by Madyson Grey
“Do you think we have enough money to go and buy a new place before this one can sell? Or at least begin looking?” she asked Rafael.
“Well, I think we could do that, especially if it doesn’t take too long to sell this one. If we can sell this place within a year, we’d be all right,” he said. “Do you have any idea where you’d want to even start looking for a new home?”
“Not really,” she said. “I know we need to probably stay reasonably close to the office building. You don’t need a long commute every day. Otherwise, I’d say that I would like to move someplace where we could have a couple of acres or so around us. Whenever we decide to have kids, it would be nice for them to grow up in a little more rural atmosphere, I think.
“I used to dream of living on a farm with animals when I was a kid,” she told him. “I read every horse story I could get my hands on, along with books like the Little House series, and other books where kids grew up in the country. Not that I don’t like the amenities of the big cities, and I like to be close to good shopping, but there’s something about the country that tugs at my inner being.”
“I guess I’ve never really thought about it,” Rafael said. “I don’t know how I would like country living. I just know I don’t like to mow the lawn.”
They chuckled a bit at that.
“I guess we could look around. At least we don’t have to be in a hurry about moving,” he said. “We can take all the time we want to. Something I have been thinking about though, is arranging my work schedule and the way I handle my work responsibilities so that I can do more work remotely and have time to do some traveling. I have always dreamed of traveling all over the United States, and even to some other countries. That’s my big dream.”
“I think that’s a marvelous dream, babe,” Victoria said. “I would enjoy doing that, too. With the fact that nearly everything can be done online nowadays, I don’t know why you can’t set things up to where you can do stuff remotely and we can travel a lot. Now that’s exciting to me! Just think of all the places we could go and see and do all over the place.”
She got so excited just at the thought that she got up and went in search of the atlas that she knew her dad kept. When she found it, she brought it back into the family room and curled up beside of Rafael on the sofa and opened it up. They spent the next hour fantasizing about all the places they would like to go. They also mapped out the route they would like to take on their upcoming wedding trip, which they hoped could be taken soon.
The next morning, Rafael got ready to go to the office. He asked Victoria if she wanted to go along.
“I do, but I also need to call Mr. Hall and Dr. Stevens. Is there a place down there where I can make those calls?” she asked.
“Oh, sure,” he told her. “You know your dad’s office, well, my office now, has a small lounge and restroom off of it. You can go in there to make your calls.”
“OK, I’ll do that,” she said.
And so after breakfast, they rode together in the Ferrari to the Thornton Building. When they got there, Victoria put a call through to her father’s attorney the first thing to discuss the possibility of her selling the house. He told her that just as soon as her mother was formally declared mentally incompetent, that she would be free to do as she pleased with the assets that were held jointly between her and her mother.
“How long with that take?” Victoria wanted to know.
“That’s up to your mother’s doctors and the police and district attorney,” Mr. Hall told her. “However, I don’t think it will take much more than a few days. The police have already charged your mother with the assault on the housekeeper, and armed hostage-taking, so in order to move forward on those charges, a decision will have to be made soon regarding her fitness to stand trial. And if she is charged with your dad’s murder, that will negate all of her inheritance. However, you will want to hold back her financial assets in trust for her, because she will need them to pay for her legal fees.
“I can set you up with a power of attorney form that will allow you to handle all of your mother’s affairs from here on out if she is found to be mentally incompetent. I think we can reasonably expect for you to be free to dispose of your jointly-held assets within a month or less.”
“Oh, that sounds good,” Victoria said with a sigh of relief. “I do think I will sell this house and get away from the bad memories held here. At least that’s how I feel right now. I may change my mind later on, but for now, that’s what I’m thinking.”
“I don’t blame you, Victoria,” Mr. Hall said. “I will be in touch and let you know just as soon as this thing is settled. Or you can call me if you hear anything before I do.”
After that phone call was finished, she called Dr. Stevens to see if he had seen her mother and to find out what her condition was. He told her that Marian’s condition had deteriorated to the point that he would be meeting with the hospital physician later that morning to sign papers to the effect that Marian Thornton had experienced a complete mental breakdown and that she should be committed to a permanent state psychiatric facility. When or if she would recover enough to stand trial, he couldn’t say at this point.
After she had hung up, Victoria sat and cried until she had no more tears to cry. Even though Marian hadn’t been a good mother to her daughter, not in the true sense of the word, Victoria still felt nothing but pity and sadness for her mother. Of course, she had been well fed, well dressed, well educated, and she knew that in her own way, Marian had wanted only what she felt was best for her daughter, however, Victoria had longed for a more ordinary, kind, caring, loving mother. A mama like Lena had always been to her. Well, she still had Lena, who had always been the mama that Marian should have been. And for that, she was eternally grateful.
At last, she dried her tears and took a compact out of her purse. She patted powder on her face hoping to obliterate the signs that she had been crying. While she waited for the redness and puffiness to subside, she called Mr. Hall again to tell him what Dr. Stevens had just told her.
“If you want to come to my office, I can get you set up with the power of attorney papers today,” he told her.
“I’m in the building, down here in Daddy’s office,” she said. “I can come up to your office whenever it’s convenient for you.”
“I’m not busy right now,” he said. “My next appointment isn’t for another hour, so why don’t you come up right now.”
“I’ll be there in just a few minutes,” she said.
She went out into the office and told Rafael where she was going. She also told him what Dr. Stevens had just told her.
“I’m so sorry, honey,” he said, holding her close for a moment.
Victoria went up to Dennis Hall’s office where he had papers all ready for her to sign that gave her complete control over her mother’s assets, and over her future health care, and over any other decisions that she would otherwise make for herself. After they were signed, he made copies for her to take home with her.
Victoria and Rafael spent the rest of the morning together, with him teaching her about the business. He explained that Thornton Enterprise had extensive real estate holdings. Not only this building, but also many others like it, both in LA and in other big cities across the country.
“So that’s why Daddy had to make trips to different places occasionally,” Victoria commented.
“Yeah, that’s the reason,” Rafael explained. “Sometimes there were issues that he needed to take care of in person, such as courting a prospective new tenant, or maybe some serious structural issues with a building. There are a number of reasons, but those are usually the most common ones. Now, this is your job.”
“Ha! You think I can figure out how to do this? You think I can go meet perfect strangers and convince them that they want to rent a part of one of my buildings? I don’t think so!” Victoria said firmly. “This just became your job. You have the gift of a glib tongue. I don’t. I can go with you, but you’ll have
to do the majority of the talking.”
“Yeah, I think I can do it all right, but I just need you to back me on it. After all, you are the major owner in this business,” Rafael said.
“I thought the paperwork said that once we were married, we would own it jointly,” Victoria said.
“That’s true,” he replied. “But be that as it may, it is your dad’s business, and I won’t do anything that you don’t approve of. I don’t want you or anyone else to ever be able to say that I married you just to get my hands on your dad’s business, and then I ran it into the ground, or whatever else someone may think.”
“You didn’t, did you?” Victoria said, looking at Rafael with suspicious eyes.
“Didn’t do what?” he asked.
“Marry me just for the business.”
“Victoria! Don’t you ever, ever think that for even one second,” Rafael exclaimed.
He reached for her hand and pulled her close to him.
“Listen to me,” he said. “I married you because I have been in love with you for over half my life. You could have been an orphan on the street and I would have still been smitten with you. I don’t care about your millions or billions of dollars. I love you for who you are, not for your money. Do you read me?”
“Yes, dear,” Victoria said contritely with just a glimmer of mischief in her eyes. “I was just checking.”
“Yeah, well, check this.”
Rafael pulled her into his arms and kissed her fiercely. When he felt his passion begin to rise, he abruptly let go and willed it to subside. She stood there for a brief moment, rather stunned at his aggression. She hadn’t seen this side of him before. It actually rather excited her, and she was sorry that they weren’t at home.
“If that doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will,” he said gruffly.
“If we were at home, I’d make you convince me again,” Victoria said in a come-on look in her eyes.
Rafael looked at her with lust in his eyes, but he could do nothing about it since they were in a rather public place. Even though the office door was closed, and the secretary out front never disturbed David, and now Rafael, when the door was shut, he still didn’t think they should take the risk of having sex right there in the office.
Then he thought of the bathroom. That should be safe enough. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the lounge/bathroom and closed and locked the door. He proceeded to take her right there against the bathroom wall. Just the daring of it all excited her to the point that they both reached their peak within just a couple of minutes.
“Don’t ever question my love for you again, Victoria,” he said in a voice that moved from command to pleading. “I love you now and forever, with all of my heart.”
“I love you, too, Rafael,” Victoria breathed. “Forever and ever, with all that I am. I will never doubt you, either. Ever.”
After straightening their clothes and hair, they returned to the office and tried to resume the discussion of business as if nothing had happened. But something had happened, and Victoria was more in love with Rafael than ever before. She could hardly keep her mind on the business at hand for thinking of her love for him and how exciting a man he was.
Truth be told, Rafael was having a hard time concentrating also. The nearness of his wife, the encounter they had just had, the love he felt for her, drove him nearly to distraction. Fortunately, it was approaching lunchtime, so he called it quits for now and suggested they go get something to eat. Maybe that would give them both time to cool their jets and be able to concentrate on business.
An hour-long lunch break, a brisk walk to and from the deli where they ate, the fresh air and sunshine, did wonders to restore them to business mode. So when they got back to the office, Rafael was able to go over all of David Thornton’s holdings with Victoria and explain them to her so she could get a grasp of the breadth of her father’s business. Well, now their business. She wondered how long it would take her to stop thinking of it as “Daddy’s business,” and start thinking of it as their business.
Not only did Thornton Enterprise have real estate holdings, but it also had an extensive stock portfolio. That was one area that Victoria just couldn’t wrap her head around. It all looked just like a paper game to her. Her father had tried to teach her about the stock market with she was a teenager, but it just didn’t click with her. So she told Rafael that that was his baby to take care of. She would trust him to do the best he knew how with it.
Victoria went to work with Rafael the rest of the week just so she could really familiarize herself with the business. She learned the locations of all the office buildings that they owned, not just in LA, but also all over the country. There were three in San Diego, three in San Francisco, two in Dallas, one in Houston, four in Portland, one in Denver, one in New Orleans, two in Memphis, three in Nashville, one in Des Moines, one in Albuquerque, and twelve in the Greater Los Angeles area.
They also dealt with Mr. Hall and the formal paperwork that transferred ownership of Thornton Enterprise and all its’ holdings into Rafael’s and Victoria’s names jointly. He also helped them with the deed to the house and David’s car. Victoria had decided to sell her mother’s car and she would put the money into her mother’s account to be used as needed. She would also sell her old car. Then they would just have Rafael’s Ferrari and the Chrysler 300 that had been David’s.
Victoria went to the DMV and Social Security and got her name changed on her driver’s license and Social Security card. They took care of all their bank accounts, both business and personal, to get both of their names put on all of the accounts. This took trips to three different banks, but eventually it was all taken care of.
By Friday, they were both glad for the weekend. It had been a busy week. Victoria had also gone by the police station and picked up her mother’s clothing that she had taken in for testing. That was another thing she was going to have to deal with before much longer—her parents’ clothing. Especially her father’s. She could barely think about having to go through his clothes and pack them up to give to charity.
Rafael was a good four inches taller than David Thornton had been, so he wouldn’t be able to wear any of David’s pants. But they wore the same shirt size. Victoria told him that he could have any of David’s shirts that he wanted, if he wanted any of them. He chose a couple of dress shirts that looked like they hadn’t ever been worn. All the rest they finally boxed up to give to a homeless shelter. Victoria knew that her dad would approve of that.
Her mother’s clothes were a different story. Marian was alive, but would she ever recover enough to wear anything except hospital or prison garb? Victoria was quite certain that her mother would never again see the light of day as a free woman. Underthings she would need. But outer garments? Dresses? Skirts? Blouses? Coats? Dress shoes? She doubted that Marian would ever wear these things again. Not even for court. And on the outside chance that she was ever released, these things would probably be out of style by then. And Marian Thornton would never be seen in last year’s fashions.
Nevertheless, Victoria wouldn’t get rid of them just yet. She went through her mother’s closet and drawers and packed everything in boxes. There were a few things she pulled out to keep for herself—several pairs of brand new hose, a couple of pairs of new socks, a pair of sandals she particularly liked, and a sweater that she had sent her mother for Christmas last year.
She stacked all the boxes of clothes in the master suite. Each box was marked with either an “M” or a “D,” both of which could either stand for Mother or Marian, Daddy or David. When she was ready, she could easily dispose of the boxes. She would wait a little longer.
Lena made them waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for their Saturday morning breakfast. After breakfast they told Lena that they would be gone all day. They were going to go out house hunting. Or maybe more properly, neighborhood hunting. There were several areas they had pinpointed that they wanted to check out to see if they would eve
n want to live there, if a suitable house could be found.
They both assured Lena that when they found something that they were interested in that they would take her along to see the house and get her approval on it also. They wanted her to be happy with her living quarters, just as they wanted to be satisfied with theirs. She appreciated their thoughtfulness.
They spent the whole day driving through various neighborhoods in a variety of satellite cities surrounding Los Angeles. All the towns that were once separate from Los Angeles long ago had so grown as to merge pretty much into one huge metropolitan area. Yet they each maintain their own individual personality to a point. Rafael and Victoria drove through several areas: Glendale, Pasadena, Eagle Rock, Altadena, up into Flintridge. They saw a lot of nice places, some not so acceptable, some that were all right, but nothing seemed to jump out and grab their attention.
They eventually began to leave the miles and miles of one subdivision after another and climb into the foothills. There, they spotted a tract of bare land that was dotted with trees.
“Well, what do you think of this?” Rafael asked Victoria as he slowed the car and pulled off the road. “We could build our own house here. There’s plenty of room. No close neighbors.”
“It has possibilities,” Victoria said. “Let’s put it on the ‘Possibles’ list. I don’t want to just grab the first thing we see that is a maybe. Tomorrow we might find something we like even better. But I do like this. Let’s get out and walk around a bit.”
They walked over the tract of land, looking everything over. They talked about where a house could be built, how much land they would want as a buffer against close neighbors, and so on. The more they thought about it, the better they liked the idea. When Rafael mapped the location and checked the distance to their building downtown, he found that it was only a little over fifteen miles. That wasn’t too bad. And if he set things up as he hoped to, he would only have to check in at the office maybe two or three times a month. The rest of the time he could work from home. He might even build a completely separate building beside or behind the house that would serve as his home office.
