EMIT (THE EMIT SAGA)

by Barbara Cross

  Since we were all awake, we got an early start for Long Island. Halfway there, Dad realized he forgot to bring the file that I had brought home. He left a voice message for Sonia to send a different file by Federal Express.

  When we arrived, Grammy was outside puttering in the garden. Mom went to help, Dad rushed off to make calls and I took Amber for a walk. The beach was totally deserted.

  When I got back to the house, Aunt Cecile was pulling into the driveway.

  Lily and Uncle Ian were catching the bus after work and were expected around eight. I changed into my bathing suit and jumped in the pool.

  Around two o’clock, bored with swimming, I took Amber for a walk to the Causeway Beach for a change. As we were heading down the beach, I noticed a black car with tinted windows pull into the parking lot. No one got out and I couldn’t really see anyone from my angle. When I came by again on the way home, the car was gone.

  I found a note on the table that Grammy, Mom and Aunt Cecile had gone food shopping. I heard Dad talking on the phone in the den, so I got my books and camped out on a lounge chair by the pool to read poetry. All the poetry now reminded me of Daniel.

  When Lily and Uncle Ian finally arrived, Dad took orders for grilled fish and salmon burgers. As I ate, I saw a motorboat anchored off the beach right in front of Grammy’s house. The boat was on a private buoy, so it most likely was a neighbor enjoying the night.

  I wasn’t that hungry, so I jumped in the pool and waited for Lily to finish eating. When she was done, Lily ran towards the pool and dove in.

  As Lily surfaced, I yelled to her, “Hey, you have to wait two hours before swimming.”

  “Sure, I’ll jump right out,” Lily laughed and started doing laps.

  One summer, Mom, Dad and I had visited friends in Piscara, Italy and we went along with their relatives to the beach. After eating lunch, I jumped up and ran right into the water while the other kids just sat on the edge of the water and watched me enviously. I kept asking them to come in, but they said they weren’t allowed. Our friends told us that all the locals waited two hours after eating fearful of cramps. The adults gave my parents dirty looks, appalled that I was allowed to swim. This wasn’t the only strange thing. If they ate watermelon, they had to wait three hours to swim and some people wouldn’t even bathe.

  When I first told Lily the story, she wisecracked, “So if you eat pizza and watermelon do you have to wait five hours?”

  Later that night as I looked out my window admiring the full moon, I noticed that the boat was still there and the lights were on. The evening was cool so we opened the windows and enjoyed the night sounds.

  

  The following morning, Lily wanted to kayak after breakfast. The motorboat was still there and with nothing better to do, we paddled towards it to investigate.

  As we reached the boat, we saw a person disappear below. As we pulled away, the person reappeared. Lily thought that was strange and we paddled back towards the boat. Again, the occupant went below.

  “I’m not leaving until I see who is on that boat,” Lily stated. We paddled back and forth hoping the person would appear eventually.

  My arms started to ache and I moaned, “Let’s forget it. Who cares?”

  “Fine,” Lily agreed.

  We were about to turn the kayak towards home when the person came out. Standing on deck was Daniel’s friend. It took a minute to remember his name.

  “Pierce?” I called out to get his attention and wondered if he’d remember us.

  He was visibly startled. “Hey? What are you two doing here?”

  “Our grandmother lives right there,” I answered and pointed towards the house.

  “That’s amazing. I’m sorry, but I forgot your names.”

  “I’m Paige and that’s Lily. Why have you been here all night?”

  “My friends were coming last night from Connecticut, but something happened and they couldn’t come till today. Since I was already anchored here, I waited.”

  “Do you live around here?” asked Lily.

  “My family has a place on Robins Island.”

  That island was privately owned, so Pierce’s family had to own it. We tried to talk to him, but it was just as painful as the first time.

  "I've always wanted to go there," I mentioned. Pierce didn't respond and walked around the boat tying some buoys to the railing.

  Lily and I got the hint and left. "Bye," we called out. Pierce waved. I had to go and ride Milton anyway.

  I looked out the window before we left and the boat was gone.

  It was a stressful ride over. Mom kept yelling, “You’re too close to the car in front of you. Slow down. Turn now.” By the time we got there, I wanted to kill her.

  When I saw Milton, I calmed down. I trotted around the ring and noticed a black car parked at the entrance to the farm. What’s with all these cars? What was going on? My imagination went wild. Was I being watched? I realized how stupid that was. Why would anyone be watching me? I laughed at the absurdity of what I was thinking and when I was done, I gave Milton a bath. I called Mom that I was done and was told Uncle Ian would get me on his way home from golf. Mom wasn’t letting me drive anymore today.

  By the time we left, the mystery car was gone.

  When I got back, I found Lily by the pool and told her what I thought.

  She laughed. “Yeah, sure. Our lives are too boring for anyone to bother watching us.”

  She had me there, but since Daniel came into my life, I wasn’t bored, just very intrigued.

  

  On Sunday, Lily and I went for a long bike ride and then spent the day by the pool. I grabbed a stack of magazines and began reading while Lily Skyped people on her laptop.

  I was hoping we’d leave right after dinner, but nobody seemed in any hurry. Lily was engrossed with working on a new song and I was the only one anxious to go.

  Grammy said, “I think you all better head out. I worry about you driving late at night.” On that note, everyone headed upstairs to pack.

  Before leaving, Mom and Aunt Cecile told Grammy not to get carried away in the gardens and to take it easy while we were gone. Aunt Cecile and Mom had offered to get her a gardener last year, but Grammy said no. Fall and spring cleanups and weekly mowing of the lawn were fine, but no stranger was allowed to touch her gardens. Lately, she had allowed Lily and I to help with a few things, but the majority of the time, we just meandered around and she would tell us about all the different plants she loved.

  We got home around ten o’clock and I crawled into bed. My cell rang and it was Daniel.

  “Hi. Where are you?” he asked.

  “69th Street. Where are you?”

  “72nd Street. I heard you ran into Pierce.”

  “Yeah, it was so weird,” I admitted.

  “It’s really a small world.”

  “My mom said the exact same thing after I told her about the Eiffel Tower.”

  “Great minds think alike,” joked Daniel.

  “Since I met you, strange things keep happening.”

  “What do you mean by strange?” he asked sounding confused.

  “I mean Chappaqua, Paris, now Pierce in Cutchogue. It seems we’re somehow …connected.” I couldn’t express what I meant correctly. “Does Pierce’s family own Robins Island? What’s his last name?”

  “His last name is Tallmadge, but his family doesn’t own the island anymore. Years ago when the island was sold, his family made a deal and were able to keep their house.”

  “Every time the island gets sold, they get to stay?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure. I think so,” Daniel answered.

  “That’s amazing.”

  “I guess it is. I was wondering are you free for dinner tomorrow night?”

  “Yes,” I answered quickly, smiling ear to ear. “I am.”

  “Well, I know you wanted to see the Dakota. How about we eat here?”

  “Ah…yeah …okay,” I answered a bit appre
hensively.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m positive,” I answered and agreed to meet him at seven in front of his building.

  After we hung up, I called Lily and told her about the plans.

  “Are you telling your mom?” Lily quizzed.

  “No.”

  “I don’t think that’s smart.”

  “I’m not telling my her, so forget it.”

  “You better text me all night and let me know that you’re okay,” Lily insisted.

  I couldn’t sleep so I got on the computer and did some research on Robins Island. As I scrolled down to the history section, I found that Caleb Brewster and Benjamin Tallmadge, two espionage agents of General George Washington, purchased it in 1784. Pierce’s family had a spy in its past! It turned out that a Wall Street financier owned Robins Island.

  

  After Mom and Dad left for work, I went for a jog and found myself at the Delacorte Theatre. I stopped to look at the Romeo and Juliet statue. This was my favorite of Shakespeare’s works. My thoughts went to Daniel and I hoped that our relationship would fare much better.

  After I got out of the shower, Daphne texted that she had the day off, so we made plans to meet up for manicures at a place on Broadway. When I told her about my dinner plans, Daphne insisted that I get something new and after our nails dried, dragged me to Stars. Daphne put together at least ten outfits that I didn’t like.

  “I just want to wear something I feel comfortable in,” I explained.

  “I give up. That you don’t like to shop is so weird to me.”

  Mom called and said she was meeting Dad at the office for some business dinner, so I would be on my own. It was perfect. I wouldn’t be asked where I was going. She told me to feed and walk Amber.

  Daphne came back to the apartment and helped me pick an outfit. We settled on white jean shorts and a yellow gauzy top.

  “That’s perfect,” Daphne said.

  Leaving the apartment, I got super nervous. Mom had a point. I really didn’t know Daniel and I was going to his apartment. At least, Lily and Daphne knew where I’d be.

  “Is he ordering food or is he cooking?” Daphne wondered.

  “I doubt he cooks,” I answered. I was so glad that Daphne walked with me and kept me calm.

  On the corner of 72nd Street, I saw Daniel standing outside the fortress-like building talking to the doorman. Seeing his gorgeous face made all my worries disappear.

  As we approached, he saw me and did a double take when he spotted Daphne. “Hello, ladies.”

  “Hey Daniel, just dropping Paige off. I have to go home and babysit my sister.” She gave me a hug goodbye.

  Daniel nodded to the guard and we walked through the arched entryway. We passed the first gate then the second. There was a fountain in the middle of the courtyard and I felt like I had stepped into a different era.

  On the sixth floor, Daniel opened the door to reveal a huge foyer with a wood-burning fireplace. It was so beautiful and I was speechless.

  The ceilings were so high that I felt I had walked into a mansion and not a New York City apartment. We walked down the hallway on the left and passed several doorways. At the end on the left side, Daniel stopped at open French doors. As I walked up and looked in, it was the living room and it was massive. There were floor-to-ceiling windows and because of that tons of light shone threw the windows. Two large couches, two settees, four chairs, a grand piano and a fireplace were in that room and it was still spacious.

  “Wow,” was all I could say afraid to enter. I felt like I was looking at a magazine page. “This is so beautiful.”

  Before we walked in, I heard a noise coming from a room behind us. Daniel called out, “Hello?”

  “I’m in the library. I’ll be right out.”

  “That’s my uncle.” Suddenly, I wasn’t sure if I felt better or worse. He didn’t want to be alone with me, I thought.

  The pocket doors slid open and a gentleman came out. He looked like an older version of Daniel, but with darker hair. He walked over and introduced himself, “Hi. I’m James Haydin.” Without allowing me to respond, he continued brusquely, “Paige, right?” Daniel had told his uncle about me? That did make me feel good.

  “Yes,” I answered meekly. “You have a beautiful apartment.”

  “Thank you,” he said without any emotion or social pleasantries. He turned to Daniel and sounding very businesslike said, “I have a meeting at the Knickerbocker. It shouldn’t take too long.” As he walked down the hallway, he turned around and said, “Nice to meet you.” He seemed to be in an unpleasant mood unless that was his normal demeanor.

  Daniel ushered me into the living room. There were beautiful landscape paintings on the wall and nothing was out of place. When I looked out a window, I saw two balconies and the apartment had amazing views of Central Park.

  Daniel asked if I wanted a tour and when I said yes, he led me into the room that his uncle had been. It was the library and it was filled to the rafters with books. My mouth opened wide at the sheer size of it.

  “This is unbelievable,” I gasped. Leather armchairs and couches were placed all around the room and there was another large fireplace. “I would live in here.”

  I picked up a book lying on the desk called These United States filled with photographs of American landmarks.

  “These are so beautiful,” I said and Daniel looked at them over my shoulder.

  “Yeah, I love that book.”

  Daniel got a call and left the room. While I waited, I sat down at the desk and noticed a sparkly object sitting in an open box. Peering inside, it looked like a crystal cylinder with a blue line in the middle, which seemed to be glowing and pulsating.

  Daniel walked back in. Holding it up I asked, “What’s this?”

  “Oh…I don’t know. It’s my uncle’s.” Daniel took the crystal and put it in a desk drawer. He seemed to be in a hurry to exit the library. His uncle probably didn’t like people nosing around in there. I realized that there weren’t any personal photos anywhere.

  “Did your aunt decorate this apartment herself?” I wondered looking at the sconces in the hallway. Aunt Cecile would love this apartment.

  “I don’t know.”

  Daniel pointed to the two doors on the left and said they were bedrooms, but didn’t show me inside. At the foyer, we went to the right wing of the apartment. Daniel stopped at a doorway to the massive dining room with yet another fireplace. In the middle of the room was a large rectangular wooden table. I counted the chairs and it seated sixteen people. The sterling silver and crystal shone in the hutch. The walls were covered in pale grey fleur-de-lis wallpaper and the windows had soft blue silk curtains.

  The next room on the left, he called the family room/media room. When we entered, it was really dark and Daniel reached for a remote control. The blackout shades automatically lifted revealing dark green walls and large tan suede couches and chairs. The biggest flat screen TV that I’d ever seen was hanging on one wall.

  As we exited that room, Daniel pointed down the hallway and said, “There are two bedrooms down there.” It was obvious he had no intention of showing me any personal rooms and for a moment, I felt like I was on an official museum tour.

  We crossed the hall from the family room and Daniel opened a closed door and said, “This is the billiard room.” Of course, it was. Didn’t everyone have one of those?

  Coming back down the hall, we entered the huge kitchen. It had stainless steel appliances, two huge islands and a banquette was nestled by the large windows. I reached for my cell to take a picture and realized how obnoxious that would be, so I put my phone back in my bag. Daniel noticed so I quickly said, “I thought my phone buzzed.”

  “For a minute, I thought you were going to take a photo.”

  I laughed and made a silly face at him. Not admitting that I had almost done just that.

  Daniel opened a drawer and pulled out some menus.

  “What would
you like to eat?”

  “I really don’t care.”

  After going back and forth for some time, we decided on a pizza and a Caesar salad. We sat in the living room to wait for the food to arrive. Daniel put on some classical music, which was soothing and helped calm my nerves. He walked across the room and opened a large, built-in wooden armoire with glass doors and inside was a wine rack and refrigerator on the left side and on the right a sink and lots of glasses. He brought over a bottle of sparkling water and glasses.

  In the corner of the room, there was a guitar and I remembered that Daniel said he played. I asked him to play something, but he said, “Maybe later, I don’t want you to lose your appetite.”

  “I'm sure I wont. Later, there are no excuses,” I warned jokingly.

  I walked over to the piano and started playing a Sara Bareilles song.

  “Why don’t you sing? I’m sure you have a nice voice.”

  Feeling self-conscious, I refused. I only sang in my bedroom or with Lily.

  When I finished, I looked around the room. “I can’t believe your uncle doesn’t live here fulltime. This is amazing.”

  “Well, his job and family is in DC.”

  “Then why does he keep such a large apartment in New York?”

  Before he could answer, the doorbell rang and he went to get the pizza.

  Daniel came back holding the box and said, "Let's go in the kitchen."

  I sat at the table and Daniel brought over plates and glasses.

  "Do you have red pepper flakes?" I asked.

  Daniel nodded and grabbed the bottle from the spice rack in the cabinet.

  As I sprinkled the pepper on my pizza, Daniel was amazed at the amount.

  “Wow! You’ll be breathing fire soon,” he joked.

  “Very funny,” I said and kept shaking.

  “My uncle likes red pepper too, but you win the prize.”

  “Where does your uncle work?” I asked.

  “I told you. He works for the government.”

  “But where in the government?”