Road to Casablanca (35 page)

“You always have a place to stay when you come to
California
.”

Cindy wasn’t kidding.
 
She and Erick now lived in a ten-bedroom house in
Beverly Hills
, not too far from the hotel.
 

Max the cat had no idea what to make of the place and practically got lost exploring every square inch of the rambling mansion since coming to live here just a week earlier.

Cindy smiled at Victoria, her maid of honor. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“You know what.
 
For this…all of this.
 
I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you,” Cindy said, tears welling up in her eyes.

Victoria
embraced her friend. “Hey, girl, you were the one who answered the ad; I only pointed it out to you.”

Just then, there was a knock at the door of her dressing room.

“Who could that be?” Cindy asked.

“You’d better get it,”
Victoria
said. “We can finish this talk later.”

 
Cindy opened her dressing room door and saw Forrest Redmund standing in the doorway, smiling at her.

“Oh…uh…hello, Mr. Redmund.”

“Hello.”

“This is my friend Victoria.”

“Hello,
Victoria
.”

Cindy never liked Erick’s father very much, although she wanted to. She hated how he made her feel so nervous all the time.
 
She hoped Erick’s stories about him hadn’t colored her judgment of him, but she always felt he looked upon her with disapproval, though she could never understand why.
 
Despite her personal feelings, though, she always went out of her way to be polite and respectful toward him.

 
“Well, Cindy, don’t you look beautiful today,” he said kindly, smiling at her.

“Thank you,” Cindy said, blocking the doorway with her huge veil.

“May I come in?”

Cindy was embarrassed that she temporarily forgot to be polite.

“Oh, yes, of course; come on in.”

The elder Redmund was carrying a small white envelope with an expensive pearl clasp.
 

“You are one lucky lady, you know, but I am eternally grateful to you, as I know Erick is also.”

Cindy wondered what this was about, especially since the wedding was less than thirty minutes from now.
 

Surely whatever it is can wait, can’t it?

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“This is yours.
 
It’s your share of the company.
 
I thought it only fitting since your marriage is saving Erick from being disinherited that you should receive some shares of your own as a…wedding gift…from the Board of Directors and myself.
 
Yes, young lady, you just might be the saving grace of this company, and for that I will always be grateful.”

Both Cindy and
Victoria
’s mouths fell open at the little announcement, neither believing what they were hearing.
 
Cindy began shaking her head as the magnitude of Redmund’s words began to sink in. Sobbing hysterically, she ran out the door, down the hall, and out of the chapel.
 

Erick saw her run by and heard her crying and started to run after her but decided it would be best to go to her dressing room to see what was going on first.
 
When he saw his father bending down to pick the white envelope up off the rug, his blood began to boil.

“What did you say to her, Dad?” Erick shouted for all to hear, including Victoria and Cindy’s family.

“Nothing.
 
I just gave her this and she apparently refused it.
 
Either that or you’ve got one hell of a little actress on your hands, son.”

“Give me that.”

Erick snapped as he grabbed the envelope from his father’s hands and unlatched the pearly clasp to reveal a promissory note for 1000 shares of company stock.

“What the hell is this?”

“It’s a little wedding gift from me to your bride, Erick.
 
I thought it was the least I could do since she basically saved you from disinheritance and she certainly saved the company.
 
Our stock went up ten points on the exchange since you announced your engagement.
 
I’m sure it will go up even more now that you’re about to marry.”

“You bastard! Your damned company has nothing to do with Cindy and my love for her.
 
Nothing at all.
 
Our relationship is real and I love her, Dad, and now you and this damned company are trying to take all that away from me.
 
Well I’ll tell you something, pops!
 
I don’t want your lousy job, this company or even one single dime of your money! You got that?
 
You make me sick!”

Erick left the flabbergasted crowd with his father and ran as fast as he could down the hall to catch up with Cindy.
 
He looked in every direction, each time reaching a fork in his path, not knowing which way she went.

Unfortunately, the scene did not go unnoticed by virtually anyone at the wedding since seated guests could hear the argument through the closed chapel doors and even over the pianist, who started to play louder.
 

If he had time to think about what had just transpired, Erick would have felt completely humiliated by his father and the heated argument that played out in front of everyone they knew, but for now, he had no time to worry about any of that.
 
The only thing that mattered was finding Cindy.

“Did you see a lady running in a wedding dress?” Erick asked various hotel guests who were stopped in the hallways staring at the commotion.
 
Surely crying females sprinting in wedding gowns were enough to make anyone stop and stare.

Some guests tried to help Erick by pointing in the direction they saw Cindy run, while others hesitated, afraid to give away her hiding place for fear she really did want to run kicking and screaming out of the pending nuptials.
 

Erick could practically guess their thoughts:
Better to run now than to go through with something you know is a mistake
.

Erick was surprised by how many people would not help him, but again, it was nothing he could think about now.
 
He continued to run until he caught a glimpse of a white veil slipping through a side door that led to the swimming pool.

He ran outside as fast as he could as Cindy reached the wall and finally stopped, heaving and sobbing, her makeup smeared and her hair falling out of her bun.
 
She looked up through her blurry tears to see Erick and began to shout at him.

“Stop it!
 
Don’t you come near me!
 
You’re a liar!”

By now, nearly everyone on the deck hushed their own irrelevant conversations to look at the runaway bride.
 

Erick didn’t know what he’d done to deserve this, but he only prayed there were no reporters there to snap pictures.
 
Porn stars were one thing, but this would surely be an image he would never live down.

“You don’t understand…you don’t understand.
 
Please, let me explain.”

“Explain what? That you are only marrying me so you can keep your inheritance?
 
Is that what you want to explain?”

“Cindy, I wish I had sat down with you earlier and explained my father to you.
 
By the time I reached
Texas
and connected with you again, and with all the wedding planning we’ve been doing to get our wedding done by New Year’s Eve, I forgot.
 
Well, I didn’t forget exactly….”

“Well then what exactly would you call it?”

“Let’s just say I didn’t want to stir things up between us unnecessarily.
 
I mean, we were getting along so well and everything.
 
I didn’t think this stuff was that important.
 
The things Dad and I argue about are between us and quite frankly, I didn’t really believe he’d actually be cold enough to follow through with any of his stupid threats.
 
Boy, was I ever wrong!”

Cindy said nothing as she glared at him with her arms crossed.
 
It was so hard to sit here and listen to him.
 
On the one hand, she wanted to punch his lights out; on the other, she wanted to kiss him and hope he was telling the truth.
 
It was all unbelievably confusing.

 
“Drink, sir?” a waiter asked Erick.

“Not now!” Erick yelled for all to hear, sending the waiter away with a frown and a shake of his head.

 
“Cindy, I love you and I need you to calm down and just listen to me.
 
Hear what I have to say.
 
We’ve been though so much together and I want to have the opportunity to explain.”

Cindy thought about what Erick was saying and wondered if she owed him anything at this point.
  
It seemed he lied to her about everything – women, his life, and now his inheritance.

 
“How could you do this to me, Erick?
 
My whole family is in there and you are ruining my life!”

“Cindy, please…”

“What the hell are you possibly going to tell me that your father hasn’t already?
 
I wondered why he’s been so cold to me since I got here and now I know, don’t I?
 
He thinks I’m here for the money.
 
He thinks the only thing I want from you is your money and the simple truth is I really don’t give a damn about any of that.”

The nosy crowd continued to listen in as Cindy burst into uncontrollable tears.

“I quit!
 
I resigned from my position at the company and I told my dad I don’t want the money.”

“Yeah, right! That’s bullshit and you know it!”

“No, it isn’t.
 
My dad and I had a fight and yes, he threatened to disinherit me if I didn’t get married by a certain time. Fine. But that has nothing to do with you. And yes, okay, I did contact the agency initially thinking it would be a quick way for me to find someone to masquerade as my wife…Look, I realize I’m digging myself a hole right now, Cindy, but I swear everything I’m saying is the truth.
 
You’ve got to believe me.
 
I love you!”

“So you mean it wasn’t to impress your Moroccan friends?
 
So what you’re saying is that you lied about that too?”

“I…no… I mean…yes, I guess, kind of, I mean…well…yeah.”

“Stop it, Erick!
 
Just stop it! I am so sick of your lies!
 
You must be a pathological liar!
 
I’ve seen TV specials about people like you, but unfortunately I was too blindsided by your smooth-talking ways to see I was being taken for a fool!”

“It’s not like that, Cindy.
 
Yes, I hired the agency and I wanted to find a shy, quiet girl like you to introduce to my dad so I would stay in his good graces, and yes, of course so I would keep my inheritance….”

Cindy was pretending to plug her ears at this point, but heard it all anyway. She had to know one way or another.
 
Once this mess was over she would have to go back to
Texas
and try and put her life back together.