Scarlett was on set, they were going over a few scenes that needed to be redone due to mixed up directions coming from the Russo Brothers. So they were once again on set skipping threw a few of their news lines and going over old ones.
Scarlett sat by herself as per usual as the boys on set were off being...well men. But one of them took time out of their horsing around to come and check up on the unusually quiet Scarlett. Robert had noticed her being oddly quiet and decided to see if there was anything he could do to make her feel better.
"Hey, Scarjo." He said pronouncing here name very annoying in order to get her to smile, or playfully glare at him. He, however, got no emotion from the young actress. "What have you been up to?" He asked.
"I don't know the usual." She mumbled very lightly. Even her voice was a key indicator that she was not really interested in socializing very much. Robert stared at her for a second as if he was analyzing all her thoughts.
"Scarlett, I don't know what's going on but it really seems to have you down." He started not taking his eyes off of her as she read through her lines. "But maybe this has something to do with Chris," he spoke trying to get some sort of emotion out of her.
Scarlett almost wanted to laugh. There was a time that her life revolved around the men she was with. Where when if anyone saw a sudden change in her emotions it had to be because of some man in her life. It was pathetic really. To think that the meditate cause of someone's sadness has come from some man. It tells you how far or how little they have come in life.
However, Scarlett knew better than to assume that was what Robert was implying. She knew that Robert was inferring about something on a much larger scale. Bigger than her. Bigger than Chris. The only reason Robert had even brought up Chris was he was practically a piece of the problem in which Scarlett was facing.
"Or maybe this has to do with the very nice young girl we met a few days back?" Asked Robert pulling Scarlett out of her deep thoughts. She couldn't help but smile when Robert complimented Nicole. Even though Scarlett didn't raise her, she was glad that Nicole was able to make a good impression to those she interacted with.
"You wanna tell me about her?" Robert asked.
"There is nothing to tell Robert." She said softly. Robert, however. could see the smile lacing Scarlett face, knowing very well she wanted to talk about Nicole with a burning passion in her heart.
"Well, if there is nothing to talk about then I guess I should go." Robert threatened to leave almost standing up, but a hand on his own stopped him from leaving her.
"No please don't." She said quietly. So Robert complied sitting right back down on the chair beside Scarlett. She took a minute not exactly knowing what there was to say. All she could think about was that this would be one of the first conversations about Nicole where she could be truly honest, not being judged if her feelings were different then the person's she was speaking to. "I guess I should start by saying that we made a mistake."
"Scarlett please, I have made many mistakes in my lifetime, having a child was NEVER a mistake I ever made." He said looking her dead in the eyes. "If I only ever did one thing well in my life it was having my kids."
"But I messed up. We were so young. We were stupid and we made the mistake of doing something that we weren't supposed to do and instead of facing the consequences of that night we ran from them." She tried to explain her point, however, Robert made sure she saw the look he was giving her. It was one telling her not to worry.
"You can't keep blaming yourself for the mistake," Robert said. "You both made some bad decisions but deciding to give her up was probably the best decision you could have thought of at the time. Which means it was the best choice, the best choice you made as a parent. As you can see, or at least as I can see from all the interactions between Nicole and the crew she is a very respectful and well brought up young woman."
"I know. We made the right choice giving her up. We just weren't ready and I know there were many things that could have been done, however, I did what was best for all of us. I just wish that I didn't have to miss out on everything." She said remorsefully. Robert put a hand on her thigh.
"So what's stopping you from missing out on now?" He asked.
"What are you talking about?" She asked looking him in the eyes.
"I am talking about you are sitting around mopping and trying to figure out what you did wrong when you could be with her, and doing it right. You still have so much time, time that could be with her."
"Well for starters her mother. She doesn't seem to like me around Nicole very much. In fact, she wants me as far away as possible." She said with a sad smile.
"But?" Robert asked already sensing there was more to the story then she was saying.
"But Nicole seems to want me around. That's a good sign. We are supposed to have dinner tonight. The only problem is is that I know her mother hates me or dislikes me so this can't happen all the time. And she lives so far away that-"
"You're thinking too much into this, you need to focus on the fact that she wants you around. She is pushing to spend time with you! Can't you see you have done something right to the point that she wants to be around you?" Robert said.
"Yes, I was thrilled to know she wants to spend time with me." She said pausing a bit after her sentence.
"But?" He repeated once more.
"But she doesn't seem to want to spend time with Chris." Scarlett had held this idea of a perfect family reunion in her mind which would probably explain her disappointment with how her reunion went. Don't get her wrong just seeing Nicole was perfect, however, having Nicole and Chris not get along wasn't ideal. " He doesn't seem to want to spend time with her either."
"Listen Scar, I am no doctor Phil, however, I am sure that Chris is just scared." he tried explaining carefully.
"Scared? What could he be scared of? I mean I am scared but I am actually putting effort into this. He is shutting her out, shutting me out." She tried to explain but it was all coming out as jumbles.
"Everyone faces fear differently. I mean he just met his daughter of 13 years and you want the poor guy to be okay? Not everyone is you Scar and can be super mom. Have you talked to him? How does he even feel about meeting her in the first place? Maybe he wasn't ready for that." Robert said sincerely.
"We have talked about it. I told him I wanted to find her. I couldn't be away from her any longer. That we should make sure she was okay. And he agreed with that!" She said.
"Scarlett, was it him who agreed to all of this? Or was it you?" He asked making Scarlett think over all of their conversations.
*
Speaking of Chris, the blonde came walking toward her with a smile on his face. She could tell he was laughing rather hard because his face was red and his breathing was hard.
"Hey girl, what with the frown." He asked sitting at her feet. Scarlett knew better then to bring this up in a public place but she needed to ask him if he remembered. if he still thought of it.
*
"Chris do you know what today is?" She asked looking him in the eyes. Chris took a deep breath. He knew what today was. He hated remembering this day. the day he gave up his baby.
"Chris, I continue to think more and more every day. It's like a thought in mind that never fades." Natasha sighed and turned her body to look Chris in his eyes. "do you think that we did the right thing that day?" She asked.
"you have asked me this many times before Scarlett."
"yeah but you never seem to answer my question. How do you think life would have been if we kept her? If I wasn't strong enough to give her up?"
"Well, I am thinking things would have certainly had changed." He said.
*
"You know you have barely spoken to me all day."
"Well, what do you want me to say, Scarlett?" Chris asked, Scarlett was taken back by the tone of his voice. "we have kept this secret for almost 13 years Scarlett, one drunken night and everything we agree on goes out the window?" he asked narrowing his eyes at her.
"You are the one who told her!"
"No, I wasn't you were! So stop acting like the victim Scarlett."
"What are you talking about?" she asked her voice was a bit shaky but she quickly changed that so he wouldn't see her weakness. He was her best friend, but she never showed weakness to anyone no matter how close you are now. Be careful who you trust, the devil was once an angel.
"Scarlett, you act like a victim in all of this. But let's be honest here. You are the one who chose to give her up! I wanted her, but if you go back to any of our conversations you are the one who said you weren't ready. you tried to convince me that I wasn't either. But I wanted her. and then you do the same thing every year. You act broken! and I am tired of it. you think the world has to pity you. Did you even stop to ask how I was doing? I never got a ' hey Chris how are you feeling' Not everything is about you." he tried to been rude, he yelled at her as no one has ever yelled at her before. But she wasn't angry.
She looked at Chris and didn't see someone who was trying to be a jerk. she saw a broken man. For the first time, she wasn't thinking of herself. For the first time so recognized the pain in Chris's eyes.
And when the tear fell from his face, she wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug. he gladly excepted the hug. And for the first time, Chris cried about his lost daughter. He cried pulling Scarlett closer to his body. He had kept it in for so long now that it was coming out it hurt more than anything in the world.
"I am sorry." She spoke sadly. " I should have asked you how you were doing." She sadly admitted. "I was a jerk."
"You were hurting too. I am sorry I yelled." He said. he had his face in the crook of her neck.
"no, I needed it. I should have been there for you. I was being selfish." She said and looked down. Scarlett then took a deep breath and looked at Chris. "I think it's time, but if only you are okay with it." She said.
"What?"
"We need to find our daughter Chris. Look at us we are falling apart." She said.
"Scar, she has a home now. We can't take her from there. it's not fair." Chris said.
"I know. but what if we just go and find her. get to know her? If you don't want to then i totally understand." She said, hoping he would say yes. Chris thought about it looking at Scarlett. he really wanted to see her, but what if she was happy? What if they mess up her whole life?
"Scarlett if we do this the whole world will know what we have been trying to hide for years."
"well, maybe this Secrete was meant to be told. Now one can fit in if they don't know where they came from." She pointed out. Chris nodded. If he were adopted he would want to know his parents.
"I wanna do this," he said confidently pulling away from Scarlett. Their faces were both stained with tears.
"really?" She asked.
"yeah, let's find our daughter."
If Scarlett thought about it, Chris never said no to her. He never told her no because he only cared about her. Which means he never actually showed any excitement about meeting Nicole, mostly fear and nervousness.
Scarlett felt horrible. She never stopped to listen to him. She never cared enough, she only cared about herself being a good mother.
"Don't blame yourself too much hun," Robert said lightly. "You were excited to meet your daughter, and I think you have the right to be overly excited."
"I know, I should probably talk to him." She said.
"Well he isn't here, he wasn't needed in today's shooting so I am not sure where he is at the moment." Robert said.
"Don't worry, we are having dinner tonight, he told me he would show up. I will talk to him then." She said with a sad nod of her head. Robert smiled at her and the two were intterupted by the director calling them for the last scene.
"Now come on Cheer up, let's go kick some alien ass." He said with a smirk, Scarlett laughed at him,before turning serious once more.
"Thank you for everything Robert." She said. Robert nodded his head. He was a good friend and a amazing person to have around.
Guys I am soooo sorry, it's been way too long! A month! Ugh, I am sorry. But I hope y'all enjoyed this update and I have some news.
This story is coming to an end, kind of. It's not going to be the ending you would expect however it's sweet and understandable. So stay tuned to see how the story continues!