Chapter 4
Heather knew that it would take a few days for Maria to get the finger prints so she decided it was time to introduce herself to Marshall. Regardless of the results, she’d have to do so eventually and sitting around her hotel room waiting for fingerprints would drive her crazy so she headed to the theatre. It was the middle of the day so the theatre was deserted, the front door locked down tight, so she went around back to the stage door, surprised to find the door unlocked and the desk there empty she went in.
It wasn’t hard to find the stairs that led up to the dressing rooms above the stage, and she had no trouble finding Marshall’s dressing room. There was enough shouting coming from the room that she couldn’t miss it. When she stepped up to the open doorway, she could see why there was so much shouting, the room was a mess. Open boxes were everywhere, piles of costumes covered every surface, and Marshall was yelling at a young woman who was standing in the middle of the room looking scared to death.
“When I told the agency to send me an assistant I thought they’d send me someone with some brains.” He shouted at the poor girl, who looked like she was about to cry. “Clarence you’re just going to have to help me. The movers will be here in an hour and I have an appointment with the owner of the theatre I just can’t miss.”
“Mr. Montgomery, you know I can’t do that. I have to stay by the front door, anyone could just walk in, I’ll lose my job.” Clarence said, turning to leave.
“But you can’t leave me.” Marshall said, then opened his mouth to continue, but saw Heather standing in the doorway. “Never mind, it looks like my new assistant is here. You can go.”
“How did you get in here?” Clarence asked.
“There was no one at the door.” Heather said, trying hard to hide her sarcastic tone.
“See.” Clarence said, shooting Marshall a dirty look on his way out the door.
Standing in the doorway, Heather got her first really good look at Marshall up close, and when his blue eyes focused on her brown ones, she felt a charge of electricity flow through her. Her palms got sweaty and butterflies began to flutter in her stomach, then she felt a wave of desire so strong it took her breath away. It was so shocking to feel such a strong attraction she stood there stunned, unable to speak.
Finally, she managed to say, “I’m Heather Whitcomb.”
“What took you so long?” Marshall asked, then before she could explain who she was, he shoved a stack of papers in her hands. “I want this stuff packed up a certain way, it’s all covered in those instructions, you can keep her here to help or send her away, I don’t care. I have to go, I’m already late for a meeting.”
“But I’m not…” Heather’s words were interrupted by Marshall’s phone ringing.
He held up his hand to stop her, “Just a second.” He said, then looked at the screen on his phone, after a few curse words flew out of his mouth, he answered.
As he listed to whoever was on the line, his face began to get red. “Now? What do you mean she’s on her way now?”
The person on the other end of the phone talked some more, and Marshall’s face got even redder. “Dee, I told you that you can’t do this to me anymore. I don’t care if you have a photo shoot, I have stuff going on too. I can’t just drop what I’m doing and go running to the airport. You should have called me before you put her on the plane.”
Heather could hear the sound of a female yelling on the phone from across the room. Finally, Marshall said, “Fine I’ll be there, but this had better be the last time you do this to me.” Then hung up the phone.
Mumbling under his breath, Marshall began to gather up papers and stuff them into a big manila envelope. He tucked the envelope under his arm, grabbed his phone and headed for the door. Heather was still standing there, mouth hanging open. When he saw her, he stopped and stared as if trying to remember why she was there.
“Are you still standing there? Get to work.” He said, then pushed past her and disappeared down the hall.
When he was gone, she looked around her at the mess in the dressing room and the scared girl standing in the middle of the room. “Well, that didn’t go quite like I expected.” she said, hoping that the girl hadn’t noticed her response to Marshall.
“He’s not very nice, is he?” The girl said, with a hesitant smile.
“No, he’s not.” Heather said, wondering what she should do now, follow Marshall and set him straight or leave and come back later.
Packing up his dressing room was not in her job description, especially when he’d been so rude to her, but then she realized that posing as his assistant might just be the best way to find out what was really going on between Simone and Marshall. Of course, when he discovered who she really was, he’d be angry, but he was the one who hadn’t given her time to explain, she’d cross that bridge when she’d come to it. This was a prime opportunity to do some snooping without worrying about getting caught.
“Looks like there’s too much work here for just one person, why don’t you stay and help me.” Heather said, finally stepping into the room.
“I don’t know, Mr. Montgomery might be mad.” The girl said, clearly afraid of Marshall.
“Did he tell you to leave?”
“Well, no, but…”
Heather wasn’t about to let her leave, “Well, then I think you should stay and help me. When he sees that we got everything done, he won’t be mad.”
“I could use the money.”
“Good, you start on the boxes and I’ll work on the desk.” Heather said, grabbing a box and setting it on the desk.
“He left instructions.” The girl pointed out.
“I think we can handle it without his instructions.” Heather said, opening the top drawer of the desk.
Marshall couldn’t believe his ex-wife had done it to him again — they had an agreement, but she never seemed to remember that when she wanted her own way. They’d been divorced for years, but Dee still seemed to think that she had some control over him, could just wiggle her finger and he’d come running. Time and time again, she’d done this to him, put her responsibilities of on him so she could run off to a photo shoot in some far-off place. If this time was like the last, she’d be gone for days, possibly weeks and he’d be stuck with Chloe all that time.
He hadn’t told Simone about Dee yet, he’d wanted to but never found the right time. It wasn’t an easy thing to tell your new girlfriend about your ex-wife, and as innocent as Simone was, he was afraid that she’d be turned off by the fact that he’d already been married and divorced. But now he’d have no choice but to tell her, the last thing he wanted was for her to find out on her own, she’d accuse him of hiding it, and the truth was he had been.
But Simone was a kind and understanding woman; she’d understand that he’d made a mistake when he’d been just a kid. A mistake that would follow him for the rest of his life, but one that in the grand scheme of things wasn’t that big of a deal. It just meant that as young as he was, he had a few extra responsibilities. Simone would understand that, she just had to, the trick would be to tell her in a way that would make her understand that it didn’t change anything between them.
As soon as he finished his meeting, he’d stop by the hotel and talk to her, then he’d go to the airport, there should be plenty of time for both. Feeling better, he sped out of the parking lot headed for the theatre he was planning to buy, that is if the bankers who controlled his money agreed. The meeting he’d had with them had gone better than he’d expected, but he had been prepared, more prepared than he’d ever been in the past when he’d asked for money.
Sitting at the end of that long table, he’d felt intimidated by the old men staring at him. But he’d reminded himself what was at stake and plunged in, handing out copies of all the information he’d gathered in preparation for this meeting, pleased when the men actually gave their copies the attention they deserved. It wasn’t long before they began firing questions at him.
“What makes you think that Anchorage can support another theatre?”
“Has the historical landmark designation already been done?”
“Who will run the theatre?”
The questions went on and on, but Marshall was prepared for them, especially when they began to ask about the theatre and the contract that he’d given them for its purchase. He’d never thought about owning a theatre, but he and Simone had been talking one day and she’d mused that it would be so much easier if he owned a theatre and that had gotten him to thinking. Then as if fate was on his side, the rumors about him producing a play had made the rounds and a man had approached him who owned an old decrepit theatre in the old downtown area.
Howard Miles was the son of the man who owned the theatre and although his father didn’t want to part with the theatre the taxes were piling up on the old building and they had to sell. He offered Marshall a great price, and after he’d seen the building it seemed like a sign, so he’d made an offer. But if the men on the board didn’t think that his plan was financially sound, they wouldn’t have given their approval and he’d be forced to take out the loan. It wasn’t the best way to go, but he was going ahead with his plan either way.
Since then he’d had contractors in the building and everyone seemed to think it wouldn’t be that hard to bring it back to life. Now all he needed was the money to make it happen, and judging from the looks on the men’s faces, it might just happen.
“I know that you’re anxious to hear our recommendation, but I think we’d all like to take a few days to think about it.”
Marshall was disappointed not to have an answer right then, but then he realized that they hadn’t said no. “I can understand that, but I hope you’ll approve my plan. I think this will be a great investment and it will save one of Anchorage’s oldest buildings.” He’d said, getting to his feet.
“We’ll let you know in a few days.”
Heather threw the play she’d found in Marshall’s desk down, after reading it twice she had to admit that it wasn’t half bad and that it would showcase Marshall’s talents. If it wasn’t for the fact that Simone seemed to have no past, she would have told Seth that he had nothing to worry about. The play wouldn’t send Marshall into instant stardom, but it would probably garner a lot of ticket sales, and gain him the popularity that he seemed to crave.
Deciding that more digging was necessary, she opened another drawer and found a packet of papers one of which was a contract to buy an old building downtown. The $600,000 price tag on the building seemed like a lot of money to her, but to Marshall it wouldn’t seem like that much, only a drop in the bucket compared to the billions that he had. Still, Seth hadn’t mentioned anything about the purchase of a building and this might be information he would be interested in so she quickly took pictures of the paperwork and sent them to him.
She was just trying to figure out how to get a locked drawer open when the phone of the desk began to ring, ignoring it she continued to fool with the lock, but it just kept ringing and ringing so she picked it up.
“Marshall Montgomery’s office.” She said, unsure how else to answer.
“It’s about time you answered.” Marshall said, when he heard her voice.
“I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to.” Heather said, wishing she hadn’t.
There was a huge sigh of impatience on the other end, then Marshall said, “I need you to go to the airport and pick someone up. I’m stuck in a meeting and can’t go myself.”
Heather was silent for so long, that Marshall asked, “Are you there?”
“I’m here, but I think you should know that…”
But Marshall didn’t let her finish, “Don’t worry about the packing, it can wait. I need you to get to the airport now, the flight lands in 30 minutes and if someone’s not there it will be a disaster.” He said, then added, “It’s a private plane so you’ll have to go to hanger 10.”
“You don’t understand, I’m not….” Heather was trying to explain that she wasn’t his assistant and wasn’t going to the airport.
Marshall sighed again, “I hired you to be my assistant and that means doing whatever I ask you to do. Now get in your car and go to the airport.” Then he disconnected the call.
Heather hung up the phone and stared at it wondering how she’d ended up in this situation. Again, she’d let Marshall run right over her, and now she was left with two choices, pick up his guest at the airport or ignore his request. If she was going to make it on time she had to decide quick, and since she knew that she had little choice, she grabbed her purse and dug out her car keys.
“I have to go to the airport.” She told the girl who was still packing Marshall’s costumes. “I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
Anchorage wasn’t a big town, still it took her far longer to get to the airport than she’d thought. After she parked, she hurried through the airport to the hanger for the private planes, relieved when she entered the building and saw only a little girl and a flight attendant waiting there. Deciding that the plane she was supposed to be meeting was late, she began to walk towards some chairs against the wall, but before she could get there the flight attendant called out to her.
“Are you here to pick Chloe up? Mr. Montgomery called and said he couldn’t meet the plane.”
Heather looked from the flight attendant to the little girl standing next to her and then back again. “Umm, yes he sent me.” She said, wishing that Marshall had told her that it was a child she was picking up.”
“Good, we’ve been waiting a while.” The flight attendant said.
Heather opened her mouth to explain why she was late, but before she could the little girl let out a high-pitched scream, and wailed, “I want my daddy.”
The flight attendant rolled her eyes and pushed the little girl toward her. “Chloe has been missing her father for the entire flight.” She said, raising her eyebrows at Heather.
Heather rushed over to her and knelt down in front of her, “I’m going to take you to your daddy right now. It’s just a short car ride, I promise.”
“I don’t want to get into a car, I want him now.” Chloe screamed at Heather and pushed her away.
Heather landed on her butt on the floor, both shocked and angry. Getting to her feet, she said, “Well, he’s not here. We’ll have to get in the car to get to him.”
The flight attendant began backing away, “Looks like you have this under control.” She said, then turned and practically ran back to the gate.
Heather watched her walk away, Chloe standing next to her crying. Heather looked down at her and took a deep breath, she was just a child and probably scared. “Let’s go find your daddy.” She said, taking Chloe’s hand.
When she finally managed to get a still sobbing Chloe into the car, relieved that she had Tyler’s booster seat in the trunk, her temptation was to call Seth and bawl him out, but that wouldn’t help the situation so she tried to talk to the child.
“How old are you Chloe?”
“I’m six.” The little girl said, then added, “I want a candy bar.”
Much to Heather’s relief she’d stopped crying, only an occasional hiccup racking her little body. “I’m sorry I don’t have any candy, but there might be some snacks in here.” She said, opening the center console where she always kept a few snacks for Tyler. “I’ve got granola bars and fruit snacks.”
“I don’t want that, I want a candy bar.” Chloe said, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.
“I understand, but I don’t have any candy.” Heather was trying to be patient but the shock of finding out her passenger was a small child coupled with her behavior had thrown her off guard.
“Then I want ice cream.” Chloe said, kicking her feet against the seat.
By the time they reached the address where she was supposed to meet Marshall, Heather had reached her limit. Chloe had kept up a constant stream of demands, asking for everything from a new toy to a pony, then pouting and yelling when she was told no. When she finally pulled up in front of the old decrepit building she was at the end of her patience and more than ready to dump the little girl off.
It wasn’t until they got out of the car that she realized that the building was in a terrible neighborhood, all the store fronts around them were boarded up and there were some scary looking people hanging around out front. She quickly got Chloe out of the car and rushed her through the boarded-up doors, not sure that she was in the right place, but not wanting to hang around outside.
When they walked in it was so dark inside that they could barley see, but even in the dark Heather could see that the old building still had a lot to offer. For the first time since she’d picked her up, Chloe acted like the child she was and took Heather’s hand, clearly scared. They wandered down the long hallway toward the entrance to the theatre, Heather calling out for Marshall as they went.
But it wasn’t Marshall that they found, it was Simone. “What are you doing in here?” She asked, making them both scream. “No one is supposed to be in here.”
Heather was actually relieved to see Simone, “We’re looking for Marshall.” She said, her voice shaky from the scare she’d received.
“Well, he’s busy. Come back another time.” Simone said, shooting Heather a dirty look.
“This…” Heather started to explain, but just then Marshall came through the theatre doors and stood at the top of the stairs.
The minute she saw him, Chloe let go of Heather’s hand and started to run up the stairs. Simone stepped in front of her, “Go away. What are you doing?”
“I want my daddy.” Chloe said, bursting into tears and trying to push past Simone.
Simone blocked her again, “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull but that’s not your daddy.” She snarled at Heather.
Marshall had made it down the stairs by this time, he gently pushed Simone aside and picked Chloe up. “Hi, sweetheart.” He said, then turned to Simone, clearly annoyed that she’d treated Chloe so badly. “This is my daughter Chloe.”
Simone stared at him with her mouth hanging open. Then managed to squeak, “Your daughter?” A look Heather didn’t like at all appeared on Simone’s face, but she wiped it away quickly.
“I’m sorry I should have told you.” Marshall said, setting Chloe back on her feet.
“Is this her mother?” Simone asked with a sneer and gave Heather a look that would have intimidated any woman.
“No, that’s my assistant.” Marshall said, his voice like that of a little boy who’s gotten in trouble.
The last place Heather wanted to be was in the middle of Marshall’s love life, and she needed to set him straight about who she was and why she was there. “Look about that, we need to talk.” She said, stepping closer to Marshall.
Marshall looked at Simone then at Heather, “Can you give us a few minutes, please?”
“You want me to go away?” Simone simpered, batting her eyelashes at Marshall.
“I just need a few minutes to talk to her.” He said, then it seemed to register that Simone was there, “What are you doing here anyway?”
“I just wanted to surprise you, to see how things with the theatre were going.” Simone said, a little hesitation in her voice.
“I don’t remember telling you that I’d be here.” Marshall said, confusion in his voice.
“Well, you must have.” Simone said quickly, then added, “I’ll just step away for a minute.”