Who's That Girl?

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

Wanda escorted Georgia and Teddy inside the mansion and past the stairs. The house smelled of pine pot-pourri. Georgia took in every expensive painting, statue, and fixture, jealous that she’d gone without for so long.

“Come in.” Wanda stood aside when they got to the living room doorway.

Georgia took in Wanda’s subdued, rose-scented perfume as she walked into the spacious room with the off-beige walls and tan curtains.

Wanda stood by the tan leather, 7-piece recliner sectional, and ottoman while Teddy sat in the off-beige loveseat and put his feet on the footstool.

“This mansion...” Georgia pointed to the abstract paintings on the walls. “It’s amazing. It looks like a museum or something.”

“You’re her aren’t you?” Wanda’s face lit up. “You’re Anthony’s daughter.”

Georgia swallowed, but a lump remained in her throat.

“She is,” Teddy said. “It’s that obvious?”

“I got a feeling the minute I saw her.” Wanda c****d her head to the side. “And she looks a little like him.”

“I do?” Georgia touched her face.

“Your cheekbones. They run in Anthony’s family.” Wanda glanced at Teddy. “So you found her like you said you would.”

“I guess you can say being a retired private investigator comes in handy.” Teddy stood, holding out the folder. “Georgia and I took a DNA test, and it proved that Anthony was her father.”

“I already know he is,” Wanda said, staring at Georgia.

“Still, here are some things you can look at.” Teddy passed her the folder. “You can see her birth certificate and even pictures of her and her mother.”

Wanda looked at the photos and certificate. “You look just like Elene. Anthony showed me pictures of your mother.”

“She’s dead now,” Georgia said.

“What?” Wanda lowered the items.

“She passed two years ago. I didn’t know anything about Anthony being my father until Teddy connected with me. My mother never told me who my father was just that he didn’t want anything to do with me.”

“Oh, that’s not true.” Wanda reached for Georgia’s hand but stopped before grabbing it. “All he wanted for the last thirty-four years was a relationship with you. He kept up with your mother for a while when you were little but she took off. He didn’t know where you guys were for over twenty years.”

“That seems like a hell of a different story than what I’ve been told.” Georgia rocked on her heels. “You have any idea how hard it was for me and my mother? She had no skills beyond cleaning up after people. She didn’t even have a high school degree. You don’t know how much I hated that my father wasn’t there for me.”

“He loved your mother,” Wanda said.

“Loved her?” Georgia shook her head. “He knocked her up when she was his maid and abandoned her. That’s love?”

“You gotta understand that Anthony would never hurt someone on purpose,” Wanda said.

Teddy rolled his eyes.

“He loved your mother and you. You could never hate him as much as he hated himself for not being there for you. When your mother got pregnant, Anthony’s father was grooming him to take over Spears Corp. He was under pressure from his father to stop seeing her.”

“So he chose his social standing over me?”

“You don’t understand how things are when you’re rich, Georgia. He hated having to ponder to his father but the family business meant the world to him.”

Georgia held her breath. “More than I did?”

“When you come from wealth, there are certain standards people hold you to,” Wanda said. “My family isn’t rich like the Spears, but I grew up having to fulfill certain obligations as well. It wasn’t right for Anthony to not be there for you, but he wanted you more than anything else. Before he died, he’d spent years trying to connect with you. It’s all he wanted.”

“Okay, so he couldn’t be there physically, but he has all this damn money.” Georgia pointed around the room. “He had to know how we were living and he didn’t care?”

“He tried to be there for you financially,” Wanda said. “He offered Elene money many times, but she’d never take it.”

“Wanda’s telling the truth,” Teddy said. “I remember your mother and she wasn’t the type to take handouts. She’d rather starve in the street than to take money from someone and she was so angry at your father.”

“No.” Georgia rubbed her forehead. “I can’t believe my mother would’ve put us through the hell we went through just to prove a point.”

“She hated him,” Wanda said. “After Anthony refused to marry her she wanted nothing to do with him. Anthony said she vowed not to tell you who your father was.”

“If I had a child, nothing could keep me from him or her.” Georgia’s voice shook as she thought of the baby she’d almost had.

“You want to know what killed Anthony?” Wanda asked. “It killed him not to be in your life all that time. When he was diagnosed with lung cancer, he vowed to find you and Teddy searched and searched.”

Teddy nodded.

“You got to believe me, Georgia.” Wanda sobbed. “Anthony wished everyday he could get the time back he lost but when he realized he was dying he was so desperate to see you at least once. He never, ever got a chance to even see a picture of you.” She walked toward the couch. “He put you in his will because it was the only way he knew he could make up for not being there for you.”

“He put me in his will.” Georgia stood beside the porcelain dolls on the shelf by the window. “Yet he didn’t think enough of me to raise me?”

“Anthony was a wonderful man.” Wanda walked to her. “You might only see a man with millions of dollars, but he had a big heart, and it was ten times bigger than his bank account.”

Georgia glided to the end table by the couch and picked up the photo of Anthony and Wanda.

“Look at him.” Wanda touched Georgia’s arm. “Can’t you feel how much love he had from the picture?”

Anthony had those same majestic good looks as his younger brother Teddy along with those cheekbones and vibrant smile.

Georgia set down the photo, shaking off the wave of overwhelming emotions. “I’ve suffered more than you’ll ever know because I didn’t have a father.”

“He loved you,” Wanda whispered. “If you believe nothing else please believe that. He made a mistake. People make mistakes, Georgia. I’m sure you have too.”

Georgia sat on the arm of the couch. “It’s hard to grow up poor, and it drove a wedge between my mother and me. I resented her because she didn’t have money.” She balled a fist until her long, manicured fingernails dug into her palm. “I spent my entire childhood embarrassed and lying to people because I didn’t want them to know what kind of life we lived.”

“Where have you been all these years?” Wanda asked.

“Anywhere I could be to forget the emptiness inside.” Georgia closed her eyes, fighting tears. “But it’s become a part of me, and I can’t shake it.”

“You’re a beautiful young lady.” Wanda rubbed Georgia’s arm. “You came out of it, and that’s what Anthony wanted for you. He wanted you to have the best life you could have.”

“I left Momma when I was seventeen,” Georgia said. “I couldn’t wait to be grown so I could be on my own. I figured I couldn’t do any worse by myself than she did for me.” She moved from the couch. “I went to San Francisco and ended up on the streets. I did some things I regret to survive.” A tear escaped despite her fighting it.

“I’m sorry,” Wanda said. “It would’ve killed Anthony to know how you suffered.”

“God sent me an angel though.” Georgia wiped the tear away. “When I was twenty-one I met this guy named Omar.” She grew warm inside. “I fell for him the moment I saw him, and I knew he’d be someone special in my life.” She looked up at the fancy ceiling fan. “His mother took me in as if I were family. I ended up staying with them and getting my life together.”

Wanda smiled. “It was just you, Omar, and his mother?”

Georgia nodded. “He was white, but to us color didn’t matter.” She remembered Omar’s bright smile and how good it felt when he kissed her. “Omar had a brother a year older who had gotten his own place, so he’d moved.” She went to the window and stared into the darkness at the pristine lawn and walkway. “After starting a new life, I could finally concentrate on my passion.” She touched the curtain. “I love cooking.”

“You do?” Wanda smiled. “That’s wonderful.”

“I always watched Julia Child and Martha Stewart, and I’d pretend I was cooking along with them.” Georgia chuckled. “There’s something about cooking and having that bond with food that’s unlike anything I’ve ever had with a person except Omar.”

“What do you like to cook?” Wanda asked.

“Italian.” Teddy sat down on the loveseat, grinning. “She’s one hell of a cook too. She made this fancy Italian dish for me with red wine and it blew me away. Better than anything you’d get from your cook or a five-star restaurant.”

“I love Italian food too.” Wanda walked up behind Georgia. “It would be a privilege to taste some of your cooking.”

“Omar’s mother paid for me to go to culinary school. I’m a sous chef.”

“Wow.” Wanda put her hands together. “Anthony would be so proud.”

Georgia walked away from the window. “I worked at different restaurants and got a steady gig but things didn’t work out as planned.”

“What happened?” Wanda asked.

“Well, when Omar and I were twenty-four we moved in together. My career was blossoming, and he was doing well as a lab technician for a medical clinic.” Georgia shook her head. “I don’t know what the hell went wrong, but he got on that stuff. He got a coke habit after hanging with some guys he worked with and everything went downhill from there.”

“God. Georgia, I’m—”

“If you say you’re sorry one more time...” She glared at Wanda. “Omar’s mother, his brother, and I tried to help him but once he was hooked that was it. Then if things weren’t stressful enough I got pregnant.”

Wanda gaped. “You have a child?”

“No.” Georgia tightened up but the painful memories crept in anyway. “I aborted my baby.”

Wanda stared at her, batting her eyes.

“I couldn’t bare my child growing up like I did without a father and Omar couldn’t be a father with the way he was.” Georgia closed her eyes as tears fell. “I...I hated myself for doing it, but I didn’t have a choice.” She stared at the gold and beige lines in the Taj Mahal Oriental rug. “Then Omar died.”

“Died?” Wanda gasped, touching her chest. “How did he die?”

Georgia turned away. “He shot himself.”

“Oh.” Wanda pressed her hands to her face. “Georgia.”

She wiped tears. “What doesn’t kill us strengthens us, right?”

“I didn’t know you’d been through so much.” Wanda turned Georgia toward her.

“It’s been ten years since that’s happened.”

“We all go through things, Georgia,” Wanda said. “Some might not experience anything as horrible as you have, but the only way to be happy is to accept it.”

“I didn’t come here to make amends.” Georgia swiveled from Wanda’s hold. “I hate Anthony so there’s no reason to pretend. I’m here for my money.” She crossed her arms. “Teddy told me I’m a primary beneficiary to Anthony’s will. Is that true?”

Wanda sighed and nodded.

“I get the bulk of his estate and even this house is mine?” Georgia scratched her forehead. “Is that true?”

“Yes,” Wanda said. “And the house and property is partly yours.”

“Hot damn!” Georgia slapped her hands together, laughing. “I guess dear old Daddy really wanted to make it up to me, huh?”

“I don’t believe that’s the only reason you came,” Wanda said. “I know you want to know more about your father more than anything. I can tell.”

“Wrong,” Georgia said. “I couldn’t care less about him.”

“I saw how you acted when you saw his picture just now.” Wanda squinted. “You’re curious of the man who you feel abandoned you. How could you not be?”

“The only thing I’m curious about is having millions of dollars in my bank account.” Georgia twirled around. “And this gorgeous mansion to die in.”

“No.” Wanda waved her finger. “You can’t fool me, Georgia. I know it’s eating you inside that you didn’t know him.”

“I want my money.”

“Our lawyer will get you the papers and break down everything for you but he’s away right now,” Wanda said. “He had a death in the family.”

“But it really is all mine?” Georgia’s heart flip-flopped.

“Yes.” Wanda stuck out her chin. “But there’s a condition. I don’t expect you to accept what Anthony did or to love him, but his wish was that if you showed up, you’d get to know him and us. He loved us and he loved you.”

Georgia turned away and tugged at her earring. “I didn’t come here for no family reunion. I came here for money.”

“And it’s gonna take some time for you to get your money, but I promised Anthony that if you ever showed up I would tell you about him so you’d at least know the wonderful person he really was.”

Georgia puffed out her jaws. “Why should I grant him his wish?”

“You don’t owe Anthony anything,” Wanda said. “But you owe it to yourself to know everything about him. What’s the harm in that? Are you afraid that you’ll end up loving him?”

“Please.” Georgia huffed.

“This property is half yours,” Wanda said. “Why not stay and give yourself a chance to fill that hole in your heart?”

“Fine.” Georgia nodded.

“Thank you.” Wanda pulled her into a soothing embrace. “I’ll clear the guests out, and we can tell Ulysses and Osana about Georgia.”

Georgia moved from Wanda. “Great,” she mumbled.