Disclaimer:
These characters aren't mine. Well, some of them are. But the important ones
are all property of MTM and NBC Productions and used without permission. I'm
not making any money out of this . . . . Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.
Willie spends the next few days following Miss
Parker and Lyle, tracking their movements around the Centre. There hadn't been any word from Jarod, so
there wasn't much to see them do. They
had lunch together a couple of times and that's about it. Something any normal brother and sister
might do on occassion. But Lyle and
Miss Parker didn't have the usual sibling relationship. So Willie could see where Mr. Parker might
be concerned.
He next searches the travel logs for details on
their activity. Again, he realizes
there's nothing out of the ordinary. A
couple of trips to find Jarod that turned up empty. They've been all up and down the eastern seaboard over the past 6
months. But one stop in particular
brought dread and anger to Willie's heart.
He quickly logs out of the computer and runs out of the room.
A few minutes later, he arrives outside of Miss
Parker's office where he finds her talking with Lyle yet again. Those two were becoming inseparable, he
noticed. But that only distracts him
for a moment from his true intentions.
He bangs on the door two quick times before just walking in, without
even waiting to be invited.
"Excuse you, Willie," Miss Parker
growls. "I don't recall inviting
you in."
"You didn't," he says back to her, staring
down at her fearlessly. "But we
need to talk. All three of us." He
looks down at Lyle with the fearlessness.
"What's this about, Willie? You've got some nerve barging in here like
this." Lyle stands to be face to face with the man, trying to intimidate
him. He's shocked to see that Willie
isn't frightened by him. The man seemed
to be on a mission.
"I think you're the one with the nerve,"
Willie hisses, stepping closer to Lyle and Miss Parker. Lyle surprises them all when he moves to
place his own body as a shield between his sister and Willie.
"I don't know what you're talking about. But you're already on thin ice around here,
Willie. First you attempt to kill my
father, but hit my sister instead. And
now you barge in here acting like a lunatic . . . "
"I don't think running to tell Daddy is going
to do you much good," Willie sneers.
"He has me keeping tabs on you." Willie smiles slightly when he notices Lyle and Miss Parker's
face fall at that little revelation.
"I see I have your attention now."
"You have our undivided attention," Miss
Parker says. "What is it you want
to say?"
"A little trip the two of you took. To a small town in South Carolina. It turned out to be a false lead on Jarod,
but you two decided it would be fun to stick around and trash a poor old
woman's house," Willie accuses.
It takes everything in Miss Parker not to
smile. Because all of a sudden it made
sense. She now understood what Willie
was ranting and raving about. He was
mad about that last trip to South Carolina.
When she found Lyle at Miss Dee's house. She'd have to make a mental note to tell Jarod about this
unexpected turn of events later. Willie
still had feelings for the family who raised him. Perhaps there was hope for him after all.
"Oh, that?" Lyle laughs, missing the anger
flare up in Willie's eyes. "The
old woman was fine. We poked around her
house looking for Jarod a little while.
That's all. He wasn't
there. So we left. But if you must be angry with someone about
it, be angry with me. Miss Parker had
nothing to do with it. In fact, she had
pretty much the same reaction you're having now."
Both Willie and Miss Parker look at Lyle strangely,
as if he'd just grown another head.
Both were shocked at his continued protective streak of his sister. Miss Parker smiles at Lyle before turning
her attentions to Willie.
"Willie, something like that will ever happen
again. Contrary to popular belief,
we're not monsters," she assures him.
"Whoever that woman is, she's lucky to have someone like you
looking out for her. And I'm sure she'd
love to hear you tell her how much she means to you," Miss Parker hints,
though not letting on that she knows his true relationship with Miss Dee. But a phone call from Willie would really
make the older woman's day. If only
Miss Parker could convince him.
"It's nothing," Willie says quietly,
trying hard to keep his true feelings hidden.
"I don't know that woman. I
just didn't think it was right harassing an old woman like that. I'll be going now." He hurriedly leaves the office, closing the
door behind him. And giving no
indication he'd be contacting the woman who raised him.
"Well, that was strange," Lyle
chuckles. "I wonder what got into
him?"
"Willie's not the one we should be worried about,"
she sighs. "Daddy's having us
followed. What do you think that
means?"
"I'd say that means he's not pleased about our
current arrangement. He seemed happier
when we were always at each other's throats," Lyle concludes.
"Well, I for one am pleased with our current
arrangement," she smiles, but the smile fades quickly when he doesn't
share her sentiment. "But I see
that I'm the only one who feels that way." She turns to get her stuff and gets ready to leave.
"Parker, wait," he calls. "It's not that. I'm just not sure what's going on here. I'm not sure how to feel . . .
anything."
"I think you need to first decide if you WANT
to feel anything. Then, you'll know
what to do," she say sternly before walking to the door. "I'm tired. I'm going home early."
She opens the door and waits for him to leave her
office before closing it behind both of them.
He turns to walk back to his office and she practically runs the other
way, not seeming to be able to get her legs to carry her away from that place
fast enough.
Broots and Sydney sit around Broots' computer,
laughing at the latest joke making it's way through the e-mails of the
employees. They had a little more time
to relax because things were a lot less hectic around the Centre the past week
or so. Miss Parker wasn't around until
mid-morning usually and she left in the early afternoon. Mr. Lyle didn't bother them too much anymore. He dealt only with Miss Parker. And strangely enough, the two seemed to be
enjoying that arrangement.
"Where did you get this," Sydney laughs,
finally reacting to the punchline.
"Morty from the pathology lab e-mailed it to
me. He has a strange sense of
humor," Broots says, joining in the laughter. Neither of the men noticed
the door opening behind them.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything,"
Lyle growls. "Is this why nobody's
finding Jarod?"
"I was just showing Sydney something funny
until Miss Parker shows up," Broots stutters, almost spilling his coffee
on his shirt. "We have a meeting
with her this afternoon."
"She must have forgotten about it because she
just left for the day," Lyle informs them. "She said she was tired.
Come to think of it, she didn't look too hot." He tries to sound
disinterested and a little annoyed, but Sydney was surprised to notice a
slightly concerned look in the man's eyes.
"She wasn't feeling well this morning,"
Sydney explains. "Maybe she went
home to rest."
"Again?
This has been going on for a couple of weeks now," Lyle replies
with a more concern lacing his words.
"She's fine," Sydney assures him,
realizing that the young man was actually worried about Miss Parker.
"Well, since she isn't here, I guess your
little meeting with her is cancelled.
Sydney, meet me in my office as soon as you and Broots finish with all
of your games. I need to speak with
you," Lyle snaps before storming out.
"Scary," Broots finally says after the
dust settles. "He's scary just
like Miss Parker. Those two really are
a lot alike."
"Maybe more so than we ever realized,"
Sydney mumbles to himself. "I'll
see you later, Broots. I better go see
what Mr. Lyle needs."
"Okay, good luck Syd," he says to the man
as the door closes. "You're going
to need it."
Sydney knocks gently on Lyle's door a few minutes
after the encounter with the man. He
couldn't even imagine what Lyle could want with him.
"You wanted to see me," he says, poking
his head into the door.
"Yes.
Come in," Lyle orders.
"Close the door behind you."
Sydney does as he asks and goes to sit down in the
chair across from his desk. Lyle scowls
at him for a few long moments before he finally says anything.
"What's going on with my sister?" he
finally asks.
"What do you mean?"
"Is she really alright? You said she was sick again this
morning," he comments softly. But
then clears his throat and tries hard to maintain his cold glare when inside he
was truly worried about Miss Parker's well being. "I just need to make sure she'll be able to keep up with us
when we're tracking Jarod."
Sydney stares at the young man and is startled to
see the concern again on his face. In
his own strange way, Lyle actually appeared to care about his sister.
"She's fine.
Miss Parker has a tendency to run herself down. It's actually good she's taking a break on
her own before her health dictates it.
Is that all you wanted? It seems
like you have something else on your mind," Sydney gently prods. "You know, it's my job to listen . . .
if you need to talk about anything," he offers. "Both your mother and your sister have confided in me on
several occassions. And I've proven
myself trustworthy."
Lyle turns around and stares out the window and
doesn't say anything. After a few
moments, Sydney assumes that he's been dismissed. So he gets up and starts to walk out the door before Lyle's
voice, barely over a whisper, stops him in his tracks.
"This would be confidential?" he asks
quietly.
"Strictly confidential," Sydney
assures. He returns to his seat and
waits for Lyle to begin talking.
"How do you make someone trust you?"
"You can't make someone trust you, Lyle. You have to earn their trust. And if this person you're talking about is
your sister, then I'm afraid you have a long road ahead of you. She doesn't trust many people. Sometimes that includes herself. But, you can start by trusting her
first. And treating her with
respect."
"I don't trust people either," Lyle
admits. "Especially myself."
"You're here with me, aren't you?" Sydney
points out. He smiles at the young man
to reassure him, but wonders deep down what he's really up to. He would always be suspicious as far as Lyle
was concerned. But he didn't say
anything about it. Something was
telling him Lyle was ready to change.
And he wanted to do anything he could to help that process along. Even if that meant just sitting there and
listening.
She arrives home an hour later after fighting the
afternoon traffic. That was one of the
reasons why she always stayed at the office late in the past. She hated coming home to an empty house, but
more than anything, she hated fighting the traffic. But with a family waiting on her, she happily sat in the midst of
a sea of cars like every other normal working person, knowing her precious
daughter would be waiting for her.
"I'm home," she yells when she walks in
the door, expecting to see the babysitter coming down the stairs.
"Mommy!" Imani greets her, running into
her open arms. "You're here."
"Yes I am, Baby Girl." She kisses the little girl all over and
swings her around. "I missed you
so much. How was your day?"
"It was great.
After school, me and Daddy . . ."
"Daddy?" Miss Parker interrupts. "Your Daddy's here?"
"Yes he is," Jarod's deep voice says from
behind her.
She turns around and comes face to face with his big
smile and deep, gorgeous eyes. A pair of
big strong arms wrap around both her and Imani and envelope them in an arc of
love.
"You're home early," she sighs contently,
kissing his waiting lips.
"I couldn't stay away another day," he
says, returning the kisses. "I
missed my two girls too much. And this
little guy too." He places his
hand on her stomach, sending his love to the baby. He had everything he could have ever asked for in his arms at
that moment. Now, all he had to do was
make sure things stayed that way.
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