Chapter 6
Why was it always like a new wound, when actually there was not a single unwounded spot in his heart, Mason wondered. He always felt like drinking after those exhausting duels with his father. It never failed to hurt him to the depth of his being: just how much his own father hated him. CC would ever find a reason to proclaim Mason unworthy, and destroy every chance for his happiness.
It was truly amazing, for Mason never hated his father. He often said he did, but he did not. Why did his father hate his first-born, ever since he was a small boy? He was Pamela''s boy, that''s why. He''d stay by his mother now that he''d found her, there was no question of that.
As to Julia... Mason would not let his father destroy their relationship. He''d not let him do what he''d tried to do to Mary: to convince her Mason was not worthy of her love. CC wouldn''t hesitate to tell Julia the worst tales of Mason''s past and present, and Mason knew Julia could believe his father. Any action can be interpreted in different ways, and Julia was too vulnerable and too obstinate.
Mason did not trust her enough to be sure she''d stay by him in this case. So, he had to be the first to strike, not to give CC a chance to ruin their chance.
After the talk with CC Mason gave much time to thought. He really wanted to drink himself to oblivion, but he resisted the temptation. If he did, he''d give his father an only too welcome opportunity to disparage him. No, he could not lose Julia - and he wouldn''t.
Hardly had Julia got home when the phone rang.
"Julia?"
"Hi Mason."
He could tell by her voice she smiled. He saw her in his mind''s eye, sitting by the phone, holding the receiver to her ear. He smiled, too.
"Can I drop by?"
"Now?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
He appeared at her doorstep in less than ten minutes. It made her think he''d phoned from the beach, by her place.
He handed Julia a bunch of flowers.
"It''s for you."
"Thank you Mason!" She smelled the flowers. "Any special occasion?"
He walked past her into her lounge and turned. "Why?"
Julia shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry. I didn''t mean anything - just teasing."
"Teasing?" Mason frowned.
She saw something was wrong but he thought it''d be better to let him tell her in his time.
"Yes," she said. "I mean the first time you brought me flowers turned into a very special occasion, don''t you think?"
"Ah, yes," he agreed absent-mindedly.
Julia found a vase and arranged the flowers. "Beautiful. Thank you Mason."
She kissed him on the cheek; he did not respond, just smiled to acknowledge the caress.
"I need to talk to you, Julia."
"Okay," she said quietly. "Won''t you sit down?"
Mason shook his head. "No, I''d rather stand." After this, he kept silent for a while. Julia waited.
It did not take her long to start panicking. Mason looked so grave - but if something had happened, would he bring her flowers?
"Okay," she said in a while, losing her patience slightly. "You said we need to talk."
"Yes." Mason looked at her strangely. "Will you marry me, Julia?"
He was watching Julia''s face; he could see she was stunned.
"You m-mean?" she stumbled.
"I mean: will you marry me, Julia? You''re carrying our baby. I guess it''s natural--"
Julia turned away. Mason was tense, and this obvious desire to hide her face hurt him. He was used to Julia''s being sincere and open with him, and he was not ready for this reaction.
Quickly, Mason walked up to her, took her by the shoulders and gently turned back to him. "Julia?"
"Mason," she said looking up. "I--"
"Talk to me."
Julia nodded. "Mason, I don''t want you to feel obliged to do this."
"What are you talking about? You''re pregnant, it''s OUR baby, Julia!"
"I know. I don''t want you to feel you owe us anything. I would never respect myself if I trapped you like this."
"I''ve never felt trapped by you, Julia," he said impatiently. "I trust you, and I know you did not plan this; I just want to marry you now, and to make the baby legitimate."
He wanted Julia to get reasonable and see it was the natural way for their relationship to develop. For some reason, she wouldn''t.
"For God''s sake, Mason," she said giving a nervous laugh. "It''s the end of the 20th century; what century are you living in? How very noble and - Arthurian of you, Mason. Oh - and if you were my first man you''d feel so responsible it''d kill you, wouldn''t it? You must thank God I was not a virgin, to add to this all."
She did not know what she was saying; he winced as if with pain. "Mary was," he said curtly. "...And I married her. It was - different, Julia, no sense talking about it. Or joking. I didn''t marry her because I was her first man."
"I know," Julia said with a grimace of her own to match his. "Of course it was different, wasn''t it, Mason? Because you loved Mary, this is what was different. And this is the reason, don''t you think?"
"The reason for what?" Mason tried desperately to see what was wrong with them - what had gone wrong if it had started right.
Julia turned away again; and Mason took her tenderly by the hand. He was vexed and did not want to believe in what seemed to be happening. "Julia," he tried again. "Don''t you - please, I don''t feel obliged, I want to marry you."
"Why?" she said trying to control her voice.
"Don''t you know? You''re pregnant, and we''d be gre--"
"No Mason," Julia interrupted. Tears were close, but she''d give anything to hide them from Mason.
He stepped back, his face suddenly cold, but she did not see this.
"No?" he echoed.
"We shouldn''t. The reasons are all wrong."
"No," he said again in disbelief. Julia had said she loved him, hadn''t she? It had given him the courage, and now -- "So - you''re rejecting me, are you?"
The tears came, and Julia bit her lip. "Mason--"
"It''s ok. You must excuse me."
Mason hurriedly walked out, shut the door and pressed his back to it. Julia rejected him - and his father would be only too happy to gloat.
Well, now there was no reason not to get drunk.
tbc
Chapter 7
Note to readers: (1) I am not sure, without my edits, of some details, so I am sorry if I distort something; (2) I deliberately let out Jack Lee because I don''t really know what it was about; (3) as to Pearl, I am not sure either when it all got revealed, so I had it this way for my convenience.
Julia Wainwright was not Mary; this was for sure.
Ms Julia Wainwright was a contradictory figure. CC could not label her easily. On the one hand, she was Cruz and Eden''s friend; on the other hand, wasn''t she Augusta Lockridge''s sister? Mason called her his ''intimate friend,'' but CC remembered how many times Mason and Julia had been opponents in court, and how often that ''friendly'' Julia had beaten Mason - who was a very good attorney, CC could admit it, if only to himself. And wasn''t she there in the hospital the very moment Mary was gone?
CC ordered his men to prepare a dossier on Ms Wainwright; in a few days this was done.
"Julia Wainwright... Her parents..."
CC was listening with his eyes closed. When his agent got to Julia''s career in Phoenix, CC opened his eyes.
"In Phoenix, Ms Wainwright got involved in a ... shall I say, scandal."
"What kind of scandal?"
"She let a dangerous criminal go."
"Got bribed?"
"No. Threatened. The mobsters threatened to kill her parents if she did not do what they wanted. After the incident, Ms Wainwright left the law for a while. Eventually she came to Santa Barbara. If I may add, Mr Capwell, - two years ago or so Mr MASON Capwell looked into the details of this case."
CC raised his brows. "Go on."
"In Santa Barbara, Ms Wainwright got back to practising law, including criminal law. The general opinion was that she was very good at it, and her professional reputation remained spotless, for a while."
"Till--"
"Till the case Laurent vs Capwell. Probably you remember that she was David Laurent''s attorney--"
"And she won the case against Mason. I thought it told well on her professional reputation?"
"Ah, yes. What probably you do not know is that Mr Laurent and Ms Wainwright, at the moment, were lovers."
"Oh." CC considered it, then grinned broadly. "It''s enough to get her disbarred, isn''t it? Mason would have smashed them - if he had only known."
"He knew," CC''s interlocutor said laconically.
"What? You can''t be sure--"
"I am. Mr Mason Capwell knew. He did not use it against Ms Wainwright."
"Go on."
"For some time after Laurent''s trial Ms Wainwright did not take new cases. Then there was another case concerning your family, Mr Capwell."
"McCormick vs McCormick," CC said grimly.
"Yes. Another case when Mr Mason Capwell worked against Ms Wainwright. This case was won by your son."
"Anything wrong with this case?"
"Yes, Mr Capwell. Ms Wainwright was defending Mr Mark McCormick who was --"
"I know," CC interrupted impatiently. "I say what was WRONG with Ms Wainwright''s behavior?"
"It was uncharacteristically ill-thought and - silly, and - unprofessional. Most lawyers I consulted are sure Ms Wainwright deliberately dumped her client."
CC thought this over. "To achieve this, Mason could have blackmailed her," he supposed. "He could have threatened her with what he knew of Phoenix and the more recent affair with David."
"He could have. Evidently he did not."
"What makes you think so?" CC frowned.
"The professional analysis of Mr Mason Capwell''s strategy during the trial. He was not prepared for this kind of trial; it''s the experts'' opinion."
"So why would she do it?"
The agent shrugged his shoulders. "What I know is that her behavior was considered unprofessional, and so Ms Wainwright got rather unpopular as a lawyer. She got busy with her personal life instead."
"Another lover?"
"No." A pause. "Artificial insemination."
The muscle in CC''s jaw tightened. "Go on."
"The attempts proved unsuccessful. The latest attempt took place in the fall."
"The sperm donor''s name?"
"The information is strictly confidential, Mr Capwell--"
"I said the sperm donor''s name."
"Michael Baldwin Bradford the 3rd."
"Of the Boston Bradfords?!"
"Yes, Mr Capwell. In your city he''s better known as, um, Pearl."
"Pearl?!"
CC leant back in his chair. Now, this was something Mason wouldn''t know - perhaps. Or was Mason just another sperm donor?
How came CC knew so little of what his son''s life was?
"Are you positive those attempts were unsuccessful?" he asked.
"Yes, quite. After that there was a surgery - a minor one - to prove this."
"And since then?"
"And since then there has been no man in Ms Wainwright''s life but your son."
"Anything else?" CC asked after a pause.
"No, Mr Capwell. Just - now Ms Wainwright works for Smith and McKenna, and it was Mr Mason Capwell who insisted on hiring her. Since that, they have spent much time together, at work, at his or her place, also going out together once or twice."
"Thank you. Leave the papers here."
CC closed his eyes. He needed to think it all over.
He was very angry at Mason for what he was doing, together with Pamela. She claimed her right to some of CC''s property, and Mason was only too glad to betray his father, the man who had raised him.
But still - Mason was his son. And CC felt concerned. It might have looked ill-mannered and even aggressive - CC just did not know how to show his concern. But one thing he knew: if there were calculating suitors by his daughters, or women who, only too conveniently got pregnant, by his sons, he would not stay an impartial observer.
Well, anyone would say that if the men to get pregnant by for this Wainwright woman - a Bradford and a Capwell - had anything in common that would be a loud name and a big fortune. So CC had to keep on the alert, and to make Mason see the real situation.
tbc
