Dr. Morgado's Treasure Ch. 02

The jewelry should go into a specialty jewelry auction that was held live, online, internationally. It would cause quite a stir in the worldwide gemology community. They also mentioned the possibility of selling the entire jewelry collection to an individual private collector. They had several clients who would be interested.

On the second page there were some estimates. I could not believe what I was reading. This couldn't be real.

The jewelry collection should bring close to five million dollars, possibly a bit more. They said some of the most important pieces of jewelry in private collections were in my possession. It was staggering to read and comprehend that.

They pointed out four different paintings by American masters that could bring in upwards of ten million dollars alone.

The rest of the art, furniture, books and rare map collection would push the auction(s) total to an easily expected twenty million dollars. Was this real?

I flipped through my copies of the inventories with their extremely outdated appraisals and estimates. The four paintings they referred to were purchased in the 1960's and 70's for a total of seventy five hundred dollars.

Gary Frost was some sort of shrewd collector that bought inexpensive items steadily over his entire career. He'd sold things as needed to finance his life, but mostly he just stashed it away or displayed some in his home.

And now, decades later, he'd left it all behind. To me. I felt a deep need to pass on my good fortune. I wanted to share it with the kind of people Dr. Frost would have wanted me to.

With my mind racing with possibilities and questions, I drank another big glass of rum, trying to dampen some of the emotions that raged throughout my body and soul.

I fell asleep on the couch, empty rum glass in my hand. When I got up in the morning, my whole body hurt and my head throbbed. I needed to talk to someone. This was all starting to get the better of me.

At the hospital, I called over to the behavioral health department and set up an appointment with Dr. Hester. She was the hospital staff psychologist.

At my appointment I told her I was overwhelmed with recent developments in my life and I'd taken up drinking to forget and to sleep. She asked lots of questions, getting to the bottom of it. I let it all spill out.

I usually told Juana everything, but her reaction to Elgin's age had shut me down. I had no one to talk to and that upset me as much as the things that upset me in the first place.

Dr. Hester listened without judging when I told her about taking up with a nineteen year old, who was now twenty. I went into the convincing mode when I tried to explain how mature and intelligent he was.

"You don't have to convince me, Alvaro."

I moved on to tell her about Dr. Frost and our mentor/mentee relationship and the surprise about the inheritance. Then I told her about the staggering value of the estate and my desire to do the right thing without knowing what that was.

She listened thoughtfully and asked a few clarification questions as I talked. She offered bits of encouragement or reassurance as I told her the whole story.

She suggested that I bring Juana to my next session so that we could sort out our issues first as she was such a strength to me usually. Not having her in my corner was upsetting the whole apple cart. We should fix that first. I agreed.

I prepped Juana and she took it seriously. She was very concerned about my well-being. When she heard I'd sought out a psychologist, she realized I was even more messed up about everything than she knew or would have ever guessed.

With the help of Dr. Hester I was able to explain to her that I needed her support regardless of her opinion. And she needed to keep her negativity about this situation in particular, to herself as it was counterproductive. She agreed.

In the interest of getting back into the normal rhythm of our family life, she invited me over for Friday night dinner with her and Ursula.

Dinner was wonderful and felt normal. It was the first thing that felt normal in over a month. I told both of them about Elgin, as a person whom I cared deeply about. They listened and didn't focus on the age difference, at least not to my face.

I told them about the auction and I thought my sister was going to choke on her food. She dreamt up the craziest things we could use the money for.

I explained that I wanted to do something big with it, but I didn't know what that was. I wanted what Dr. Frost would have wanted.

"How about a foundation? That gives out scholarships to would-be doctors." Ursula suggested, causing me to stare at her in awe.

"That's a really good idea. A really, really good idea."

As I drove home the ideas swirled in my mind. My whole outlook on life was shaken up and as it started to settle, the picture got clearer and clearer.

Over the next three weeks I worked with Christie's to set a date and arrange a time they could come to Frost Manor to pick up the collections.

I contacted lawyers and financial advisors to find out more about starting a foundation. I was encouraged by the responses I got. Everything was at the ready once the money was confirmed. We could get started immediately after the auction.

I looked at several buildings to operate the foundation out of, but nothing seemed to fit my needs. I knew I'd have to hire a few people, so I didn't want to run it out of my condo.

My plan was to keep working and let the daily operations of the foundation fall to a director that I would hire. But my plan was flawed.

No matter how busy I was and how excited I got about moving everything forward, I was still unhappy. I still missed Elgin more than anything.

I thought about contacting him multiple times, to tell him all about the foundation, but I always thought better of it. Any contact would be so difficult on both of us.

I was still talking to Dr. Hester once a week. At my most recent session I was telling her about being sad even with all the good things going on in my life.

"Do you think it's because you're alone all the time? I know how much you love your sister and niece, but are they enough?"

"What do you mean?" I knew what she meant, but I was being obtuse on purpose.

"I know you recently left behind a very intense relationship, but from everything we've talked about, you seem happier with a partner." She looked at me, waiting for my response pointedly.

"I don't want anyone but Elgin." I said it through pursed lips. Why would she even go there? I was angry.

"Then why not him?"

"I told you why! He'd never fit into my world here and it wouldn't be fair!" I nearly yelled it in my frustration.

"Come on Alvaro, why are you avoiding the most obvious solution here?" She sounded so therapist-like just then, it made my skin crawl.

"What obvious solution, Morgan? Tell me, because it's clearly not obvious to me!" My sister would have accused me of queening out for my behavior. And she'd be right.

"You own a giant home on the coast. You need a place to run a foundation. Your ideal partner is there. You can still consult as an internist online. You can have it all!" She shouted back at me.

I felt like I was struck dumb. She was a doctor and she just told me I should be with my twenty year old lover. No one had supported any part of my relationship with him.

Juana and Ursula only asked about the situation in vague terms. Even they hadn't suggested I try to actually be with him. I knew they both thought I was going through that midlife crisis I had tried to convince myself it was.

Could I really have it all? The house would be a great place to run the foundation. And it opened up new ideas and possibilities I hadn't thought about before. And Elgin was there.

"Hello, earth to Al." Dr. Hester pulled me back into reality.

"I have to make a phone call. Thanks, Morgan." I stood up and walked to the door.

"Wait. Are you sure you're alright? Things got a little wild in here today and I'm sorry for snapping at you." She was standing now.

"No, I think it's what I needed to hear. I'll let you know what happens." And then I turned and left.

I returned to my office and closed the door, shutting off the overhead light. I sat in the darkened room and closed my eyes for at least five minutes, trying to center myself somehow.

Dr. Hester was right about one thing that stood out to me in particular. I wanted to do all of this, make all these huge decisions with my partner. I needed to call Elgin.

I looked at his contact picture for way too long. It was a selfie he took with my phone while he sat in my lap. We were both smiling at the camera, looking like a happy couple.

My heart ached with desire for that to be true.

I hit the call button. One ring.

"Al?"

"Hi, Elgin." My brain stopped working and everything I wanted to say flew out the window.

"Hi."

"Do you have time to talk for a minute?"

"Yes. I'm at the shop, no one's here but me."

"Okay, good. Thank you." I was so nervous. What if he'd moved on like I'd claimed I wanted him too? What then?

"Is everything alright?" His voice soothed me.

"Yes, sorry, I........... I'm going to be at the house in less than two weeks. I'd like to see you and talk to you in person. Would you be willing to do that?"

"Of course." He sounded choked up which made me choke up.

"Great. Thank you. I'm at work and I have to get going but I look forward to seeing you."

"Me too."

"I'll let you know once I've got my flight info so we can arrange it."

"Okay."

"Okay. Bye, Elgin. I'll talk to you soon."

"Okay, bye, Al."

"Bye." I hung up and felt frozen all over. I was more nervous than ever.

I needed to handle this perfectly but I was terrified. I had one chance for real happiness, I had to make it work. I couldn't get blinded by my desires either. I needed to make sure this was right for me and Elgin and that we both really wanted the same things.