by Nathan Grant
Claudia was bringing Olive home that afternoon, but before she and Olive got there, Franny’s security team thoroughly checked out Olive’s house.
They had changed the security code on her system, and had left one of her guards to stay there at her house for a few days.
“Claudia called me from the hospital before I came over here, after Luc arrived to help them get Olive back home, and said that no one had heard from Olive’s family, so she called them herself,” Franny told them.
Zain looked up with a surprised expression on his face.
“That’s pretty odd since they were so concerned about her welfare with their detailed instructions before she moved here. They seemed so concerned that she would have a good place to live, at least through their attorney, and were at almost obsessive about the terms. Even Mom said they sounded very anxious when she called them last night, and they wanted to know what condition she was in,” Zain said.
Franny nodded her agreement.
“I thought so too, but it seems when Claudia heard that they hadn’t been around or even called to check up on her, you know your sister and how she is, she blew up and called them herself. I hate to think about it but all their interest before she moved here was maybe just to get rid of her for some reason,” Franny said.
“You are preaching to the choir, Aunt Franny, if anyone knows how impatient my sister can be it’s me. Come to think of it, you just might be on to something here. What doesn’t make sense to me is that they would alienate her considering all the collections her late husband amassed,” he breathed, thinking of how Claudia never let anything stand in her way when she was on a personal mission.
“I know very well how your sister reacts to things. Well she literally blew a fuse at how insensitive they were to their aunt. Oddly enough, Claudia has become quite close to Olive since she’s been here and quite frankly I think there is a Claudia connection to Olive’s recent transformation, even though she’s playing the part and acting surprised. In addition, as to your supposition about her family, who knows if they even realized all her things even existed? The attorney mentioned a while back that she lived in a very small house. He also said that her family was shocked to find out that she and her late husband had rented a storage facility years ago while he was still alive,” she related.
Zain thought over her words for a few moments without answering her, trying to sort things out.
“I kind of wondered about that Claudia connection and Olive’s transformation myself, and thought maybe I’d seen that dress a while back on Claudia,” Zain suddenly remembered, as he thought aloud.
“Good eye there, well like I said before, it seems Claudia called the family and read them the riot act about watching out for family, or at least taking some kind of interest. It seems they basically told Claudia that Olive was on her own now. And they made it clear that if she needed something don’t ask them for help, as they were done with her. So you can imagine how things went rapidly downhill from there. Once your sister had identified her target and was being so blatantly crossed, and especially when that jackass started being rude to her all bets were off the table.”
“Claudia may be a lot of things and has upset a lot of people with her eccentric behavior I’m sure. However one thing I do know about her is that when it comes to family, she’s intensely loyal whether what she considers to be her family is blood related or not. I would have loved to have been listening to that phone call, I bet their ears are still ringing and they probably learned some new word combinations along the way as well,” Zain laughed.
“And so, thanks to her we can expect a visit from a member of her family in the near future, to ‘discuss their options.’ I believe his name is John Barrett, her late husband’s great-nephew,” Franny told them.
“Great, when is he coming?”
“Since Claudia is bringing her home any time now, he told her he’d come over late this afternoon or early this evening. I offered to have Olive stay at my place for a few days but she wouldn’t hear of it. She told Claudia that she wasn’t one to run away from her problems and wasn’t about to start now. She also asked her if she’d go clothes shopping with her as her days of ‘widow’s weeds’ as she put it are over, just like we called them a while ago.”
“I’m sure Claudia was delighted by that idea, she’s almost as bad as you are about constant shopping,” he snickered.
“Well speaking of which, I’m going to call the guard at her place to come and help me deliver the flowers and a few little necessities I picked up for Olive. I wanted to welcome her home, and get these things over to her house before she gets here. He’s a really sweet guy I’ve called upon now and then for security at some of my events and he’s going to stay in her house for a few days like I said before,” she told him.
“Oh please God, don’t tell me that you,” Zain started to say but was cut off by a wave of her slender hand.
“You know Zain for an adult man you certainly tend to put your nose in other people’s private business. What Rudy and I may or may not have shared is truly none of your concern. My only thoughts on the matter is that he will keep her safe and sound and take good care of her,” she said righteously.
“Brother, with a lead in like that I can just about imagine what various things he will be taking care of,” he laughed out loud, watching the hint of crimson touch her delicate cheeks.
Chapter Five
Late that afternoon they were standing on the grounds watching the landscaper hauling in and placing some huge boulders around the perimeter on the property. Franny, Claudia, Luc, and Zain, were chatting about the day’s events after settling Olive back into her home.
They watched as the rocks that were destined for the vast lawn area were placed, and the work was progressing when John Barrett, Olive’s great-nephew drove up in a very old and well used white truck, belching smoke.
Franny walked over to his truck, quickly sizing up the man as he scrambled out of the truck, and began to sweat.
“Well Mr. Barrett it is nice to finally meet you face to face, may I call you John?” Franny asked, checking out the dumpy disheveled fortyish man standing before her in questionable jeans and a dirty white tee shirt.
Smiling at her, John Barrett extended his hand that she eyed for several seconds before taking it.
“Well the pleasure is all mine Ms. Simon or may I call you Franny?” he asked, holding her hand a moment too long causing her to pull it back.
“Francesca will do thank you. These are my nephews Zain Simon and his partner Luc Ronan. They are now the actual owners of the resort as we gave it to them as a gift,” she said, trying to fight down the urge to leave the area and wash her hands.
John turned to look at them and put up his hand in a fake wave.
“Hi boys, it seems like you two really landed on your feet here, getting a nice place like this handed to you. And are you the same Luc that was shot while coming between that guy trying to kill his adulterous wife?”
Luc felt his cheeks turn red in anger, and was just about to answer when he felt a hand on his shoulder. When he realized it was Claudia, he started to grin.
John looked over at her, starting to ogle the stunning woman, and then realized who she was with a sinking feeling.
Claudia eyed him for a moment before she spoke.
“Mr. Barrett, charmed I’m sure, and I believe we spoke on the phone. And yes to answer your question, I’m Claudia Simon the slut you were referring to,” she told him, smiling and staring him down without extending her hand.
The silence was deadly for a few seconds, right after Franny breathed, ‘oh God’ and took a step backwards.
“I didn’t call you a slut Claudia,” he returned weakly trying to look away but he was almost mesmerized and could not break eye contact.
“Not in so many words, Mr. Barrett, and its Ms. Simon. Now for the reason you are here; where the fuck were you when your aunt needed you? You didn’t even bother to drag your lazy as
s down to the hospital to check on her after my mother called you almost frantic with concern for her,” she raged.
“We aren’t close, you see, never have been,” he began.
“No I sure as hell don’t see; all I see is some inconsiderate, shaming, low life squirming in front of me,” she told him, while Zain shielded his eyes with his hand.
Luc did an about-face and started to walk away, when Franny grabbed his arm, and whispered into his ear; “Oh no you don’t, you’re a Simon now, at least by injection and you’re staying for the fun,” she breathed, and then saw the shocked and amused look on Claudia’s and Zain’s faces.
She just looked at them innocently putting her hands up in the air palms up, and quickly turned away as she started to giggle.
“Great-aunt Olive never took a single interest in any of us and when our uncle died, we weren’t allowed to take anything at all, since he’d left it all to her,” he whined, starting to get very red in the face.
“Uh she was his wife and that’s usually the way things happen,” Zain said, more amazed by the second at this low life.
Feeling empowered by his story, John took a step forward.
“She was never good to us at all, when we went into her house it always was, sit down and fold your hands in your lap. Don’t set things on the furniture, eat at the table, and then one time my brother was there and accidentally knocked over one of her glass trinkets when he threw a ball at me. That was it, we were never allowed in the house again,” he explained, completely oblivious to the shocked stares around him.
Franny glanced at the others, completely disgusted with the man.
“The only trinkets as you put it, that I’ve seen in Olive’s house are very expensive pieces of beautiful crystal from the finest houses in Europe. Well aside from all this ancient history you are no longer a child and she could have used your support,” Franny told him, already dismissing him as a lost cause.
“We could have used some from her as well, but we never heard a word from her until she had to sign off on the sale of this old resort, with all her damn demands. We were all tied together legally in ownership because her part of the resort was left to her by my uncle, but now that it is sold we are through with her.”
“I see, well then there is no more reason for any of us to take up each other’s time. I’m sure your great-aunt will do just fine living here,” Franny said, barely able to control her mounting anger.
“Oh she’ll do fine alright, none of us knew about all the things she had stashed away in the storage unit, things I might add that were my uncle’s collections. Even though we lived pretty close to her, neither my brother nor I had a clue about all that expensive art and other stuff.”
“Offhand I’d say she probably thought you would have no interest in it other than what it could be sold for. Considering what you’ve told me it is pointless to continue with this, and you can rest assured that we will watch out for her,” she told him, wanting him out of her sight as soon as possible.
“I’m sure you will Francesca, we’ve all heard about your Simon clan and all the things you get up to,” he paused, glancing over at Zain.
“But I’m sure my aunt’s little stockpile holds even more interest to you as well,” he began but was cut off when they suddenly heard Olive’s voice.
Dressed in some jeans, flat patent loafers, a tee shirt, and with a deep blue cable knit sweater tied around her shoulders, Olive had all of them staring.
“Aunt Olive?” John questioned, but Olive put up her hand to stop him from speaking to them.
“First of all, I’m sorry to all of you and especially to you John as I couldn’t help but hear what you were saying to these people. I realized when you were growing up we didn’t have that much to do with all of you but that was my husband’s decision and I respected that. As I’m sure you know that my husband Gerald and your father had some difficulties early on. It was something about money that went missing and from what I understand, that your father was caught red handed the second time.”
John puffed up and stared angrily at her.
“He was set up for that accusation, Uncle Gerald told him he could have the money and where to find it, and then when he went to take it, Uncle Gerald made a big deal about him stealing the money. He said he was taking it without his permission, that no one would believe my Dad, because he was a known thief.”
“And when my gold brooch that Gerald gave to me on our wedding day also went missing, and then turned up in the local pawn shop? Being such a small town, when the owner saw the name on the back he called Gerald and told him it was your father that pawned it,” Olive related.
“That brooch wasn’t his and it belonged to my father. It was given to him by his father, and Uncle Gerald managed to get it away from him,” John said, starting to breath hard and sweat.
“This is all ancient history so let’s just let this pass. I’m sure you are here not of your own volition but probably one of these people called you and were surprised when you didn’t come over to see me at the hospital. Well now they know of the bad blood between us, and all our dirty laundry, and I’m truly sorry they were a part of this conversation,” Olive said, turning toward the others with intensely sad eyes.
“We are glad to be here to support you through this Olive, you know that,” Claudia told her reaching out to take her hand.
Olive nodded her thanks and then turned back to her nephew, who was now sweating even more.
“So clear this up for me about what you were trying to say earlier? Is it that you feel the Simon family has designs on my paltry possessions?”
Rage quickly touched his round cheeks and John stood up taller as he glared at his great-aunt.
“Well isn’t that obvious? What would they want with someone like you other than what they can take,” he seethed, then went dead pale when Luc angrily clamped his hand onto his arm, and moved up close to him.
“Apologize and do it now, or we will talk privately, up the path from here,” Luc told him as John tried to pull free of his steely grip.
“No I’m not apologizing to either her or your family. I know what kind of people you are, all the papers are full of your crap, and especially that thing there,” he almost yelled, nodding at Claudia, who promptly slapped him across the face.
“I don’t like your insinuation you creep, now please Luc let him go, so he can get the fuck off your property,” she said, looking at John in disgust.
“Yes John, please leave us now and don’t ever return; I no longer consider you, your brother, or any of your family to be my own family anymore. Gerald always told me an apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and he certainly was right about you. Moreover, to clear the record here, since you say you’ve seen so many articles about this family, they are one of the most generous forces behind many charities in the state and nationwide. They give away a hundred times the assets I have each year and never miss it. I am appalled you would make such unfounded accusations and never want to see you or your disgusting people ever again,” she concluded with tears running down her cheeks.
Zain reached over to push Luc’s hand away from John’s arm and then turned to him, his face like ice.
“Please leave now, and if you ever come back here I’ll have you arrested for trespassing. Olive is part of our family now and you can rest assured she will be loved and taken care of; if you bother her in any way at all, I’ll take care of you myself,” he said in a low but very deadly tone.
Once free of Luc’s hand, John puffed himself up again and glared at them.
“Are you threatening me,” John asked, looking at the others.
“I’m promising you, that you will be prosecuted if you ever bother us again, now leave; I’m not asking you again,” he finished, stepping away from him.
The small group was silent as John scowled at them all one last time, ending with Olive, and then turned and began walking up the path to where his truck was parked.
Just as he
turned toward the parking lot and before he was at his truck, he raised his arm and then flipped them off.
Zain grabbed Luc’s arm as he started to move toward the path, and shook his head to warn him off.
“It won’t change anything Luc, and you know he’d just try to charge you with assault. We’ve had enough drama here today so let’s just take Olive and go back inside and talk this over,” Zain said, motioning the others to follow him back inside the building.
Olive sat in an overstuffed chair by the fireplace looking very small and sad. She sighed heavily before she spoke.
“It was like talking to a complete stranger, and I felt nothing but disgust when I told him to go away. I never understood my husband Gerald’s extreme animosity toward his family until this awful moment. Even though I’ve known about the stories that came out into the open today, I’m so sorry that all of you wonderful people were involved in this horrible mess,” Olive told them sadly with a catch in her soft voice, and then started to cry.
Franny felt her heart break hearing the wretched sadness in Olive’s speech knowing that she had just closed a very difficult chapter in her life.
Reaching over to take her hand, she tried to smile at her in support, but felt her own tears welling.
“Olive please don’t think that way, we are all glad we were here to back you while you were dealing with that dreadful man. Due to the recent notoriety along with our family’s public facing organization, we deal with many of those types and have throughout the years. You name it, someone in our family has been accused of it and we generally just try to let it roll off our backs for lack of a better term.”
Olive looked up at her through tear stained eyes, reflecting the incredible misery she was feeling.
“I understand that but the things he was implying especially about Claudia who has never been anything but a saint to me, I’m just so ashamed,” she sobbed.
Zain arched his eye at Claudia.
