by Nathan Grant
Franny smiled charmingly at him, taking Zain’s hand as a show of solidarity with her next comments.
“I believe in setting the record straight and correct, so once you stop your work for the day, there are a couple of drinks on the house waiting for each of you, to help us all to put this unsavory little tale behind us,” she told them, hooking arms with Zain and heading back down the hill.
On the way back Zain breathed a deep sigh of relief.
“I’m overwhelmed by your negotiation skills Aunt Franny you are amazing,” he laughed giving her a hug just before they walked in the door.
“I’ve been told that before, she giggled.
Once inside, Luc and Claudia turned toward them with a look of anticipation on their faces as they waited for them to relate what had just happed.
“All is well my dears, now be a star and get Aunt Franny some refreshment to cool me off after a heated intercession. And Claudia, I sincerely hope you have no plans for the evening, as we are having some guests over for cocktails and they would like to get to know you a bit better,” she said, winking at Zain over the rim of her glass.
Several hours later, the impromptu party was in full swing, and of course, Claudia was as usual, the main attraction. Quite a lot of the men were totally taken with her and how different she was from the description that Jake had given them.
They were having a great time laughing and chatting with her and joking around with her and Franny.
“Why of course I don’t have any ill feelings toward Jake, he seemed a nice enough guy and I was enjoying my time with him as you all well know. It really wasn’t an issue to me even if he did exaggerate just a tiny little bit,” she said, and then realized how it sounded when the room erupted in laughter.
“Well that seemed to defuse the situation,” Claudia said, once the group had gone on their way.
“A bit of humor and of course free drinks and appetizers does go a long way toward good relations with the management. After assessing the situation and talking to several of the men, I don’t really think any of them were that keen on leaving their jobs, they seemed to be only following their lead,” Franny told then.
“It sure didn’t seem like they wanted to leave to me, and most of them were more than willing to talk about Jake and what an egotistical braggart he was while on the site,” Luc mentioned.
“I heard a lot of that as well. It also helped when you told them that you’d be glad to help them to find other jobs once this was done Aunt Franny, and that they didn’t need to rely on Jake for their references,” Claudia said.
“So all’s well that ends well,” Franny said, then looked up as the door to the bar opened and Olive and Rudy walked in, holding hands.
“Taking your safekeeping very seriously I see Rudy; I’m glad to see you take a personal hands on approach to your client’s security,” Franny remarked, seeing Olive shyly turn away to sit down at one of the nearby tables.
“I like to throw myself into my work,” Rudy snickered.
“Yes I imagine you do, all the way in deep I suppose,” Franny returned with an evil smile.
“Oh for God’s sake will you guys let it alone; if Olive and Rudy have hit it off, more power to them, geez,” Claudia said, flashing the mortified Olive a wink.
Zain just rolled his eyes at the banter then turned, walked over, and sat down next to Olive.
“How has it been going? Have you heard anything at all from the police about the stolen items,” he asked.
“Nothing yet, it seems any leads they may have had have turned out to be false ones. I’m sure those paintings are probably out of the state by now. So how are you? How are you feeling, any more trouble with your head wound,” she asked, placing her hand over his, with true concern on her face.
“I’m doing fine; Luc and the rest have been taking great care of me. The spot on my head is still a bit sore to the touch but it is becoming less so every day. I’m truly sorry about your art, I know how much you treasured it,” he told her.
Olive exhaled deeply, but sounded like she was resigned that she had permanently lost her treasures.
“Yes those paintings held many of my fondest memories of my life with Gerald, but in the end they are only objects and we are all now safe and not permanently injured. In spite of everything, I still have those memories and they can’t take those from me. As for the artworks, they were all completely insured so all is not lost but I’d still rather have them than the insurance money,” she told him wistfully.
“Aunt Franny as I mentioned before has her feelers out for any new artwork popping up unexpectedly on the market, legal or otherwise. I hope that something will turn up shortly to lead us to the robbers sooner than later. I still can’t believe how bold they were to rob you in daylight like that, but then again, they probably felt the forbidden prize was well worth it,” Zain said.
“I hope so too, they were just beautiful and had been in my possession for such a long time, in storage I’m afraid for far too long as well, but I was to happy to see them again on my walls,” she said.
“Me too for your sake,” he told her, putting his hand over hers and giving it a firm squeeze.
Olive smiled at him and then looked at the others sitting at the bar obviously enjoying a joke and from the sound of things, and probably quite a raunchy one at that.
“On a happier note, how are the wedding preparations coming along? When I last spoke to Claudia, she was so excited for you and Luc and the wonderful day that was in the works,” she said.
“It has been a real busy time for all of us and my sister’s help has made all the difference and let us concentrate on getting the resort ready on schedule. For a while there it was really touch and go as to whether we’d be finished in time for the ceremony but now it seems like all our worrying was for nothing,” Zain explained.
As Olive listened to him, Zain saw her brow wrinkle slightly and the bright smile fall from her face, and wondered what was crossing her mind.
“I am so glad it is working out for all of you. I had a rather upset guest this morning, that concerned me quite a bit,” she said.
Zain looked up sharply when he heard her words, and wondered who would be bothering her.
“Who was that Olive is everything okay,” he asked, putting his hand over hers once more.
She shook her head quickly to reassure him when she saw how upset he seemed, and then looked away.
“All is fine with me, but not with my guest, it was that very charming man Jake, and he told me that he was leaving and couldn’t tolerate working under extremely harassing circumstances here. I of course was shocked to hear him say that, as my impression was your family was more than generous with everyone and treated them with the utmost respect. I know that first hand especially after you supported me so liberally when dealing with my great-nephew.”
Zain felt his hackles rise considering all that they had just been through because of Jake an his innuendoes.
“Did he go into any details about this supposed harassment that he was forced to endure from us,” he asked, trying to keep from gritting his teeth.
“Not at first; he strangely walked into my home after knocking briefly on my front door and then asked how the security system was working out. He wanted to know if I was able to understand all the commands. He then walked me through it once more to be sure, and accepted an iced tea when I offered,” she said.
“That sounds pretty blasé for someone that just walked out of a job not long before, and why would he want to check out the security system; you didn’t have a problem with it. We all know that someone attacked both you and I, after you properly turned it off and the codes have been changed since then. So when did he get around to talking about what he thought or I should say imagined happened here,” Zain said, looking puzzled.
“He didn’t allude to that until we chatted about some ordinary things, and he asked after my health. He said he was sorry that you had been hurt as well since you see
med like such a nice guy. It was then that he told me that he’d quit his job at the resort, that news really gave me a surprise.”
“Did he elaborate?”
Olive looked around the room, and then leaned forward toward Zain in confidence, trying to keep her voice down. Just before she spoke Rudy said he was going to get them some refills after he used the bathroom and left the table.
“Not until I pressed him; I told him I knew it was none of my business and if he didn’t want to talk about it that was fine with me as I understood how important a person’s privacy is to them.”
“And then,” Zain prompted, waiting for the worst.
“He told me it was kind of embarrassing to him but he’d dated your sister and it didn’t work out as planned.”
“And that’s it?”
Olive didn’t answer for a moment and almost looked embarrassed before she continued to speak.
“No, I pointed out that I thought Claudia was a lovely girl and then after a moment he told me that he was convinced she had a sexual addiction problem, and that he didn’t want any part of that sort of thing. He said they had a nice evening together at first, and he thought everything was going well until they got back to her place. He then told me that was where she changed her demeanor and ridiculed him, and body shamed him,” she said quickly and directly, obviously upset by saying something derogatory about Claudia who had always been more than decent to her.
Getting this far into the story about Jake, Zain wasn’t about to let this one pass by that easily.
“Are you aware of what he was referring to, about the body shaming comment?” he pressed her.
It was apparent now that Olive was very uncomfortable with this conversation, due to her body language and the way she started working her cocktail napkin and continuously shifting in her chair.
“Actually yes, I heard him kidding with some of the guys when he was fixing a few things for me, and went on and on about his impressive endowment. I thought it was odd to brag so much to other men about such a private matter, but to each his own. I’m certainly not a prude when it comes to sex Zain, but there are some things that are better left to one’s imagination,” she said, with a nervous giggle.
Zain was flabbergasted by her story, as it seemed that this topic was one that Jake liked to share with everyone. Her story now more than collaborated the other versions of the same thing that he had heard lately.
“Wow. I can tell you truthfully Olive, that yes, Claudia does like her men and makes no apologies for it, but in no way would I call her a sexual addict. She just likes a good time, but it unquestionably does not affect how she functions or lives her life. From your own experience with her, you know that she does not go out of her way to try to hurt people,” he laughed, this time it was his turn to be ill at ease by the unforeseen conversation with Olive.
Olive smiled at him, and nodded her head in total agreement.
“A woman that looks as good as your sister does would gather a lot of attention I would imagine,” she laughed.
“You can sure say that again as we all know. So what happened next if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I just told him I’m sorry it didn’t work out as they both seemed like such nice people, and that was when he flipped and scared me. Rudy was in the shower so I couldn’t call him, and when he found out about it he was furious and scolded me for not calling out to him, even if he was in the shower,” she laughed.
“Flipped, what do you mean flipped?” Zain asked looking very concerned by this new revelation.
Zain felt a pang of uncertainty with her unusual choice of words to describe Jake’s reaction.
Olive just looked off into space for a moment trying to collect her thoughts, and how she should present them, as she watched Rudy set their glasses on the table, and then sat down next to her.
“He turned very red and looked quite angry and then drew away from me for a moment. Then he quickly whirled around, grabbed me by the shoulders, and told me to watch out for your family, as I didn’t know what you all were capable of. He informed me that Claudia was nothing but a spoiled dressed up rich whore, and Franny wasn’t much better in his opinion. He then said that you and Luc, and I quote ‘were so busy fucking like rabbits’ that you were oblivious to anyone else,” she told him, with apparently great effort.
She glanced over at Rudy who was visibly fuming from hearing this new revelation, as she hadn’t given him any of the details until just now.
Zain looked thunderstruck as the color drained from his face after hearing about Jake’s ravings.
“Ouch, I’m sorry that you had to deal with that kind of ugly behavior Olive,” he stammered still in shock from her words.
“That was when I started to be afraid and tried to pull away but he held onto me tightly, hurting my shoulders, and refused to let me go,” she said, looking fearful and with tears welling in her eyes.
“Oh my God,” Zain breathed, and then moved over to put his arms around her, to console her.
“It was right at that moment I thought he was going to hurt me in some way and then all at once it was over. While he still held onto me, he apologized and shook his head like he was coming out of a dream of some sort.”
“Did he leave after that,” he asked, shaken by her story and becoming anxious to let the others know about this.
“No and this is the truly weird part; he drew me to him and hugged me, and started rubbing my back and whispering some nonsense about how everything would work out for me, like I was some sort of child to him. I tried to pull away once more, and told him to let me go, but he ignored me. I started looking around for something to grab, when Rudy walked in the room from taking a shower, assessed the situation, and pulled him away. I fear if he had heard the things that I just told you about, that he would have beat Jake to a pulp.”
Zain looked at them both, feeling like he was watching a shocking movie about a deranged person.
“Thank God he was there for you. I am again so sorry for this Olive,” Zain apologized, by now attracting Franny’s attention, who collected Luc and Claudia and they all walked over to see what Zain was so obviously upset about.
“I’m fine now but if Rudy hadn’t been there, there is no telling what would have happened to me. He literally threw him out of the cottage, and then watched him until he drove away. He immediately went over to change the security code, after I told him that Jake had insisted we look it over. We then had a drink to calm us both down, after which we came over here to talk to you,” she finished telling him, just before the others arrived at their table eager to hear what was up.
“You two look pretty chummy over here, what’s the matter Olive, you look very stressed and you too Zain, what has happened to upset you,” Franny said, sitting down with the others pulling up chairs next to her as Zain filled them in.
When he finished, Franny burst out with anger upon hearing the details of Olive’s assault and with the things Jake had said to Olive about her family.
“That fucking bastard, so he said those accusations about us did he? I’m going to give the local sheriff a call and clue him in on this guy, and ask him to keep an eye on him. He sounds unhinged to me and could be capable of who knows what. Claudia I want you to call your house and alert the staff as to what is going on, especially since he’s been to your place and obviously knows where you live. Even better than that, I’m going to have you stay with me a few days just to be sure; we don’t need another drama like we had a while back,” she said, taking Olive’s hand.
“Always the one to bring up the worst possible scenario,” Claudia said with a smile at her great-aunt.
“Now don’t you start my dear, if it wasn’t for you and your roving eye this wouldn’t have happened,” Franny said.
Luc slapped his hand on the table, putting an end to their banter, making everyone jump and surprising them.
“Cut the crap you two, I think we need to put a couple of people on patrol around here
for a while. I’m not trying to sound paranoid but considering everything and the recent break-in, not to mention the way Jake was manhandling Olive here today. I just think it’s a good idea for the time being,” Luc said, still standing behind Zain after listening to him tell Franny about what had happened.
“After talking to Jake for a while I just imagined he was blowing off some steam and won’t come back around here very soon, but now I’m not so sure about anything. I do agree about the extra security types for the time being, until this blows over and with the wedding coming up soon it just makes good sense. Even better maybe Olive and Claudia should go up to Mom and Dad’s place for a few days until we are sure everything is going to be okay down here,” Zain said, soon seeing he was about to be voted down.
Olive looked at them, her eyes blazing.
“No, there is no way I’m going to impose on your parents or make any more of a fuss than I already have. Jake could not have been nicer to me when he installed the security system for me, and I’m sure I was only seeing a very confused young man who had just quit his job on a whim after also being rejected by Claudia. I know I said he hurt me when he was squeezing my shoulders but I know he didn’t mean to do that, he was just very upset at the time and wasn’t thinking clearly,” Olive said.
“Bullshit Olive, I was there and saw him. That guy is bad news any way you cut it,” Rudy said, trying to hold his temper.
“Upset or not Olive, he had no right to place his hands on you or restrain you when you wanted to be released. I for one don’t trust him and now especially after what you have told us he had the nerve to say about us. I want to take steps to know he won’t be around here again, and I completely agree with Rudy and his assessment of the situation,” Franny said, sounding very angry.
“I was okay with him at first, but felt a little strange when he wanted to check out the security system, after all there was nothing wrong with it, it was working fine until I turned it off and was attacked,” she said.
“It could have been just an innocent act but what if Rudy hadn’t been there and he had perhaps changed the security code? I think when you get back to Olive’s home Rudy; you should give it a thorough evaluation and check out every detail making sure the Admin security code is still in place; if not call the security company to override it at once. I know it sounds overkill, but this way we can rest assured everything is in order,” Claudia said.
