A Business Call...of Sorts [Val, James, Alex, and Lou]

[grantmiddleton]

Lily Middleton is pissed.

The Middletons have always made an appearance in that little gossip magazine, it's just part of being one of the rich families in this town. Even though the Abasis and the Middletons have never had the drama or "juice" of the likes of the Coombs/Thornton rivalry, they're still rich and powerful and tend to draw the Cove's attention. While some members of the well-to-do families hated the thing, an article on a Middleton was always something that Lily had been rather proud of. The gossip was never harmful to their image and most of it consisted of good press that Lily approved of, such as appearances at locally owned businesses or charitable events.

So when her one and only son appeared on the glossy pages of this month's issue, she wasn't surprised to see a woman's picture linked with him. He's a rich and handsome bachelor, smart, and Lily raised him right. There was always a woman linked to Grant Middleton. Lily even thought to herself that the girl was rather beautiful. But then she read the story and she pursed her lips. It was only a matter of time before a marriage angle printed. He's settled down more as he's gotten older, become less of a partier, but anyone who knew Grant would laugh at such an article. Lily didn't, because the wording left her with a sour taste in her mouth.

"When questioned, the couple looked bashful, but in love, and announced they are now married."

The Cove was notorious for printing flat-out lies, but it did feel off that Grant arrived earlier than expected in Siren Cove and did not call his mother. An airy text "What's this Cove business, dear? Love you xo" lead to her own son confirming the gossip and Lily's new iPhone ended up in pieces across the room. She immediately fished her Blackberry, the phone she only used for business, out of her bag and emailed Louise, the only person in Siren Cove that she trusted enough to vent to before she separated herself from society entirely. Her Blackberry immediately sprung to life, texts, calls, emails, all asking for comments about her son's recent nuptials. Lily turned off the phone, took out the battery, and locked it away in a drawer in her study. She spent the next 24 hours in bed with a cold cloth on her head, Lou by her side.

"I can't believe him. My own son, Lou! My son! And who is she? Does she want his money? I'll pay her ten grand just to get out of our lives, I swear to God, Louise! Even fifty!" She's done it before, too. Lily Middleton is not above buying off the wrong women who latch onto her son. She's probably a little too protective of him, but he's an idiot and can't be trusted to make such big decisions on his own. She wanted that Valeria Jung to date him! Strong willed, business oriented, a young, smart woman who valued family more than anything! And the girl doesn't let Grant charm his way out of trouble with her. She's a dream come true! She would be a great partner for Grant.

And they went into business with her sister Riley on that museum, started to make their name and image more accessible to all aspects of Siren Cove, used their name to help others celebrate their history. And that older Jung - she's quiet, but she's smart and very in tune with everyone's needs. She cares and, god, she would have made the perfect assistant to Lily! She could have taught both of the girls so much, how to build a powerhouse if they wanted, or how to remain in control and flourish what they already owned. They have the smarts and the will, they just needed the funds. And here her son has effed it all up by marrying a woman he picked up on a stakeout in Chicago?!

She. Is. Pissed.

By Sunday, she's cooled off and composed herself. She's still seething, but Lily now has the wherewithal to spring into action. She refuses to talk to him, but her main concern now is the safety of her son. Who is this woman? How did she manage to talk Grant Middleton into marriage? It was clear before he left that he wanted to start a relationship with Val, so something...something had to have happened in Chicago.

Lily calls Lou and the staff into the kitchen that morning and asks for a lunch to be set up in the garden at the back of the estate. She'll need Lou present to keep her calm, but also because she knows she can trust the young woman with making sure the lunch is worthy of the Middleton name. Because even in all this chaos, appearances are still a priority. Next, she sends a mass text to the few key players in Grant's life: James Thornton, Valeria Jung, Louise Abasi, and Alex Castillo-Méndez. She's half hoping she can just hire Alex to take care of this nasty situation under the table, but something tells her there's more going on, and she needs answers. Lily Middleton won't accept this marriage lying down.



At twelve, she's dressed in all black, because this isn't a celebration. It's a lunch dressed up as a business meeting. She approaches the table, reaching a hand towards Lou, and speaks.

"I brought you all here because we have very...unfortunate news." Lily squeezes Lou's hand as she musters her strength. "My son has married. I know that you all know this is heavily out of character for him. And you are all the most important people in his life. So I asked you to meet me here to keep prying eyes and ears out." 

Lily slams her hands against the table. "And to ask how the hell did you all let this happen??? James Thornton, who the hell is this woman and why is she married to my son?? What was this 'assignment' he was sent on?" She turns her angry gaze. "Valeria Jung? I thought you were supposed to be his love interest! And why are my roses wilting?? And Alexandria!" Her eyes fall on Alex and her tone goes serious. "How much to fix this." 

Comments

[louise_abasi]

Louise didn't know what to think anymore.

Firstly she thought about how all this mirrored her in a way, although Grant had done the disappearing act much faster than her after her poisonous addiction to Joey. But if it would be magic or anything else outside of Grant's powers, that would mean that she didn't count him as strong enough to protect himself.

Being around Lily Middleton almost full-time made her wonder if - for all this time - they never really knew Grant. But how could that really be an option? His family, his friends, all wrong about what Grant would and wouldn't do?

But really, there wasn't much time for thought, she had to keep Lily away from her war path.

Instead, Louise does a last, unnecessary check of the lunch table, before accepting Lily's hand. Maybe the others had better ideas.

[grantmiddleton]

The fact that Lou remains relatively calm throughout the lunch is heaven for Lily, as she manages anything but. After ripping into her guests, she takes a seat at the table, lowering her voice to Lou.

"What else can we do? I want all of this woman's history on my desk. I want to know how they met, why they met, where she banks, everything. I just don't trust this whole thing. Grant wouldn't do this to me."

[louise_abasi]

"He wouldn't, I can't imagine a world in which he would. That means there is something strange going on and we are the people of Siren Cove, we live and breath the strange."

She pours Lily a glass of water, one of juice and a cup of her coffee. "Drink something, and not just because I know you will talk your throat dry, but because we will be further away from home if you'd fall ill. Please, Lily."

[grantmiddleton]

"Here, here," she says a bit sarcastically to Lou's statement on the strange. Lily lifts the glass of water before drinking it and giving Lou a thanks.

"I will be okay, Louise, because I know you will not rest until you make sure that I am." She smiles and tweaks Lou's chin. "Don't worry yourself sick worrying that I'll make myself sick."

[louise_abasi]

"But worrying about someone else is so much easier than worrying about yourself, mama Middleton. Don't get cheeky with me."

It feels empty, the banter. Louise's just nervous about what could have happened to Grant.

[bewitchinghaze]

"This isn't my fault!" Val yelps, taken aback by the suggestion. "I was just as thrown by all this as you were. Last text I got from him there was no indication he didn't want to... you know. Go out with me again."

She frowns, sending out a wave of growth to the roses anyway, getting them to perk up immediately. "You might want to start spraying your roses with a soap and water combo though. You've got aphids."

[grantmiddleton]

Lily bites her tongue before she presses that Val should have worked harder to keep her son in line because by the looks of it, that wouldn't have had any weight on this whole fiasco anyway. And it's not really Val's fault, it's that woman's and her idiot son.

"You're a witch," she says rather obviously with a nod to a member of the staff to take care of her goddamn roses. "Could someone have bewitched my son?"

[bewitchinghaze]

"Its possible... Maybe the new bride?" she suggests with a deepening frown. "I could probe him for any spells if I got near him, but I haven't heard from him since he got back."

Val stares down at the table for a moment, thinking it over. "I could make you a charm that will cause a glow around him if there are any bad spells? That way you can check yourself and let me know. If there is, I can try and remove it."

[grantmiddleton]

"And I refuse to speak to him," she answers coldly with a shake of her head. "If I even make contact, he immediately launches into how wonderful that woman is and I will straight up vomit on everything if that happens again."

She sits down at the table, composing herself enough to launch into a plan. "That charm sounds like a fine idea. But I will not be around him. You can, though. He won't have his new wife at work and he should return on Monday. You can easily go to the precinct to report a case to James. Their desks are right beside each other. An anonymous gift left on his desk as a wedding present. He loves watches, can't resist them." Lily looks at Val with determination. "If I get you the watch, will you charm it and drop it off?"

[bewitchinghaze]

"Of course," she agrees, ducking her head. This is serious if Lily won't even be around her son. And if its as serious as it seems, Val wants it solved as quickly as possible. "That won't be a problem."

[grantmiddleton]

"Good." Lily pulls out her Blackberry and in a few taps, she has a watch Grant's had his eye on for Christmas purchased and prepared for pickup as soon as she decides to leave the house. "I'll get the watch to you immediately. How long do you need to charm it?"

[secretarialsiren]

A smug grin creeps onto Alex's face and she folds her hands under her chin. "For you, momma? Free. Or you could take me out for lunch sometime soon. But I'm annoyed by this as you are. He didn't even fucking ask me to be his best lady!" she pouts.

[grantmiddleton]

Lily leans over and gently caresses Alex's cheek. What a sweet girl. "Knew I could count on you." Her softness for Alex fades quickly though and she hardens again. "If he were to ever truly settle down, you and I both know he would have thrown the most extravagant party and had you dressed to the nines. Something just isn't right, I don't like it."

[secretarialsiren]

"He totally wouldn't. There's something up with this bitch and I'm gonna sniff it out. Then I'm going to hardcore take her out," Alex frowns, tapping her nails against the table top. "This smells of some kind of supernatural influence, I swear."

[grantmiddleton]

Lily really does love Alex. She's everything she ever dreamed of in a daughter and she makes note to herself to git Alex and Michaela another gift basket. "It does, doesn't it? Nothing could make him settle so quickly. Hell, it took me shelling out two grand to get those two on a date," she says with a nod toward Val.

[secretarialsiren]

"Him and Jimmy boy over there," Alex stage whispers, gesturing over at James. "They're a little slow when it comes to the romance shit. Not like me. I go get what I want. They waffle on it forever. I know James is doing a background check but... Maybe I'll go check out the town she comes from. Ask around to see what people know of her."

[jamesthorn]

James winces when Lily lays into them asking how they could have let this happen. He saw the outburst coming. He had known Grant since they were in high school. He knew how overbearing Lily could be, but truthfully James had always be envious of Grant's relationship with his mother. It was the type that James missed out on when Jacqueline was murdered. Lily had always liked James though, and she knew how close he was with Grant, which is likely the reason for his invitation to this meeting of minds.

But Grant's unexpected marriage took James completely by surprise. He knew Grant, and this just wasn't like him. For one thing, to give up a party, in his honor in exchange for an elopement just didn't sound like his friend. He would've wanted to go all out if he really did find someone to settle down with...

James doesn't believe it though. He has reservations about Valerie, sure, but Grant wasn't a bad person. What he did to her was low. "I had absolutely no clue Grant was this stupid," James says, sipping his coffee. "For the record."

[grantmiddleton]

She huffs, but Lily knows if James could have, he would have stopped her son. He would have at least attempted to talk sense into Grant, contacted herself if he had to. It's still not the answer she wanted.

"Can you run a background check on her or...something? I don't trust this situation at all. It's way too fishy for a man like Grant Middleton to just return from an assignment with a wife." She rolls her eyes at that word. "I need you to find everything you can on this woman, James. Evelyn Tamblyn. I refuse to talk to the girl myself."

[jamesthorn]

"That's really against department policy. While incredibly stupid, getting married to someone you don't know isn't exactly illegal," James tells her knowing that is probably not going to be a good enough answer. "My father may have someone I can call..."

[grantmiddleton]

She's not really surprised by James' answer, but it doesn't bother Lily too much. Alex is more than willing to do anything he isn't comfortable with, and Lily herself has made a few deals under the table in her time. The Thornton head though...he knows some very thorough people. "Do that. There's nothing illegal about marrying a stranger, but you and this whole table know this is not in character for Grant at all. And with everything going on in this town, I am not taking any chances."

[jamesthorn]

James sighs a second, nodding. Lily's right. He's concerned that Grant has found himself in some trouble somehow. He just doubts that Grant would marry someone without telling him. Or maybe their friendship is different than what he thought it was, but he's always thought of Grant like a brother to him. "I'll call in some favors," he agrees. "We should know more about this woman."

[louise_abasi]

"And you're the cop here."

Okay, Louise was sure that Alex had her ways and critical thinking, but James was the one she expected to do things 'old school', without adding irony to those words.

She held up a can of juice. "Orange? Did you see any of this coming, you think?"

[jamesthorn]

"Did I see Grant running off and getting married?" Hell, it wouldn't have been that surprising to him had Grant never really gotten married. He had been serious about Valeria, even if he never admitted it. And for him to get serious about Val was already something James never expected. "I definitely didn't see this coming."

[louise_abasi]

"Not so much the marriage part, but to keep such a big thing and the emotions involved a secret. Grant isn't the person to keep things silent, to keep secrets from his loved ones and friends. Or so we thought, I guess.."

She sets down the can and pulls out the chair. "I'm sorry I haven't talked to you in ages. This comment doesn't has to be viewed in correlation with the case at hand. Did Lily ask you to put him up as missing yet, or are we keeping this lower to the ground?"

[jamesthorn]

"He's the last person I would think to do this. If there's anything I would never think I'd see is Grant defying Lily. He knows how much a wedding would mean to her," James says shaking his head. Grant is a momma's boy, and him going against Lily this way is strange.

He gives Louise a smile and nod. "Same here," he says. "It's been while, hasn't it? Wish it was under better circumstances." At her question though, he shakes his head. "No. Grant isn't missing. He's just married."