10

Chapter 10: 'Trouble Brewing'

The following morning at ten o'clock Emma walked through the door of her grandfather's study. She knew she probably needed to talk to him about something serious if she was going to stay with him for the rest of the night but the sight of Alex slumped against the desk with his head buried in his hands caused her to hesitate slightly before entering the room. She stood there for several minutes looking at him and waiting for his head to lift up. Finally he seemed to be aware of her presence. He looked at her with pained eyes as he asked, "Mia, is Victor alright?"

"He is fine; I guess that's the most important thing. Why wouldn't he be?" she replied as she sat down in the armchair beside his desk.

A deep frown replaced the pain that was still visible on Alex's face and he glanced at the floor briefly before answering, "I don't know, Mia. He wasn't acting like himself today when I talked to him. He was quiet and seemed upset."

"Maybe he had some bad news from work."

Alex nodded slowly, "Or perhaps something else. Something I didn't expect to hear either."

"Well then, he shouldn't worry about it now. You just concentrate on getting better."

Alex nodded once again and reached for the glass of water on his desk and downed it in one shot. He placed the empty glass back onto the desk and ran a hand through his messy hair before leaning back against the chair again. He sighed heavily and glanced at Mia who was looking intently at him. A small smile appeared on his lips as he said, "Thank you Mia. Really. You're the best."

She smiled brightly back at him and replied with an enthusiastic, "Yay!"

Chapter 11

Alex stared blankly out of the window of the car as he drove toward the Museum of Modern Art. He had no idea why Victoria insisted that they go today. She'd refused to tell him why this time around, though he wasn't sure how he felt about it anyway. Part of him wanted to believe that she was being protective over him, but another part of him knew that she wouldn't lie to him. Still, his curiosity and desire to get answers battled it out inside of him. In the end, he decided to leave it at that. After all, Victoria had been keeping some pretty big secrets lately, so it wouldn't hurt to give her a chance to explain herself. He would just have to wait and see.

They pulled into a parking space on the sidewalk, causing Mia to look surprised when she noticed how many people were there. As soon as Alex parked the car, a large crowd quickly swarmed around the car, asking questions about the museum and what it housed. Mia watched as she noticed the same man that had been sitting at the counter of the café the other day trying to push his way past the crowd. He wore a suit and had a briefcase clutched tightly in his hand. He was making his way determinedly towards the ticket booth where Alex and Mia were still sitting. Just when he began to speak, Mia jumped up and pushed past Alex. She called out loudly, "Dad, we need to leave right now."

Before the man even had a chance to say anything, she grabbed his wrist and led him towards the car. When she tried to open the trunk she found it was locked. With an annoyed growl she turned away from the man and leaned against the car. Her eyes fell on the ground as she murmured, "My keys are gone too..."

After a moment of silence, Alex finally spoke, "We could borrow the driver's seat for awhile." He suggested.

Mia nodded and looked over at Alex before saying, "Okay. We can leave your car with them while we use my mom's. I'm sure the others won't mind giving it to us for a few hours."

Alex smiled gently and said, "Sounds good to me. I just hope your mother isn't too mad with you when she sees us coming into town in that little yellow van of ours..."

"Don't worry. Mom knows I was driving it this morning so she already made me promise to not drive anymore until the weekend."

He raised an eyebrow and asked, "So why the sudden change of heart?"

Mia shrugged awkwardly and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Because you've done so much for me and helped me deal with this whole mess I've been having with Granddad..."

Alex grinned widely and wrapped both arms around her in a hug.

"Hey! Let go!" she laughed before hugging him back.

When they finally stepped outside of the parking garage a few minutes later, there were a handful of photographers waiting outside. They quickly took pictures of them as they headed toward the entrance of the museum.