Distance

Robert watched Heather’s mother drag their daughter from the living room. Her expression was one of annoyance and inconvenience, so Robert didn’t think much of it. Brooke was constantly accosting Heather with motherly advice that Heather would flaunt and dismiss, almost as ritual. Right now, she was probably telling her off about keeping secrets from her parents, or simply about the tightness of her skirt that Robert hadn’t failed to also notice. It never even occurred to Robert that Brooke could be confronting their daughter about last night.

Setting Heather aside in his mind, he turned to his other child, his son, who was sitting next to him on the sofa with a pensive look, staring absently at the floor. The notion was still strange, the very idea of a son, after so long with just the one child, and a daughter at that. Even though he’d had days to consider the possibility, since Heather had asked the question and planted the seed in his head, it hadn’t seemed real until now, until he had been faced with irrefutable evidence, from a trusted scientist at his own lab, the weight of which could not be denied.

“Zack…” he said to gain the boy’s attention. Zack seemed unusually quiet, even though he had no idea what was usual for his son. He did not know him well at any rate, and he had to remind himself that not all teens were as garrulous as Heather. Call it a father’s intuition, but Robert knew something was wrong. “Is something the matter?”

Zack shook his head so subtly Robert wasn’t sure he moved at all.

“Look, I don’t want to overstep my bounds,” Robert interpreted the continued silence as contempt. “Whatever happened between me and your mother in the past, Gregory was the man who raised you. He’s a good man, he clearly did a good job, and I don’t begrudge you calling him ‘dad’. But if there is anything I can do for you, anything that’s bothering you, I want you to know that you can come to me, you can ask for what you need, or just, talk to me. I don’t know if I’m a good listener, Brooke would probably say ‘no’, but I’ve always tried to be there for Heather, and I want to do the same for-”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

Robert blinked and cleared his throat, surprised at the interruption. “I hope you know that it wasn’t by choice that I wasn’t around when you were growing up. If I had known you were mine, I would have made every effort to persuade Monica to let me be a part of your life. Your mother never told me. She broke it off and went back to Gregory, nine months later you were born. I assumed you were the result of their reconciliation.”

“I know. My mum informed me she never told you. So, I don’t blame you.”

“Good.” Even though he didn’t know Zack as well as a father should, he knew enough from the few conversations they’d shared during Heather’s scheme and Daniel’s plot that this prosaicness was not characteristic of the young man. Yet, he assumed his son just didn’t want to talk to him, not that he didn’t want to talk at all. “That’s good.”

Zack shrugged.

That was the end of the conversation, as Robert took it. He stood and said, “Well, if that’s everything then I’m going to head over to Mallory’s.” When neither Daniel nor Chastity objected, he continued, “Alright. Well, the rest of you should keep a low profile, and wait for this scandal to blow over.”

With a jerk, Heather pulled away from her mother and scowled. Unlike her father, her mom had never been cool. She always wanted to treat her with kid gloves, no matter how experienced or worldly she had become. Every time Robert wanted to educate her, Brooke was there to ask ‘is this a good idea?’ It had been a constant battle over her soul for her entire life, and while on some abstract, existential level Heather knew her mom meant well, it was infuriating for the teen that she never quite figured out that the best way to ingratiate herself to her child was to let her be.

And it was with this presumption that Heather huffed and asked her mom, “Do we have to make a big deal out of this? Sure, it was a little weird, doing that kind of thing in front of each other, but no weirder than it was for Andrew and Klaus, but I didn’t see them making a mountain out of it.”

“We don’t know what they talk about behind closed doors after everything was said and done.” The older brunette closed her eyes and raised her hands, as if physically pushing away the issue to keep herself from being drawn into an argument. “That’s not what I want to talk about.”

“It’s not?” Heather raised her eyebrows. “You seemed rather pissed about it at the time.”

“That’s because I came to a realization, one that I need to ask you about now. I need you to be serious and answer my question seriously. And honestly, for that matter. I know you like to think of yourself as being quite grown up and adult for your age. This is your chance to prove that to me. No lies, no games, just the truth. Can you do that for me?”

Heather took a step back, as far as the width of the hallway would allow. “Mum, you’re freaking me out.”

“Just do this for me.” Brooke sighed.

“Alright, fine, I’ll tell you the truth to whatever you want to know. If I can. You’re being so weird, who even knows what nonsense your question will be.”

“It’s not nonsense,” Brooke shot back, a little irritated at being dismissed so readily by her own daughter. “I need you to tell me, honestly now, has your father ever…has he ever been inappropriate with you?”

“Inappropriate?” Heather repeated the word as if it belonged to a foreign language. “Inappropriate how?”

Though she could already guess at what her mother meant. The realization she’d come to during the earlier foursome was an inkling of what she had witnessed the night before. That was the only possible reason she could have for asking such a question, since, to Heather’s knowledge, nothing else could have tipped her off. But an inkling was all that it could be, the curve of her spine, the shine of her hair or even the sound of her mewing as found herself filled with dick, pieces of the puzzle that failed to make the full picture, and perhaps in that was Heather’s way out of all of this.

It surprised Heather that her mother’s problem wasn’t with the act itself, of the father-daughter bond having become physical and intimate. Her mother’s concern was that her father had somehow **** or groomed her into being his sexual plaything. Heather felt her temper rising. Rising at the loss of agency, that even at eighteen her mother considered her too much of a child to make her own choices, to tempt and seduce, and rising at the damage it did to her dad’s reputation. Whatever else he might be, Robert Ravers was a good father, and Heather wouldn’t let that good name go sullied.

“Don’t play dumb, Heather. You know what I mean by inappropriate. Your father and you have always been close,” she said, with emphasis on ‘your father’, underlining their relationship. “And despite my better judgement, you’ve been privy to most of his sexual predilections. Isn’t it obvious that I’m asking if it’s ever been more than just information? Has he ever made advances on you? Suggested that you could do what those women did for him?”

She was looking for a club with which she could beat her ex-husband, but Heather wasn’t going to give it to her, even if it meant squashing down her instinctual anger.

“No, it’s not obvious, because it’s never happened.”

“Heather. You said you wouldn’t lie.”

“I’m not.” And as far as Heather was concerned, she wasn’t lying. Her father hadn’t been the one making advances and suggestions, she was. He had even tried to turn her off the idea, several times, but Heather persisted, coercing and cajoling her own father, until, like every other man, he caved and fucked her. Unlike every other man though, the spark didn’t fade after that inevitable, joyous climax.

“I know you’re lying. I saw you last night. I…” she couldn’t quite bring herself to admit to her own daughter’s face that she’d tongued her asshole to make her cum around her father’s cock. “I saw you today too, on Klaus’ lap. I’m not blind. I know it’s the same person. I know it was you.”

“What do you want me to say?” Heather rolled her eyes and pretended to be bored with the conversation. “You saw a girl last night with dark hair and a slender body, and you saw me today with dark hair and a slender body, and you’re making connections. I know I wasn’t up in that room last night, but I have no way to prove that to you. I gave you the truth when you asked for it. You don’t think it’s possible that your mind is playing tricks on you?”

“What kind of fool do you take me for?” Brooke exploded.

“I don’t know, what kind of fool are you?” Heather replied, with equal venom.

Brooke resisted the urge to slap her own daughter.

In the awkward silence that followed, the living room door opened. Robert paused, looking from ex-wife to daughter, aware that he had just stepped into the middle of something heated. It wasn’t unusual to find the pair arguing about something or other, but it was strange for both to stop as soon as he entered the room. That made him nervous.

He shut the door behind him, and asked, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Brooke said, her blue eyes boring into Heather’s. There was no point in continuing the argument in front of Robert. It was clear to her that she needed more proof, but it was a question of how to get it.

“Yeah, it quite literally is,” Heather couldn’t resist getting another shot in. “Are you heading out, daddy?”

He nodded, his eyes moving from one woman to the other. “Yes, pumpkin, I’m on my way to Mallory’s. I’ll call with any updates, but hopefully there won’t be any more surprises until tomorrow.”

“Speaking of tomorrow, you’re still coming to my party at the lake tomorrow?” she threw a look and a smirk at her mother, flaunting the closeness with her father just to draw her mother’s ire. “Aren’t you, daddy?”

“Are you sure you want me there?” Robert glanced at Brooke, observing her fury and offering Heather the opportunity to walk the suggestion back. “You teenagers won’t want to hang out with an old man like me, and with the news circulating, it might bring more unwanted publicity.”

“Are you kidding? The chance to party with the legendary Robert Ravers? It’ll make the party all the more epic. Even if nothing happens, it’s the idea that sells it. You taught me that. If it makes you feel better, why don’t you bring someone, like Monica? You know I don’t care. This is supposed to be the last big blow out of Spring Break, the last time we might all be together to party like this before college. Lots of my friends go on holiday during the summer, or will spend their last couple months with their families. This might be the last chance to have everyone I care about celebrating together, and you’re important to me, dad. So, I’d like you to be there.”

“If it means that much to you, and I can bring someone my own age,” Robert watched Brooke, but it was clear her anger wasn’t abated. “I guess that would be acceptable.”

With a grunt, Brooke stomped off back to the living room, shoving the door open. Only when it had closed with a loud slam Heather pulled her father closer and whispered to him.

“Mom knows.”

Robert whipped his head in her direction, judging by the graveness of her face that it was the absolute truth. “How?”

“Something happened today, and she put two and two together. I don’t have time to go into details, if we’re out here talking for too long, she’ll get suspicious. Who’s to say she isn’t currently on the other side of that door trying to listen to us right now? I can’t say I really dissuaded her, but she won’t confront you until she has more evidence. All I can say right now is just be careful when she’s around.”

Brooke swept back into the room, like a sudden gust of wind, crossing to the seats beside where Daniel still stood by the doors leading out to the pool. He stared through the glass to where the high afternoon sun sparkled on the surface of the water but he wasn’t thinking about that. His mind was solely settled upon Robert, where he had been and what he had said, until Brooke threw herself down on the chair with such exasperation it drew his attention and he turned his head, seeing her angrier than ever before.

“What happened?” Daniel looked around and saw Robert was gone. “Did my brother say something?”

“It’s not what was said, it’s what wasn’t said,” Brooke said, too upset to control the volume of her voice. Zack didn’t seem to care, but Chastity peered over, a sad puppy dog look on her face. “I’ve had enough of all these secrets and lies, especially those lies where you know the person is doing it, where you just want to reach out and peel the skin back and expose their true face. But I can’t prove anything.”

“Yes, it’s been bothering me too,” Daniel misunderstood, though he at least had the good sense to drop his voice to a whisper. “There’s something about what Robert said that’s been troubling me…”

He paused, unwilling to say any more with the other two in the room. Fortune favored him though, as Heather poked her head in through the door and called on Chastity to follow to her room upstairs. Giddy, the receptionist obliged, her thick blonde locks and heaving bust both bouncing vigorously as she skipped from the living room to the hall. A few moments later, in a stark contrast to the young receptionist, Zack staggered to his feet and stumbled like a zombie as he exited. It was clear to Daniel that there was something going on with the younger man, but he ignored that observation as he looked again to Brooke.

“You heard what Robert said? About where he was before he came back here?”

“Yes, he was arranging the event with Tyson Ross. What’s so strange about that? Getting the Governor to hold a rally at the Palace Hotel is a good idea, or it would be if it wasn’t for this rumor about a secret fund.”

Daniel nodded.

“The fund is a problem too, but I’ll get to that in a moment. First, think about how he would have contacted the Ross’ family. The Governor’s mansion is located in the state capital and there’s no way that Robert could have gotten out there and back again in that time. A round trip would take a few hours at least.”

Brooke pursed her full, kissable lips as she mulled over Daniel’s point, waiting for him to continue.

“Tyson does have family in town,” Daniel noted, seemingly undercutting his own argument. “The Ross’ are originally from Azure Rocks, being descended from miners who worked for the Smiths before they moved into politics, so they have a lot of ties to this town.”

“Right, that’s why Tyson agreed to the rally that Robert proposed,” Brooke said, her memory of Azure Rock’s history was a bit rustier than Daniel’s. “Don’t they have a branch downtown dedicated to local campaigns?”

“Exactly,” Daniel grinned and almost danced on the spot. “Maybe he went there and hashed out the details with a more local supervisor who had been in contact with Tyson, but you said it yourself, it’s downtown. If Robert went there to work out the deal, he should have been back here before either you or I, since this manor is closer to downtown Azure Rocks that either the Harrington Villa or Smith Industries Steel Plant. The only thing I can surmise is that he wasn’t where he said he was.”

“Do you think he might have been with Heather?”

“Heather? Heather Heather? Your Heather?” Daniel frowned, confused. “I doubt it. She was frustrated by how long he was taking, and he seemed genuinely surprised that she’d been at Ravers Enterprises.”

Brooke relaxed, accepting what Daniel said to be the truth. When her initial fear passed, she realized that Heather wouldn’t have had the time to meet up with her father and take Zack down into the depths of the old business tower. The revelation didn’t bring her much relief though, since she began to understand Daniel’s perturbance.

“If Robert wasn’t meeting with the Ross party officials, then where was he?” she gave voice to the question in her head.

“That’s what I want to know. Frankly, if he called Tyson personally to arrange this, he could have done that from anywhere, which reeks of a cover up to me. Which brings me to this bank account that Miles and Henry released.”

Brooke sat back in the chair, aghast. “You don’t think he was actually bribing city officials? Robert would never do that.”

Daniel nodded again.

“I agree. He’s never needed to do anything so nefarious to get his way in business,” Daniel concurred, winding up to his objection. “But you know Miles and Henry as well as I do. Henry will shake your hand with one arm while signing your **** warrant with the other, and Miles never does anything without a plan. If they’re releasing this now, there’s a purpose to it.”

“The purpose is to stop us before we begin,” Brooke said. “Heather told us that they know we defected.”

“But if there’s no truth to it, the threat is rather toothless. Nothing comes of it, Miles and Henry look silly, and Robert comes out of the whole thing without a scratch. Honestly, any time someone has tried to start a rumor about him, he’s come out being more well liked than ever before. And Miles knows this. I just can’t shake the gut feeling that if Miles is putting this out at a time like this, then there really might be something to it.”

“At a time like this?” Brooke was concerned the stress of building a new company was driving Daniel to paranoia.

“Well, Robert disappears unexpectedly, and then Miles comes out with this. That’s odd to me. But we can’t prove anything.” He looked again to the dark-haired beauty. “Wasn’t this what you meant too when you said you couldn’t prove anything?”

“What? No, I…” she stuttered, looking for an answer. Telling him that his brother and niece were likely fornicating seemed like a revelation too far right now. She disliked keeping secrets from Daniel, but she was having enough trouble accepting the idea herself, never mind foisting that burden on anyone else as well. “It was something else, about Heather, but it doesn’t matter. We need to figure out what Robert has been up to.”

Daniel grunted in agreement, wondering if Heather’s secrets had anything to do with Brooke asking if Robert might have met up with her while he was missing. A shout from the hall distracted the pair, and they remained quiet, waiting for the interruption to come to the living room. After a moment, when no one came, they assumed it to be Heather and Chastity, and returned to their covert conversation.

“Wait, we can just check Robert’s records.”

“How?” Daniel asked wearily, having already considered that course of action. “It wasn’t made available internally within Ravers Enterprises or I would have known about it before now. It would only have been accessible through Robert or Miles’ personal servers.”

“And thanks to you and Zack, we have that.”

He grabbed her face and kissed her gorgeous, full lips. No tongue, and annoyingly brief, but Brooke couldn’t help but smile as his mouth smashed against her own, showing all of his gratitude and excitement in that one act.

“You fucking genius!” He forgot himself and shouted, even though any of the others in the house might have overheard. “The flash drive! All the information we need will be on it.”

“Let’s go to my place though," Brooke offered. "Less chance of being interrupted.”