Among the Ducklings (20 page)

“That
bitch.
 
After all you've done for her,”
an angry Stephanie said. Stephanie loved her big brother.
 
In better days, when he was working, he had
paid for Stephanie to get through nursing school.

“Don't talk
about Stacy like that. She is usually nice.
 
It has been very hard for her to make it in Hollywood,” Andy replied.

“
Don't be a fool
,” Stephanie said. “Are you going to sell the
story or not?”

“No. It
wouldn't be fair to her. Promise me that you won't go to the tabloids with this
when I die.”

“Please
don't talk like that.
 
You're not going
anywhere.
 
I want you to stay here with
me,” Stephanie replied. Andy didn't notice that Stephanie didn't make any
promises.
 
The truth is that Stephanie
didn't want to lie to her big brother.

##

Stacy was
angry when she hung up on Andy.
 
Stacy
never believed that Andy would threaten to reveal a secret that she was forced
to share with him because she needed his help. If her secret got out, her plan
with Phil would unravel.
  
Although she
didn't believe that Andy would do it, she wasn't completely sure. She wasn't
the type to take any chances.
 
The only
way to ensure that it didn't happen was to make sure that Andy's acceptance
into the treatment program was rescinded. She knew exactly the person who could
make it happen. She then picked the phone and dialed a New York City phone
number.
 
A couple of hours later, she got
a call back.

“They want
you to appear in a commercial promoting the Institute in exchange for this,”
Stacy’s powerful agent said on the other line.
 

“Fine,”
Stacy replied. “Take care of it.”
No
one threatens Stacy
.

##

Andy was at
the end of his rope with no options in sight.
 
Stacy had refused to help and he had run out of money months ago.
 
He tried to call Stacy back, hoping that he
would change her mind but she had not picked up.

“What's the
use?
 
She already ran out with your
money, she’s not going to help you,” Stephanie said.

“I know
Stacy. Give her a couple of days. She might change her mind,” he said, no
longer believing his own words.
 
Stephanie was going to respond when, suddenly, the phone rang.

“Let's hope
it's
Stacy,” Andy said, hope reflecting on his face,
as he picked up. The conversation only lasted a few minutes.

“What
happened?” Stephanie heard Andy ask.

“Is there
anything you can do?” Andy kept asking. Andy was all white when he hung up. His
eyes were moist.

“What is
it?” a worried Stephanie asked.

“It was the
Institute.
 
They said it was a mix-up. My
acceptance has been canceled,” Andy said. On his face, hope was replaced by
despair and sadness.

“How can
they do that? A furious Stephanie asked.

“Don't be
upset,” Andy said. “It looks like I don't need the money after all,” a resigned
Andy said.

It was too much of a coincidence
, Stephanie thought.
 
She knew that Andy wouldn't believe that
Stacy would do something like this. However, Stephanie wasn't Andy. You took my
brother's heart, money and now his hope for a cure.
 
“I will make you pay Stacy,” Stephanie said
to herself.
 
“Soon, the whole world will
know the secret you have been hiding.”

##

Phil was
getting ready to leave work when Stacy called his office. “When are you leaving
work?” she asked.

“Actually,
I was on my way out the door when you called.”

“How
about if I treat you to good food tonight?”
Stacy asked.

“Are you
sure I'm not imposing?” Phil asked.
 
Phil
was grateful Stacy called.
 
He didn't
want to eat alone tonight.
 
Whenever he
was alone, images of Isabel would flood his head, reminding him of what could
have been, if only Isabel cared more for him than she did for Richard. At least
he would not eat alone tonight.
 
As far
he was concerned, Stacy was not bad company either.

“Just pick
me up in an hour,” Stacy said, she then gave Phil her hotel's address and suite
number. She couldn't wait to spend the evening with Phil.
Little
did Phil know that she was going to take him down memory lane, remembering how
everything started.
 
Tonight, Stacy was
to take Phil to the Japanese restaurant where he first took her, the day they
met at the show.

##

As Phil and
Stacy were having dinner at the Japanese restaurant, Marcia was still in her
office this evening.
 
She had completed
her work an hour ago, but had yet to get up from where she sat behind her desk.
She was thinking about Isabel. When she had learned late in the afternoon that
Isabel had decided to change the schedule for her therapy sessions from
afternoon to the morning, she had called Isabel to ask why, but Isabel wouldn't
say anything.

“It's not
about Phil, is it?” Marcia had asked.

“It's about
what's best for me,” Isabel had replied, avoiding the question altogether.
 
Marcia then made a mental note to talk to
Phil the next day.
 
Maybe she'd learn
something.

##

“Plan a
wedding? That's what he said?” Lucy asked. Lucy was talking to Isabel, who was
recounting Richard's last words.

“Yes,”
Isabel replied. “He said he had found some help in Orlando and was flying in
tomorrow for us to plan the wedding.”

“How do you
feel about that?”

“Good.”

“Did you
talk to Phil since the dinner on Friday night?”

“I did,”
Isabel replied.

“So, what
happened?” Lucy asked.

“Nothing
really.
I told him
I didn't want to see him again and that I love Richard and was going to marry
him.”

“What did
he say?” Lucy asked, her facial expression betraying her suprise.

“He tried
to make me change my mind.”

“I guess he
didn't succeed.”

“No. In any
event, it looks like he spent the weekend in the Keys with a Hollywood
actress.”

“How do you
know?”

“It's in
the paper. They were all over each other on the beach.”

“How are
you taking this?” Lucy asked.

“What do
you mean?” asked Isabel, defensively.

“How do you
feel seeing pictures of Phil with another woman?”

“It's
OK.
 
Remember, I told him that I didn't
want to see him again, so as far as I'm concerned, what he does in his life is
no business of mine,” Isabel replied, hoping that Lucy wouldn't be able to read
the pain in her voice.

“I guess
you're right.
 
Too bad.
I thought he was a nice guy,” Lucy added.

##

On the
morning of Richard's flight, he had spoken to his divorce lawyer, who had said
that he didn't have to
refile
divorce papers since
his divorce case was only delayed.
 
In six months, when Kristin received the
money, he would finish the divorce
, he thought to himself.

“Once
you're ready, let me know.
 
It's just a
matter of scheduling face time with the judge for the divorce,” Richard's
lawyer told him. After his conversation with the lawyer, Richard then
called Isabel's lawyer, whom he had known since high school, who told him that
she had told Isabel that morning that the insurance company had accepted the
offer.
 
Richard could not believe it. He
was going to get money from his divorce from Kristin, and then he would be
marrying into money.
  
On the plane, he
pinched himself to make sure that he wasn't dreaming.

##

When Phil
woke up the next morning, his memory was fuzzy. He remembered going to the
restaurant where the memories of their first dinner and the good times he and
Stacy used to have had flooded his mind like a broken spigot jetting bursts of
water. They drank sake and shared laughs about the adventures and misadventures
they had had together. He remembered Stacy ordering a limousine for them after
dinner.
 
What concerned him most was that
his memory failed him after that.
 
How
could he wake up in Stacy's bed and not remember what happened?
 
He was naked in Stacy’s bed and he had a
strong migraine. Stacy was coming back from the shower.
 
Her beautiful naked body was tanned and
inviting.
 

“What a
beautiful evening we had.
 
I never
thought that I would share these beautiful moments with you again,” Stacy said,
as she came and kissed Phil on the lips. Phil didn't respond, and didn't know
what to say because he couldn't remember, and for good reason. But he would
never know why his memory had failed him, because Stacy had already thrown away
the little bottle that contained the rest of the date rape drug that she had
given him in the sake.

##

Phil spent
the whole day in bed, in Stacy's suite.
 
He wasn't well enough to either work or go to the Center for his
therapy.
 
He attributed the drowsiness he
felt to a hangover and promised himself to drink less, next time.
 
Stacy was the perfect hostess. She helped
Phil exercise his ankle, ordered food for Phil, and spent the whole day lying
next to Phil and making sure that Phil was OK.
  
Phil slept the whole afternoon and when he woke
up,
he had a set of new clothes, underwear, and shoes that Stacy had bought for him
when he was sleeping.
 
In the evening,
Phil felt a little bit better, and he and Stacy had walked to the Side Cafe, a
restaurant on Ocean Drive, in South Beach for a light snack.
 
It was there that Stacy revealed to him that
he was the only man that she ever truly loved.
 
As he was looking at Stacy's beautiful face, he wondered how he could
have been so foolish.
 
He was chasing a
dream with Isabel, a love that he would never receive, while Stacy was real,
and loved and cared for him.
 
Maybe he
could learn to love Stacy again.
 
At
least he would try. It was so wrong of him to hate Stacy all of these years,
not knowing how much Stacy had suffered because of their baby.
 
He would give Stacy a second chance.

##

Marcia was
working late again for the second day in a row.
 
She was worried. Phil had canceled his therapy session again, while
Isabel was doing her best to avoid answering her questions. She picked up the
phone and called Phil at home but no one answered. She then called Phil on his
cell.

Phil, who
had taken another day off to completely recover, answered.

“Phil, this
is Marcia.”

“Hi,” Phil
answered.

“Are you
OK?
 
You haven't come to the Center in
two days.”

Phil was sitting
by the bar in Stacy's suite waiting for Stacy, who was taking a shower.

“I have not
been feeling well, but I am OK now.”

“Are you
coming tomorrow?”

“I won't be
able to.
 
I am flying to Costa Rica
tonight and will return in three days.”

“You'll be
missing so many exercise sessions? That's not good.”

“I'm sorry
I didn't tell you.
 
It was just a spur of
the moment decision to get away. But I called my doctor and he arranged for me
to have another doctor supervise some sessions, while I'm in Costa Rica,” Phil
said.

“Oh. I
didn't know. I didn't get a chance to speak to him today.”

“Don't
worry, I'll be OK,” Phil said, regretting that he hadn't told Marcia of his
plan to miss the sessions. He had told her staff, but he felt that somehow he
should have told her directly.

“Phil, are
you OK?”

“What do
you mean?” Phil asked.

“Did
something happen between you and Isabel?” Marcia asked.

“Why do you
say that?” Phil asked, trying to avoid answering.

“Well, yesterday,
Isabel told me that she and Richard had set a date for their wedding and that
they were getting married in seven months.
 
Now you are going on trips and canceling your therapy sessions. I wasn't
born yesterday, you know,” Marcia said.