Behind Blue Eyes

Edited by kenjisato & Pat

No one knows what it's like to be the bad woman.

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Hi, welcome back to Middletown.

If you want some background about the MC, you can read "Red as love", "Eye of the Beholder", and "Rain". Or you can read this story as it is, and hopefully enjoy it.

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CHAPTER 1

Benjamin Campbell didn't like to snoop around his grandfather's office. He wasn't even allowed to go in there, but he needed a book from the library to complete a school assignment, and he was home alone.

He looked through the shelves full of books, took out a thick volume, and accidentally dropped an old wooden box that was placed on top of it.

Several photos of him at different ages were scattered on the floor, as well as an envelope with a handwritten address.

"The Middletown Gazette, Middletown, WA"

The envelope wasn't sealed, and Benji opened it with trembling hands.

"Who sends letters nowadays?" the boy thought.

Inside he found his latest school photo and a handwritten note. It said, "Your son has grown up a lot this year. He has definitely entered puberty."

"Your son?" Benji exclaimed. His voice echoed in the empty office.

When he started asking questions about his mother, his father told him that his mother had died giving birth to him.

If that was true, why did his grandfather have his latest photo in an envelope addressed to someone who lived in another state? Why did he tell her he was her son?

Benjamin didn't know much about his mother. Her name was Janice. She had dark hair, blue eyes, and a beautiful smile. His father was always saying that he looked a lot like her. It was obvious since he didn't look like his father at all.

Benji had a mystery in front of him. Was his mother dead or not? If his mother was dead, why was his grandfather sending his photo to someone across the country?

But, if she wasn't dead, why had his father and his grandfather lied to him all his life?

He needed to find out the truth. There was no point in asking his father about it. If they had been lying to him, they'd probably lie again.

"Why don't you call The Gazette to see what happens?" a little voice inside him suggested.

"Yeah, why not?" He said aloud.

He turned on his grandfather's laptop and Googled 'Middletown Gazette, WA' in the search bar. He found a website and a phone number. His heart was beating hard and heavy beneath his ribs, as he punched the number.

A few seconds later, Benjamin heard the voice of a woman on the other side of the line. "Middletown Gazette, how can I help you?"

Was he listening to his mother's voice? Suddenly, Benji didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. His mind froze.

"I can hear you breathing. This is not funny, I'm going to hang up."

"Wait!"

Gathering all the courage he could muster, he said, "Sorry, my name is Benji. I'm twelve years old. I'm investigating women in journalism for a school project. How many women work at your newspaper?"

"I'm the only one working here. I run the whole paper by myself. I write the articles, do the editing, the printing, and the distribution," the female voice informed him, with a note of pride in her voice. "I also answer my own phone."

"Can I pay you a visit and ask you a few questions?"

"Sure, we are open from 8.00 am to 6.30 pm. Some days we stay open even later."

Benji didn't know what else to say. His brain was busy processing this new information.

"Hey, buddy, are you still there?"

The room was spinning around him.

"Uh, yeah... May I ask you what your name is?"

"Janice Cooper, reporter, and editor-in-chief."

Benji ended the call and stared at the phone as if it was going to bite him. He wrote down the name on the envelope and put it in his back pocket.

One thing was sure, his father and his grandfather had lied to him all his life.

He looked for Middletown in Google Maps. His supposed mother lived across the country. He had to devise a plan to travel there on his own and uncover the truth.

He typed in the search bar, 'minor traveling alone.' He read some articles and then typed, 'unaccompanied minor form.'

CHAPTER 2

Robert Campbell looked out his flat window, toward Madison Square Park. He was a successful lawyer in his father's firm working on high-profile cases.

His father, Alistair Campbell, had built his group practice with his eye on having his son join him one day. Everything in Robert's life had moved along as his father had planned.

Everything except one thing; he had always felt empty and alone.

"It's true what they say, money doesn't bring happiness," he thought, looking at his reflection in the window.

"Robert? Are you thinking about the Gardner case?" Alistair asked.

"No, father. I am not."

"What is it then? Let it out, son," his father asked. "What has the boy done this time?"

Robert smiled. His father knew him too well.

"Benji is hiding something from me," Robert finally admitted.

"Could you call him by his full name? Benjamin is a more distinguished name than Benji."

"Cut that crap, Dad. You know I don't care about it."

"Language, Robert." Alistair shook his head, and sighed, "Why do you think Benjamin is hiding something from you?"

Robert thought about his son's behavior over the past few days.

"He's nervous, distracted, and comes home late, something he has never done before. Do you think he has a girlfriend?"

"It wouldn't surprise me. After all, he is his father's son. You used to be quite a lady's man. Did you have 'the talk' with him?"

"Yes, Dad. He knows everything about the birds and the bees. That's not it."

"Why don't you ask him?"

"I already did. He looked me in the eye and said it was nothing. But he was obviously lying. It's like he's mad at me for something."

"Now that you mention it, he has been avoiding me too," Alistair said and shrugged. "Teens. I guess he's reaching that age. You were a very rebellious teenager, too."

"He is only twelve years old!"

"Kids nowadays are smarter than we were in our growing days. With easy access to information. The other day I saw a six-year-old girl teaching her grandmother how to use a laptop. It amazed me to see how fast kids learn these days."

"Yes, children are tech-wise, but they still need guidance and role models. Benji lives in a house full of men, goes to an all-boys school, he has no sisters or mother..." Robert sighed. "I think he misses having a female figure to dote on him, a mother."

Alistair frowned. "That girl passed away when Benjamin was born. He never got to know her. How can he miss someone he never knew?"

"It doesn't mean that he doesn't miss having a mother figure in his life."

"Maybe now that he's older, we could send him to a boarding school," his father suggested.

Robert raised an eyebrow.

"Really, Father? This is your solution? Send the problem away instead of dealing with it? Great parenting skills! He's barely twelve years old, for Pete's sake!"

"I sent you to boarding school when you were even younger, and you didn't turn out too bad," his father said, sipping his whiskey. "It was one of the best schools in the country, and I knew they would take good care of you."

"I hated boarding school so much! I wouldn't encourage anyone to go to one."

"Where is the boy now?" His father asked, changing the subject.

"He is at home, doing his homework. Or At least, that's what he told me."

Alistair nodded. He also suspected the kid was probably playing video games.

"Maybe you should start to date. Find a mother for Benjamin."

"Oh, no, not this again, father," Robert groaned, pinching his nose.

"Robert, you're stuck in the past, holding a candle for a woman you barely knew."

"We dated for years, Father. We were in love."

"It's not healthy. Not for you, not for Benjamin. You need to move on. Find a fine woman and marry her."

"I didn't find anyone I like enough to marry and set up home with."

"You're being too picky."

"I don't like to screw up, I don't think that's a crime. I have a son to consider also."

"Doing nothing might avoid your making a mistake, but doing nothing can be the biggest mistake of all."

"Whatever woman I bring into my life needs to know that Benji comes first," Robert said.

"Come on, Robert. You are thirty-four years old, and you haven't had a date since... when? I don't even remember it. You turned down almost every girl that I introduced to you, and if you date them, you date them for a week or two and that's it."

"You and I think differently about what a good woman means, Father. None of them were mother material."

"That's why God created nannies."

"I won't let Benji be raised by a nanny! Period!" he closed his eyes and shook his head, obviously controlling his temper. "I'd rather be alone than marry the wrong woman."

"Let me tell you something, Son. All that new age crap about 'you just have to stop looking, and it will happen,' or, 'it always happens when you least expect it;' it's not true. Those new-age freaks don't know what they're talking about. The 'right' woman isn't just going to fall into your lap."

CHAPTER 3

Robert drove to his apartment, took a shower, and changed into something more comfortable. He couldn't help but think about Janice.

He took the framed photo of them he kept on his night table and reminisced.

Robert and Janice met in college. It was pretty much love at first sight. They instantly felt a connection, and before long, they were in a serious, steady relationship.

They spent all the time they could together, they had dreams of being big. Janice wanted to become a famous journalist. Robert was going to be a lawyer, and then a partner in his father's firm.

His father, however, didn't hide his dislike of his girlfriend.

"Janice is a good woman, Dad. I love her. We're going to live together and get married. Get over it."

"Aren't you rushing a bit, Son? What do you really know about this girl?"

"I know that I love her. I know that we were made for each other. She makes me happy. I'm sure that she is the one. Why wait when you find your soulmate?"

"Soulmate? Robert, we had a plan about what comes next for you; you'll graduate and in the fall, you'll be working in the firm with me. That's what we always planned."

"That's what YOU always planned, Father."

"Just put one foot in front of the other, and in a few years, I promise you'll be happy where you are."

"I'm happy now, Dad... with Janice."

"Robert, this is not the right time to get married. You have other goals to achieve first. Other things to live −"

"Stop trying to live my life for me. It's MY life, Dad, not yours."

"Well −" Alistair interrupted his son, but suddenly bit his tongue.

Robert looked at his father. "Well, what?"

"Nothing. You're right. Forget I said anything."

Robert and Janice went to live together in New York after they graduated. He started working at his father's firm. She got a job as a journalist for a small magazine. They were making plans to get married soon.

Those months, the months before Janice's disappearance, were the best months of their lives. Every moment shared, presented itself to them as a gift. Their love was strong. Robert knew he had finally found a woman who loved him to distraction. Janice was the woman he pined for his entire life. Robert was happy and content for the first time in his life. Things couldn't get any better.

Until it didn't.

When his father first mentioned a prenuptial agreement to Janice, she looked at him and said, "I am not after your money, Mr. Campbell. I love Bobby for who he is, not for what he has. I'll sign whatever fair agreement you present me."

Robert was never so proud of his girlfriend.

Even so, Alistair's fears did not subside.

One day, Robert was waiting for Janice to come out of her workplace. As soon as she entered the car, he pulled her into his arms. For the first time, she resisted him.

Robert felt her reluctance before she relinquished her hold on him and sat back in her seat.

"What's wrong, Jan?"

"Everything."

A grimace broke out on his face. "Why do I get the feeling this has something to do with my father?"

"No, not this time."

"What is it, then?"

She shivered. "You're going to hate me when I tell you."

A sound of exasperation escaped Robert's throat. "That wouldn't be possible. Come on, Jan. Don't keep me in suspense any longer."

"I'm pregnant," she confessed. "I couldn't believe it when I found out, not when I knew we took precautions."

To her shock, his eyes blazed with light. A smile lit up his handsome features. "We're going to have a baby?"

"Yes. I am almost three months along."

"Sweetheart, when did you find out?"

"Two days ago."

"Two days and you didn't say anything until now?"

"I've been too scared."

Robert reached for his girlfriend and crushed her in his arms. "How could you be scared to tell me something so wonderful? You know how I feel about you."

"I'm not scared of you."

"You're scared of my father," Robert interrupted her.

"He's going to think I'm a gold digger."

"I don't care about what my father thinks."

"He is a powerful man. He could make our lives a living hell if he wanted to."

"I can handle him, don't worry."

"I would hate to be the cause of an estrangement between you and your father."

His father didn't take the news as badly as Robert thought he would. Maybe he was finally mellowing towards Janice. Later that day, Robert was assigned to a team working on a complicated and time-sensitive case that took him out of the city. He barely had time to pack a travel bag and leave Janice a note.

When he returned, Janice was gone. At first, Robert panicked, thinking that something bad had happened to her. He checked every hospital in the area for accidents and called every mutual friend. He even called her hometown, in case she'd decided to return to Middletown. The police looked for her, but there was not one substantial lead regarding her disappearance. His father even hired a PI who found nothing.             

Janice seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth.

After two months without any results, the police downgraded the search. They thought Janice had simply bailed on Robert.

Then, out of the blue, he got a call from a private clinic two states away.

Janice had died from complications related to his son's birth. She had listed Robert as the father. They were calling to ask him to come and pick up his baby boy, and Janice's ashes.

Robert was in shock. The love of his life had died, and he had a son.

Alistair took charge of everything. He made the funeral arrangements. All Robert got was Janice's ashes in a box. Someone at the clinic informed him that she had specifically requested to be cremated in case something happened to her.

When he called her hometown to let them know the bad news, people were sad to hear the news, but no one showed any real interest in coming to the service. No one knew anything about her parents' whereabouts.

Robert seemed to be the only person who cared for her.

After a private funeral, Robert found himself alone with a baby. By every measurable factor, he was not ready to be a father.

However, in life, very few things happen when you are ready.

The first night, he looked at his baby boy, and asked himself, "What am I supposed to do?"

Raising a baby all by himself from day one wasn't easy. He had to balance his career with his son.

Solo parenting was hard. He made lots of mistakes, but he didn't give up. Every day, he picked his son up from daycare and spent time with him. When Benji grew up, they went to museums, baseball games, and Disney World.

Being a single father was hard and changed Robert's life forever. Money helped, of course, but Robert refused to hire full-time nannies to take care of his son. He was going to be the father that Alistair never was.

Anything that had to do with his future should automatically involve his son, as well. He was going to raise his son to be a good person, kind and respectful to everyone.

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Robert stopped reminiscing when he got home. The apartment was silent and dark.

"Benji! I'm home!" he called.

Silence was the only response he got.

Suddenly, he had a bad feeling. He ran to Benji's room. It was empty. Where the hell was his son?

He tried his son's phone, but it was turned off.

"Damn, Benji! I told you that you should never turn off your phone!"

He called every person Benji knew, from schoolmates to teachers. He had gone to school as usual. The limo driver picked him up from school and drove him to the apartment building.

No one had heard from or seen Benji after that.

Robert drove to each and every place his son used to hang out, but there was no sign of him.

With a heart full of dread, Robert dialed 911.

Benji's disappearance felt like a déjà vu.

CHAPTER 4

Lobby camera footage showed Benjamin leaving the building alone with a backpack soon after he returned from school. The doorman remembered he had taken a taxi.

The police were looking for the taxi driver.

Robert had checked his son's room and found out he had taken some clothes with him, and the money he kept in his piggy bank.

When the policemen arrived, they asked him the usual questions. Being a lawyer, he knew them by heart.

"Have you and your son argued?"

"No."

"Do you think he may have run away from home?"

"No."

"Does he have a girlfriend?"

"Of course, not! He's just twelve."

"Where do you think he might have gone?"

"I have no idea. I already looked in the usual places."

The officers exchanged a look that made Robert clench his teeth. He could practically hear what they were thinking; another rich snob who didn't pay attention to his son.

The boy was probably a spoiled rich kid who had grown out of control.

Nothing was further from the truth, of course, but the policemen didn't know it.

If anything, Robert paid too much attention to Benji, he had always tried to fulfill the role of father and mother on his own. He knew everything about his son, or thought he did, until today.

"We'll take a look at hospitals and bus stations, Mr. Campbell. Call us if he gets in touch with you, okay?"

"That's all?" Robert looked at the policemen without believing his ears. "My twelve-year-old son has... has..."

He waved his hands in despair. He couldn't say it. Maybe if he didn't say it, it wouldn't be true. His son had not disappeared.

Robert took a deep breath and tried again. "My son is out there, alone, in a big city and all you're going to do is take a look?"

"We can't do much more, sir," said one of the officers, avoiding his gaze. "Nothing indicates that it could be a kidnapping or any other criminal act. The fact that he took all his money and some clothes with him, suggests that he has run away from home. In those cases, the normal thing is that they return voluntarily, most of them do."

It was the cases of those who didn't, that made Robert's heart shrink.

"That's it, you're going to bed," Alistair told his son, as soon as the officer left.

"No, Father, I can't."

"You have to lie down, or you'll fall, and that is not going to help Benjamin."