The next two chapters are where Cadillac goes to talk to her father and what happens after their confrontation...If I'd made them one chapter than it would've been way too long so that's why chapter 16 is coming in parts...this little storyline about Cadillac continues into chapter 17 but that's the last part where the story is focused directly on her life...Chapter 16 A+B and Chapter 17 are kind of a package deal I guess :P...ILY guys <3<3
Chapter 16: Part A
Beckinsile's Point of View
I make it through English and walk off towards the lunchroom with Oliver when I hear Fiona come up behind me. Oliver gets the message and walks off to find Ed.
"What the hell, Beckinsile?" Fiona hisses.
"I'm sorry I should've told you."
"Yes you should've; you got a boyfriend and it slips your mind to call your best friend? I didn't even know you liked him." Fiona looks extremely pissed.
"I didn't even know I liked him until yesterday; it was kind of spontaneous."
"You had to have known you liked him before yesterday in the library." Fiona rolls her eyes.
"I guess but I swear I didn't tell anyone else. Fiona, I'm really sorry, can you forgive me?" I give her the puppy dog eyes to which she immediately caves.
"Fine, I'll forgive you but I expect full details after the first date." She says as she wraps her arms around me.
"Don't worry; I'll remember to call." I giggle as we walk into the cafeteria.
Fiona steps into the lunch line and I make my way over to Ed and Oliver. They're deep in conversation which immediately stops when I take a seat, making me think that they were talking about me. I smile and pull out my lunch bag. Oliver immediately steals a strawberry with a smirk plastered on his face. I roll my eyes and hand him the whole bag.
"Really?" His eyes light up as he pops another one into his mouth.
"Yes; they make you a lot happier than they could ever make me." Oliver grabs my hand under the table, a gesture I'm pretty sure Ed noticed.
"I have something for you too." He hands me a bag filled with red, yellow and blur sour patch kids. He remembered.
On Sunday, we'd been texting about random things and suddenly we were talking about our favorite candy flavors. I'd told him that I only like the red, yellow and blue sour patch kids.
I open the bag and fish out a piece of paper. Oliver has scribbled a personal note on it.
Hello Beautiful,
I was wondering if you'd accompany me to the fun fair on the pier this Saturday night.
Love,
Your King
I smile at the note and then slip it into my bag. I give Oliver a smile and a nod. I can hear him mutter "yes," in a low whisper. I shake my head at him and go back to eating.
~~~~~
"There you are, Beckinsile." Cadillac calls after the final bell has rung. It's my guess she's been there since the beginning of our last period, most likely dreading what I'm about to make her do.
"Please, call me Becks." I say and lead her to where I told Ed to pick us up. He'd grudgingly agreed after I promised him a bag of gummy bears. Gosh, between him and Oliver, I don't know what I'll do.
I slip into shotgun while Cadillac slips into the backseat. I give Cadillac a nod as she tells Ed the address. He types it into his phone and the automated voice begins giving out directions. The ride is silent. Soon enough we arrive into the heart of the city. Gray buildings line the horizon and the air smells of car exhaust.
I tell Ed that I'll call when we're done. He smirks and says he's going to get a hot dog from one of the carts lining the street corners. I give him a warning about sketchy food vendors before following Cadillac into the office building.
It's a calm environment. The receptionist is answering phones and clients walk towards elevators but there isn't an air of urgency that I usually associate with office buildings. Cadillac leads me to the receptionist. The woman looks up over the desk and flashes a bright smile in our direction as Cadillac signs us in.
"Hello, Cadillac," The woman says brightly.
"Hello, Ms. Roberts. I'm here to see..." Ms. Roberts interrupts her with her hand.
"Sweetheart, you've been here enough; I know who you're looking for. You know the floor." Cadillac reddens and walks towards the elevator.
"The poor dear; she's had a hard life. Always coming here, hoping Mr. Blackwell will recognize her as his long lost daughter." Ms. Roberts shakes her head slightly and then looks up at me.
"You don't think she's lying, right?" I say in a small voice. Ms. Roberts doesn't respond immediately which makes me think she didn't hear me.
"No, she's definitely his daughter; I just don't think he'll ever acknowledge her. I think she's staying too stuck on this. She comes by often, always hoping he'll acknowledge her but then leaves in tears. He's so harsh on the poor girl, sometimes I wonder why she comes back at all. Are you a friend of hers?"
"Yes," I say with a smile.
"Good, she needs some friends. I worry about her sometimes. She's been through so much in her life and I think she never actually thinks about friends and what's to come. I'm glad she has someone looking after her. Why don't you go; I think she's waiting on you." I look up and see Cadillac motioning for me.
"Was she gossiping about me?" Cadillac says with a smirk.
"Just a little," I say as we step onto the elevator.
"Ms. Roberts is so nice. She' the only parental figure I have at the moment. When I was younger, she'd babysit me after work while my mom was going to her night shift at a bar. She was a friend of my parents before the incident and took the side of my mother; that's why she helped us out so much. Ms. Roberts and a few others in the office know the truth but none of them dare stand up to Mr. Blackwell." I wince at the way she pronounces her father's name; the way she says it makes it sound like a curse word.
We arrive on the floor and walk down the hallway until we reach a door that says Blackwell Advertising and Management. Cadillac opens the heavy door and is immediately greeted by a tall, slender man with fraying red hair and glasses. She gives him a hug and he scruffs up her hair.
"Beckinsile, this is Paul. He was also a friend of my parents before the split." I shake Paul's hand as he smiles down at Cadillac.
"This is the little kid, all grown up. I still remember when you were in diapers." Paul pinches her cheeks, making her blush.
"I'm too punk for this situation." Cadillac jokes as Paul leads us to a mahogany door.
"Very funny; good luck with ole' grumpy pants, kid." Paul scruffs her hair a little more before going back to his cubical.
Cadillac takes a deep breath and just stares at the door like she's done this a million times. I notice that most of the workers are giving her cold looks. They're all dressed in business suits and have their naturally colored hair pulled back or styled professionally. I guess Cadillac stands out like a sore thumb with her blue hair and ripped jeans. These people, also, more than likely don't believe that Cadillac is their boss's long lost daughter.
"He usually turns me away or calls his assistant to escort me out. That's usually why I leave crying because he doesn't even want to talk to me." I can see the tears already forming in her eyes. "I can't do this; I can't be rejected again. I can't see the livid look he gets in his eyes every time I'm in his presence, he acts like he loathes me and I'm his own child." Cadillac looks like she's about to sob.
"You can do this; I'll be right there with you." I open the door and shove her in the room, being careful to slam the door behind me.
There's a man sitting behind the desk, looking over documents, completely unfazed that there are two supposed strangers in his office. The office is painted a hideous shade of beige and is covered in degrees and awards I'm guessing he's won over the years. The office is spacious enough to fit a couch and a few leather chairs. Then there's the large desk that spans at least a third of the room. The man sitting behind it is mostly wrinkle free. He has the same eyes as Cadillac and the high cheekbones to match. He's dressed in a black suit with a blue tie. Mr. Blackwell is wearing a pair of thickly framed glasses on the bridge of his nose and has a deep crease in his forehead as he concentrates.
"What are you doing in my office? I don't remember requesting your presence." Mr. Blackwell doesn't look up from his work and has "here we go again" written all over his face.
"And I don't remember asking you to cheat on my mother with a prostitute but look where we are now." Cadillac says as she takes a seat in one of the chairs facing the desk.
"I don't even know who you are, so how I could've cheated on your mother, is beyond me." Mr. Blackwell says, never missing a beat.
"Gosh, this man's a piece of work." I think to myself and take a seat on the couch.
"Bull crap! You know exactly who my mother is and you know that you cheated on her. You left us in poverty and now you're pretending that I don't exist. I'm your daughter no matter how hard you try to change that."
"You are no daughter of mine," Mr. Blackwell shifts in his chair and finally acknowledges her presence.
"Yes, I am. What's it going to take to convince that I am?"
"I would never let my daughter turn out the way you're parents let you turn out." He snaps and then goes back to work. Gosh, if only punching your elders was acceptable.
"I turned out this way because you walked out on my mother before I was even a week old. You were my father and you abandoned me. You tricked my mother into signing divorce papers and then you went off and married your escort. My mother loved you and she trusted you to take care of your family. The slutty witch you married afterwards only wanted you for the money you'd gain from your trust fund. My mom actually loved you before the trust fund but you had to go get some other lady pregnant and then walk out on us." Cadillac has tears running down her cheeks.
"I will not sit here and be accused of these things by some trashy teenager I've never seen in my life." Even I can see he knows exactly what she's talking about; it's written all over his face.
"She trusted you, I trusted you. I never had a father because my mother couldn't bring herself to trust another man after what you did to her and she never will. You ruined her life and my future because you found someone better and got her pregnant. I'm your kid; I was your kid first and you don't even care. You ignore me and reject me as if I'm road kill ."
"I've only ever had one wife." Mr. Blackwell says in an unconvincing voice.
"No, you had a wife, an escort and then married the escort. That's true and you know it." Cadillac is practically sobbing.
Mr. Blackwell gives Cadillac a narrowed look.
"I've told you this a million times before; I am not your father."
"You know what, you're right. You're not my father. A real father would've at least attempted to raise his first kid. A real father wouldn't abandon his kid and young wife for some slut he met on the street after getting wasted. A real father wouldn't pretend his own flesh and blood doesn't exist. You are completely right; you are not my father and I'm disgusted that I share even some DNA with a person as awful as you." Cadillac snaps and gives Mr. Blackwell a murderous glare.
My eyes drift up and see that Mr. Blackwell actually looks hurt. His mouth is a little down turned and if I'm not mistaken, I think I see a few tears sparkling in the corners of his eyes. I don't think Cadillac's ever talked to him like this before; not without being called a few nasty names. The door opens and a tall brunette woman in a tight dress and high heels walks into the room. She's wearing a strip of pearls along her neck and has a surgically enhanced smile plastered on her face.
"Hello, sweetheart." The woman walks behind the desk and kisses Mr. Blackwell. I can see Cadillac's tears intensify and spill down her cheeks at a rapid pace.
"Is this the girl who's convinced that you're her father, Matthew?" The woman gives Cadillac a pointed look as if her very presence is beyond repulsive.
"Yes, she always comes by and tries to talk to me but I can't seem to convince her that I only have one daughter, Danika Blackwell." I feel like I can hear the sneer in his voice as if he's rubbing it in her face.
"Oh pity, the poor thing probably lives on the street and is looking to make some good money. Being your daughter probably pays better than being a prostitute." Mrs. Blackwell seems to be sneering as well.
Cadillac gets up from the seat, opens the door and slams it behind her but not before muttering a string of profanities in Mrs. Blackwell's direction. Mrs. Blackwell looks appalled which makes me want to slap her and I barely know her. She just treated Mr. Blackwell's first daughter like gum under her shoes and expects her to not fight back.
"I can't believe you two." I stand up and shout at the only adults in the room.
"And who are you?" Mrs. Blackwell says in a mock polite voice.
"I'm the only person that seems to have any humility in this room. She's a child and you treated her like trash. Mr. Blackwell, she's your daughter and she loves you even though you've been nothing but a jerk to her. You know every word that came out of her mouth is true right down to the trust fund thing. You left her mother for some actual prostitute that you met on the street. You broke vows that were supposed be sacred and last until death for some woman that only wants you for your money. You had a young daughter who grew up without a father because you were off raising your new daughter. She feels left out of your new life. She feels like you don't want her. You don't even care about her and you pretend that she doesn't exist. You care more about your new daughter than the daughter you had in the first place. Her mother works three jobs just to keep the apartment they live in and you can go throw away money and still be okay. Don't you feel any regret? Don't you feel like you're partly responsible for the way she turned out and the future she'll have? She and her mother trusted you to be there for them and you were too cowardly to even do that." I take in a deep breath and glare at them.
"How dare you insult my husband in his own office?" Mrs. Blackwell has her hand over her surgically enhanced chest and her mouth in the shape of an 'O'.
"Don't even get me started on you, Mrs. Blackwell. You were screwing around with a married man while he had a child on the way. You were a prostitute and you wanted nothing more than this man's money. You didn't even care whose life you messed up or who you knocked down in the process as long as you came out on top. There's a special place in heck for people like you two." With that I open the door and go off in search of Cadillac.
I can hear the adults talking in hushed tones. I know Mrs. Blackwell doesn't deserve the lifestyle that she stole from Cadillac's mother. She's nothing more than a common thief and the worst part is she doesn't have to suffer for what she's done, Cadillac and the former Ms. Blackwell do. I can't see Cadillac's blue head anywhere. I hear Mrs. Blackwell huff out a few minutes later, looking completely enraged.
"You," She points at me and stalks over angrily. "How dare you say those things about me; you barely know who I am. I love my husband and I will not tolerate anyone talking to me like that. He walked out on her and that's not my fault."
"No, but I'm sure you asked him to leave his wife; that's usually what people who are involved in affairs ask for." I cross my arms and glare at her.
"Life is not a crime drama," Ms. Blackwell puts her hand on her hip and narrows her eyes.
"That's what you think. How can you feel no regret for single-handily tearing a family apart and killing their actual child's future?" My voice is dripping with anger.
"I didn't tear apart a family. I fell in love and so did Mr. Blackwell." Mrs. Blackwell sneers. I actually feel bad that Danika is stuck with this for a mother.
"You fell in love with a married man whose actual wife was nine months pregnant. I'm not even convinced that you fell in love with him; I think you just love his money like most people in society today."
"I will not stand here and be insulted by some bratty teenager. That blue-haired monster is no offspring of Matthew Blackwell."
"Yes she is, but neither of you wants to acknowledge the truth. She's the one who's father you stole. You're scared that what you've done in the past will come back to bite you. You know that you'll lose everything that you've worked for if she comes out with the information that you know is true. Except what you don't realize is that ruining your reputation was never her main goal. Her main goal was always to get the father-daughter relationship that she never had because of you. You got her and her mother out of your way, so that you could take advantage of the life you knew they would get after the trust fund became available. You're greedy and selfish; you don't care that you ruined a family and honestly it wouldn't surprise me if you partly convinced Mr. Blackwell to 'pretend' that Cadillac isn't his daughter." Mrs. Blackwell looks stunned after I finish my rant.
"You brat! Cadillac is and never will be a child of Matthew Blackwell." Mrs. Blackwell practically shouts.
"The DNA evidence begs to differ and so does the birth certificate. You screwed around with a married man and then made him leave his wife so you could take advantage of his impending wealth. That's the truth and I don't know why you're trying to hide it. Wait, I do. If all of this found its way to the media than you and your husband's reputation would be ruined and he would no longer be rich. You know that blue haired teenager is his daughter and so does he, but if you guys ever admitted it, than it be like admitting the affair happened and everyone would soon figure out the truth. That you're the prostitute that screwed around with a married man and made him leave his wife and unborn child for you. Cadillac would also want part of the money that is rightfully hers and you just can't have that because then there'll be less wealth for you. You're greedy and selfish and that's why you want Cadillac to stay away from your husband. Mr. Blackwell is her rightful father and you stole that from her when she was barely a week old; you stole from an infant. I hope someday, this whole thing blows up in your face." Mrs. Blackwell is fuming and literally looks like she's going murder me.
"None of that is true," She shouts and I can see tears of guilt rolling down her cheeks.
"Yes it is, or you wouldn't be so in denial about the whole thing. You also wouldn't be crying right now because a seventeen year old figured out your whole scheme." I state simply.
"I could have you escorted from the premises for this," She says in between sobs.
"Spare yourself; I'm done here. Oh and one last thing," Mrs. Blackwell looks up with makeup smeared cheeks. "Quit crying; if anyone should be crying it should be Danika and Cadillac; Cadillac because you stole her father and her future and Danika because she's stuck with someone like you for a mother." The last sentence hangs in the air for a few minutes before I stalk off to find Cadillac.