Chapter 123 - 123: Planning a Play Date
"I was surprised that you recognized me, and decided to reach out, Captain," said Olga as she sipped a coffee in the Sirius Zone outlet of the Star Crossed Maid Café.
While the original Japanese Idol group had returned to Japan after the US-Libya standoff, and the diplomatic summit. The outlet was now run and managed by DuPont Hospitality and Services, with American staff specifically trained in Japanese maid café routines and aesthetics.
"Yes, well, I suppose you know why I asked for this meeting," said Edward.
Olga nodded, and gave Edward the short version of what had transpired between Ivan and Annette.
"Damn, that is one messed-up family," sighed Edward.
"In any case, my advice would be to help Mikaela if you can, but stepping on Annette's toes is a guarantee, unless you start spouting her political beliefs," said Olga.
"Yeah, not gonna do that. So much for having a quiet retirement," sighed Edward.
"Sirius Software is planning to expand its nuclear cargo fleet, would you be interested?" chuckled Olga.
"Hell no! Staring down that damn Aristotle was excitement enough. That's why I retired in the first place," laughed Edward.
"Just kidding, Captain. Anyway, it was nice catching up with you," said Olga, rising to leave.
---
"Hey, Annette. I've got the accounts separated. Here's your new account information and debit card. You can use it how you please, while the alimony check goes into a monitored savings account. As long as you use that money for Mikaela's needs, that gravy train keeps running," said Ruth, handing Annette a fat packet of documents and a shiny new debit card.
"Finally!" sighed Annette, taking the packet from her.
"Consider yourself lucky. Stefan the Shark advised Ivan to lock the alimony payments into a trust fund that Mikaela gets when she turns 18, but Ivan shot him down, and made this monitored account thing," said Ruth.
Her eyes spotted Edward across the street, shirtless as he polished his Stormkreuzer car.
"Who is that absolute hunk?" she asked, blushing.
"That's Captain Edward Hawkins. And you're not chasing him away like you did with Daddy," said Mikaela, coming down the stairs in time to hear Ruth's question.
Ruth smiled sadly at Mikaela.
"It's not like I wanted to chase him away Mikaela, your mom..," she began to explain.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. You're just her lawyer. I still hate you anyway," declared Mikaela, tossing her head and going out of the house.
"I think I need to bill you extra, Annette. That one hurt," said Ruth, as Annette vibrated in equal parts indignation and embarrassment.
"Wait here," growled Annette, and marched after Mikaela.
---
"Mikaela! You get back here and apologize to Ms. Hirschfield!" snarled Annette marching up to Mikaela and grabbing her hand.
"Or what?" asked Mikaela, glaring up at Annette.
Annette took a deep breath to control herself.
"Or, I'll ground you for the rest of summer break, and not even Captain Hawkins can get you out of that one," she told Mikaela, glaring right back.
"Fine!" snapped Mikaela, turning back to the house.
---
"Ms. Hirschfield, I'm sorry," said Mikaela mechanically, as she re-entered the house with Annette.
"It's all right sweetie," said Ruth.
"Don't call me that!" snapped Mikaela, but then she cocked her head thoughtfully.
"Actually, since you're a lawyer, maybe you can do me a favor, and then I'll be nicer to you," she said.
"What favor?" asked Ruth.
"Make it so that Daddy can come and see me, and since Mom is scared of him, make it so that Captain Hawkins is there when he comes," said Mikaela.
"I don't think that's a good idea Mikaela," said Annette, a vein throbbing in her temple.
"What? Captain Hawkins will make sure you both behave," reasoned Mikaela.
"Well, I suppose it can work, but I'll need something more than just you being nice to me for that," said Ruth, trying to get out of the predicament she had walked into.
"Money? Take it out of that check Daddy sends Mom," said Mikaela nonchalantly.
"Well now see, that is what is called a conflict of interest. Your mom is paying me to keep your dad away, and now you're trying to make me not do that. Whom do I listen to?" asked Ruth, starting to enjoy the banter, but acting sad and conflicted.
"Well, you've been listening to Mom all these years, how about listen to me for a change? I want Daddy and nobody listens," said Mikaela, pouting.
"No! Not the puppy-dog eye attack!" exclaimed Ruth dramatically.
"That's enough you two! Ruth! Be a professional!" barked Annette.
"Nobody cares what I want!" shouted Mikaela, and stormed back upstairs.
"Way to go, Annette," sighed Ruth, shaking her head.
"I would appreciate it if you don't undermine my authority in front of my daughter. As you so clearly explained to me, I don't have any other choice or leverage," said Annette, opening the front door, and gesturing for Ruth to leave.
"My rate just went up to seven hundred an hour. Consider it my emotional damage fee," said Ruth, walking out of the house.
---
Edward wiped some sweat from his brow, as Ruth crossed the street from Annette's house.
"Captain Hawkins I presume?" she asked extending her hand.
"Yup, that's me. And you are?" he asked shaking her hand.
"Ruth Hirschfield, the unappreciated attorney managing the mess across the street," said Ruth with a wry chuckle.
"Well, what can I do for you, Ms. Hirschfield?" asked Edward, a little cautious.
"I was wondering if I could come in for a drink. I need one after being forced to break a little girl's heart," sighed Ruth.
Edward raised an eyebrow.
"Mikaela tried to get me to set up a visitation with her father in exchange for her not hating me. I was thrown out of the house before I could fully explain a conflict of interest," sighed Ruth.
Edward was about to respond, when Mikaela raced across the street, and latched onto his waist.
"Stay away from Captain Hawkins! Wasn't chasing Daddy away enough?" screamed Mikaela, clinging tightly to Edward's jeans.
Ruth backed away.
"Let me explain something to you, Ms. Zakhrov. I didn't chase your daddy away. I just told a judge that your daddy hit your mom, and the judge ordered that daddy cannot see you," she said wearily.
"I ain't going anywhere, Mikaela. Don't worry," said Edward, gently patting Mikaela's head to calm her down.
Mikaela looked up at him, and then back at Ruth.
"Ms. Zakhrov, I know you don't like me, but I'm not your enemy. I'm just trying to do my job, and make sure you and your mom are safe. And I wasn't trying to chase Captain Hawkins away. I was about to ask him on a date," said Ruth exasperatedly, but then clapped her hand on her mouth, once she realized what she had blurted out.
"Oh," said Mikaela, who had calmed down enough to absorb what Ruth had said.
Still blushing crimson, Ruth reached into her purse and pulled out a card.
"I can't set up a visit with your dad because I work for your mom, but this guy is your dad's lawyer. You can call him and ask him to set it up," she said, handing it to Mikaela.
"Hmm, OK. And you can date Captain Hawkins," said Mikaela taking the card.
"Come on in for a beer, Ms. Hirschfield. I think you really need one," chuckled Edward, as Mikaela finally let go of him, and skipped back across the street.
"Thanks," said Ruth still blushing crimson.
---
"What was all that about?" asked Annette, as Mikaela returned to the house.
"Nothing. Just making sure Ms. Hirschfield wasn't going to chase Captain Hawkins away," said Mikaela, going back upstairs to her room.
Once she was safe in her bedroom, she carefully locked the door, and booted up her computer.
She opened her email client, and started to type a message to Stefan:
"Hi, Mr. Stanislaus. This is Mikaela, your client's daughter. I would like to hire you for making it so that Daddy can come see me, and since my mom is scared of him, our neighbor across the street, Captain Hawkins, can be there just in case,"
She added Stefan's email address, and hit send.
---
"Well, Ivan. You've got one resourceful kid," chuckled Stefan, showing Ivan the email.
"As happy as I am about it, Annette will go ballistic if we tell her that Mikaela is the one who requested it," said Ivan.
"Annette will have to make peace with it, Ivan. I'd tell you the same thing if the situation was reversed, and Mikaela didn't want to see you," said Stefan.
"Fine, let's set up a meeting. We'll do it at this Captain Hawkins' house where neither of us has home field advantage," said Ivan.
"Not so fast. Ruth gave me a heads-up that she had given Mikaela my contact info. If Annette finds out about that, she will surely fire Ruth and get another lawyer who is an unknown variable. We need to keep that little detail out of this," said Stefan.
"How do we do that?" asked Ivan.
"I have an idea. We'll use my daughter, Anna as the go-between. Mikaela is friends with her at school, so I'll set up parent supervised play-date first. I give Mikaela my contact info there, and then she can ask me directly," said Stefan.
"Seems roundabout, but fine," said Ivan.
---
"Hello, Mikaela. I received your request, and I am happy to make it happen. But first I need to see you in person, so here's the plan: Invite Anna over for a play date at Captain Hawkins' house, and I'll come with her. You can ask me directly there, and then your mom won't be able to say no," read Stefan's reply.
"OK, Mr. Stanislaus. I'll ask Anna," typed Mikaela, and sent the email to both him and Anna.
She logged out of her computer, and shuddered in excitement and anticipation.
---
"Mom. I've asked Anna to come over to play with me and Captain Hawkins, she said yes," informed Mikaela over breakfast of scrambled tofu.
"Shouldn't you have asked Captain Hawkins first?" asked Annette.
"She actually did. She's been wanting to introduce Anna to me," chuckled Edward.
"By the way, Captain. How was your date with Ms. Hirschfield?" asked Mikaela, which caused Annette to nearly spit out her glass of water.
"It was nice, she's actually a nice lady when she isn't doing lawyer things," chuckled Edward.
"Let me get this straight. You let Ms. Hirschfield off the hook because she wanted to date Captain Hawkins?" asked Annette.
"Yup," said Mikaela.
"I don't know how I feel about that," grumbled Annette.
"If you pay her to stop dating Captain Hawkins, I'm never speaking to you again," warned Mikaela.
"I won't do that. When is Anna coming over?" asked Annette, trying to keep calm.
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"Tomorrow. She and her dad are coming over to Captain Hawkins' house," said Mikaela.
"Fine, but I'll be there as well," said Annette.