Draft 1 Scene 10

Draft One Scene ten


Sandy tiptoed around her kitchen, making breakfast. She didn’t want Mica to hear her leave the house. Coffee, toast, note to Mica and she escaped. She stopped beside her car and called her office to let them know she’d be late.

Sandy had to confront her father. They could have privacy at his office.

Opening the door without knocking, she watched him. He was a large man, impressive; ready to wield his power in his equally impressive home away from home.

“Hello father.”

Her tone caught his ear, so he uncharacteristically stood. “Well, good morning Sandy. Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“This couldn’t wait. Can we talk?”

“Of course dear; come, sit.” He motioned to the easy chairs and Sandy sat. He asked his secretary to hold his calls, and sat across from her.

Sandy made hard eye contact, and asked with a bite, “Did you cheat on mother?”

George, stunned, drew a deep breath and answered, “No.”

“Really dad?” The bite was still there.

“Really.”

“There’s some strong evidence that you did.”

“I’d be interested in hearing about that.” George closed his eyes and prepared himself
.
“This.” She shoved her cell phone in his face. The picture they’d taken last night was crystal clear, and damning.

“Who is this woman? With the same haircut you’d be identical.”

“She came to my door last night, wanting to talk.”

She watched him struggle, but said nothing for a minute.

“It seems that she never knew her father. It seems clear to us that it must be you.

“Sandy, I never, ever abused my vows to your mother. I don’t know who this woman is, but I’ve never heard of or seen her before.”

Sandy rose to pace in front of him. She caught the irony; who was acting the lawyer part now? “We’ll just be taking blood tests to see about that.” She’d spit the remark at him; her face was red and her eyes pierced his.”
George sighed. She could see he was cornered.

“I do have a possible explanation as to how this might happen. Do you want coffee while we talk?”

“No.”

He stalled a bit to gauge his daughter’s mood. She was obviously angry, but there, just there in her eyes, he could see she was hurting. He was too.

“Sandy, what I have to tell you will be a shock. I’d hoped you would never have to know this, because your mother and I had agreed to let it lie in peace.”

Sandy snorted in an unladylike way. “Lie being the operative word.”

Silence
.
Finally George asked, “Are you all right?”

“No.”

“Then we’ll sit here until you are.”

She wanted to scream at him. They’d made a pact to deceive her! Fists clenched in her lap, her mind raced to make sense of the contradictions. They had been good parents to her. But they’d lied. She loved her dad. He’d been her rock when her mother died. He’d needed to deal with his own grief, but he’d put that on hold for her.
She willed her body to relax, hoping her mind would follow. It wasn’t working. Deep breathing brought her down a notch. She closed her eyes. Then she heard a soft humming.

It was her father, humming a lullaby he had sung to her years ago. She let him go on until she was almost grounded.

“Oh Dad.” Tears broke like a dam released. He went to her and held her gently.

“I wish things were different,” he said.

“Me too,” she sputtered.

He rocked her for a long time; until he felt her body relax, and the tears had slowed to a trickle.

“Come now. Sit beside me on the couch and we’ll get it all said.”

Sandy was frightened of the truth, but she sat beside him and reached for his hand. She closed her eyes and waited.

His voice was quiet, and very sad. “Your mother and I tried to get pregnant in those early years. We looked for answers, and tests showed that I was incapable of impregnate any woman. We cried together and resolved to accept it. Perhaps we’d look at adoption, when we were ready.

“Then your Uncle Peter showed up on our doorstep with a seventeen year old girl. She was pregnant. He was hoping we could make a miracle; and we did.

“Together we talked to her parents. They were upset, but they agreed to let her stay with us. I’m sure they had their own reasons. We’d look after her up to and including the birth.

“Actually, it was a good experience. The girl was sweet and sensible. She knew she couldn’t keep the baby, and adoption was arranged.” He looked at her and squeezed her hand. “That baby was you.”

Wide-eyed Sandy gasped. “I have another mother? My God. Uncle Peter? Seventeen year old girl? He was a monster.”

“No, Sandy, not a monster. He took responsibility by helping her adjust to the facts. It was a hard time. He was contrite, he helped get her into a good University, and he always loved you. Still does.

“My real mother. Where is she? I want to meet her.”

“Her name was Martha Steele. She came to see you often, and she cried each time she had to leave you. She was in University, here in Calgary, studying to be an architect.”

“Was?”

“Yes, she was killed in a stupid accident which should never have happened. A hit and run driver. They caught the driver, but it was small comfort compared to our loss.”

Sandy jumped up and stared at her father- no not her father. The tears came slowly this time, but lasted a long time. Her father let her cry. There was so little he could do, and he was always one to support her. He’d also taught her to deal with the lumps in life. This was a mountain, but he had to give her time to absorb it by herself.

Sandy paced and cried. She bent over in pain. She finally exhausted herself and sat again. “Uncle Peter. Uncle Peter. I hardly even know him.”

“Sweetheart, you must have heard us talk about him. He works for the government in some peace-keeping capacity. He seldom gets back to Canada, although we are in touch at all times. He insisted on that because he wants to follow your life as closely as he can.”

“Well good for him,” her voice rose and stayed in that pitch when she said, “Isn’t his life just neat and tidy?” Her mind was in high-gear again. “This is going to take me some time to understand. Intrigue, lies, stupidity, and death. It’s a lot.”

“We’ll be talking about it together Sandy. We are all proud of the strong woman you’ve become, and your mother--’s love you even now.

“So, who is this look-alike woman, and how did you find each other?”

Sandy explained the incredible experience. “She looks just like me dad. She never knew her father, and her mother left a letter when she died. She knows her father could still be alive and after we talked we both believed it must be you. Now I can see we jumped to that conclusion. I guess that is understandable given the unbelievable truth.

“We are alike in every way dad. Size, shape, mannerisms, tastes in food and clothes. It’s eerie. She’s a lawyer, and right now she’s ready to hang you for leaving her mother alone. You can be sure she’ll insist on blood tests, no matter what we tell her. She's waiting at my place for information from me.

“Where is Uncle Peter now? It seems he may have something to say about this mess.”

“He’s overseas again, and will be for at least another month. His time will come. You and I will sit down with—Mica?”

“Yes, Mica.”

“Tell me what you know about her.”

“She looks like my twin, but she’s two years younger. Her mother raised her alone, and she was told her father died before they could marry. Mica’s a lawyer gave her a letter from her mother which said otherwise. She lives in Toronto. She’s been working with a private detective ever since she read the letter. She gave up once. Then the detective saw my picture on the front page, and here we are. One good deed and our lives are turned upside down.”

“You saved that boy’s life Sandy. You did things above and beyond the role of a Social Worker.” He stopped to catch his breath; the intense conversation had drained him.
“I want to meet Mica. You take some time, Sandy. Tell her all this or don’t. I’ll take my clues from you. Do take some time for yourself, dear. It’s been a shock. It looks like Peter will be having a blood test too.”

They sat in silence until Sandy stood. “I’ll be in touch, dad.”

“I’ll be working on getting Peter here as soon as possible.”

Sandy held both of his hands in hers. “You’ll always be my dad,dad. I love you so.”

This time George was moved to tears. “You’ve been the center of my life since the day you were born. I love you too Sandy.”