Finding You (19 page)

“Maggie died from cancer ten days ago.”

“Oh my God,” Nova put her hand over her mouth, “did she suffer?”

“No, Maggie kept her head up until the end.  She had no pain when she died.  It was very peaceful.”

My heart felt like it broke into.  “Were you with her?”

“As a matter of fact I was.  The last words she spoke to me were about you.  Did you know she considered you her own child?”

Nova smiled at how his words warmed her heart.  “She didn’t die in that shitty trailer park did she?”

“No, that place is now a housing development.” 

His words made her feel better.

“Maggie wanted her savings to go to you.  It isn’t much but she wanted you to have it along with an insurance policy.”  He handed her a sealed envelope which she put in her purse.

  Ian spoke up.  “Mr. Newton you can see that this isn’t easy for Nova.  Is there a reason why this couldn’t have been done without us having to come down here?  If it was money you could have mailed the check.”

“Maggie specifically requested that Nova come back to Mississippi.  She also wanted you to have that Nova.”

He pointed to a box sitting on his coffee table. 

“What is it?” Nova asked standing up.

“It’s some things she wanted you to have.”

Ian touched her arm.  “Do you want to open it here?”

“No, I think I would rather take it with us.”

Ian picked up the box.  Nova turned to follow him out the door.

“Nova,” Mr. Newton called her name.

She stopped.  “Yes, Sir?”

“Maggie wanted me to tell you how proud of you she was.”

Tears fell down her cheeks.  She had waited for years for someone to tell her they were proud of her.  The moment was utterly surreal.  “How does she know about me Mr. Newton?”

“I think you will find everything you need to answer that in your box.  Good luck to you Nova.”

“Nova, are you going to open the box?”  Ian had asked her this every day since they had returned from Mississippi.

“Yes, just not today.”

“Fine, I didn’t want it to come to this but you have been staring at that box likes it’s a gateway to some other world.  Sit down and open the box.”

“It is another world Ian.”

“No more excuses, open the box.”

The box had been sitting in the library and she knew Ian wasn’t going to let her out until she opened it up. 

Reluctantly she sat down in front of it and slowly lifted the lid.  Inside there were two scrap books.  The first had pictures of Maggie with her children.

“Is that her,” Ian asked?

“Yeah, those were her children.  She lost all of them when they were little. That’s how she ended up in the trailer park.  She had been hospitalized for a breakdown after her last child died.  She called it her mental vacation.”

“My God Nova, has anyone in your life ever been stable?”

Nova started laughing.  “She wasn’t crazy Ian.  She got depressed pretty bad and had to have help.  You know what it was like to lose your brother.  She lost three children.”

Nova flipped through the pages looking at the various pictures Maggie had kept of her own life finally reaching the end of it.  The next album had drawings taped to the pages.  Nova scanned them finally realizing they were pictures she had drawn.  “These were mine Ian.”

He laughed at the funny drawings that captivated every bit of her attention. 

The pages that ensued were more drawings with a few random pictures of Nova when she was little.  Eventually the pages turned to newspaper clippings.  She had followed Nova after she moved.  She had tons of articles written about Stanford that had pictures of her and her mother.  She even had a cut out of the announcement that had been put in the paper when Nova went to Harvard.  Maggie had watched her grow up.

At the end she had a picture of Harvard and a photocopy of the MBA webpage from Harvard’s website.  Tears rolled down Nova’s cheek.

“Baby are you sad?”

“No,” she shook her head.  “I’m relieved actually.”

He looked at her oddly.  “Were you expecting something else?”

“I don’t really know what I was expecting.”  Nova closed the album and sat it on the floor.

“Why are you relieved then?”

“I’m just relieved that somebody actually gave a shit about me.”

She burst into laughter and so did Ian. 

“I am really glad that you are smart.”

She put the lid back on the box.  “Why?”

“Because your artistic abilities suck.”

“I may paint you a picture and make you take it to work if you keep laughing at me.  I was a kid Ian.  You know you really shouldn’t say things like that to me, you could really damage my self-esteem.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I am rich.  Having to rely on your talents might put us out on the streets.”

“I am talented Ian.”  She turned and shook her ass at him.

“Oh baby, I know just how talented you are.”  He pulled her down to him.  “Can we get past all of this now?”

“Yeah, minus the check.” She turned and pulled it out of the desk drawer.  “Apply this to my debt, Sir.”

Ian took the envelope.  “You haven’t opened it yet.”

“No.  He said she didn’t have much in her saving and I highly doubt there is much to the insurance policy.  Let me know my balance.”

Stowing the box in one of the cabinets in the library she paid no attention to Ian as he opened the envelope and pulled out the check. 

“Nova?”

“Yes,” she said turning to him. 

“Today is your lucky day sweetheart.”

“What?” she asked as he handed her the check.

“Oh my God Ian.  Its eighty thousand dollars.  How is that possible?  He said I shouldn’t expect to get much from her.”

“Your step father is a judge and you go to Harvard.  He probably thought based on your upbringing that eighty grand wouldn’t be much to you.”

Nova sank down beside Ian.  “I guess my debt is paid in full then, huh?”

“Yes, it seems it is.”

A smile flashed across his face.  “Timing is everything in life and business Nova and this couldn’t have come at a better time.”

“What does that mean?” 

“It means that I don’t have to watch you obsess over paying me back and we can finally move past that too.”

Nova signed over the check and Ian returned to her in cash the difference.  He had advised against keeping cash but Nova had a plan with her nest egg.  She knew what to do with the money.

The next two weeks were essentially Nova with her nose to the grind stone getting ready for her finals and graduation.  Ian spent almost every night at the office working late.  It didn’t bother her too much because she had so much studying and liked the free time she had to focus.  Most nights she was in bed when he made it home, others he left her up studying.  When she graduated and he wrapped up whatever he was working on they would have time together before she started her job.  She felt like she was counting down the days to getting to be close to him again. 

On Wednesday night she decided to put down the books and surprise him.  She felt bad having not discussed with him what she wanted to do with the money but in some way she wanted it to be a surprise.  She had decided to honor Ian’s brother with a scholarship fund for abused kids.  She had an appointment next week to discuss her intentions with a local foundation.  Ian and Nova had survived their abusers but Brandon hadn’t.  She felt it only right to name the scholarship fund in his honor.

When she got to Ian’s office the security guard told her he didn’t think anyone was upstairs but she went up anyway knowing Ian should be there.  When she stepped off the elevator the door to I.S.C was locked and there were no lights on. When she got back to her car she called Ian’s phone.

Ian answered, “Hey baby, how is studying going?”

“Good, finished earlier actually.  Where are you?”

He hesitated for just a moment, “Still working baby.”

Her heart sank as she looked up at the Enterprise Building.  “Are you still at work?”

“It’s another late one.  I will make it up to you soon, alright?”

She lost her breath.  “Okay. How late will you be, I thought I would wait up for you since we seem to have trouble seeing each other these days.”

“Don’t wait up baby. Get some sleep.  I know you must be tired.”

“Okay.”

When the phone went dead, Nova’s legs tried to come out from under her.  The security guard noticed her and came out.  “Ms. Drake, are you alright?”

She turned trying to straighten out her demeanor.  “I’m fine, thanks Gus.”

“Do you need me to call Mr. Strong?  You don’t look very good.”

“Oh no, I just missed him it seems.  He is at home.  Our schedules are so crazy right now with him working and me trying to finish up for graduation.  I thought I would surprise him but in driving here we missed each other.  Figures doesn’t it?”

“I understand.  Go on home, I’m sure he will be excited to see you.”

“Do you remember what time he left I thought for sure I would catch him?”

“Yes ma’am.  It was about 6:30.  The game was just coming on when he walked out.”

“I will have to plan better next time.  Thanks Gus.”

Nova had driven the Range Rover.  When she started the engine she looked at the time…8:45.  She had no idea what to do when she pulled away from the curb.  When she made it to the light she pulled over and opened the door feeling like she was going to throw up.  She didn’t think he had ever lied to her but it was obvious now that he wasn’t working late at night like she thought.

She drove back to the house hoping that somehow this was just a horrible mix up.  She would go home and Ian would be there wanting to know where she was but when she got there, the bay in the garage for his Porsche was empty.

She went in the house and sat down at the bar in the kitchen.  She desperately wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt but doubt was wrecking hell on her.  She thought back over the course of the last two weeks.  How many times had they had sex, three, four tops?  Somehow in the midst of their very busy schedules, sex had fallen to the side. 

Ian craved sex like a maniac and so had she but she hadn’t noticed the difference in their love making until now.  She had been busy with school and trying to get everything organized for Brandon’s scholarship fund, she had little time to miss him.

She had never asked him what business deal he was working on.  She knew it started while they were in the Keys but that was it.  Whatever it was had supposedly kept Ian at work late at night and the better part of the last two weekends.  She had never questioned him.  She had no reason to, but now, he had lied and she knew it.

She went to Ian’s office and closed the blinds.  She had never ever considered snooping into his business but now she needed to know what was going on.  She opened his lap top and typed in his password.  It wasn’t like she was hacking his system.  He had given her his password months before in his office when she had asked him. 

She pulled up his I.S.C account then went straight for his email account.  She waited before she typed in his password.  If he was smart he would have a different password.  If the one she knew didn’t match she would leave it alone.  She would give him the opportunity to tell her the truth.

Invading his privacy wasn’t right.  She typed in the same password, “DENIED” flashed across the screen. 
“Good boy,”
she thought giving him credit for not using the same password but at the same time she knew she could hack his system in a matter of time.  Her fingers fidgeted on the keys.  All she needed was her computer.  That’s all it would take to know but she had just told herself she wouldn’t.  She told herself if his password didn’t match she could give him a chance to explain. The fear of not knowing was crushing but if she crossed this line, it changed things.  Wiping the tears from her eyes, she shut down his email account and logged out of I.S.C and closed the computer.

At 1:30 she saw his headlights come up the drive.  She couldn’t miss it; she had been sitting at the bottom of the stairs for the last two hours waiting for him.   She went to the kitchen and poured a glass of orange juice. 

She didn’t want to pretend that she hadn’t been waiting up on him.  She heard the front door open and him turn the alarm on.  Within a few seconds she heard his footsteps coming towards the kitchen.

“Nova, what are you doing up so late baby?”

She turned to look at him.  Her heart sank when she saw him.  He was so beautiful in every way and now she felt him slipping through her hands.  “I couldn’t sleep and OJ sounded good.”

Setting down his briefcase he truly looked concerned as he approached her.  “You aren’t sick are you?”

“No, not at all.  I guess sleeping without you finally caught up with me.”

He pulled her into his arms.  “You graduate next week and hopefully I will have this business deal wrapped up by then and we can get back to normal.” 

She wanted to believe him but she had to ask.  She had told herself she would give him the opportunity to tell her the truth.  “Is everything okay with you Ian?”

He shifted his eyes.  Not much but just enough that she picked up on it. 

“Yeah, baby.  Work is just crazy right now.”  He rested his head on her shoulder.

“Do I need to move a bed in that office of yours?”  She was manipulating him to see if she could get him to outright lie to her but she had no choice.  Something was up.

“Not funny Nova.”

“I didn’t mean it to be funny.  You are rarely ever here.  I just thought if we couldn’t meet up here I might have to start coming to your office.”

“I’m sure John and Phillip wouldn’t mind the show,” he said planting a big kiss on her lips.

For one fraction of a second Seven flashed in front of her then he was gone.  Taking her by the hand she followed him to the bedroom where he proceeded to undress, climb in bed and go to sleep.

As she watched him sleep she tried to talk herself out of getting up and getting into his computer.  It was too risky.  If he caught her how could she explain?  As his breathing turned into a soft snore she couldn’t let it go.  She wouldn’t hack his computer but she was going to find out where he was going.

Quietly she got out of bed.  Picking up his phone she went downstairs.  He had a tracking app in his iPhone.  She turned it on and opened his apple account.  She already knew how to get in.  She had access to his account because her phone was on his plan.  After setting up the same tracking app on her phone she quietly went back upstairs, sat his phone down where he left it and slid in next to him.  After a while she finally drifted off to sleep.

She finished her last exam the next day and called Ian.  “Hey, do you have time for lunch today?”

“For the almost graduate, absolutely.”

She breathed a sigh of relief driving to the Enterprise Building.  She wasn’t sure what was going on with him but she had made up her mind, she was reigning him back in.