Disclaimer: I own everything except Chris, Mike, Steph, and Winky. They own themselves.
Rating: PG-13
Achieved: The Full Moon Romper Room, The Reader�s Caf�, and 360 Yahoo.
The wharf was located in the historical district of Staunton. There was a train station, two restaurants, and a night club behind it that dated back to the 1800�s. Along the strip there were various businesses. On the corner of one end there was an antique shop and at the other was a coffee shop. In the middle there was a lawyer�s office, another restaurant and a botanical shop. The side walk was littered with outside tables and chairs for people to sit and talk. We were having lunch with the lawyer at The Bistro.
Chris and I pulled into the Wharf�s parking lot a quarter till twelve. I didn�t have to worry about being alone with the lawyer because I had a posse with me. My brother took it upon himself to join us. Steph tagged along to keep Mike from loosing his temper and Winky didn�t want to be left by herself at home. She decided to tag along as well. Then there was Carrie, Winky�s best friend. She had arrived when we were leaving and asked to tag along.
There were too many people to fit in my car, so we wound up taking two cars. Winky rode with Carrie, while Mike and Steph rode with us. I was wearing a pair of black sandals, a pair of light brown shorts and a black low neck short sleeve shirt. My hair was up in pig tails. I was sporting a pair of glasses because my allergies were causing problems with my contacts. Chris was wearing his usual tennis shoes, jeans and a wolf tee-shirt. Mike was wearing a pair of black pants that were to big for him and they kept falling down showing his pretty orange boxer shorts. He also had a devil�s jersey on and a baseball cap that was turned around backwards. Steph was wearing a pair of khaki dress pants, black dress shoes, and a green top. Winky was wearing a grey and pink spaghetti strap shirt, a light pink skort and a pair of white sneakers. Carrie was pretty much wearing the same thing except she was wearing a purple sweater and her skort was black. The assistant had told me that Mr. Stefano would meet us outside in front of the restaurant. The only problem with that was she didn�t tell me what he looked like or what he�d be wearing. We all looked like a gang as we walked across the parking lot and toward the wharf. There weren�t that many people out yet for lunch but there was one guy who stood against the wall of the buildings looking our way. He saw us coming and raised an eyebrow. The man was wearing a three piece suit that was in a light shade of grey. His shirt and shoes though were white and black. He had dark brown hair and it looked like it was pulled back from his face. He had a nice tan and the rest of him wasn�t to bad either.
My sister saw him as well and as always said in a deep voice, "Hey Sexy."
Carrie had to chime in and said, "You better believe it."
I just shook my head and approached him with caution. I didn�t like the vibe that was coming off of him.
"Mr. Stefano I presume?" I asked.
He smiled, stuck out his hand and answered, "You must be Ms. Woodson."
I smiled back, shook his hand and replied, "That�s Mrs. Hilton now Mr. Stefano. I�m married."
He raised an eyebrow and remarked, "Really, well that�s too bad."
Someone behind me growled and I didn�t have to turn around to know it was Chris. He was very protective and didn�t like it when other guys flirted with me.
I changed the subject and commented, "Your secretary said you had some business matter to discuss with me regarding a will."
His face changed from playfulness to seriousness as he stated, "Yes. If you�re ready our table is ready."
Mr. Stefano walked ahead to the doors and we followed. The waitress that served us took us to the top floor of the building to a private room. We all gathered around as the waitress took our drink order. After she left Mr. Stefano pulled a briefcase out from under the table. He must have been here way before us and got set up. Opening it up he pulled out a folder and laid it on the table, then closed the briefcase, returning it to the floor.
"I know this seems a shock to you, but I assure you that you�re the right person on this will." He stated.
Chris chimed in and asked, "How do you know my wife is the recipient of the will? As far as we know all her mother�s side of the family are gone and so is her father�s."
Mr. Stefano looked like his best friend died when he looked at Chris, but kept his cool. He answered Chris with, "Because I had this investigated before I contacted your wife Mr. Hilton."
My brother snorted and said, "Don�t you mean your secretary."
Steph kicked him under the table because he yelled and glared at her. She just sat there looking innocent. I could tell by the look on the lawyer�s face that he wasn�t happy with all them being there. I got this suspicion he had hoped it would be just him and me for lunch. I�ve had to hand it to him though, because he kept his cool through all this. Mr. Stefano opened up the folder and pulled out a folded up document. He unfolded it and continued on, "This is the will of your great-uncle Theodore McTalon Jones. He�s your mom�s real uncle."
Everyone at the table froze and stared at him. We all knew that mom was adopted but we didn�t know that her real mother�s family knew.
After the shock wore off I asked, "Could you repeat that again please."
He smiled at me and remarked, "He�s your great-uncle and he�s left everything to you Crystal."
"But how is that possible? I don�t even know him. How�s it possible that he knew about mom and us?" I questioned as I pointed at everyone.
He shrugged and replied, "I can�t answer that. All I know is that he knew about your mom and you, but didn�t want to interfere in your lives. I guess he was doing it out of respect for your grandmother."
"Out of respect?!" I yelled then continued with, "Do you know how much it�s going to hurt mom to find out that her real mother didn�t want her and that her real family knew she existed and didn�t stop grams from giving her up. I�m sorry but this is just too much."
He sighed and stated, "I understand how you feel Crystal, but I�m just his lawyer. I�m only doing my job and what he had me write up before his death."
I was about to lose my temper, so I got up from the table and just walked out of the room. I needed fresh air and some space to think. How could someone just leave things to people they didn�t know? He didn�t know me or choose to get to know me. The family didn�t bother to help my mom out. She didn�t find out until last year that she was adopted and we had no record of whom or where to find her real family. Now all of a sudden, some unknown relative ups and dies leaving me with his stuff. Who the hell did these people think they were?
I felt someone watching me and swiftly turned to find Winky, Steph, and Carrie standing there.
"What are you guys doing out here?" I asked.
"Making sure you�re going to be ok," Steph answered.
I threw my hands up in the air and stated, "I don�t know if I�ll be all right. This is just too much for me to handle and it�s going to be harder trying to keep it from mom. What is she going to say?"
"Come back inside Punk and let�s get this done and over with. We�ll figure out the family stuff later. I don�t think it�s wise to leave sexy alone with Chris and Mike. You don�t know what they�ll do to him," Winky remarked.
I snorted and replied, "I doubt very much that they�ll do anything to him. He seems to me the type that can take care of himself."
"If you ask me, which I know you�re not, but, I think he likes you Crystal," this came from Carrie.
I smiled and said, "At least I�m not the only one who caught that."
She smiled back while Steph and Winky just looked at each other. I sighed and answered, "We had better get back before they come out looking for us."
They all stood aside waiting for me to move first. After a few moments I went back inside with the girls following me. When we got back to our table all talking stopped and the guys looked at us.
Chris got up and asked, "Are you ok Crystal?"
I nodded my head yes and took my seat and glanced at Mr. Stefano. He just sat there, showing nothing on his face about the situation. I knew he was hiding something, I could feel it. Something in me that I�d never felt before began to stir. It was almost like a second sense.
He began to shuffle the papers not looking up and said, "If everything is ok. Shall we continue with the will reading?"
"Yes. Please continue," I replied.
He smiled at me and it was one of those smiles that reminded me of a spider that caught something good to eat. I glared at him and said to myself, �What are you hiding Mr. Stefano and why do you seem too pleased about all this? I will figure you out and when I do, I�m going to nail your ass to the wall.�