Among the Ducklings (17 page)

Before Isabel
called, Phil was sitting in the living room, listening to a music album by
Jacques
Brel
, a celebrated French singer that Phil
had liked since he was introduced to French music by a French teacher.

As Phil
returned from the kitchen to the living room after his conversation with
Isabel, Jacques
Brel
was singing a song called “
Vesoul
”, about a woman who couldn't make up her mind. Phil
turned off the CD player.
 
He knew this
song couldn't possibly describe Isabel, because she had made up her mind this
morning.
 
All he was left with was a
broken heart.
 
 

##

The phone
rang twice before Phil noticed that another call was coming in. Was it Isabel
calling back to say she loved him and was leaving Richard for him?
 
Somehow he doubted that.

He went to
the kitchen and picked up the phone.
 
It
was Stacy.

“I almost
hung up,” Stacy said.
 
“I thought you
weren't home.”

“I was in
the living room.
 
I didn't hear the phone
ring.” It felt good to talk to Stacy for once.
 
He was feeling gloomy and wanted to talk to someone. Besides, he wanted
to apologize to Stacy for having let Stacy down and for not helping after the
miscarriage.

“Actually,
I'm here in Miami and I'm on my way to the Keys now.
 
I wanted to know if you would want to
come.
 
That would give me a chance to
reconnect and talk to you. I know that you must blame me for what
happened.
 
I just wanted you to hear my
side.”

“OK, I'll
go. I haven't been to the Keys in a while,” Phil said.
 
He wanted to talk to Stacy, but hadn't
thought that he would be taking a trip with her. However, after the love of his
life just walked out on him, He didn't care anymore.
 
He was tired of thinking about what he could
have done to make Isabel love him more, or enough to be with him instead of
Richard.

“I'll pick
you up in an hour,” Stacy said and they both hung up. Stacy was surprised.
 
It was pure luck.
 
She didn't expect Phil to say yes.
 
Stacy wondered whether something might have
happened between Phil and Isabel.
 
Stacy
would not complain.
 
When opportunity
knocks, you don't just open the
door,
you come out and
greet it. The only problem was that when she called Phil, she wasn't planning
on going to the Keys. She only said it because she knew that Phil used to like
going there.
 
She had one hour to get ready,
change her limo for a rental car, get a nice place in the Keys, and pickup
Phil. That would seem impossible to do in one hour. But when you have money,
impossible was not in the vocabulary.
 
It
was time for Stacy to call her personal concierge, to make her truly earn the
expensive monthly payments that she had been paying her.

##

When Marcia
came to pick up Isabel, Isabel was not in a good mood.
 
She felt that she had to do what was right,
which meant not cheat on Richard with Phil, even if that meant losing
Phil.
 
Her Catholic upbringing had taught
her that she could only have one man in her life, and she had made her choice
three years ago before Phil even came into the picture.

“Are you
OK?
 
You're very quiet,” Marcia asked
Isabel, as they were on their way to meet Mark's parents.

“I’m
OK.
 
Just tired, I guess,” replied
Isabel.
 
Isabel was not really in the
mood to talk. She was having a horrible morning. Leaving the love of her life
was extremely painful.
 
She could share
happiness with many people, but with whom could she share this pain?
 
She would try to bear it, but Isabel knew
that it was not going to be easy.

“Have you
thought about what you are going to tell them?” Marcia asked.

“Who?”

“Mark's
parents?
Are you
sure you're OK?”

“I'm
fine.
 
I thought you were going to talk
to them,” Isabel said.

“I am,”
Marcia answered. “I just wanted to know if you're going to add something else.”

“When the
baby is born, I just want Rebecca to have enough to take care of the baby,”
Isabel replied.

“I know.”
Marcia replied.
 
Both Marcia and Isabel
knew that Mark's parents were very wealthy and successful.
 
Mark's mother had a talk show on one of the
local television stations about nutrition that had been bought by a major
network.
 
Mark's father owned a chain of
self-storage warehouses and moving trucks all over Florida.
 
Unlike many of the super wealthy people
Marcia had met, Mark's father was very humble, and Marcia hoped for Rebecca's
sake that Mark's parents would help Mark provide financially for the baby.

##

Vanna
Francis was staying at a cheap motel on
Biscayne Boulevard in Miami, when she got the call.
 
She had to drive to the Keys to stake out a
house in Key West to get the scoop that she had been waiting for.
  
Vanna
was a very
good photojournalist. Although she covered celebrities, she hated when people
referred to photojournalists like her as paparazzi.
Vanna
could have stayed in nicer hotels.
 
But
why waste the money, when you are a single mother with a teenage son to
raise
?
 
Her ex-husband
was a drug addict who had been sent away for numerous drug violations in
California.
 
She was left by herself to
raise her son. She was the type of mother women wish to be. Her son was all she
had.
 
She was good at being a mother. She
was good at her job.

Like
many photojournalists,
Vanna
was a freelancer.
 
She was not on a salary and only got paid by
the tabloids for work she produced.
 
This
is why she was excited about a call she had received last week, prior to her
arriving in Miami.

“
Vanna
Francis?” a voice
Vanna
did
not recognize had asked.

“Yes?”

“Would you
like an exclusive on Stacy Marshall?”

“The
actress and movie producer?”

“Yes, the
model, actress and movie producer,” the female voice had corrected.

“Who is
this?”

“My name
isn't important,” the person had replied.

“How do I
know this is real?
 
What kind of scoop
are you talking about?”

“I'll tell
you what, the female voice said. We will pay for your trip and will give you
pocket money. In return, you will be the first to report on the new man in Ms.
Marshall's life.”

“So who's
the new man in her life?”

“We'll let
you know,” said the voice before hanging up.

Vanna
didn't believe a word of what the mysterious
woman said until a courier brought her a package the following day, which
included cash in the amount of $4,500 and a plane ticket to Miami.

“Did you
receive everything?” the caller asked later that evening.

“OK, you
made your point.
 
I'm listening,”
Vanna
said.

“Just fly
to Miami and wait for our call.”

“How long
do I have to be there?”

“It
depends.
 
However, if you can't get your
scoop within two weeks, you can call the deal off and keep the money. We'll
tell you when to move,” the voice had said.

“Fine, it's
your money,”
Vanna
had responded.
 
She could not be so lucky.
Vanna
had to pinch herself to see if this was real. It was
the first time she got money from someone other than a newspaper to cover a
story.
 
On top of that, she would get
paid by the tabloid for the scoop. There was no reason to doubt the scoop. Someone
would never have gone to this great length and spent so much money for this
unless that person was telling her the truth.
 
Vanna
understood that the caller behind the
telephone call might have her own motive.
 
As a photojournalist, however, she was going to be fair to everyone.
Deep inside,
Vanna
wondered who would want this story
published.
Vanna
decided someone didn't like Stacy
and wanted her life exposed to the public.
 
Little did
Vanna
know that she was very wrong
and that she was being pulled like a puppet on a
string.

##

Marcia and
Isabel reached the Cuban restaurant five minutes after their reservation time.
When they entered the dining room, Frank and Melinda Miles were already seated,
waiting for them.
 

“We are
sorry for being so late,” Marcia said. “The traffic was horrible.”

“Don't
worry about it,” Frank said.

“We usually
leave a little bit early, to make sure the traffic doesn't cause us to be
late,” Melinda said.

Ignoring
the slight, looking at Melinda, Isabel asked, “How is it going with the show?”

“We're
going national and so it's been very hectic,” Melinda replied. Isabel always
wondered how Frank and Melinda managed to stay together for so long. Frank, the
unassuming nice man everyone liked, and Melinda, the woman from hell, at least
as was reported by some of her former staff who had worked with her on her
show.

Both Frank
and Melinda were in their late forties, and Melinda's physique belied her age.
Melinda's show sometimes featured her running several miles a day.

“Thank you
for meeting us on such short notice,” Marcia said. The waiter then came to take
their order, interrupting Marcia. After the waiter departed, Melinda,
looking at Marcia, said, “Couldn't this be done by phone?
 
We all have busy lives, and as a doctor, you
should know that.”

Marcia
ignored Melinda and said, “It's about Mark, and I was hoping that you would
understand, once you hear what we have to say.”

Melinda was
going to reply when Frank interrupted her and asked, “What about Mark?”

“He is
going to be a father.”

Frank and
Melinda look shocked.

“Does Mark
know that?” Frank asked.

“Yes,”
Isabel replied.
 
“Apparently, he wants
Rebecca to have an abortion.”

“I can't
believe it,” Frank said. “I hope Rebecca didn't agree to that. I know that they
are young, but understand, this would be our first grandchild.”

“How do you
know it's Mark's baby?” Melinda retorted.

“Mark and
Rebecca are dating.
 
I don't know who
else could be the father,” an offended Isabel responded.

“Nowadays,
kids sleep around. Maybe it's someone else's,” Melinda insisted.

Marcia was
going to respond when an angry Isabel interrupted her. She had had a bad
morning and she was not going to let Melinda make it worse than it already was.
“We came here because we were hoping that you would want to be part of the
child's life. I won't sit here and let you insult Rebecca.”

“We know
our Mark,” Melinda replied. “He would never put himself in that situation. Mark
has a great future ahead of him.
 
I don't
know why Rebecca can't have the abortion. Anyway, I doubt it's Mark's child.”

Frank
looked stunned at his wife's statement and before anyone could respond, Isabel
said, “This is Rebecca's fault as well as your son's. I'm not going to sit here
and let you accuse my sister of being loose. This meeting is over.” Turning to
her aunt, Isabel said, “Let's go Tia Marcia. We're wasting our time.”

“Wait,”
Frank interjected, “let's discuss this.”

“There is
nothing to discuss Frank,” Isabel replied. “Melinda said enough.
 
You have my phone number. Just call me if you
change your mind.”

As Marcia
and Isabel got up, Marcia turned to a visibly furious Melinda and said, “Do us
a favor, pick up the tab.”
 
Then they
both walked out.

“What was
that all about?” Marcia asked Isabel when they were outside the restaurant.

“I wasn't
going to let them insult Rebecca,” Isabel responded.

“Are you
sure, you're OK.
 
I have never seen you
act like this before,” Marcia said.