Not Wanted in Hollywood by Leonie Gant

there was a bit of nervousness there. It seemed so at odds
with the cool exterior she presented to the world. “I guess you’re
wondering why I asked to meet you.”
    “ I do find it
curious,” said Griffin. “You left my dad thirty years ago and we
haven’t heard a word from you since and now out of the blue you
want to meet me.”
    Angela smiled ingratiatingly. “I was very
young when I married your father. I didn’t realize what marriage
would entail and having a baby was something that I was really not
prepared for. I was frightened by it and your father was no help at
all.”
    Both Griffin
and I stiffened at the slight against Lee. I adored Lee and he had
raised Griffin on his own the best he could. Lee was the first to
admit that his parenting skills may not have been perfect, but he
loved his son and did the best by him. As evidenced by the fact
that he came down to my office to give me the heads up about this
touching family reunion. Angela had made her first mistake by
blaming Lee for her choices.
    Griffin obviously felt the same way that I
did as he moved to interrupt her. “I’m really not interested in why
you left. You made your choice then and I don’t think we need to
revisit it. What I want to know is why you want to see me now.”
    I thought
that Griffin had asked a clear question. From what I could see,
Griffin thought he had asked a clear question. Unfortunately
Angela’s response was to start telling us about her life, from the
moment that she walked out of the door leaving Lee and Griffin far
behind. For the next hour Griffin and I were subjected to a
discussion on the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Lee had told
me that Angela had been a socialite trust fund baby but I had never
truly grasped what that meant. It was only after we had made our
way through lunch and had moved on to drinks that I was able to
fully appreciate how wealthy Angela’s family was. From what I could
tell, her life had been one long vacation party that just moved
through various parts of the world. Not once did she ask about her
son’s life. I marveled at the complete lack of awareness that this
woman had regarding her child. Despite the fact that I was
concerned about the emotional toll this situation was having on
Griffin, he looked completely bored and at one point I had seen him
stifle a yawn. When his cell rang he looked so pathetically
grateful for the interruption, that a part of me wondered if he had
set it up with Ramos. He ducked away from the table leaving me with
his mother who had barely noticed his absence.
    When Griffin
came back to the table, for the first time during this meeting, he
looked happy.
    “ I am sorry,”
he announced, “but work is calling. I have a case to get
to.”
    I started to
rise, grateful for the premature end to this torture, only to feel
Angela’s hand on mine. “That’s fine. It will give Trudie and me a
chance to get to know each other. I am so looking forward to
getting to know the woman who captured my boy’s heart.”
    I froze and resigned to my fate I sat down
again.
    Griffin
nodded and leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. “I am so sorry,” he
whispered in my ear before nodding at his mother and making his
getaway.
    I gazed longingly at his back as he strode
away from us.
    “ You seem to
be very fond of my son,” Angela said ,
mistaking my wistful gaze for me being clingy, as opposed to me
wanting to escape with him.
    I nodded as I grabbed a glass of water.
    “ I’m glad to
know that he has someone in his life who cares for him.” Angela
patted me on the hand. “I need to have my son back in my life,” she
said. “I want you to be a part of it.” She smiled at me and I had
to control the shiver. That smile was not real. I work with fake, I
specialize in fake, and believe me, that smile was fake. Something
was going on here and I had a feeling it had nothing to do with a
mother realizing that she wanted to have her son back in her
life.
    I