North (A Robert Downey Jr Fanfic)

"The Giving Tree"

"Miss Day, Farmer's has declared your property a total loss, which is something I'm sure you already know."
She nodded.
"Our settlement offer is decided by rates provided by local contractors. There's a certain cost of reconstruction after damage like this and we calculate our estimate based on how much it costs per square foot, should you choose to rebuild."
The agent outlined all of the numbers that went into their estimate including electricians, plumbers, excavators...everything.
"Farmer's has come to a settlement amount of six million, four hundred and eighty three thousand dollars--"
Vanessa's insides lurched and had she been drinking something she would have spit it everywhere.
"Six million--"
"Four hundred and eighty thousand dollars, yes."
"Um--pardon me, but can I please have a minute with my lawyer?"

"They're going to pay me over six-million dollars?" she hissed and a worried look swept across her lawyer's face.
"Do we need to counter, Vanessa? Were you expecting more?"
"More? Are you kidding? I had no idea the lodge was worth that much! That's far more than I expected."
"Vanessa, you had fifteen structures and have an incredibly valuable piece of lakeshore property. You're sitting on a gold mine, essentially. I think their settlement is fair, it matches up pretty closely with what I came up with."
"So that's it? I accept and they give me a check?"
"Pretty much."

Simple as that, she thought. A handful of signatures and photocopied pieces of paper and Chip's Lodge was marked down as a "Total Loss:Settled". Cut and dried, it seemed so crude to her. It was so much more than a piece of property, a commodity with monetary value. Chip's had become her home, possibly even more or as much of a home as California had been. She'd learned everything about herself at the Lodge. She learned how to be a good mother, how to teach her daughter, how to work hard for the things you love and desire and how to become a strong person, not someone to buckle under pressure and scurry away from responsibility like she would before.

All of those life lessons, all summed up in one giant unexpected banking transaction.

She exited the insurance office in Baytown and Robert was waiting in a car outside. She approached and he got out of the car to greet her.
"Hey gorgeous," he said and held his arms out for a hug. She didn't respond, only wilted into him and started sobbing heavily. Her grief came out fully and unexpectedly like slicing into a sandbag, it poured out, uncontrollable and impossible to re contain. He didn't try to stop her or calm her down, he just let it run its course. She had been wound tight, waiting to settle everything and now that it was done, she was unraveling. His heart felt hers aching and he wanted to take her pain away but he knew that her sorrow would show her the way eventually.

"How is Penny holding up?"
"She seems to be doing ok. She's strong, sometimes more than I give her credit for. I forget that she's only thirteen," she said as she looked out over the water. They'd found a quiet table at a waterfront restaurant for lunch.
"Ex is crazy about her."
"I know," she smiled "she's crazy about him too. It's so sweet."
"Ness, I can't stop thinking about it so I'm just going to put it out there," he took both of her hands "you should move back to California."

She knew the conversation would come eventually. As soon as she became his girlfriend, she knew that if they continued, he'd want her to come to California in some capacity. She wanted to go back, of course but how could he be so sure that everything from her past would she left it?

"I know you're apprehensive and I can't blame you but there's nothing that we can't get through together. I hated leaving you, just for that short time and there will come a time when I have to go back to work. If you and Penny are in California, we can be together every day."
"You want me to be around every day?"
"Of course I do, I want to be near you always."
"But what about your wife?"
"Ex wife, Vanessa."
"To you she's your ex, yes. To the world? You're still married, the movie industry's power couple. That's a big pill to swallow you know."
"You're right and yes, it does come off intimidating. She's got a boyfriend though, remember? Our movie is premiering in the spring and then we'll be announcing our split shortly after that. She'll be going her way and I'll go mine."