Double or Nothing

by Wells, Donald

  Mouse sits beside David in a black, sequined, full-length evening gown. The gown is the epitome of elegance and cost over three thousand dollars.

  Mouse appears mesmerized by the bustling activity of the restaurant. Her eyes bulge when she sees the dessert cart go by and David laughs aloud at the look of dissatisfaction on her face when she tastes his wine. David also takes note with more than a small bit of pride that not another woman in the restaurant comes close to matching Mouse in her beauty and elegance.

  Miss Mouse is one very beautiful woman.

  As he had promised her before Thanksgiving, David took Mouse shopping again on Friday. The department store was a madhouse and the previously helpful Mrs. Parsons was nowhere to be found. David then decided to try one of the boutiques near Central Park West.

  Mouse and the owner of the quiet shop took an instant liking to each other and Mouse’s lack of conversation seemed to bother the other woman not at all. The clothing in the small, but well-stocked shop, was more upscale than the department store’s inventory and Mouse looked happier than David could ever remember seeing her as she added to her wardrobe.

  Initially, after finding something she liked, Mouse would approach David in an apprehensive manner and hold the item of clothing up to him.

  She would then look at him shyly with an inquiring look, which asked—Could I have this, please?

  After the second such request, David kissed her on the forehead and told her to buy whatever she liked and not to worry about the cost. Mouse’s face lit up and she took his advice wholeheartedly. Five thousand dollars later, they left the shop.

  Strolling along in the late autumn air, David suddenly realized he was walking alone.

  He turned to find Mouse staring longingly into a store window and gazing up at a mannequin wearing the elegant black evening gown, her face was aglow.

  “Do you want to try it on?” David asked. Mouse then pantomimed counting money.

  “I know it’s expensive, but it doesn’t cost anything to try on.”

  Mouse smiled and the two entered the store. When she returned from the dressing room wearing the gown, David found that he suddenly had trouble breathing.

  He had never seen anyone more beautiful in his life. The dress fit her as if it had been made for her exclusively and her radiantly smiling face was its perfect accessory. Mouse spent the next two minutes silently oohing and ahhing at herself in the mirror.

  When David inquired about the price, she shook her head furiously and ran into the dressing room to take off the gown. David told the sales clerk to wrap the dress up and that they would be taking it with them. Mouse appeared pensive as David paid and the sales clerk handed him the package.

  Once outside the store, Mouse turned and looked up into David’s face, she was teary-eyed and cast a strange look. She then stood on the toes of her shoes and kissed David lightly on the corner of his mouth, in her eyes was a look of pure love, and it was the look of a woman.

  David stared down into her enormous brown eyes and smiled sadly. He then gave Mouse a brotherly kiss on the forehead and took her into his arms, hugging her.

  She mooned over her gown for four days. On Tuesday afternoon, David told her to put it on and that they were going out. Mouse smiled brightly at David when she first spied him in his suit and tie.

  David offered her his arm and the two of them started down the stairs.

  Mrs. Johnson was sweeping, but paused to admire the beautiful and dazzling pair.

  “David where’s her jewelry?”

  “Mou—, uh Minnie doesn’t own any Mrs. Johnson.”

  “Men! You can’t let her wear a dress like that without accessories. Come with me. Mr. Johnson bought me jewelry on every anniversary.”

  Mrs. Johnson led them into her apartment and took Mouse back into her bedroom. The apartment was sparsely furnished, but what the old woman did own was all well made and appeared expensive.

  When they emerged, Mouse was wearing a pair of tasteful and brilliant diamond earrings with necklace and bracelet to match. Mouse could have easily graced the cover of Vogue. David simply uttered one word. “Wow!”

  “I’m not sure a man should look at his cousin that way David.”

  David answers Mrs. Johnson while still gazing steadily at Mouse.

  “Oh, well we’re very distant cousins Mrs. Johnson. Minnie barely has a drop of my blood in her at all you see.”

  Mrs. Johnson smiles as she watches David and Mouse gaze at each other.

  “I’m beginning to see David, yes, I think I am.”

  “Well we’d better get going, thank you so much for lending her your jewelry Mrs. Johnson, we’ll return it to you in the morning.”

  “You two have a good time dear and don’t drink too much.”

  “We won’t, and thanks again.”

  And so David sits with Mouse, looking elegant and waiting for their other party to arrive. He arrives five minutes late.

  “Sorry Davey,” Al says. “A last minute call from Miami that I had to take. Aren’t you going to introduce me to—Mouse ? Is that you Mouse? Good God Davey, she’s stunning.”

  “Mouse has become quite the clotheshorse since you last saw her. This is her finest attire. I asked you to meet me here as an excuse for her to wear it. It’s a little ritzy for the diner.”

  Al shakes his head in wonder. “May I say Miss Mouse that you are one cute honey.”

  Mouse blushes and gives him a shy smile as she waves hello.

  Al stares at Mouse, taken aback by her changed demeanor.

  “She seems different, and I don’t just mean the clothes, she seems more…here. It’s like she’s coming out of her own little world, in fact I feel odd talking about her in front of her now.”

  “I know what you mean and I’m glad you said that, I thought I might have been imagining it, wishful thinking maybe.”

  “Has she ever talked?”

  “No, but I’m not convinced she won’t.”

  “Hmm, well what’s so important that you’re buying me dinner in a place like this? Do you need help with something?”

  “I need your opinion and maybe some advice. Carol and I might have discovered Mouse’s real name.”

  “Really? That’s great isn’t it? Does she have any family?”

  “Al, it’s a long story, let’s order and I’ll tell you over dinner.”

  David finishes telling Al the tragic story of June Davenport and Al sits back and stares at Mouse.

  “A Davenport. Do you have any idea how rich the Davenports are?”

  “Yes I do, I’ve done lots of research since I found that picture. Conservatively, Blake Davenport is worth over three billion dollars.”

  Al bites his bottom lip. “That’s big money even to me and you know I know big money. You say Mouse looks just like the other two girls?”

  David takes out a group of pictures from his inside pocket and hands them to Al. “I downloaded what few pictures I could find of them, tell me what you think?”

  “Mouse is their double, or triple maybe, I can’t tell the three of them apart. Christ Davey, do you realize the hornet’s nest you’ll be walking into if you show up with Mouse and claim she’s the long dead triplet? Blake Davenport is in his seventies, when he dies the estate will probably be split two ways between April and May. Now you want to show up and split it three ways?”

  “It’s not about the money, you know that. I can take care of Mouse and myself easily. Also I wouldn’t be claiming anything, a DNA test would do the talking for me. I don’t even feel obligated to reunite the loving family, they’ve assumed for a long time that June’s dead. I don’t think it would cause them any more pain to go on believing that.”

  “Then just drop it, there’s nothing to be gained by revealing Mouse to them.”

  David takes Mouse’s hand.

  “There is one thing to be gained.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Maybe reuniting with her sisters will bring Mouse further ou
t of this fugue she’s in, maybe she’ll become whole, more functioning, more…”

  “More like a woman,” Al says.

  “Yes, more like a woman.”

  “Well, the decision is up to you. I do think you should consider one more thing though.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You could lose Mouse forever. If Davenport decides that you two shouldn’t see each other, he could back it up. He might show you the door and slam it shut, and there would be nothing you could do about it, his kind of money buys a lot of security.”

  David falls back in his seat. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “Consider it, because once you contact him, everything changes.”

  “I’m not going to rush into anything, there’s no need to. Mouse is safe with me and I need time to think out all the implications that might result from speaking with Davenport. In the meantime, maybe Mouse will continue to grow on her own.”

  “So what’s your next move?”

  “To do nothing, for a while at least.”

  “Maybe it’s time you brought in the pros, some kind of shrink, it could help.”

  “Actually, Carol’s looking into that for me. It’s a bit tricky to find the right person. She’s asking her colleagues for recommendations.”

  “If you’re right about her identity that means she’s been on the streets since she was nine-years-old. How’s that possible?”

  “It’s not, at least that’s what I think, and Carol agrees. Someone must have cared for her while she was a child, someone Oriental judging by her skill with chopsticks. My Miss Mouse is an enigma wrapped inside a silence. Hell, for all I know, this is how Mouse has survived. Maybe there have been other people like me that have taken care of her, maybe I’m just the latest in a series of good Samaritans.”

  Upon hearing these words, Mouse turns to David with a hurt look. She points to David, then to herself, she lays her head upon his shoulder, then, raising David’s right hand to her lips, she kisses it tenderly.

  Al says, “I think she’s saying you’re special Davey.” and Mouse nods her head yes.

  David looks into Mouse’s eyes and again sees more woman than child looking back.

  “You’re the special one Mouse, and I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”

  Mouse gives David a small kiss on the corner of his mouth.

  Al looks across at Mouse. Her head rests upon David’s shoulder as she gazes up at him with unmistakable love, the gown she wears reveals a tasteful bit of cleavage that’s very enticing. “Davey, I’m not accusing you of anything OK, but you two haven’t been…you know?”

  “No. I told you before it wouldn’t be right, at least not until she’s…healthier?”

  Al looks at Mouse and lets loose a sigh. “You’re a better man than I am Davey.”

  David sighs back. “Yeah, but for how much longer?”

  After dinner, David and Mouse take a cab uptown and then wander on foot about Times Square. Mouse is enthralled by all the huge video screens and flashing lights. After debating with himself over the wisdom of going to see Alison’s play, David decides there’s little risk of crossing paths with her, and besides, the glowing reviews have made him curious. At the box office, David gets fortunate and snags a pair of twelfth row center seats.

  Mouse reacts apprehensively to the throng in the lobby and leans against David as if for protection. David takes her outside to wait and when the play’s about to begin, they file in and take their seats.

  Mouse seems uneasy being in the midst of so many people, but when the curtain rises she becomes mesmerized by the play and soon forgets her surroundings.

  The play is set in modern times at an English manor house. It’s a murder mystery.

  At Alison’s arrival on stage, Mouse gives David a look that is both questioning and sad.

  David whispers. “I didn’t come here to see her if that’s what you’re thinking. I only came to see the play.”

  Mouse gives him a doubtful look and turns back to watch the play, the sets are spectacular and the acting fabulous.

  In the second act, there’s a scene in which Alison performs wearing only the barest of undergarments. David covers his eyes with both hands, pretending not to look, he then peeks out at Mouse and sees her smile.

  As the play ends, the murderer is revealed, to the shock of the audience it is discovered that Alison had actually been playing two parts. One was that of the murder victim’s seductive mistress and the other was that of the gruff, bearded caretaker, the murderer.

  David is flabbergasted. He has spent many hours with Alison, many while they were making love. He thought he knew all her mannerisms and gestures, he had detected none of these in the character of the man she played.

  Mouse sits with her mouth open, amazed at the play’s outcome.

  They return home, and as Mouse makes her preparations for bed, David works at his computer. Mouse comes out of the bathroom wearing the oversized flannel pajamas she likes. A copy of the playbill is sitting on the desk with Alison’s smiling face gracing it. Mouse picks up the playbill and, sitting on the sofa, looks at Alison’s face for a time.

  David turns from his computer and sees that Mouse is crying softly, he goes to her. “Why are you crying? Is it something about Alison?”

  Mouse nods yes.

  “I didn’t go there to see Alison, I only wanted to see the play.”

  Mouse takes the picture of Alison and places it to David’s lips. She then points to herself and then at David and slowly shakes her head no.

  “What are you saying? Are you sad because I kissed Alison, but I never kiss you?”

  Mouse gives David a heartbreaking smile as an answer.

  “Actually Mouse, Alison kissed me, and the reason I don’t kiss you like that is because I don’t think it would be right. I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

  Mouse looks sadder than David’s ever seen her. After placing his hand under her chin and raising her eyes to his, he speaks in the softest of voices.

  “I love you Mouse. Don’t you know that? You’re worth all the Alisons in the world to me.”

  Mouse begins crying again as she gives David that little gesture that he’s come to know means, “Me too.”

  David’s own eyes begin to tear as he makes a silent vow. He promises himself that someday he will see this girl whole.

  Please lord make it possible. I cannot live without her.

  6

  With Christmas approaching, David takes Mouse to Rockefeller Center to see the great tree, a seventy-nine foot tall Norway spruce that towers over the Prometheus sculpture. Mouse barely gives the mammoth tree a glance, but is captivated by the ice skaters gliding on the rink beneath it.

  Having not skated since high school and being amateurish at best, David still decides to venture onto the ice with Mouse. To his surprise, Miss Mouse is quite adept at ice skating and whooshes around the rink with skill, grinning all the while. David tries to keep up, but soon admits his limitations and simply watches Mouse as she skates for hours.

  The next day, David awakens to aching muscles and a stiff back, but three cups of coffee and two aspirin improve the situation somewhat.

  Mouse sleeps later than usual, but after getting bathed and dressed she stands in front of David and pantomimes skating. Her arm waving and hip gyrations send David into a fit of laughter.

  Mouse looks at him with something akin to embarrassment and begins crying. She turns and runs to her bedroom, falling face down atop the bed.

  David follows and sits beside her, he reaches out and rubs her back.

  “I didn’t mean to laugh at you, it’s just that you looked so funny.”

  Mouse gazes up at him with a face wet from tears and gives David a look that breaks his heart.

  “Oh Mouse, I’m sorry, hurting you is not something I ever want to do.”

  He begins wiping away her tears and Mouse gives him a weak smile as she raises herself up onto her knees beside him.r />
  Without conscious thought, David reaches out and takes her into his arms, hugging her, her still damp face presses hotly against his neck.

  This feels so damn right. So damn right to be holding her,

  Mouse removes her face from his neck and stares at him.

  Her mouth is only inches away and every part of David yearns to kiss her, to taste her, and it doesn’t help one damn bit that she’s looking back at him with eyes that are asking to be kissed.

  Mouse moves closer and their lips graze against each other the way a butterfly might brush against a rose. David turns his head and plants a tender kiss upon her cheek. He rises from the bed and heads to the door, not trusting himself. At the threshold he turns.

  “If you want to go ice skating I’ll take you after breakfast, OK?”

  Mouse smiles and nods her head. The ice rink soon becomes a regular activity.

  Other changes take place as well, as David begins cooking most of their meals. David likes to cook and is quite good at it, but living alone tended to obviate his desire to play chef. With Mouse’s arrival in his life, his apartment begins to feel more like a home and less like a place to simply work and sleep in. Mouse shows an interest in David’s culinary activities and soon begins helping him while he prepares their meals.

  It seems to David that Mouse is slowly “awakening.” Week by week David sees her awareness and sentience expand. She seems much changed from the strange girl-child she was when he first met her. Glimpses of the woman within occur frequently and David finds he has to guard against his growing desire for her, as well as his growing love of her.

  Christmas Day finds David and Mouse enjoying the holiday with Carol in Westchester County. Carol has arranged for Mouse to see a local psychiatrist by the name of Dr. Edith Meyer on Friday, and so they’ll be staying at Carol’s for a few days. The living room is decorated with a ten-foot tall Douglas fir as the centerpiece. Mouse, David and Carol, sit around the fireplace and unwrap their gifts. Mouse is delighted by all the bright wrapping and bows and looks reluctant to tear apart the lovely paper.