Chapter 18

Monday mornings in the Kennard-Porter household were usually a comedy of errors given that it was the ceremonious beginning of a new, often hectic, workweek. This morning, unfortunately, was no different as all three Kennard-Porter women scrambled to begin their day on time.

“I don’t have time to wait!” Tina yelled in the direction of her bedroom as she packed her briefcase for work.

“Go then,” Bette yelled back as she slipped a simple black t-shirt on and searched for her shoes. “I’ll drop her off at school.”

Angelica remained quiet knowing that it was in her best interest to not provoke further annoyance within her mothers. She patiently waited by the front door for whichever one of them would eventually announce themselves as her transportation to school.

“Remember Angelica,” Tina looked up from her briefcase while she spoke to her daughter. “You will come straight home from school. You have no more social life for at least the near future and perhaps beyond depending on our conversation tonight.”

“Yes Mom,” Angelica mumbled without maintaining eye contact.

Bette came barreling down the hallway, grabbing her purse on the kitchen table and headed toward the front door.

“Are you coming with me?” Bette asked Angelica.

“I guess,” Angelica said sheepishly unsure of what the correct answer should be. “I’m ready when you are.”

“Then let’s go,” Bette walked back up to Tina and placed a hurried kiss on her lips before leaving.

“I have a dinner meeting,” Tina reminded her.

“I’ll be here then.”

Bette walked out the door with Angelica following close behind in silence. Tina waited until she heard Bette’s car come to life before she slipped her cell phone from her back pocket and scrolled through the recent calls. She placed her briefcase on one shoulder and grabbed her purse as she balanced her phone between her ear and shoulder. When her assistant picked up, a smile crossed Tina’s face at the sound of her voice.

“It’s me,” Tina said expecting her faithful employee would recognize her voice. “I need a favor Stacy. I need you to clear my schedule for the morning.”


“Will you be in and just not available for the masses?”

“Something like that,” Tina confirmed. “I’ll be in the building in about 20 minutes, but I need some time this morning to pay some departments a visit.”

“Anyone I need to alert that you’ll be coming?”

“No,” Tina smiled. “I want to keep things casual. I also need to talk to Helena some time this afternoon so see if you can squeeze me into her schedule.”

“I’ll make sure it’s done,” Stacy confirmed before hanging up and quickly attacking Tina’s request.

Tina got in the car and checked her phone messages as she maneuvered the streets on her usual route to get to work. Once she had addressed each message, she found herself already at the movie studio and parking in her designated spot. Tina got out of the car and waved to the security guard as she frantically scurried inside having arrived later than normal. She got into the elevator with several other employees, all wishing her a pleasant morning, but becoming confused when she asked for the third floor button to be pressed. Once the doors opened, she quickly stepped out of the crowded elevator and onto the floor that was entirely dedicated to the research department.

“Good morning Sally,” Tina said as she hurried past the department assistant.

Tina looked around and saw that the Monday morning assignment distribution meeting had already begun. She cringed, hating that she’d have to interrupt it, but needing assistance from at least 2 people that sat around the mahogany table.

“Good morning,” Tina stepped inside and smiled politely to the group while the department head nervously stood up.

“Ms. Kennard,” Kevin sputtered. “I wasn’t aware you’d be attending this meeting. Is something wrong?”

“Everything is fine,” Tina reassured him as she sensed his nervousness getting the best of him. “I have a strange request to make to your department so I thought it best to come here and explain it myself. I’m hoping that a few people could be put on the project since it’s something that’s pressing at the moment.”

“We’ll do what we can,” Kevin reassured her now feeling slightly more relaxed.

“I recently came across a story about a now famous artist that I need researched. I have some information on her, but it’s sketchy at best, which means I need someone to track down as much detail on it as possible.”

“Is it going to be a documentary?”

“Potentially,” Tina inwardly cringed at the lie that had escaped her lips. “If there’s an interesting story there it could be.”

Kevin pointed to three young and eager members of his staff and assigned them to handle Tina’s request personally. Tina smiled and motioned to them to bring as much writing material as they’d need and follow her to her office. She patiently waited as the young workers followed her orders by grabbing pads of paper and pens before falling in step behind her as she journeyed to her office.

Once inside the elevator, Tina relaxed slightly and offered a sincere smile to the three employees standing with her. She extended her hand and introduced herself, trying to be as personable as she could, given her status in the company.

The elevator came to a halt on the top floor, which held only two offices, one belonging to Tina and the other to Helena. Stacy sat a comfortable distance from Tina’s office and Helena’s assistant was placed closer to Helena’s door given that Helena usually bellowed her requests rather than using the newly installed monitor system.

“Tina I cleared your schedule for the morning,” Stacy followed Tina inside her office smiling at the nervous employees that also made their way into the large office. “Helena can fit you in at 4:00 if that’s ok with you.”

“That’s fine,” Tina smiled as she sipped from a mug of coffee that Stacy placed on her desk moments before she arrived for the day. “Thank you for your help Stacy.”

Tina motioned for the group to sit down as she sat behind her desk and watched them eagerly begin to scribble notes on their paper.

“The name of the artist is Megan Freedman; she’s a sculptor if that makes any difference in where you look for her. The story is that she’s gay and her partner, carrying their child, died at a very young age.”

“Are we to research this from the artist’s point of view or her partner’s?”

“Neither,” Tina sipped her coffee once more. “I just want the facts at this point. Her partner was supposedly trying to cross a picket line of pro-life demonstrators and bled to death when she couldn’t pass.”

“How deep do you want us to go?”

“Anything you can find by noon,” Tina said knowing her deadline was unrealistic. “I want to meet back here at noon and review what you have at that time.”

“We’ll have it done,” the group confirmed despite Tina’s skepticism. “We’ll be back at noon with most, if not all, of the story.”

Tina smiled and wished them luck, quickly thanking them as they exited her office running directly into Helena trying to make her way in.

“Oh I’m sorry,” Helena stepped out of the way and looked at Tina questioningly as her office emptied leaving them alone. “What was that about?”

“Research,” Tina said as she sat behind her desk once more. “Aren’t I meeting you in a few hours?”

“If that’s what my schedule says,” Helena smiled. “I needed to tell you that the Johnson project is way over budget and, despite my love for it, it needs to be brought back in line.”

“You’re handing this to me?”

“You have something more pressing?” Helena smiled as Tina stared at the mounds of paper hiding her desk.

“I’d like to think you can handle a budget issue,” Tina smiled at her boss. “Didn’t you learn from the last time?”

“Yes, but my distaste for withholding funds is still present, which means you get to handle the messy situation.”

“I’ll handle it by this afternoon before we meet.”

“Do I get a hint as to what the agenda is to this mysterious meeting?”

“It’s personal,” Tina averted her gaze to her computer screen ignoring Helena’s raised eyebrow. “I want advice.”

“On?”

“Parenting,” Tina’s fingers began to pound on the keys of her computer to avoid getting into a deep discussion with Helena before she was prepared.

“I’d hate to think that anything I say regarding Angelica and what should be her punishment will come back to haunt me.”

“It stays between us,” Tina confirmed quickly. “I’m at a loss as to what to do with her and Bette and I just need a launching point to begin discussions.”

“I can tell you that my daughter didn’t sit for a week I was so angry when she came home rather intoxicated.”

“I won’t beat her,” Tina said rolling her eyes. “Think about it and we’ll meet at 4. Now my overbearing boss gave me an unrealistic task so I can’t shoot the breeze for fear of not getting it done.”

“Oh I heard your boss is a bitch,” Helena said with a smile as she turned around and headed out of Tina’s office. “See you at 4 with all the parenting wisdom you can handle. I’m sure you’ll figure it out before then however.”

Tina just snickered as Helena walked out leaving her alone with her thoughts and confusion surrounding her personal life, desperate to set it back on track.


Angelica approached her group of friends embarrassed at her actions the last time she saw any of them. Her Spanish class was usually the highlight of her day, given that both Cathy and Renee were also in the class and sat strategically near Angelica for social purposes. Today, however, Angelica was worried about the type of reception she’d receive given her antics over the weekend.

“How bad was it?” Cathy asked sympathetically. “Are you grounded for life?”

“I’m thinking yes, but they haven’t said it yet.”

“En Espanol por favor,” Mrs. Johnson demanded.

Angelica rolled her eyes as the teacher pointed to a sign that was displayed near the entrance of the room that only Spanish was to be spoken in the room.

“Was the weekend bad?” Renee whispered ignoring the request from the teacher.

“Only when I was awake,” Angelica tried to tease as they took their seats. “I had to work at the studio washing clothes and moving sets and props all day. I wanted to die.”

“Our parents aren’t very happy we lied either,” Cathy informed her friend. “I can’t go out after the dance this weekend because I lied about where I was going after the game.”

“You can still go to the dance though?” Angelica asked hopeful.

“Barely,” Cathy confirmed. “I think my mom let me only because I already bought a dress and to back out would mean that my date would be punished too and that wasn’t fair.”

“Are you still going to go even if you’re grounded?”

“I’m hoping to,” Angelica said cringing at the guilt that settled in her stomach. “I’m sure I’d have to sneak out though, which makes it even harder, and likely something I shouldn’t do.”

“So you’ve learned?” Cathy asked smiling.

“I’m still going,” Angelica said determined. “I can’t tell Darren that I was busted for drinking! I’ll be humiliated.”

“Ladies,” Mrs. Johnson scolded once more. “If you’re going to gossip and disrupt class, I wish you’d obey the rule and at least do it in Spanish!”

The three friends fell silent until the teacher turned her back and began to write the assignment of the day on the board in Spanish. Angelica and Cathy leaned toward Renee to once again whisper for fear of being punished for their lack of obeying the rules.

“So it’s better to keep piling it on with your moms?” Renee asked sarcastically.

“I’m working on that.”

“What’s more important in the long run?” Cathy asked irritated with Angelica’s thought process. “This isn’t a guy that you’ll end up living happily ever after with, why push it and disappoint your moms more?”

“I don’t set out to disappoint them,” Angelica tried to defend herself. “I didn’t mean to get drunk.”

“Senorita Kennard-Porter,” Mrs. Johnson demanded Angelica’s attention. “Since you’re so eager to talk you can get in front of the class, and in Spanish, recite your sentences that were assigned last week.”

Angelica rolled her eyes and reluctantly left her seat to walk to the front of the room. However, if she were honest, there was a small part of her that was grateful for the interruption given the direction the conversation was taking. As she stood in front of the class and began to rattle from memory the sentences she learned last week, her stomach began to grumble reminding her that lunch was in 30 minutes. She dreaded that chance her friends would once again have to push her on her decision to remain committed to the dance that weekend.


Tina looked up when Stacy knocked and announced that her noon appointment had arrived 30 minutes earlier for their meeting with her.

“I’m ready now,” Tina said pleased as Stacy showed the group back into Tina’s office. “Thank you so much for being prompt.”

“It was easy once we tagged on Megan’s name.”

The one employee handed Tina a file full of information and asked her to open to the first page. There, before Tina’s eyes, was general information on Megan and her past shows and publicity events. Tina allowed her eyes to briefly skim the page looking for any mention of her partner.

“Is this first page just her career?” Tina enquired.

“Mostly, we included it because there was a picture of her partner which is discussed in some pages further back relative to what you wanted us to key in on.”

Tina looked at the bottom of the page at a publicity shot of Megan and her partner. She had to admit that they made a very attractive couple and she also had to admit that she was relieved to see that Megan’s partner didn’t resemble Bette in the least.

“Her partner’s name was Janet.”

“I see,” Tina stared at the photo for a second longer and turned the page. “Bottom line this for me please about what I asked you to key in on.”

“She was 35 weeks pregnant so certainly showing,” the youngest researcher spoke up in a nervous voice. “What you told us checked out about her trying to cross the picket line. Nobody was charged with a crime, but once the staff came out they broke up the demonstration to allow an ambulance to leave.”

“She died there or at a hospital?”

“Never said, just that she had passed on.”

Tina skimmed an article that touched on the incident without mentioning names. Her tears welled up when her mind began to empathize with Megan after reading the details. Tina coughed to clear her throat as she blinked back her tears.

“Was there a funeral?”

“The details are behind that page you’re looking at.”

Tina flipped and saw the obituary for Janet and her eyes skimmed the page briefly, not wanting to get too involved in the research or the person behind the name. Her eyes took in the words and she began to flip to the next page when she noticed something at the bottom of the page.

Tina blinked once more and shook her head to ensure she was seeing what was in front of her in fine print.

“Is this right?” Tina asked pointing to the last line on the page in front of her.

“From everything we have been able to figure out, it’s true.”

“Where is the proof you’ve found?” Tina was desperate now, flipping through pages, quickly skimming them for the information she desired.

“It starts with the third page behind where you are now.”

Tina flipped quickly and allowed her eyes to skim the page outlining exactly what she wanted to know. She stared at the picture that accompanied the article with Megan staring back at her.

“How old?”

“Is the picture?”

“Not just that,” Tina placed her shaking hands on the desk in front of her. “But start there.”

“That picture was taken 3 months ago.”

“And the baby in her arms?” Tina asked in a shaky voice.

“The baby is a little over a year,” the youngest researcher spoke up concerned about Tina’s reaction to their findings. “This all happened 14 months ago.”

Leaning forward, Tina took a deep breath as her mind worked through this information. Realizing that the researchers were sitting silently, waiting for her reaction, she blinked hard before snapping her head back up, her back straight.

“Thank you,” Tina began. “I’ll review this in more detail and get back with you if we decide to proceed.”

Closing the folder, Tina slid it to the side and reached for her keyboard as two of the researchers started towards the door.

“Ms. Kennard,” the youngest researcher began quietly. “There’s one more important detail that came to light in our research.”

“Which is?” Tina asked, bracing herself.

“Megan Freedman,” the youngest spoke up again swallowing her own lump in her throat. “She has cancer. And she’s refused treatment.”