by Marie Astor
“I’m so sorry, Ally,” Maddie murmured. “Can’t you sue them or something?”
“I only had a verbal offer, but from what I remember from my freshman intro to law class, that’s still a contract. I could talk to Uncle Otto, but I’m not going to—he’s got a lot to deal with as it is. Just imagine a headline in the papers: ‘Victor Roberts’ Daughter Sues Lorman & Matherson.’ I don’t think so. Had things been different, I might have gone for it, but not now. You suspected this might happen, didn’t you?”
“I just thought it was strange of them to take this long with the letter.”
“Yeah, so did I. I just didn’t want to think that anything was wrong. So it looks like I’m going to take you up on your offer about New York, if it’s still open.”
“Of course it’s still open!” Maddie shrieked. “We’re going to be roommates in the most exciting city in the world!” Maddie put her hand over her mouth. “Um, sorry, I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. I’m really sorry about your job and everything that’s happened . . . ”
Ally smiled. She had little cause for celebration, but at least she still had a true friend. “Don’t worry about it, Maddie. You don’t know how happy I am to hear you say it.”
“Then I’ll say it again. We’re going to be roommates! And those jerks at Lorman & Matherson are going to be sorry they ditched you. You’re going to get a much better job elsewhere, and Ron is going to be back, dropping on one knee in no time.”
“I hope you’re right, Maddie. I hope you’re right.”
“You’d better start packing then. Just wait till you see the apartment I picked! You’re going to love it! It’s on the Upper East side, close to Central Park.”
“That sounds expensive,” Ally said cautiously. “Are you sure you want a roommate without a job?”
“You can pay me back later. I’ve still got a job, so I can pay the rent on my own, no problem.”
“Thanks, Maddie. I’ll pay you back every penny.”
“Don’t mention it. I’ll be back tomorrow to help you pack, but right now I’ve got to run,” Maddie said guiltily. “Mom and Dad want to have lunch. They’re staying here until graduation. Can you believe it? The rest of this week is going to be torture.”
“I’m afraid you have me to blame for that.”
“Nonsense. I have overbearing parents to blame for it. I’d blow them off, but I have to go over there and maintain the status quo after the debacle last night.”
“I hope my name won’t come up.”
“If it does, you can count on me to defend it to my last breath. Hang in there, partner!” In her usual dramatic fashion, Maddie swept out the door.
No sooner had Maddie left than Ally’s phone rang again. She picked it up on the first ring.
“Ally?” Her father’s voice sent her heart racing.
“Daddy! I’m so glad you called. I’ve been so worried about you! How are you?” The question sounded stupid the minute it flew off her lips. How could her dad possibly be? He was in prison, wrongly accused.
“I’m fine, Ally. I’m completely fine. How are you holding up?”
It was so much like her dad to worry about everyone else but himself. “I’m okay. I'm worried about you, Dad. The accusations in the papers—I told Uncle Otto that they can’t possibly be true. He has to get to the bottom of this. He has to prove that you’re innocent.”
“My Ally, I know I can always count on you to believe in me.”
“Of course I believe in you, Dad. I’m so proud of everything you’ve done. I’m so proud to be your daughter.”
“Even now?”
“Now more than ever.”
“I feel much better hearing you say that, kiddo. I know now I’m going to be all right.”
“Dad, isn’t there anything I could do to help?”
“You already did, kiddo, by saying what you said just now.”
“Dad, I’m not a kid anymore. I could help, you know.”
“I know, Ally. But to me you’ll always be my kiddo, kiddo. So please indulge your old man.”
“You’re anything but old, Dad!” Ally could hardly believe the levity in her father’s tone. This was not a time for jokes. They should be strategizing to get him out of jail instead.
Her father’s voice grew serious. “Ally, there is one thing that you can do for me, a very important thing . . . ”
“What is it?” Ally asked with bated breath.
“Please take care of yourself and stop worrying about me. Now, I know that it may sound like a simple task, but it really isn’t as easy as it sounds because I know how you are. You’re going to drive yourself crazy with worry, and that’s exactly what I don’t want you to do. Now I’m not going to sugarcoat things—things are pretty serious—but I have excellent lawyers defending me, and I’m confident of the outcome. It may take some time, but we will prevail. What I don’t want you to do is worry about me. I want you to go on with your life.”
“Okay, Dad. I’ll try.” Ally bit her lip. What her dad was asking of her seemed impossible, but the least she could do was make him believe that she was carrying out his wishes.
“Are you excited about graduation?” her father asked.
“I don’t care about graduation, Dad,” Ally retorted, forgetting about her earlier resolution. She was going to have to do better than that.
“Don’t you say that, Ally. It’s your time right now, and I’m so sorry that I can’t be there for you. How’s Ron taking all of this?”
“He’s fine. He’s confident everything will turn out all right.” There was no way Ally was telling her father about the disastrous dinner with the Graystones.
“And his family?”
“They are being supportive,” Ally lied. “I don’t want to waste time talking about the Graystones, Dad. I want to talk about you.”
“Ally! What kind of way is that to talk about your future family?”
“I’m sorry, Dad. I just don’t want you to worry about them. They are all fine.” Ally paused, intuiting that her father wasn’t going to like what she was about to ask, but she had to ask him anyway. “Dad, isn’t there any way I could visit you?”
“Ally, please listen to me. If there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that I don’t want my daughter to be anywhere near a jail, let alone go inside one. This place isn’t for you. We’re going to apply for bail again. I hope to be out of here soon enough, and I’ll see you then, kiddo.”
When? Ally wanted to ask, but she knew better than to torment her father with questions he didn’t have answers to.
“Besides, you’re going to be busy with your new job, so you probably won’t have time for your old man.”
“I’ll always have time for you, Dad,” Ally’s voice caught. She simply couldn’t bring herself to tell her father about Lorman & Matherson rescinding their job offer. She had never lied to her father, but today she had broken a record: not one but two lies. The fact that she had lied to spare her father grief was her only defense and consolation.
“I have to go, kiddo, but we’ll talk again soon. I promise.”
“Okay, Dad. Take care of yourself. I love you.
“I love you too, Ally, very much. Remember, kiddo, even when things aren’t looking that bright, there’s always tomorrow to look forward to.”
“I know, Dad. I love you.”
The connection ended, but Ally continued clutching the phone tightly, as though hoping that it would bring her closer to her father. A moment ago his voice had been on the other side of the receiver, and now it was gone. She wanted to believe that she would see him soon; she had to. Her dad had promised her that, and if there was one thing she was certain of it was that her father would never lie to her.
Chapter 7 - Two Months Later
Ally climbed the last step of the walk-up building where she and Maddie shared an apartment on the Upper East Side in New York City. Still panting, she plunged the key into the front door lock and after several forceful j
erks pushed it open. She threw her bag onto the floor, kicked off her shoes, and collapsed on the couch. Normally she had much neater habits, but today she was exhausted. It had been yet another day of knocking on doors only to have the door shut right back in her face.
At times it seemed surreal how much her life had changed since that fateful day when she saw her father’s name next to the horrible accusations in newspaper headlines. Roberts Enterprises was gone. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the company had been declared bankrupt. The claims presented for the losses that Pollux had incurred from shutting down their plants were enormous, but when coupled with the claims presented by the customers that purchased electricity from Pollux, which included several states and major corporations, the claims became astronomical, sealing the fate of Roberts Enterprises. There was no choice but to declare the company bankrupt. But even then there was still hope for salvation, as Roberts’ lawyers looked for possible creditors to foot the financial obligations that Roberts Enterprises was faced with. Despite the accusations, there were several interested parties, but before these plans could come to fruition, the final blow was dealt.
In what was lauded as an act of valiance, Victor Roberts’ major competitor, Blaine Platt, owner of Infinity Capital, stepped in with an offer to purchase the equipment manufacturing and installation facilities of Roberts Enterprises along with the company’s patents, and took over Roberts Enterprises’ contracts at cost. In the interest of time, the judge sanctioned the sale to Infinity Capital, deeming all other bids irrelevant. Victor Roberts’ sentence was due to be announced the next day, but Ally’s father never heard it. The shock of seeing his company destroyed had proven to be too much. He passed away from heart failure the night before the verdict was read.
Ally got to see her father shortly before he passed away. She had pleaded with him and despite his earlier protests against her coming to see him in jail, he had agreed to a visit. Now, thinking back, she realized that instead of experiencing a brief joy at the prospect of seeing him, she should have been devastated. Her father’s change of heart had meant that he was giving up. She had planned to say so much to her father, but when she saw him looking frail and thin, seeming years older than she remembered him, words failed her. Even then he had put on a brave face for her, assuring her that they were going to keep fighting. She had believed him, but her father’s promise was not within his ability to keep. The sale of Roberts Enterprises to Infinity Capital was sanctioned the next morning, and the night of that day her father passed away. There were no more tomorrows left for them to make up for all the missed time together. Her father was gone.
Ally had watched the rest of the proceedings unfold, numbed by devastating grief. With her father gone, the prosecution no longer had the power over his being, but they had made sure to tarnish his legacy. Victor Roberts was deemed personally responsible for the production failures of Pollux, and his personal assets were ordered to be liquidated to compensate the injured parties. In plain language, she was now penniless. With the exception of a few thousand dollars that she had managed to save from her allowance there wasn’t a dollar more she could claim to her name.
She had been looking for a job for two months, but it was as though she were a leper. The same employers who had been eager to hire her before graduation would now not even return her calls. During the few interviews she had managed to secure, inevitably the question would come up about her name. At first she had been honest, and each time there had been a perceptible change in the interviewer’s demeanor. After several failed interviews, Ally decided to change her strategy, saying that she was of no relation to Victor Roberts of Roberts Enterprises. It was easy enough—after all, Roberts was a common enough name—but it had hurt her to lie and made her feel like she was betraying her father. Still, she had gone through with it and had come close to an offer from a small engineering firm, but the whole thing fell apart after a background check. At this rate Ally would be out on the street in no time. Even though he couldn’t always be there for her in person, her father had always been such a large presence in Ally’s life that she had never before realized how alone the two of them were. With her father gone, there was literally no one for her to turn to. With both her mother and her father being only children, Ally didn’t have any uncles or aunts, and both of her grandparents were long gone. Maddie had been wonderfully supportive, telling her not to worry about the rent, but Ally knew that she couldn’t leech off her friend indefinitely.
Uncle Otto had been like family to her, but even though he had offered to help, she refused to be a burden to him. With his pension invested in Roberts Enterprises stock, Otto Bauer’s retirement had been wiped out. Mercifully, his own children were older than Ally and already had successful careers in different fields, so at least he didn’t have to worry about supporting them. Still, the thought of being a burden on his children terrified him. He had been planning to retire early, but now all of that was shot and he would need to continue working into his old age. Ally had visited Uncle Otto and his wife and both looked like shadows of their former selves.
She felt a powerless rage at seeing how the lives of her father and those close to him had been destroyed in one swift stroke. Her father had been so certain of his company that he had invested everything he had into it. Unlike some of the executives, he didn’t hide his assets, keeping all of his fortune in the company stock, and now all of it was gone. The same went for Uncle Otto, and many of the faithful employees who had worked for Roberts Enterprises over the years. Had Victor Roberts been dishonest in his business, he would have taken the necessary precautions to hedge his bets and hide his money elsewhere, but he didn’t. The same went for everyone who had worked with him. Ally remembered asking her father whether he had rivals or enemies who could have orchestrated the failure of Pollux’s plants, to which her father had merely laughed and shrugged. “Ally, dear, I didn’t have time to bother with enemies! I was too busy building my company.” Now it was clear that her father should’ve been more vigilant.
Despite the verdict, Ally was convinced that her father was innocent, and she was determined to clear his name. Just how she was going to go about it, she had no idea, but as naïve as it sounded, she had pledged to make it her life’s mission. She knew she would have to take small steps; the first thing she had to do was get a job, any job. On her way home, she had seen a sign for a waitressing job. The restaurant was said to be closed on Mondays, but tomorrow she would go in and apply. Hopefully the restaurant owner wouldn’t care whether Ally was related to Victor Roberts. It wasn’t exactly what she had envisioned her life to be, but she had to start somewhere. There was no Prince Charming galloping in on a white horse to rescue her.
Ally rose from the couch and noticed a blinking light on the answering machine. She pressed the messages button with hope.
“Good afternoon, this is Gladys Moon from the Department of Energy. We have received your résumé and would like to see you for an interview tomorrow morning at ten a.m. Please call us to confirm—”
Ally grabbed a notepad and pen and hurriedly wrote down the number. A moment later, she dialed the number and confirmed her interview for tomorrow. She was told that she had been just in time. It was a quarter to five; a few minutes more and Gladys Moon would have left for the day.
***
As Ally approached the appointed address for her interview at the Department of Energy, she felt tremors run down her spine. It was the middle of summer and New York was scorching hot, but the wetness that Ally felt under her arms and on her palms was not caused by heat. Before, in a life that now seemed years away, she had not been nervous at interviews. She had been excited and eager, confident that she was a candidate who had a lot to offer to any company in her field with her education and internship experience. Her accomplishments had not changed, but now she was afraid. She was scared of rejection. This was her last chance for a job—a job she had spent four years studying for. If she didn’t get it, she’d be
waiting tables, and who knew when she was going to get another interview? Probably never. Ally took a deep breath and pulled open the building door. Up until yesterday she didn’t even know that the Department of Energy had an office in New York; she assumed that they were only in Washington. Truth be told, she didn’t even remember applying for the job, but what difference did that make? She got the call. At this point, she was willing to take anything, even a clerical job.
After signing in with the security desk, Ally was given a temporary ID and told to wait to be escorted upstairs. She didn’t have to wait long.
“Ally?”
Ally recognized Gladys Moon by her chirpy voice. Gladys looked to be in her mid-forties, had short brown hair, and was dressed in a beige linen suit. Her feet were sporting cream colored flats. She was doing her best to maintain corporate attire in New York’s merciless summer heat.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Moon.”
“Gladys, dear, please call me Gladys. It’s right this way.” Gladys pointed at the elevator bank. “Marion is expecting you. We’d better hurry. Marion’s schedule is packed.”
Ally nodded and clutched her briefcase, which contained copies of her résumé printed on ivory-colored stationery. Last night Gladys had mentioned that the interview would be with the head of the department, and Ally assumed that’s who Marion was.
Once they exited the elevator, Gladys briskly walked down the gray-carpeted corridor, flanked by office doors on either side. She stopped at the last door and knocked.
“Come in.”
Gladys opened the door and motioned for Ally to walk inside. “Allyson Roberts,” Gladys announced and took her leave.
“Hi, Allyson, I’m Marion Phillips. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Phillips.” As Marion Phillips rose from her desk to shake Ally’s hand, Ally studied her future boss. Marion Phillips looked more like a movie star than a government official. At first glance she looked to be no more than forty. She was dressed in an expertly tailored gray designer suit that showed off her long slender legs. The skin on her face was smooth and taut, with a perfectly chiseled nose, piercing green eyes, and sensual lips that parted in a smile that revealed a row of perfectly aligned, dazzlingly white teeth. Only a closer look at her bobbed hair that was so white that it at first appeared to be bleached, suggested that her real age was probably closer to fifty.