Chapter 33

DORIS

It was another long day. When the elevator doors closed, taking me up to my apartment, I let my body slump. I leaned my shoulder against the side of the elevator wall.

Yesterday I couldn’t believe it when Mia asked why I didn’t live in the penthouse.

Then this morning, I was surprised when I didn’t get any of the contracts back for the three apartments that I showed earlier in the week. I was so sure the couples were going to get back to me. I left phone calls for each of the clients, but I hadn’t heard back yet.

I spent lunchtime brainstorming with Nina, trying to think of some ways to get that tract of land in Brooklyn back to the old man who bought it and out of the hands of the government.

With Nina's help, I came up with some possible ideas. I would need Arthur‘s help and connections to pull off some of them. I refused to give up. I made myself feel optimistic.

Nina still felt Andrea might be behind at all. I wasn’t sure.

I hadn’t made any other significant progress this week. I talked to the new female doctor and agreed to try a new experimental treatment she suggested.

When you added it all up, it was a lot. There was the excitement about the possible three contracts, contrasted to the disappointment about the Brooklyn land.

There was the fact that I still hadn’t talked to Arthur about what it might mean that we had sex in the Porsche. Sex one time was one thing. Twice was a whole different ball game.

But was it a relationship?

Then there was the wonder of spending time with Mia during the week and on the weekend.

And, of course, the huge loop she threw at me, asking why I didn’t live with them.

Everything was exciting and exhausting.

Including the sexual tension I had with Arthur. The truth was, I wanted him to ask me to move in with him.

I looked down, fumbling with my keys. I thought about how tired I was while walking to my apartment door. So I was surprised when a man in his 60s was leaning against the door waiting for me.

All the expensive apartments in New York City have a doorman at a reception desk in the lobby so that no one can get up to an apartment door without permission.

Arthur’s building obviously had a doorman. My old apartment that I used to share with Bob had a doorman. My new apartment didn’t have a doorman.

I was a little scared of this old guy standing in front of my door. He looks a little rough.

"Hello," I said. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

At the same time, he said, “Hello, daughter.”

"What? No. My father is in a hospital. I don’t know who you are."

"I'm your biological father."

I stood there, my mouth open in shock.

My keys jangled loudly in my hand as my hands shook. I couldn’t believe it.

"No," I said again.

The corner of his mouth twisted up slowly. His smile was a little bit bitter and a little predatory.

I remembered suddenly what Nina had said. That all the bad things that happened to me recently weren't coincidence. I gripped my keys harder.

The man saw my defensive stance, and put his hands up in the universal 'I'm not here to hurt you' pose.

Everything that had gone wrong recently flew through my head. The disappearance of the job I thought I was going to get at Cushman and Wakefield.

Then the government seizing that land, then three deals I thought we were going to close immediately and now I couldn’t get the clients to return my calls.

Had Andrea been behind all of those or just Cushman and Wakefield?

I narrowed my eyes at the stranger. Did Andrea have something to do with him being here too?

"How do I know what you’re saying is true?"

The man put his hands up in a surrender pose. "I understand you’re being a little skeptical." He let out a bit of a laugh. "That probably runs in the family."

He took out his wallet, moving slowly.

I read the name on the Norwegian driver's license, Joe Bakersfield.

I had the same last name until I was 15. When I was 15, after I had lived with Noah for three years, I changed it to Noah’s last name. He had been such a good dad. I wanted to honor him.

I stared at Joe’s license for a long time and then finally looked up at his face. "That doesn't necessarily mean anything," I said.

He frowned. "Doesn't it?"

"Why are you here now? If you’re my father, why didn’t you come earlier?" (It wasn't lost on me the 'How come you didn't come earlier?' was parallel to a question darling, little Mia probably asked herself many times.)

This man, Joe, looked a little sad. "A few reasons. I was an information gatherer for central intelligence. I didn’t want you to be in any trouble. I’ve been retired for a few years now. That doesn’t mean your enemies go away in one second."

My brows furrowed. Did he just claim he worked for the CIA?

"The second thing was you changed your name. I was looking for a Doris Bakersfield and didn't find one. I checked marriage certificates in case that was a reason for any change, but I couldn’t find a marriage certificate either.

"If you were such a great information gathering, I’m sure I wouldn’t have been so hard to find a matter with my what’s my last name was. You couldn’t have tried too hard."

He looked sheepish. "As I said, the time wasn’t right, but now I’m an older man. Then I saw a video of this beautiful woman singing at this outdoor New York City concert. She had so much talent and looked so similar to both the woman I used to love and to my mother when she was younger. And to top it all off the singer's first name was Doris, so I knew it had to be my little girl all grown up."

I frowned. I mean, he had called me beautiful and talented, so there were obviously compliments in there, but somehow, I wasn’t very happy with what he said.

"OK, so assuming you are who you say you are, which I’m not a sure I believe yet by the way, but assuming you are my biological father, what do you want?"

"I just want to get to know my daughter. Is that so hard to believe?"

Yes, it is, I thought, but I didn’t say anything.

He must have seen my expression.

"I understand that for you, my showing up here must seem like it comes out of nowhere," Joe said.

"Yeah," I said, raising my eyebrows high. "It does."

He ignored that. "And I know this must be hard for you to understand, but I made some tough choices. I always loved your mother. I didn’t stay away from you, my precious little girl, because I wanted to stay away. I stayed away because I had to. I had a duty to fulfill."

His words reminded me of what I imagined Cathy would say to justify why she abandoned Mia. Oh, yeah. Sure. Cathy didn’t stay away because she wanted to but because she had to.

It sounded like an excuse for a parent who was selfish and put themselves first over their child.

I didn't say anything. For a moment, we just stared at each other.

"Listen," I said. "I’ve had a really long day on top of a hard and complicated week. Give me your information, and I will have somebody check you out. If you are who you say you are, we can talk another time."

I knew my voice sounded cold. I should be ecstatic to find my long-lost father, but it was just one too many things after a list of too many things.

The man, Joe, pulled out a piece of paper and wrote on it.

"This is the hotel where I’m staying. This is the information so you can check me out and validate that everything I said is true. This will help you do a thorough background check." He handed me the paper.

"You’re smart. I’m telling you the truth, and I look forward to getting to know this lovely girl, no the lovely young woman...the lovely young lady..."

I winced.

"I mean, grown adult woman, the lovely adult woman that my daughter has grown into.”

Joe looked at the paper that he had just given to me. I was gripping it so tightly, it was crumpled in my hand.

"Please, I know you don’t owe me anything,” Joe said. “I have been absent your entire lifetime. I can never make up for that. But humor me. Let me take you out to lunch."

I'm sure I looked skeptical.

"Doris, I want to hear about your life now. I don’t want anything from you, but let a biological father take his biological daughter to lunch."

Without waiting for me to answer, he turned around and walked away.