Chapter 10

 

Hours have passed and Jack was sitting in the living room, waiting for Chris to return. He wasn't sure where Chris had been all day, but he knew he would be home eventually and he would wait as long as he had to. Sitting in the chair facing the door Jack waited and when Chris walked in he would begin his quest for some real answers. His eyes periodically glancing from the pictures he held in his hand to the door. The half-truths Chris gave him in the beginning, the details Ally shared and the knowledge of the hospital grapevine Nurse Vining playing in his head. All this information had come together to open his eyes to what had really happened all those years ago and now he needed for his uncle to explain his side, to try and make his reasoning for doing what he did make sense. What Jack really wanted right now was to be with Ally, he was so worried about her. Her father was totally incensed and he was certain their confrontation would be a volatile one. The short time he'd spent with Matt showed one thing to Jack, that Ally and her father were the flip side of the same coin. And as angry as Matt was with Jack Ally was sure to be just as angry with him and this convinced Jack that nothing short of World War III had gone on in that office, of that he was certain. He didn't want to talk to her on the phone, she would detect something was amiss in his voice and he didn't want to explain until he heard his uncle's side. He would see Allison as soon as he talked to his Uncle Chris because no matter what Matt or Chris said nothing could keep him away from her. She was his heart and no one could live without his or her heart and he had no desire to attempt to try.

"He grounded you?" Kelsey Collins said to Allison speaking into the phone as she continued to wrap the birthday present she had purchased for her friend's big day on tomorrow.

"Yeah, I can't believe him. As if I would stop seeing Jack just because he said so," Ally replied still sulking from her earlier encounter with her father. "He has confined me to this house. My birthday is tomorrow and I'm stuck here.

What's worse than that, I had a date with Jack tonight and I've not heard from him since I saw him at the hospital earlier. Daddy probably scared him away."

"I've seen you and Jack together, Ally he is totally gone on you. I don't think even Uncle Matt's furor can keep him away."

"Then why haven't I heard from him? We were supposed to meet at the mall and then go from there. That should have happened thirty minutes ago, I'm not there if he was he would have at least called me, but he hasn't. I've tried to reach him with no success, I don't know, maybe he's hurt somewhere."

"Ally don't think the worse. He might be concerned for you after his run in with your father and just wants to give you a little time. He might think you're angry with him for getting Uncle Matt angry with you."

"That's a lot of mights and maybes, but I'm still worried about him. A lot has happened today and I just need to talk to him just to reassure myself that everything is okay. I have to see him Kel, I don't know how but I have to see him, I won't get a wink of sleep until I do."

It was after eight when Chris finally made it home.

"Jack," Chris said after spotting him in the easy chair, "I'm surprised you're here."

"Me too," Jack answered, "I have plans, but I needed to talk to you first. I've been waiting for hours. Where have you been?"

"You can ask where I've been, but I can't inquire as to what you do with your time?"

"Look you don't have to answer."

"I don't mind. I was out of town taking care of some things. You said you were waiting to talk to me. What's on your mind Jack?"

Deciding not to beat around the bush Jack dropped the pictures onto the coffee table before him and simply answered, "These."

Chris approached and picked up the photos Jack placed on the table. His face became ashen, "Where did you get these?"

"That doesn't matter, what I want to know is why do they exist?"

"How would I know? Maybe Matt and Ellen had a self timing camera." Chris said placing the pictures back on the table before walking to the corner and dropping his briefcase there.

Jack rose from the chair and turned his attention to Chris, whose back was still turned to him, "Please don't give me that! I happen to know for a fact that you took these."

Turning with a jerk to face Jack, "And who told you that, Harmon?!"

"No, Dr. Harmon has not told me any of this. It's not his place anyway. I want you to stop lying to me Uncle Chris and tell me the truth. How could you do something so demeaning as to watch two people being intimate? And if watching wasn't bad enough you took pictures and displayed them for the entire world to see. That Quartermaine award was that important to you?"

"You hear half a story and automatically assume the worse of me. Why is that Jack? I'm your family. I take care of you, I have ever since your parents died, and how do you repay me? By believing the worse of me. I thought you knew me?"

"I thought I did too. Falling in love with Allison has opened my eyes to a lot of things, most of them very beautiful things but it's also opened my eyes to some ugly things too. The biggest of these things is all of the imperfections I'm finding in you."

"Allison Harmon? It always comes back to her. This girl and her family have turned you against me. They make you see me like they do. Matt Harmon hates me. His wife is no fan of mine either and their daughter is sure to have picked up their less than warm feelings and now they've lured you into their camp."

"Please don't make this about the Harmons, this particular discussion is not about them, it's about you Uncle Chris. Why is it that every time I ask you about something you've done your first reaction is to say something negative about Allison's parents?"

"Because all of your questions are directly involved with something they've done that's made me look bad. I'm trying to get you to see that these people aren't the saints you're making them out to be."

"I never said they were saints, and there you go again, saying something negative about them. Just answer this for me Uncle Chris why did you take these pictures? Don't lie to me and say you didn't because I know you did. Make me understand how you could do this."

"I can't imagine what I could say that would make you understand. It seems your mind is made up about them and me," loosening the knot in his tie and unbuttoning the top buttons of his dress shirt.

"Avoidance will not help. Ally's told me what she knows about you and her father and I know what you've told me and today I got another piece of the puzzle. You crept onto a ledge and watched two people sharing the most private of moments and took pictures to secure winning an award. Now if there's something in that I've misconstrued please enlighten me."

"I don't know what you want me to say Jack. Okay yes I took the pictures but if they hadn't been doing something wrong then…"

"What the hell are you talking about?! Falling in love and acting on those feelings was wrong? Please! What was wrong was you watching them and taking pictures. What was wrong was you alerting Dr. Harmon's mobster family of his whereabouts and having him and Ally's mother nearly killed and what's wrong is you keeping all of this from me and having me to find out about it from someone else. I asked you time and again what happened and every word out of your mouth condemned the Harmons, because as you said, they were out to destroy you. Everything that's happened to you was your own doing because all you care about is you."

"That's not true Jack. I may have done some things in the past without thinking it out more carefully first, but only because it was what I thought was the best thing to do at the time. Now I don't know where you're getting your information but you're getting the version that makes me look like the bad guy. You know me better than this Jack. No matter what questionable things I have or have not done in the past you do know that I love you. You know me better than anybody else."

"What I know is that I don't know you at all. You are not the man I thought you were. Dr. Harmon shouting at the top of his lungs when he sees your car parked outside his house. His demanding that I leave his house and stay far away from his daughter, his absolute zero tolerance for me, all this stuff went right over my head. I came to you and I begged you to explain why he was behaving this way and you wouldn't tell me. Allison's father told her about his past that night and she told me and I was shocked and totally disgusted with your role in all of it. He and his wife were almost killed because of you and you nearly wreck his and her career all to win some award. I wondered how you could divulge their relationship without some kind of proof. Allison said there was proof but she didn't know what. However whatever it was had to be pretty damning and damaging because everyone got burned behind it. I found out what that proof was today and who was responsible for it. Now my question is where's your decency? What won't you do to get what you want? Who won't you hurt?"

"You Jack, I'd never hurt you."

"You have hurt me, you are still hurting me. What do you think I felt like finding out all this stuff about you? How do you think I feel knowing you'll do anything to keep the person I love more than anyone or anything else in this world away from me? It was you Uncle Chris who made me want to go into medicine. When my parents got killed in that car accident you stepped up and you were right there for me. You know I used to wish growing up that you were my father. Dad worked all the time but you'd call me and whenever you had time off from the hospital you'd come over to see me. You spent time with me and you cared about what was going on with me when Dad was too busy working and when he died I felt so guilty because I knew I would never get the chance to do all the things I did with you with him. You were now truly the only father I had and that's what I looked up to you as. Now this man I thought of and loved as a father has all of a sudden become a stranger before my very eyes."

"I'm still that same man Jack. Nothing's changed."

"Everything's changed. The caring, understanding man that made me want to follow in his footsteps since I was a kid is now some unscrupulous bastard who'll do whatever he has to and hurt whoever it takes to get what he wants. Hell you've been that way since before I was born and I'm just seeing that now. Was it worth it Uncle Chris? From the moment I mentioned Allison's name to you you've made it your business to defame her family to me. After all these years have you even apologized to them?"

"No I haven't apologized and I don't plan to and I defame them because I know that's what they were doing to me. I didn't ask them to break hospital policy all those years ago by getting physical and I didn't make Harmon be born into a mobster family. You keep saying that you love this girl but you don't, you hardly even know her. You're a man, she's an attractive girl and that's what you're feeling, attraction. Don't make it out to be more than it is. She's putting a rift between us Jack and I don't want that. You know where I was today? I went to the city, to Columbia and I got your tuition all squared away," approaching Jack and placing his hand on his shoulder. "See I know what's really important to you and I let you have that because I do love you and I want you to have the things you really want."

Jack shakes his head in total disbelief as he removes Chris's hand from his shoulder, "You're proud of yourself aren't you? It's clear you don't know me at all. If you wanted me to have the things I really want you wouldn't stand in my way with Allison because she's all I want, she is everything to me. You stand there and you tell me what I feel for her is a simple attraction when I've told you over and over again I'm madly in love with her. I love her, you should accept that because it's not going to change, and I don't care if I've known her for five minutes she's a part of me and I've known that from the moment I saw her. I come to you and I tell you about this great girl I've met and you're happy for me until you find out that her last name is Harmon. Instead of being glad for me that I've found love like I've never known existed you want to dismiss it as something trivial. As for Columbia, yes it is important to me but not more than she is. Allison is going to Columbia in the fall, did you know that? I can tell by your reaction you didn't. Don't fear, if going to Columbia means I have to accept a dime from you I won't go. You can't buy me Uncle Chris. I'm so glad that childhood wishes don't come true. It's bad enough you're my uncle, but if you were my father I couldn't stand it. I am so ashamed that we share a bloodline I can't even express it. Now I know why Dr. Harmon hates you so much, he has every reason to. You have gone out of your way to destroy that man any way you could and I'm suffering because I have the misfortune of being your nephew and happened to have fallen in love with his daughter. I don't know what I can say to Dr. Harmon to make him understand that I'm nothing like you and that I'd never hurt Allison, but somehow I'll find the right words. In the meantime I want you to stay far away from me. I don't want you to ruin anything I have going for me anymore than you already have."

"Jack you don't mean that. We're family we're all we have."

"No that's not true," placing his hand on his chest, "I have Allison. I can't help that we're family and I can't change what's already been done but I also don't have to pretend that I understand or that I like it because I don't." Jack makes his way to the door retrieving the pictures from the table as he did so, once there he turns around to face Chris disappointment and hurt clearly written on his. "You know I wish I could hate you, I really do…" fanning the pictures against his open palm "I don't hate you, but I can say at this moment without hesitation I don't like you very much." Jack leaves closing the door behind him.

Chris slumped down into the nearby chair. His worst fears were coming to pass. Jack found out about the pictures, but how? He's lost his respect, how much longer would it be before he lost him altogether. It was this girl's fault. Those damn Harmons were always taking things from him. Well they couldn't have Jack. No, his son would not be taken from him, he would do whatever he had to insure that.

Dinner at the Harmons was extremely quiet. Ally's displeasure with her father had not weaned in the past few hours, if anything it had only festered. After barely touching her dinner she excused herself to her room. MJ stayed over a while longer trying his best to bring some semblance of continuity to the house but it wasn't working, and a little before nine he decided to end his futile attempt and head for home. Looking down into his now empty coffee cup, "Well this has been a wonderful evening but I've got to pull myself away from all the excitement or else I won't be able to function at work tomorrow. I'll show myself out," MJ made his way from the kitchen table dropping the cup in the sink before he went out the back door.

After MJ left Ellen turned to Matt, "This is not good. You and I are going to talk and if takes all night we are going to find a way to take the tension out of this house."

"Hmm, you say talk, but you mean argue. I don't want to do that. There's something we could do that can take away tension and it doesn't involve talking or arguing," Matt said taking her hand.

Ellen slips her hand out of his grasp, "If you have any intentions of having that sort of tension reduction ever again you will help me get this situation straightened out. You thought you were in the doghouse before, I assure you don't know what the doghouse is yet. Now let's go into our room and talk." Ellen left the table as Matt exhaled a deep breath, he knew it was going to be a long night.

Once MJ was outside he heard a rustling coming from behind the bushes, "Who's there?" he said. It was a very clear night and the moon was shining exceptionally bright so he had no doubt something or someone was hiding in there. "Show yourself now, you don't want me to come in after you."

Jack made his way from the shrubbery holding up his hands as if under arrest, "It's me MJ, don't get violent."

"Put your hands down, I'm not the yard police. What are you doing hiding in the bushes?"

"I wasn't hiding, not exactly."

"Well then what were you doing exactly?"

"I was hoping I'd be able to see Allison. I really need to talk to her."

"Boy are you crazy? Do you know what my dad would do to you if he saw you with Ally again?"

"I'm willing to risk myself if it meant I could see her."

"You two have got to be in love because if you're willing to disregard Dad's warning to stay apart you have to either be crazy or in love or both I don't know. Look you stay here; no on second thought go around to the other side of the house and stay behind the trees it's a better chance of Dad not seeing you there. I'll go get Ally for you. I wish I had a big brother like me," MJ said more to himself than Jack. "Now you go."

"Thanks a lot MJ."

"Don't thank me yet, and if this doesn't work and my dad catches you do not mention my name."

"Deal," Jack said going around to the other side of the house.

MJ used his key and let himself back into the house spotting Matt immediately after opening the front door. "Dad why are you out here?" MJ asked.

"I'm locking up, what are you doing back in here?"

"I think I left my wallet in Ally's room when I was in there earlier. I'm just going to get it. I'll finish locking up on my way out, why don't you go on to bed."

"I'm in no hurry to go to bed, Ellen want's to talk and I don't feel like talking."

"I don't know Dad, you don't want to keep Mom waiting if she wants to talk. I think the sooner you get in there the better off things will be for you in the long run."

"This is that Ramsey kid's fault. If he had never met Ally none of this would be happening. Now Ellen wants to talk and Ally will barely say two words to me."

"Yeah that kid, whoo, he's just, more trouble than he's worth," MJ said figuring it would be better for him to see his father's side right now.

"See you understand. Why can't your mother and sister?"

"I guess it's a man thing Dad. You'd better go."

"Alright, goodnight son."

"Goodnight," MJ returned watching his father as he disappeared down the hallway and into his room.

MJ went to Ally's room and knocked on her door.

"If that's you Daddy I'm sleeping," Ally answered from behind the closed door.

"Ally it's me, let me in," MJ returned.

Ally unlocked the door and let her brother in, "What are you doing back here?"

"Believe it or not a favor for you. You have a guest outside."

"A guest? Jack?!" she asked excitedly.

"Shhh, yes Jack, I told him to wait behind the trees. He said he needed to talk to you."

"Oh MJ thank you," she said giving her brother a hug.

"Just make sure Dad doesn't catch you. He just went to his room and he said Mom wanted to talk which means they'll be up for a while."

"I'll be careful," she said putting on her housecoat and stepping into her pink furry slippers.

"For what it's worth I admire you for doing what you're doing. Standing up to Dad like this it's huge. You must really love this guy a lot to do this."

"I do. I'm not doing this to anger Daddy, I just wish he could understand how I feel."

"I think he does on some level, but you're his baby girl and you're in love for the first time and it just happens to be with the nephew of his worst enemy. Protective Papa Syndrome is in its most potent stage, I think he just needs time."

"Well that might be true but I can't put my life on whole while he catches up."

"I just hope you know what you're doing Ally, but in the meantime I'll do what I can to help."

"I appreciate this more than you know."

"Consider it an early birthday present. You'd better go on. I told Dad I'd check the doors before I left, but I'll leave the kitchen door open for you."

"Thanks again MJ," she gave him a quick peck on the cheek before heading out back to Jack.

When Matt entered the bedroom he was expecting to find Ellen wearing her long sleeved cotton nightgown with the buttons fastened up to the very top of her neck, but instead what he got was Ellen in a black teddy with a matching sheer black robe. "Ooh, babe I thought you wanted to talk," Matt said closing and locking the door as he hurriedly unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it to the side.

Getting on the bed next to Ellen, "Now this is the kind of talking I enjoy the most, body talk," he attempts to kiss her when Ellen halts his progress by placing her hands firmly on his chest.

"Matt I don't see how my choice of nightwear would give you the impression that we're going to be doing anything other than just talking in here," Ellen replied with nary a hint of being facetious in her tone of voice.

Matt's short laughter is that of disbelief, "You're kidding Ellen. Come on baby play fair. You're wearing the teddy," reaching out and touching the flimsy fabric that clung to her hips and everything else. "My favorite little lacy black teddy, you can't expect me to just lay here and talk to you when you're wearing that," his eyes as big as saucers and his mouth watering like one of Pavlov's dogs as he continues to stare at her scantly clad body while his hand moved sensually up and down her side.

"But I do expect it. I got your attention,'' removing his hand from her waist and closing the robe tightly around her body and tying it, ''good that's what I wanted, that and I wanted you to get a good look at what you won't be getting if this bullheaded behavior of yours with our daughter doesn't end. Now you've yelled some reasons why you don't want her to date Jack Ramsey and I believe most of them but I think there's something more and tonight you're going to tell me what that is."

Matt fell back on his pillow. This night would be even longer than he thought.

After making her way to the farthest end of the yard Ally met up with Jack where they didn't speak any words but just held each other as close and as tightly as possible.

After a while, still holding her close Jack whispered into her hair, "Are you alright?"

"I'm a lot better now that you're here with me," she said tightening her arms around him. "Are you okay?" she asked. "I've been better," he answered with a slight catch in his throat.

Ally pulls away to look into his eyes which were now clouded with tears, "Jack what happened?"

"Uncle Chris," he answered softly as he brought her closer to him in another embrace.