When I Saw You

by Laura Branchflower

  Tony shook his head. “Let’s just finish eating.”

  Joseph set down his spoon and brought his hands up to cover his face.

  “Joseph?” Lia touched his arm. “Tell me what’s wrong.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, her eyebrows pulled together in a frown.

  He dropped his hands from his face and gripped the arms of his chair. “I’ve got to get out of here.” He pushed back his chair and came to his feet, his eyes briefly finding Lia’s. “I’m sorry.”

  “I’ll come with you.” She began to stand.

  “No! I need to be alone.” And without another word he was gone, leaving her with Tony.

  Lia was stunned. “I can’t believe this. He left me.”

  “Just give him some time. He’ll be okay.”

  “I don’t understand.” Her tear-filled eyes met Tony’s. “I’ve never seen him like that. Who did he see that upset him so much? That congressman?” She could feel her face heating up, embarrassed that he’d left the restaurant without her.

  “You really need to discuss this with Joseph. I’m sure he’ll call you tomorrow and explain. I’ll take you home.”

  “No.” Lia shook her head. “That’s okay. I’m going to go to his place to make sure he’s okay.”

  Tony took her hand. “This is complicated, Lia, but it has nothing to do with you. Why don’t you give him some space?”

  Lia slowly pulled her hand from his grasp. “I don’t agree. This has everything to do with me. He left me in a restaurant without an explanation. I’m his fiancée.”

  Tony watched her in silence for several seconds. “Okay, I’ll take you to his place.”

  Twenty minutes later, she opened the door to Joseph’s darkened condo and flicked on the foyer light. She assumed he’d come straight home, but a quick search of the apartment revealed that wasn’t the case. Two hours later, there was still no sign of him, and she felt nauseous with worry.

  She must have dozed off sometime during the night, because she sat up with a start when she heard the front door opening just after eight the following morning. “Joseph?” She was off the couch and in the foyer before he closed the door. “Oh my God.” She covered her mouth. “What happened to you?” His royal-blue shirt was splattered with blood, and he had a white gauze bandage on the right side of his forehead.

  “I crashed my car.” He held up a hand when she moved closer. “I’m fine. Just a few stitches.” He stepped around her and crossed to the stairs.

  “Joseph. What—”

  “I don’t want to talk right now,” he interrupted. “I’ve been up all night. They made me stay for observations, so I didn’t get any sleep.”

  Lia followed him up the stairs and to his bedroom and watched as he stripped down to his briefs, pulled back the comforter and lowered himself onto the bed. He lay back on the pillow and closed his eyes.

  “You have to tell me what happened. I was sick with worry. I think I deserve an explanation. You left me there at the restaurant, Joseph.”

  “Lia, please. Not now.”

  “But I want to understand. I want to help.”

  “You can help by letting me sleep. I’m tired. I’ll explain everything after I sleep.”

  She wanted to press her point, but he looked pale and exhausted, so instead she turned towards the door. “Alright.”

  “Lia?” His voice had her stopping in the doorway and turning back to him. “Don’t leave.”

  “I’m not going to. I was going to—”

  “Come lie with me.”

  She crossed to the bed and slowly removed her clothes before slipping beneath the cool sheets beside him. As she lay back against the pillows, he took her hand. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” She wanted to say so much more, but instead she curled against him and closed her eyes.

  When Joseph awoke, he was alone in the bed. He touched the gauze bandage and grimaced. He began to sit up, but almost instantly lay back down. “Lia,” he called out, his voice hoarse.

  Within seconds, the bathroom door opened and Lia was at his side. “How are you feeling?”

  “Lousy. I think my migraine’s coming back. They gave me some pills at the hospital last night. Would you look in my jacket?”

  Less than a minute later she was handing him a pill and glass of water. “Do you need anything else? Something to eat?” She gently pushed his hair back, her eyes moving over the bandage on his forehead.

  “No, I need the pills to kick in.” He groaned. “Please close the blinds. I can’t take the light.”

  It took her a minute, but she figured out which button brought down a darkening shade, which bathed the room in complete darkness. She was slowly making her way towards the door when Joseph’s voice came from the bed. “Will you lie with me?”

  “Of course. Do you want me to rub your back or something?” She slipped beneath the covers and moved her hand over his chest.

  “No, just lie with me.”

  Lia was completely disoriented when she awoke several hours later. It was so dark, and yet she felt rested. Then she remembered the shades. She felt around for her cell phone and a moment later was squinting at the display. It was after 4:00 p.m. She’d basically slept the day away. Her eyes traveled to Joseph, who was stirring beside her, and quickly darkened her phone, hoping it hadn’t disturbed him.

  “What time is it?” His voice was deep with sleep.

  “A little after four. How are you feeling?”

  “Better. I’m sorry. God, I’m sorry.” He began to sit up, but fell back with a slight moan.

  “Still hurts?”

  “Yes, but it’s different. It could be my forehead or the lack of coffee. It’s pounding.”

  “I could make you some coffee.”

  “Yes.” He sighed. “But after last night, I don’t deserve this.”

  “Shh.” She kissed him lightly on the cheek. “I love you. I’ll be right back.”

  “Oh God, my car,” he said. “I need to call my insurance company and I need to call my dealer. I need to order another one.”

  “Joseph, no.” Lia put her hand on his shoulder when he moved to sit up. “Let me get the coffee and then we can deal with the car.”

  He didn’t argue as he lay back on the bed. “Would you bring me some crackers or something?”

  “Yes. I’ll be right back. Do you mind if I turn on the light? I can’t see a thing.”

  A half hour later, after drinking a cup of coffee and eating two biscotti biscuits, Joseph began to get up.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I need to get my insurance information from the study so I can let them know about the accident. And I need to order another car.”

  “No, you stay here. You’re still pale. I’ll get it for you.”

  Joseph hesitated, but then lay back down. “There’s a hidden wall in my study. When you walk, in it’s the wall to the left. There’s a floorboard that comes up—it’s the one in the far corner of the room, farthest from the door. Lift it and you’ll see a place for a key. Put the key in and turn it to the right. The wall will open and you’ll see my file cabinets. Then look under I for insurance and then A for auto. Then find the folder for the Mercedes S63.”

  “Where’s the key?”

  “In my jacket beside my car key.”

  “Do you need anything else? More coffee?”

  “Coffee would be great.” He closed his eyes.

  “I’ll be right back.” She kissed him lightly on the lips before leaving the room.

  She quickly located the hidden wall and stood back in amazement as the wall disappeared into the ceiling, revealing a space deep enough to contain Joseph’s massive collection of files, which seemed better suited for a company than a home. There were hundreds—no, thousands—of files housed in twelve connected maple cabinets lining the entire wall of his study. Most of the files seemed to be companies, but his personal information also appeared to be confined within the cabinet drawers. She noticed a Harva
rd file and peeked in to see three years of law school transcripts. The insurance section had files titled health, life, homeowners, liability, accident and automobile. The car section included only the Mercedes and his Land Rover, which was an indication he didn’t hold on to outdated information.

  When she opened the file labeled Mercedes, her mouth fell open. He’d paid one hundred sixty-four thousand dollars for his car, and there was no lien holder. She knew the car was expensive, but thought “expensive” was more like sixty thousand dollars and included a loan with a hefty monthly payment.

  “I have the file,” she said as she entered Joseph’s bedroom.

  “Would you call the number for the dealer and give me the phone?”

  “Why the dealer? Do you think it’s totaled?”

  “I have no idea, but I don’t want it anymore.”

  She laughed. “It’s practically brand new. I’m sure your insurance will pay to fix it.”

  “I’m sure they will, and then it will be sold. I’m not driving a repaired car.”

  “But it’s so expensive.”

  He was lying on his back with his head on his pillow, watching her. “I know exactly how much I paid for the car, and when you dial the number for me, I’m going to order a new one. Okay?” His eyes widened.

  “Fine.” She quickly dialed the number into her cell phone before handing it to him. “I really think this is extravagant.”

  “Noted.” He met her eyes as he brought the phone to his ear. “Do you mind bringing me a cup of coffee?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.” She left the room and when she returned a few minutes later with a hot cup of coffee he was off the phone.

  “Thank you.” He was almost in a sitting position, lounging back against a stack of pillows, his chest bare, the comforter falling at his waist. He was still a little pale, but not nearly as much as earlier.

  “Doesn’t your car have airbags? I can’t understand how you hit your head.”

  “I wasn’t wearing my seat belt. I hit a light pole. The air bags probably saved my life.”

  “Oh my God.” Lia covered her mouth, feeling sick inside. He could have been killed. “What happened? I’m so confused.” She lowered herself onto the edge of the bed beside him. “You left me at a restaurant.”

  He closed his eyes as if in pain, and then he was opening them, his gaze meeting hers. “I’m ashamed of my behavior last night. There is no excuse for what I did.”

  “I need to understand what happened.”

  “This isn’t something I ever talk about.”

  “Tony seemed to know.”

  “He’s the exception. I told him back in law school.”

  “And now you need to tell me. I’m going to be your wife. We shouldn’t have secrets. Did it have something to do with that congressman?”

  He sighed. “Indirectly. The woman he referred to as his fiancée. She’s my biological half-sister.”

  “Your half-sister,” Lia repeated, a little confused because he’d already told her he was an only child. “But not from your mother.”

  “No, from my father. And that’s what caused me to lose control last night. I found out he was there in the restaurant.”

  “Your father was at the restaurant last night with the congressman?”

  “Right.”

  “But I thought you told me you didn’t know your father—that your parents never married.”

  “I don’t know my father. I mean, I know he’s Richard Eastman, but I’ve never met him, and last night when it seemed like I was going to for the first time, I couldn’t.”

  “I don’t understand. Does he know you’re his son?” His father’s name sounded familiar, but she wasn’t sure why.

  “He knows.” He dropped his hand, his eyes once again meeting hers. “He’s always known.” For the second time in his life, he explained how he came to be. How his father had wanted his mother to abort him. How he’d grown up around money, but never had any of his own.

  “That must have been hard,” Lia said when he finished.

  “It was hell. And he left us there. The son of a bitch was worth hundreds of millions and he let my mother continue to work as a maid.” His lips turned up in disgust. “Even if he didn’t care about her, even if she’d just been an easy lay, how could he let his blood be raised in a tiny two-bedroom house knowing I was going to school with people worth millions and knowing how different that would make me? Their fathers were presidents of banks and CEOs of Fortune Five Hundred companies, and I was the illegitimate son of a servant!”

  “Joseph,” Lia began, laying her hand on his chest, “calm down. You’re going to give yourself another headache. He’s a bad person, I agree. But he should be nothing to you. You’re a successful attorney. You’re a great person. Who cares about him?”

  “I do.” The normal warmth was gone from his expression. “I want to look him in the eyes and have him explain to me how a father could abandon his only son. I want to look him in the eyes when he answers that question.”

  “Why didn’t you confront him last night?”

  “Because I’m not ready yet. When I’m ready, I’ll call him on the phone and make an appointment.”

  “You were fourteen when you discovered his identity. When will you be ready?”

  “Soon,” he answered. “As soon as I make the Forbes list of wealthiest Americans.”

  “The Forbes list?” She realized why she recognized his father’s name. “He runs a brokerage house in New York City. He’s always referred to as ‘the Genius of Wall Street.’”

  “Wizard of Wall Street,” Joseph corrected. “But he’s never made the list. I’m going to.”

  Her eyes opened wider, having a hard time comprehending what he was telling her. He intended to be on the Forbes list of richest Americans. “Joseph—”

  “I’m worth over eight hundred million dollars,” he said, stunning her. “I’m going to make it.”

  Lia stared at him, unable to believe what he was saying. He was worth over eight hundred million. She realized he was successful, even figured he made over a million dollars a year, but this—this was mind-numbing. She didn’t know if she could look at him the same again.

  “Say something.”

  “I’m speechless.” She looked into his eyes, eyes that were familiar and yet suddenly not. “How did you get so much money? Did that man, Theodore Williams—did he leave you his money?”

  “No. I made it myself. I started investing in stocks when I was an undergrad at Yale. I put everything I made into it. I took risks. When I graduated from law school, I had close to three million.”

  “How did you know what to do?” While other kids were experimenting and living it up, he was amassing a fortune.

  “Williams taught me a tremendous amount, and I studied on my own. It wasn’t hard, and there was luck involved. It was the right time to be in the market. I was basically a day trader.”

  “Luck?” She laughed. “Luck doesn’t make you three million dollars.”

  “It helps.” He pushed back the sheets and began to get up. “I’m going to put on some clothes.”

  She watched him walk off towards his closet, her mind still in a haze. He didn’t live like he had that kind of money. He didn’t have a driver or a chef or a mansion in the suburbs, or vacation homes all over the world. He drove an expensive car and wore three-thousand-dollar suits, but so did many lawyers in DC. She was still on the edge of the bed when he emerged from the closet dressed in dark cotton lounge pants and a long-sleeved black T-shirt.

  “How did you go from three million to eight hundred million?”

  “Investments. I’m still in the market, but I made the bulk of my money through my Angel investments.”

  “Angel?”

  “Entrepreneurs who need cash come to me with business ideas or existing businesses. I invest in them and, in return, get a significant stake in the company. I’m a silent partner.”

  “Like with Nick?”

  “
Kind of.” He sat on the edge of the bed beside her. “I own a little less than half his company, but funding him was a favor. My other investments have been in the high-tech industry.”

  “So, what now?”

  “I make more as quickly as possible. My father announced his retirement last year. I read it in a magazine and was afraid he had something terminal, but I was wrong. But I still need to work harder. If he dies before I meet him, it would all be for nothing.”

  “You’re serious? Your whole motivation for accruing this wealth is so you can meet your father?”

  “It’s a little more complicated than that. When I meet him, I want him to have no misconceptions that I’m after his money. I want him to know, to see I don’t need anything from him, that I’m much more than him.”

  “But you don’t know him. Why do you care what he thinks about you?”

  “I don’t care what he thinks about me. I don’t care about him. But when we meet, I want him to know what he lost.”

  She watched him, trying to understand. “And then what? What happens after you’ve made the list and met him? Do you stop working, or—”

  “I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I’ve never thought past that day. I suppose that’s a decision we can make together.”

  “I don’t understand how you could let someone you’ve never even met control your life.”

  “Control my life? What are you talking about?”

  “Don’t get mad at me,” she said, taking one of his hands. “I’m trying to understand.”

  “Trying to understand what?”

  “You’re thirty-four years old and you’ve accrued a large fortune. And you’re telling me your entire motivation for accruing this money was so a man you’ve never met won’t think you’re a gold digger.”

  “You don’t understand.” He pulled his hand from her and walked off towards the bathroom.

  “That’s right,” Lia agreed, following. “And I’m trying to. Please explain it to me so I understand.”

  “Did you listen to me when I described my childhood?” he asked, turning back to her before entering the bathroom. “Can you even begin to understand how it felt to live among those people, knowing I was his bastard? You can’t—you can’t possibly, or you’d understand everything I’m doing. I despise him with every inch of my being and I think about it every day. Every day I think about how much I despise him, and one day I’m going to look him in the eyes and tell him that to his face. Then I’ll be free.” He went into the bathroom