as he spoke. "It's
not your fault. Please close the door behind you."
Quietly the temp left his office, leaving the powerful Julian Crane alone
with the angry Simone Russell.
"Ms Russell, what can I do for you?" he asked politely, trying hard to
keep the smirk off his face. He had a feeling the teen TC would not appreciate
it.
"Leave my mother alone. She's not one of your groupies, or a gold digger
after your money, and she doesn't want to be your who- -, your mistress.
She's happily married to my dad so leave her alone! Don’t mistake her kindness,
for not telling my dad about you harassing her, as interest. You better
be glad I came instead of my dad, or you'd be lying comatose next to your
father right now," Simone finished, crossing her arms over her chest.
"What leads you to believe I’m interested in your mother?"
Startled that Julian was talking to her and not trembling in fear, she
answered his question. "I've seen you all over town with her."
Julian turned his leather, swivel chair to face Eve's daughter directly.
"You do realize your mother works at the hospital where I am on the board
of directors. She is also raising Ethan-Martin's si- -" He'd almost let
the secret slip, he would have to be more careful in the future. It must
be the Eve glare blazing at him causing him to be so careless. "Ethan-Martin
and Endora consider each other family due to Endora's time with Kay and
Maria."
She hadn't thought about that. He listed very valid reasons why they were
together. But in this last year, she had seen them together more than she
had her entire life. "But you've never talked to my mom this much before?"
A persistent one, wasn't she? "Before I did not have total control over
Crane Industries which thusly has increased my involvement in the hospital.
And as your mother promotions increase, so will our interactions. And I didn't
have sole legal custody of my son, neither did your mother have Endora,"
he pointed out.
Everything he said made perfect sense, but something felt wrong. What had
her mother been talking about at the park, if he wasn't after her? No, she
couldn't trust him, she thought shaking her head. He was a Crane and daddy
said, Cranes could not be trusted.
"You need to lessen your contact with Mrs. TC Russell or the next time,
it'll be my dad standing here pounding that truth into you," Simone warned.
"And you would want that? You believe in senseless violence?"
"Want what? What are you talking about?"
"From what you're implying, you're okay with your father beating me up
because I dare talk business with your mother outside of the office; and
because I want my son to keep relationships he had when he lived with his
mother. I hadn't realized Eve had reared such blood thirsty children."
"What? Wait." Damn it, he was confusing her. She wasn't condoning violence,
she was just telling him what would happen if her father found out. "I don't
condone violence- -"
"Only in my case."
"Yes- -"
Julian raised an eyebrow.
"No- -I'm just telling you what's going to happen- -"
"And you believe the course of actions your father would take is okay?
It's the right way to solve problems." Seeing the confused look on her face,
Julian pressed his advantage. "It would be perfectly within reason for me
to explain to Ethan-Martin that I had been beaten up by his Uncle TC because
I held a conversation with his Aunt Eve. And to teach him, if he ever got
angry or frustrated it would be okay to use his fists."
Simone shook her head vehemently. No, he was twisting her words around.
It wasn't right to take your anger out on others because you just ended up
hurting yourself more, as she had painful learned with Whitney. And she definitely
didn't want EM to get caught up in her dad's feud with Mr. Crane. But on
the other hand, Mr. Crane couldn't be trusted and he was trying to hit on
her mom.
"And if your mother is in love with your father as you say- -"
"She is."
"Then nothing I can do or say, if I were interested in her in that way,
would have any effect, correct?"
"Yes," she agreed, puzzled.
"Then if there's nothing else, Ms Russell, I need to get back to my work.
And be assured in my further dealings with your mother, I will neglect to
tell her that you ditched school. My driver will see you safely back to
Harmony High. Have a good day," he said, dismissively as his driver/body
guard appeared.
"This way, Ms Russell," the tall, handsome driver said to her. He ushered
her out of the office and onto the elevator.
What just happened? What happened to her control? She was supposed to be
in charge of the discussion, but somehow he had turned it around. He confused
her with his doubletalk. Her dad was right the Cranes couldn’t be trusted.
Hearing a tentative knock on his door, he knew today was not his day to
get work done. It had been one interruption after another, though the Simone
Russell had been interesting to say the least. "Enter," he commanded, without
looking up from the documents in front of him. "What do you want?"
"Mr. Crane," the voice said hesitantly.
It couldn't be. Looking up, Julian was happy to see Whitney Russell in
front of him. She was an exact replica of her mother at the same age. The
Eve Johnson, he fell in love with. "Whitney, it's so good to see you, dear.
How are you?"
"I'm fine, Mr. Crane- -"
"I told you to call me, Julian."
"Yes, I'm sorry. And I'm sorry for barging in, but I didn't see your assistant."
"My assistant is out sick and her replacement is useless," he commented.
"Are you here visiting Fox?" He was still unsure of how he felt about his
son's interest in Whitney. Fox claimed he only had the purest of intentions,
but based on his son's past record when it came to women, Julian was doubtful.
But spending time with Eve again, he was pleasantly reminded that sometimes
love came out of no where, with people you least expected.
"Yes, we have a lunch date."
Julian nodded. He knew there was another reason, Whitney had come to see
him but he would let her tell him in her own time.
She hadn't thought she would be this nervous. She couldn't think of him
like this, Julian Crane, billionaire businessman. She had to remember the
kind, gentle man she was stuck in the elevator. She would even call him fatherly.
That's the man she was talking to, not the one her father hammered into
her head. She should just go for it. "Why were you making out with my mother
in the park?" Then instantly a light bulb went off in her head as he masked
his face. She had seen the momentary surprise on his face. "My mother is
the woman you were talking about in the elevator."
Damn. How was he going to handle this? He thought the spot Eve had selected
had been well isolated, but it seemed he had been wrong. Everyone and their
mother had seen them. If she saw them, then that meant Fox had too. What
price would he have to pay for that?
"Father, have you seen- -" Fox paused, seeing his father and the love of
his life together both with odd looks. "Whit, you're early."
She nodded, never taking her eyes off of Julian.
What could he tell her, Julian asked himself? Nothing other than the truth
would work in this particular situation.
"Did I interrupt something, Father?"
"Whitney saw my door open and poked her head in to say, hi," Julian answered.
"Whit?" Fox called, trying to break her intense stare on his father. Had
she asked him about the kiss they saw in the park? "Whit?"
"Yes," she said, shaking her head. "Sorry, I don't know where I went for
a moment." Julian's deflection was all the proof she needed, her mother
was the woman whose heart he had stolen and broken. Her mother had been
in love with Julian and based on that kiss, possibly still had feelings
for. Oh my- -
"Whitney, are you okay?" Fox asked, concerned taking in her paling face.
"Yes- -I just need to freshen up. I'll meet you at the elevator. Julian,"
she looked him directly in the eyes. She saw that he knew that she knew
the truth.
Julian tilted his head in acknowledgement of this new truth that he and
Whitney shared. "Whitney, it was good seeing you. Thank you for visiting.
And may I say, I've always admired your grace under fire when you're playing
tennis. And you're ability to keep your cards close to your vest."
Whitney understood Julian's message perfectly. "Thank you. It's amazing
how useful those skills are in every day life."
Fox looked from his father to Whitney knowing their seemingly careless
words held deeper meaning.
"Excuse me," Whitney said, leaving the room and the two men alone.
"What were you two talking about?" he demanded of his father.
"Tennis, of course," Julian replied, picking up his documents.
"Sure. Don't tell me, I'll find out another way. But can you please leave
Dr. Russell alone. Dr. Russell and Coach Russell mean the whole world to
Simone and Whit and I'm not sure they could handle anything happening to
their family," Fox commented, before taking his leave.
Julian put down his papers and turned to look out of his window. The scare
was on in the Russell family, at least amongst the children, regarding his
relationship with Eve. The family Eve worked and strived so hard to get.
The family that could have been theirs of he had played his cards differently.
If he had stood up to his father. But he hadn't done that. He had succumbed
to his father's pressures and married Ivy Winthrop. If it wasn't for the
children, he would have declared that marriage a perfect waste of more than
twenty years of his life. Reaching into his secret desk drawer, he took out
the Russell family photo. He looked at the woman he loved with one arm wrapped
around TC and the other hand resting on Simone's shoulder. The happy foursome.
After all the pain and grief he had caused, their son's death had caused,
their relationship had caused, hadn't she earned and deserved to live out
the rest of her life as she saw fit, even if that meant her being with TC
until her dying breath? Rubbing her face with his fingers through the glass,
Julian wondered what his next step should be.