A Broken Fate

by Cat Mann

  ****

  I didn’t fall back sleep until dawn, and then woke what felt like moments later to Max patting my cheek with his palm. My cell said five o’clock.

  “Won’t you go back to sleep for me just this once?” I moaned with a little pout. He smiled at me, then started to pat Ari’s cheek instead.

  “Shh, no don’t,” I stopped Max from waking Ari. “Come on, I’ll get you breakfast and we can wait for Andy to bring you some toys.”

  Max and I went down the hall to the kitchen and I made him a stack of blueberry pancakes. I ran to my study to grab the journal and the post-its of unscrambled letters so I could get some work done and immediately remembered that I had left everything at Aggie’s the evening before. I went back to the kitchen and texted Andy, asking him to bring the journal along with Max’s bag when he came.

  I picked up all the scattered blankets and pillows in the living room with a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Andy showed up at the back door after Max was done with breakfast and had been dressed. Max gave Andy a big hug, dug one of his puzzles out of his bag, and carried it with him to the living room floor.

  “Hey, Andy, good morning! Did you get my text?” I asked, noticing that he did not have my journal of work with him.

  Andy rubbed at the back of his head.

  “Yeah, I did get your message, but I couldn’t find your things anywhere, Ava. Are you sure you brought them over?”

  “Yes, of course I’m sure. The journal is brown, leather-bound, and the post-its are stuck to it. I left them in the living room by the chair – you can’t miss it.”

  He shook his head, “Well, they weren’t there this morning.”

  “Ok, wait here for like five minutes with Max and I’ll go get it,” I offered.

  “Um, Ava, it’s best that you don’t go over there right now.”

  I started at him blankly.

  “Why not?”

  “Because Aggie isn’t feeling well; she was on a tirade last night when she found out about Max staying here and she wore herself out. She is angry that Max is here with you and I just think it’s best if you stay away from her for a bit.”

  “What?” I cried in disbelief.

  “I know she is being unreasonable right now. We went through the same kind of stuff with her the last time she was ill.” He shook his head from side to side as he talked.

  “Aggie just … she loves you kids so much that it upsets her to think that she may not be able to be in your lives for as long as she had hoped.”

  “You know I won’t let that happen right, Andy?” I said indicating that I would pull her thread. I could give her more time; as much as she needed.

  “She doesn’t want you to interfere, Ava,” he said blankly, as though he didn’t agree with her choice but had been told to back off.

  “Fine,” I huffed, “please look for the journal again when you get home tonight; I really need it.”

  “Ok,” Andy agreed.

  “I have to get Ari up for work, so I guess I’ll see you later.”

  “Sure, Ava, bye; let me know if you need anything,” Andy responded and gave me a sorry smile. I locked the door behind him after he left.

  I headed to our bedroom to get Ari up before he overslept, expecting to find him lost somewhere under the blankets. He was just coming out of the closet, barefoot and wearing jeans with a white, long-sleeved, button-up shirt. The shirtsleeves were rolled half way up his forearms. His hair was still damp from the shower.

  “What are you doing? Margaux will have a fit if you enter her office dressed like that.”

  “I’m going to work from home today. I feel uneasy about leaving you and Max here. I have a meeting this morning and then, depending on how that one goes, I may have another this afternoon, but I’m just going to conference in.”

  I smiled a silly toothy-like smile. I immediately felt loads better knowing I would not have to battle anyone’s assistant in order to speak with my husband.

  “Okay, do you need any help?”

  He narrowed his eyes at me as if I were being cute or something, and I was momentarily offended.

  “No, Ava, I can handle it, thanks,” he said kissing me softly and then followed me into the living room. By then, Max had grown tired of his puzzle and I spent the next few minutes picking up pieces from the floor and from under the couch and table. Pulling his bag into the living room, I began to unload games, puppets, more puzzles, cars, trucks and blocks and Legos onto the rug. Ari sat with him for a while and they used wooden blocks to build tall buildings which they then knocked down, typical guy fun. I told Ari what his dad said about Aggie being angry with me for having Max.

  “Don’t take it personally, Ava. I am sure she doesn’t mean it. Last year, when we went through this she … ” he let out a puff of breath … “My mom was a mess. She cried over everything and was constantly upset. She and I grew closer to each other and I was almost as much of a mess as she was. You were gone, and I didn’t know if you were ever coming back. We were really there for each another and I plan on being here for her now. Please give her time. She loves you, Ava. This isn’t about you and everyone knows that.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  Ari looked down at his watch and stood up. “Okay, I have to get on the phone for my meeting. Come and get me if you need me.”

  I sat down with Max and we played with his blocks until the rest of the people in house started to wake up and show their faces. Collin rushed through the back door, grabbed a cup of coffee, said a quick hello and goodbye, then left for work. I wondered briefly why he and August didn’t just splurge on a coffee pot of their own.

  August trailed in a little while later, just bumming along as he had through the entire winter break. He poured the last of the coffee into his cup and started another pot. He took a seat on the rug next to Max and me. August was much better at the knock-the-blocks game than I was so I let him take over for a bit. I got up, moved to the chair, and watched them play.

  I love watching Max interact with August. The two of them chatted together so happily, and I could tell that Max had been looking forward to seeing August.

  Max started whispering to August quietly.

  At first, the whispering was just a little game. Max whispered something in August’s ear and then August whispered something back; it was all harmless and silly. Then Max’s face got serious and he asked, more loudly, “Where is the devil?”

  My mouth went dry. August whipped his head around and stared at me.

  “The devil is in hell,” I answered.

  “No, not anymore,” he whispered back.

  I looked at Max for a moment and waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. He just shifted his attention to a different toy on the rug. My blood ran cold and jaw hung open as I attempted to recover.

  Rory and Julia came out of their room and sat with us. Up in the office, Ari’s meeting started and he put the conversation on speakerphone. The business at hand was so loud out in the living room that we had little choice but to listen to it. Even with the office door closed, we couldn’t help but hear the bickering back and forth between Ari and the rest of Margaux’s staff. I got up and left Max with August and cracked open the door to the study.

  Ari looked like he was going to pull his hair out; I sat across from him at the desk and he looked up and gave me a smile. He put the call on mute.

  “Ava, are you ok? Is there something you need?”

  I shook my head no and sat there listening a little bit longer. The arguments focused on the spring line and industry costs. I had heard Perry have this conversation a dozen times. I sat and listened for a bit, then I grew bored. Ari was wrapping the call up so I stood up to leave. I reached the door, then paused and heard Margaux’s voice through the speaker.

  “I’ll take a look at these figures in my office, Ari. Enjoy the rest of your day. Be sure to send my love to Ava, and I’ll see you both on New Year’s.”

  Ari quickly ended the
call.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, turning around to face him.

  “Ha, um, it means I have the rest of the day off, so what do you want to do?”

  “Don’t get cute with me, Ari. What did Margaux mean by ‘I’ll see you both on New Year’s’?”

  He rubbed at the stubble on his cheeks and blew out a breath.

  “She’s having a cocktail party. We’re invited and she’s insisting that you come. I told her you would be there, but I am actually planning on showing up by myself for a bit and making an excuse for your absence.”

  I sighed.

  “You mean your plan is to go to Margaux’s party on New Year’s Eve and leave me here by myself? Ari, that’s absurd.”

  “I know, Ava, and I am sorry. Margaux is being a complete lunatic about this. She asks me every day if you are planning on coming and I don’t have the heart to tell her no.”

  “Ari! She is trying to get me there to kill me!” I shouted. “Don’t you see that? I mean come on! We already know she wants me dead … why do you keep playing her games?”

  “They don’t seem like games to me, Ava. Margaux seems desperate or something. When I got up to leave yesterday, she practically begged me to bring you and Max to the office with me.”

  “Ari, get a grip. She isn’t nice, she isn’t trying to be nice; she has ulterior motives and always will. For Christ's sake, she broke into our house and tried to kill us last night. This isn’t about a family reunion, it’s about No. 7 planning his next move. I swear, Ari, for as brilliant as you are, you can be incredibly obtuse.”

  Ari ran his fingers through his hair.

  “Perhaps you’re the obtuse one, Ava. Look, I already told you that you don’t have to go. I’m just going for an hour. It’s not as though she’s going to kill you, or me for that matter, at her party, in front of her guests. The entire office will be there. And besides, you don’t know that Margaux was in our house last night. You don’t even know if anybody was really in our house last night.”

  “Oh great,” I threw up my arms sarcastically, “the entire office! Well, I hope you have a great New Year’s Eve hanging out with your little office buddies instead of being with me, where you belong.”

  “Come on, Ava, don’t be like this.” Ari dragged his hands down his face in exasperation.

  “No, Ari, you don’t get it. That isn’t Margaux – that person is trying to kill me and you keep indulging her.”

  “Ava,” he sighed, “I don’t think No. 7 is Margaux. I’m sorry I just don’t.”

  Angry and annoyed, I couldn’t listen to one more word. I turned around and slammed the door in his face.

  I walked back into the living room and all eyes were on me. I ignored their stares and grabbed Max’s shoes.

  “Come on, Max, let’s go to the playground.”

  Max’s little eyes lit up and he jumped up off the floor. I put his shoes on and we left without saying goodbye.

  We didn’t even make it out of the back yard before my phone started to ring. It was Ari. I wanted to stay mad at him; I wanted to go for a week without talking. I wanted to prove a point, throw a fit and act like a child. I wanted to kick, scream, and throw punches. I declined his call and kept walking.

  Max and I walked up the beach towards the park. I took a seat on a bench while Max played. I thought about my situation. Ari didn’t believe me when I said Margaux was No. 7. He had lost faith in me. I couldn’t blame him; I was losing faith in myself. I had spent the last five months moping about, crying and being completely useless in trying to make a stand against No. 7. I had decided long ago that I would just surrender and let him kill me. I had lost faith and I despised myself for it. I knew then that I had no choice but to fight. I had to stand up to The Kakos even if it meant doing it alone.

  An hour went by and I saw a pod of gray whales making its way across the horizon. I nudged Max, who was now sitting by me in the sand, and pointed at the whales. A beautiful baby-tooth grin spread across his face. I scooped him up, put him on my shoulders, and walked right down to where the water met the sand. I pointed out to the whales and Max’s little hands flew up to his mouth in excitement. Max and I stood there in the wet sand with his mouth hanging open until the whales had long since passed.

  We walked back home for lunch and afterwards I put Max down for a nap in our bed. I turned around and saw Ari leaning in the doorway.

  “Are you talking to me?” Ari asked with a sad smile.

  “I don’t know yet,” I shrugged my shoulders as I got up and walked out of the room.

  “Ava, I just … I just don’t see Margaux the way that you do … I’m sorry but … ”

  “Stop. I cannot talk about this with you anymore … Just, can you do me a favor?”

  “Sure … ”

  I asked Ari if he would go next door to check on his mom and grab the journal. I told him exactly where I had left it. He agreed and left. I still wasn’t ready to make up with him, but I needed that journal and since I couldn’t just walk over and get it myself, Ari was my only option.

  The noise from loud machine guns rang out from the den, I went downstairs and found August playing video games. I almost turned back around but he hit “pause” and stopped me.

  “What was that all about this morning?” he asked.

  “I dunno. Ari said something I didn’t like and my temper got the better of the situation.”

  He rolled his eyes at me.

  “I wasn’t referring to your little lovers’ quarrel, you stupid girl. I’m talking about Max and his devil comment; that was messed up, Ava.”

  I playfully punched August’s shoulder for the “stupid girl” comment and took a seat.

  “I have no idea where that came from. I’ve never heard Max talk like that before. Some confusion shouldn’t be surprising. The Kakos killed his parents, his grandmother died, he was brought all the way to America by a person he had only met once before, he lived with an unfriendly Aggie and now is here with us trying to make sense of the whole deal. He probably has a thousand little questions.”

  “True, but he sure started off with a strange one.”

  I bit at my thumbnail for a minute and thought back to this morning. Max’s comment definitely had been strange. I changed the subject.

  “So what’s going on, August? We never talk anymore.”

  “Nothing, really,” he said, moving his bangs out of his eyes.

  “How are things with Collin?”

  “Great,” he looked at me from the corner of his eye. “If you’re trying to get my conversation with Ari out of me, it isn’t going to happen.”

  “What, no, jeez, August. Can’t I just be a friend and ask how things are?”

  “OK, things are fine, super actually,” he grinned.

  “Good. I think you two are perfect for one another.”

  “Yeah, I think so, too. Don’t get mad, but I think we’re going to get our own place.”

  “I’m not mad; that’s great. I don’t think Collin likes living here anyway.”

  “It’s not that he doesn’t like it here – he really likes you now by the way – it’s just, we both want something of our own.”

  “Is this urge to move the result of last night?”

  “No, no, Ava, we went and looked at a condo up the beach a few weeks ago. I think we’re going back to look at it again after the New Year.”

  “Oh, okay … that’s great. Let me know how it works out.”

  “Okay. Well, actually, we’re pretty sure we want to get it.”

  “That’s great. I’m happy for you.”

  “Oh. Okay. Well. Then, actually, Ava, we already put a down payment on the place and we’re moving in next week.”

  “What the hell, August?” I yelled and nudged his shoulder again. “I don’t give a damn where you live. Why are you playing this little game with me? When were you going to tell me, on moving day?”

  “So sorry, Ava. I swear I didn’t mean for our move
to happen like this. The sale went through really fast and I thought we should wait until all this drama blew over to tell you.”

  “August, look at my life. The drama will never just blow over. I am glad that you and Collin are happy. I think it’s great that you guys are getting your own place. You’ll be safer that way. You know I would never be mad about something like that.”

  “Yeah, that’s what Ari said.”

  “Ari knew before I did? You are such a jerk, August! I thought we were friends!” I pouted.

  “Collin told him, yesterday. They are like best friends now or something,” he rolled his eyes as if Collin and Ari being friends was a bad thing.

  August picked up the video game controller and resumed his game, dismissing me in his own cranky way. I got up and started upstairs again. I checked on Max, who was still peacefully asleep, thankfully. Then it came to me that Ari wasn’t back from his mom and dad’s house yet. He’d been gone more than an hour and I figured Aggie probably had him changing every light bulb in the house just to keep him near her.

  I chewed on my bottom lip unsure of what to do. I couldn’t work with my journal missing, Max was asleep, and Ari the traitor was gone. My best friend had chosen a video game over me and God only knew where Julia and Rory were or what they were up to.

  I picked up my phone and toyed with it for a minute. I dialed.

  “Thank you for calling baio. You have reached Margaux Baio’s office. This is Delia. How may I assist you today?”

  “Err, umm, Delia, Hi, this is Ava. May I please speak with Margaux?”

  “Absolutely, Mrs. Alexander; I will put you right through.”

  “Ava,” Margaux said on the other line. “Ava?”

  “Hello, Margaux,” I said, not sure why I called.

  “Ava, I am glad you called; I need to talk to you.”

  “Go ahead, Margaux. You keep saying we need to talk, but you don’t ever tell me what you want to talk about.”

  “Did you get my message?”

  I looked up and saw Ari walking up the deck steps.

  “Listen, I’m sorry I bothered you, Margaux. I have to go.” I hung up the line, really wishing I had not called her.

  Ari came home from his mom’s house empty handed.

  “Did you forget the journal?” I asked with an irritated sigh and stomped my foot in annoyance.

  “Sorry, Ava, I couldn’t find it.”

  “What the heck? It’s right in front of the chair in the living room.”

  “No, it’s not and I asked my mom if she’d seen it and she didn’t know where it could be.”

  “Ari, this is bad. That journal is all I have. Maybe your mom forgot and moved it somewhere? Like to the study or something?”

  “I looked in the study. I looked in every room in the house. I’m sorry.”

  I put my head in my hands. I couldn’t accept no for an answer. That journal had been left in plain sight and everyone was somehow overlooking it. If I hadn’t been banned from Aggie’s precious house, I could probably find it in thirty seconds.

  “So, how is she?” I asked, attempting to move on from our argument.

  “I don’t really know. She seemed fine, I guess. She is upset that we have Max. She misses him.”

  “That’s too bad; maybe we can have her over for dinner or do something else that might make her feel better.”

  “Well, actually, Ava, she is going to come over here on New Year’s Eve for a little bit. I hope that’s okay. My dad is going to Margaux’s party and so are Thais and Gianna. Rory and Julia will be out of town and my mom is too sick to go. She doesn’t want to be alone.”

  “Why is everyone going to Margaux’s stupid party?”

  “Because it isn’t going to be a stupid party; it’s going to be the most talked-about party of the night.”

  “And being at the most talked-about party of the night has been important to you since … when?”

  “It’s not. I’m going because she is my boss and being at that party might just as well be mandatory.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted a little bit.

  “I am going to be there for an hour tops,” he said, trying to unfold my arms.

  “Ari, it takes way over an hour just to get there and another hour to get home. I will be stuck here for more than three hours, basically the whole evening, with your mom yelling at me the whole time because I served her tap water or something.”

  “Well, you should at least use the filter, Ava,” he teased attempting to make light of the situation.

  I buried my face in his chest and tried not to laugh at his dumb joke.

  “I miss you.”

  “Ava, Baby, I am right here.”

  He wrapped his arms around the small of my back.

  “I know, but I still miss you.”

  He pulled my chin up and kissed me on the lips.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll get Max set up in the spare room down the hall in a few days and then maybe our lives will be more normal.”

  “Yeah. Oh … and when were you going to tell me that August and Collin are moving out?”

  “I assumed you already knew. I thought you were best friends with the guy.”

  “I am, but apparently you and Collin are closer than the two of us.”

  “Well, Ava, what can I say; I give great love advice.”

  “Am I ever going to know what that conversation was about?”

  Ari shook his head no really fast and made a grimace.

  “Well, I am still mad at you – just so you know.”

  I pulled myself out of his arms and left him standing alone in the kitchen.