by Jody Sharpe
From: Josh Ryder’s email@…..
Good morning, Han.
Tonight is going to be so great, our first date as adults. Shall we take a walk down memory lane to the Garden Methodist Church like we used too? We’ll go to the Burger Spot and pretend like time never passed. It’s amazing seeing you again. 6 Okay?
Till then, Josh
I’m sitting in a director’s chair. July North’s chair is empty. A makeup artist is applying the last bit of my makeup. A stylist has fixed my hair and blows it out smooth. I want to look totally different from the woman on the cover of Sam’s book and I do. I wear a turquoise sleeveless dress with a white collar and the three necklaces I wear for luck every day. July walks in looking classic in her beige-striped summery skirt with an orange linen blouse and orange linen heels. Her hair is in a chignon, her make-up impeccable and her emerald earrings sparkle in the bright light. She smiles at me and I get up and shake her hand.
“Hannah, I’m so glad to meet you. Thank you for agreeing to the interview today, I know this has been a very hard time for you,” she says with the sincerity she is known for.
“Thank you, it’s so nice to meet you and yes it has been quite difficult.” I smile at her and I see a sympathetic look in her eyes for a moment then she glances away at her notes.
“Before we begin the interview is there anything you don’t want me to ask you? I will respect your wishes.”
“Ask whatever you want; it’s fine with me.”
My father will be watching the five o’clock news on CNN now. The July North show won’t air till eight. I turn to see Sam saunter in again with a big bodyguard and his young and attractive female lawyer. He takes a seat on the bleachers away from Josh who nods. Sam ignores him. Josh adjusts his seat and smiles at me. Hattie takes a seat next to Josh. We are the only ones beside the TV crew in the high school gym. I smile back and turn again toward July.
She glances over at him. “Do you want me to ask Mr. Blakley to wait outside?”
“No, it’s fine, thank you.” I stare right back at her ready for anything, prepared, strong. I am a half angel. I can do this.
“Thirty seconds,” calls the director of her show. And then it begins….
“Good evening, everyone. Welcome to a special evening with two compelling interviews tonight. I’m so grateful to have, Hannah Angel O’Ryan, the lovely young lady who is at the center of the controversy of the bestselling new novel, “My California Angel” by Samuel L. Blakley. We will be speaking to the author next but now Ms. O’Ryan has agreed to an anything goes interview with me. So let’s get started. Welcome, Hannah.”
“Thank you for having me.” I look directly into her brown eyes not knowing what will come of this but ready. I think about Sam in the kitchen sitting with Josh, the media and throngs of people crowding outside. “Let me start off with this question. Are you an angel from heaven, Hannah?”
“No. I’m not.” I’m not telling an untruth because I am just part angel.
“Then why do you think your ex-boyfriend, Sam Blakley, wrote this love story about you?”
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him that question.” I’m sitting straight in my chair, composed, hopeful.
“But he was your creative writing professor and you were a couple when you were in college. Am I correct?” July looks at me with honest concern.
“Yes.” I feel the color drain from my face but I must go on. I have to think of the good parts of my life, about Josh, my aunt and friends and how I can do this for Dad. I have to say things that can make the media want to leave. I have to seem like a typical woman with a small town life.
“In his interviews with others, he says you were quite the writer and presented beautiful stories about angels flying. Do you know how to fly?”
“No, I don’t. Have you ever had dreams you were flying? It’s not uncommon.”
I feel my stomach knotting and I picture Dad feeling better with Bubbles on his lap watching TV. Maybe they’re drinking hot chocolate.
“Hannah, I asked you a question. You seemed lost for a moment. What about your father’s history? Another network is reporting there is no record of his birth anywhere, no evidence he ever was from Ireland. Yet we did find his California grade school, and jr. high records. He does have a social security number.
All of a sudden my mind and body shift and I’m hovering above it all looking at myself, telling myself what to say. I can see the top of my blonde head and July’s face. This is surreal! I will myself to say, “I can’t explain that, July. My father lived in Ireland till he was adopted by the O’Ryan’s. He doesn’t even know if they gave him a new first name or not. He was very young when he moved here. He was born over sixty years ago and I don’t really know.”
I’m still floating above my body… I think of the way Jesse sits in the window at the store staring the dogs down as they walk by.
“What were his adoptive parents’ names?” July is being assertive but not cruel.
Darlene and Joe O’Ryan. They are deceased.”
“Yes, those records were found. He never graduated high school though. Why? I know it must be difficult to have people pressing you so hard.”
I’m still up in the beyond… I wonder how Dad got those school records made but have to answer her question. “It’s really only some reporters that make it hard…we have great friends in this town and they have rallied around us. It’s that kind of place... But to answer your question, Dad didn’t finish high school, because he didn’t want to. He worked with his father doing odd jobs. His family needed the money.”
“Hannah, let me tell you we did find all your records, birth certificate, school everything. But I must mention a very difficult subject. Your mother died in a car accident when you were a youngster. It must have been so very hard.”
So here is one comment I’ve been waiting to give. “July, if my Dad and I were really angels then wouldn’t we have done anything to save my mother? This is terribly sad for me to talk about.”
“I apologize for upsetting you, Hannah. These are the questions others will ask you.”
I make by body nod but don’t say anything further. What is there to say now?
“Do you have psychic abilities like some of the town’s other residents?”
I’m still hovering above. I can’t look anywhere but down at her. “A little with animals, that’s it.”
“What about your father? Does he have abilities?”
“He’s known for his way with animals too. He senses their feelings.”
“You have a pet deer, correct?”
“Yes,” I make myself smile for the first time. “She thinks she’s a dog.” Obviously, she’s ignoring Bambi’s accusations.
“We heard you found her stranded in the woods?”
Here I go. “My dog and I found her injured and alone. We had a vet exam her immediately as she was so small.”
“I see, and your business is a pet store for dogs and cats, Dear Dog’s Etc. I hear it’s been in the family for over sixty years.
“Yes, my Granddad and Grandma Dear started the store years ago as a feed store but now we sell a variety of items for pets, some of them homemade by my aunt. We sell books too.”
“Where is your father today? We invited him to come.”
“He’s under the weather. This is too much for him. He’s such a private man, but he does send greetings to you. He’s quite a fan of your show.” To be able to watch July and see the top of my blonde head is kind of amazing. Actually, the blonde looks pretty good from here.
July smiles. “What would you like to tell the people who think you’re an angel?”
I suspend in mid air answering, “I would tell them believing in angels is fine but please believe me, I’m not an angel. I’m just a regular person like everybody else.”
I tell myself to smile my dimple smile and she smiles back. As suddenly as I was out of my body I am back in it. I jump a little as I return. I think July notices m
y body react for a second but she says nothing. I worry about the answer I gave about Mom. I don’t want to hurt Dad with my thoughts about not saving her. I should have told her to wear a seatbelt. I stop myself from going there again. What good does it do now? I will go forward and forgive myself, my human side. I have too. Mom would want it that way.
“Sam Blakley says you wrote beautiful angel stories in his class. Is that how he got his idea for the novel?”
“You’ll have to ask him that question.”
“What will you say to Sam Blakley in public now since this novel has made such an impact on you and your family? As you know he is here and I will be speaking to him next.”
“I asked him today to please leave my family alone.” Sam thought I still loved him? How could he think that? He’s a liar, a fraud.
“Your spokesperson, Dr. Josh Ryder, told me today that your family is strong and the town has been amazingly supportive.
“It’s true. My family means everything to me and the town’s form of friendship has been a real gift.”
July looks at me and I see a woman I could be friends with. How did she maintain her kind nature with all the competition and cunning in the business? She smiles at me and asks me the question I knew was coming.
“You were named Hannah Angel…..what is behind the name? And one more time, do you have angel wings to fly?”
“My mother named me. She didn’t think she would ever have children so when I was born she said I was her little angel sent from heaven. And no, I don’t have wings. I’d love to fly, wouldn’t everybody?”
“Josh Ryder also says you want to write a book. What will it be about?”
“I would like to write about the people in our wonderful town of Mystic Bay, and how they came together to support me and my family through this unfortunate time.”
“Hannah, I don’t sense any resentment towards Sam Blakley. Am I correct?”
I go to a higher plane in my mind to answer, not out of body but with the same calm idea….thanking Larry for making me think about it. “A really good friend of mine taught me to try to only wish others well. I think Sam Blakley needs well wishes somehow.”
“You’re truly such a lovely woman and I thank you for joining me today. I wish you and your family nothing but peace.”
“Thank you.” I smile meaning it, so glad it’s over. We shake hands, and then stand up.
To: Hannah’s email@……
From: Josh Ryder’s email@…..
I think about you all day long. Don’t worry about anything, I’m here. See you tonight….Till then
Love, Josh
We are sitting in Dad’s bedroom. Its eight pm and we’re ready to watch my interview with July North. As we watch, Dad sits on his bed with Bubbles on his lap. Aunt Helen is in the rocker. Josh and I are sitting on a rug with the animals lying next to us. Louie has perked up since Dawn came into our lives. Now he’s nuzzling her. As we watch no one speaks. I watch myself. The part where I leave my body is undetectable to anyone but me I think. When I talk about my mother dying I turn to look at Dad and he nods as if to say okay. I see myself shiver when I return to my body but it would be hard to notice if I wasn’t the one doing it. I haven’t told Dad yet. We haven’t been alone.
Dad turns the set to mute for the commercials. “It looks good, Red.” You did a wonderful job. You wished Sam well and you were confident and showed the town appreciation. July was on your side, you could tell. She’s such a good woman.”
“You did great,” Josh remarks putting his arm around me and kissing me. “I was so proud of you.”
“Thanks, but let’s just see Sam’s interview.” I’m nervous but know that whatever he says we will have to deal with it and we will.
Josh and I hadn’t stayed for it. The reporters were hellish outside the gym. They pushed and one jammed the microphone in my face. There was a huge crowd. And as we got into Taylor’s car, someone stepped on my foot. It still hurts. Hattie stayed to hear the interview. She called to let us know that Sam admitted that Dad and I are just human beings but I need to hear it for myself.
Aunt Helen surprisingly gets up, “I refuse to watch that man speak. He hurt you and stole your wonderful stories. But I will make us some hot chocolate.” Bubbles hears “hot chocolate” and leaps off the bed.
Josh squeezes my hand.
“Good evening again… and now my guest is Samuel L. Blakley, the author of the controversial best seller, “My California Angel.” Welcome, Sam.”
“Thank you so much, July, it’s my utmost pleasure to be with you again.”
“You listened to Ms. O’Ryan’s interview. What did you think of it?”
“Well, I was in awe of her as usual, her composure, her beauty.” He puts his head down for a moment then lifts it again. “I was thinking how sorry I am for misleading the public and for hurting Hannah and her family. I didn’t realize how sorry until today when I cried apologizing to her.”
“You didn’t realize the town was barraged with media and the O’Ryan’s became hostages in their own home?”
“No, I wasn’t thinking clearly I guess,” Sam lies.
“Do you think Hannah and her father are real angels?”
“I guess I only hoped it was possible. It would have made my great novel so much better, wouldn’t it?” He gives her a sad smile. “No, they’re not angels, just humans like the rest of us.”
“Then why did you lead everyone on? Why you even put the very likeness of Hannah on the cover of the book without her permission?”
“I was still in love with Hannah so I started writing thinking of the angel stories she and I wrote together. I got to thinking I needed her to be my own special angel in this world. I thought if I wrote a book about how a professor loved his angel student, she’d see it and come back to me.”
July gets a slight look of disdain on her face and then she softens. Maybe no one notices it but me.
“How very romantic but naïve, wouldn’t you say? The town has been besieged with media. I’ve received thousands of tweets and emails about this. This has caused profound anguish to the O’Ryan family.”
“I know it wasn’t very smart of me. I get that now. I really do.”
“Are you really still in love with her, Sam?”
“Yes, I am.” He turns and faces the camera which is most unusual. “I’d like to apologize to her in public and to her father, Gabe one more time. I wanted everyone in the world to have hope, that’s why I wrote the book. Only to bring hope that angels are watching over us. I prayed that when she read the book she’d want to be back in my arms again like Max wants Honor in my novel.” He turns back to July wiping away an imaginary tear.
“Sam, you said earlier some of your work was taken from stories she wrote in your class. Now you’re saying you both wrote them. Is plagiarism involved?”
“No, I helped her write them. We spent long hours together. She knows they were my work as well. I have all my notes from that time if you want to see them. She knew I was an award winning author so I helped her. I asked her today if she wanted some of the profits and she refused of course. She wished me best of luck.”
Sam looks so cunning now. I wonder if anyone else can tell he’s lying. He’s lying about everything, about wanting me back too. He’s quite the actor. That’s what I saw in his eyes at the kitchen table. That’s what he was going to say today in the interview before he spoke with Josh and me. He was going to claim he helped write my stories and had the notes to prove that he had the talent and I was the student writer. It would be hard to prove I wrote them depending on how his notes look, if there really are notes.
July has a look in her eye, as if she’s got an ace up her sleeve. “There’s something I didn’t tell Hannah but I will reveal now. There is a very renowned doctor who knew Gabe O’Ryan as a child who is willing to step forward if necessary. Her parents were friends with his and she met him when he was a little boy after he came over from Ireland. She told me she is appa
lled at your negligence and wishes the O’Ryan’s would sue you for slander. She’s prepared to pay their legal expenses too. ”
“I, I….,” Sam stammers. “I’ve never said anything about Gabe’s childhood. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“We live in a litigious age, Sam.”
“I meant no harm.”
“Really?” July North folds her hands like a judge waiting for a trial. “Then what do you say to the people out there who believe your story about her. How will you help this go away for Hannah, for her father, her family and for this previously quiet town of Mystic Bay, California? Because Sam, there are crowds outside of this gym of regular people hoping Hannah and her father are really angels.”
“I will write a new foreword with an apology. I’ll never come back here and leave Hannah alone. I’ll do anything, July. I guess I’d like to say again I’m so very sorry about it all.” He looks at her with fake sincerity and forces a winning smile. “I even tattooed wings on my back so I could shout out to the world that I believe in angels.”
He starts unbuttoning his shirt but July boldly puts her hand up. “Sam, people can see them on your website correct? We’ve run out of time now but I want to thank you for sharing your time and apology. I hope your statements today can resolve this problem so no innocent people get hurt again.”
“Thank you July, I hope so too. I would like to say thank you to you for having me here. And I’d also like to say something to Hannah if that’s all right?”
July nods.
Sam turns his face to the camera. “If you change your mind, I’ll be waiting.” He looks at July then shakes her hand and she let’s go faster than I jumped back into my body.
“Well, goodnight everyone. And if you dream of angels tonight, well, remember, it’s only a dream. I’ll see you tomorrow!” She smiles and it goes to commercial. Dad turns the TV off.
There is silence as we all get up stretching our limbs, relaxing our brains and bodies. The smell of hot chocolate fills the air and we go down the stairs to the kitchen and sit at the table, dunking marshmallows in our mugs. Dad has finally gotten up and is elated. His color is good and his eyes have that dazzle again.