Chapter Forty-Six
MICHAEL
Nothing else made any sense on that trip. So much so that, the next day, we decided to pack our bags and go home.
The flight back was sad and silent. And I had no hope that things would get better once we got home.
It was Camila who called Janet and told her everything that had happened, because even though I knew that this was a necessary step, I felt like a fucking coward with no desire to face my new problems head on.
I knew that Janet would freak out and scream about how irresponsible I had been and how the situation was now definitely and completely in the Harrises' favor.
And I really wasn't in the mood to put up with that anymore.
At least not at that moment.
As soon as we landed, my mother was already waiting for us, which gave me a clue that Camila had also contacted her to tell her about the situation.
At least my mother wouldn't judge me. She just welcomed us with tight hugs, said words of support and drove us in her car to my house, talking the whole way about how Caleb and Margaret were two venomous vipers and two 'damned old vultures'.
I would agree with her, if I had the heart for it.
Upon arriving at the gate of my mansion, however, the car was stopped by a small crowd of journalists.
Speaking of vultures...
I hadn't been following the latest news, but it was to be expected that what happened to Alice would be an important topic for all the newspapers.
“I'm going to run over them with the car,” my mother threatened, and I knew it wasn't an exaggeration, and she was really willing to do it.
Ever since my father's scandals in his relationships with his employees, my mother had not had a great appreciation for reporters, especially gossip reporters. Not to mention that even before her marriage, she, like every Hollywood star, had suffered a lot at the hands of the tabloid media.
“No, mom... I'll talk to them,” I declared.
“Are you crazy?” my mother replied. “You don't have to say anything to that bunch of vultures.”
“I don't have to, but I want to. I don't know what my public image is like after everything that happened, but I believe it's not good at all, and I need to try to improve it.”
Camila was in the back seat of the car and her hand went to my shoulder, massaging it.
“I'll go with you,” she announced.
I didn't want her to have that exposure, but I knew how much her company would support me at that moment. I wasn't sure if I could face it alone. So, I agreed.
We got out of the car and the journalists all came up to us, surrounding us. A burst of camera flashes blinded me for a moment, while a bunch of unrelated questions reached my ears.
I managed to distinguish one of them, “Do the police have any leads on the kidnapper yet?”
“As far as I know, no. But they're working on it.”
“Is there a real possibility that the kidnapping was revenge by one of your enemies, as the child's grandparents are claiming?” I knew this question would come, I just didn't imagine it would be so direct.
This brought me the news that Margaret and Caleb had wasted no time in speaking to the press.
“I have no declared enemies,” I informed. “But the police are working with all possibilities. The important thing at the moment is that my daughter is okay.”
A woman raised another question, “Do you intend, after that, to insist on the custody request?”
“I will insist until the end. Alice is my daughter and there is nothing concrete that makes me incapable of being her father.”
However, they seemed willing to list a number of reasons, “You have been involved in several controversies by overindulging at parties after drinking heavily or being caught with several women at the same time, many of whom are married. The circumstances of your current engagement involve some curious situations, such as the fact that she is an employee of your company, and that the romance was suddenly revealed with a wedding date already set, when only a few months before you were caught leaving a hotel with a famous artist. And now, at the first opportunity to spend a few days with the child, this kidnapping situation occurred. Do you think you have any chance of winning this case?”
I took a breath to respond, but Camila was ahead of me.
“If I may answer that... Yes, my romance with Michael was sudden.
Because that's how our feelings for each other were.
We had an almost automatic affinity as soon as we met and, as he himself told me at the time, within a few minutes it was as if we were not boss and employee, but two friends chatting together at a bar.
If our marriage seems rushed, it's because our love was like that too.”
Camila's words touched me. She held my hand, and I squeezed it a little tighter at that moment, as if in silent gratitude for what she was doing.
For being by my side at such a difficult time.
She continued, “The way Michael behaved in the past is in the past. He turned that page from the moment he found out he was a father.
And if a man willing to change his lifelong behavior in order to be the best father a child could have doesn't deserve a vote of confidence from the justice system, I honestly don't know who else does.”
Camila's speech might have sounded exciting to me, but it seemed to have had no effect on the journalists, who, like a bunch of emotionless robots, started asking a bunch of unrelated questions again.
It was my turn to speak, “I don't know how many of you here have children.
But I'm sure of one thing: none of you are a perfect mother or father. That woman over there in the car is my mother.—” I pointed in her direction, and everyone followed with their eyes.
“And she wasn't and isn't a perfect mother either.”
“Hey!” my mother shouted, putting her face out the car window.
Ignoring her, I continued.
“Because she, like you and me, is a human being, and none of us are perfect.
But, with her mistakes and successes, that woman was the best mother she could be.
I always saw her effort to do so, and I am eternally grateful for the way she raised me, just as I know my brothers are too.
Because I think that is what separates good parents from bad parents: the desire and the pursuit to always be the best you can be, within your conditions, whether financial or emotional.
And that is what I intend to be with Alice: the best father I can.
I know that. And I also know that the Harrises never had that concern with Leah.
They were always more interested in showing off a perfect daughter to society than in understanding her, talking to her or showing love.
Leah mentioned to me a few times about growing up in a home without love.
And I know she wouldn't want Alice to experience the same.
As long as I'm here, I won't allow that to happen.
And that's all for today, the interview is over.”
Amidst protests, Camila and I got back into the car, and this time my mother actually almost made good on her promise to run over them as she pulled the car into my garage.