by Alexie Aaron
Mike clapped his hands together and started laughing. Mia was beet red.
Orion patted her hand. “I knew you were going to win. I bet Angelo three hundred dollars on it,” he said, putting his hand out. Angelo counted out the C notes, not making eye contact with Mia. “What is it they called you? Oh yes, the ice queen. How little do they know.”
“Watch it, little bird,” Mia growled.
“Can I offer you a glass of wine?” Bernard asked.
Mia tried not to look nauseated. “No thank you, I may have had a little too much Sangria with Father Alessandro today. It didn’t sit too well,” Mia admitted.
“Bernard, pour her a glass of the wine I brought. I guarantee it’s so fine you’ll forget the cheap wine Father Alessandro and you dined on,” Angelo said smoothly.
“It wasn’t cheap, just a lot,” Mia said. “I’m not used to wine.”
“It was a good thing you had a gentleman to take care of you,” Mike said, staring directly at Angelo. “Another man may have not been so trustworthy.”
Mia took the glass and sipped it in order to stop whatever was brewing between Mike and Angelo.
“What did your husband think of your win?” Orion asked.
“I don’t know. I left my phone in the diaper bag.”
“That’s right,” Ralph said, popping up. He walked out of the room.
“Mia, Angelo, I expect you two to be civil,” Bernard warned. “Ralph is not to be set off. We’ve had a wonderful day, and it will be a peaceful dinner. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Bernard,” Mia said, filled with guilt. “The wine is very tasty, Angelo.”
“A pleasure, Mia, a pleasure.”
Orion felt Mia stiffen, and he placed a calming hand on her arm.
“Here’s the phone,” Ralph said. “You may want to listen to your messages in private.”
Mia excused herself and walked out onto the small balcony. She scanned the texts she received. There was a major thank you from Richie, an “atta girl” from Dave, and congrats from Cid. However there was nothing from Ted. She looked at her voicemail, and again he left nothing. She dialed his number, and it went straight to his voicemail. She called Cid.
“Hello, Mia,” Cid said. “Congratulations on winning the contest.”
“Where’s my husband?”
“Sleeping it off beside me. I’m driving us home. Once the throng found out that you were married to him, people started buying him drinks, and Ted’s not a big drinker.”
“How mad is he with me?”
“Honestly, I think he would have handled it better if Mike wasn’t involved.”
“I can’t take back the day, Cid,” Mia said. “Nothing happened between me and Mike.”
“You don’t have to tell me that. I know you, Mia. I know Mike too. It’s Ted. He’s been a bit insecure since you went down to New Orleans the first time. He’s been acting weird, secretive lately. Something set him off today. He’s not Mia-friendly at the moment.”
“You know, Cid. I would do anything to make him happy, but I can’t stop the weavers of fate. Things happen. Bad things and good things. I’m thinking that I shouldn’t come home for a while. I’ll give him the room he needs,” Mia said sadly, and before Cid could protest, she hung up.
“You can’t really see the stars from here,” Orion said beside her.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you arrive.”
He handed her the forgotten wine glass. “Trouble in paradise?”
“Roumain said I was reckless. He was right.”
“What does Sariel think?”
“How crazy was it to think that I could keep anything from the Brotherhood?” Mia asked the night sky. She drank deeply from the glass.
“A mere note in a book, but I’ve learned to read between the lines.”
“Please don’t take this wrong, but I wish you all would fuck off.”
Orion giggled nervously.
“I hate this crazy world of heroes who lie to my face, villains who protect me, and my family caught in the middle somewhere.”
“Your husband will come around. I’m surprised he wasn’t on his way here.”
“No, he’s not, thank God. The last thing I need is for Ted to find me sitting down to eat with Angelo.”
“You’ve come so far from screaming in graveyards,” Orion said. “You are an emerging force, and the players are vying to lure you to their side. Mia, did you really think your place on earth was to change diapers and cross over lost souls?”
“Yes,” she said. “Now excuse me, I have a meal to get through. I better splash some water on my face.”
Mia opened up the door of the master bedroom and walked into the bathroom. She ran the water and looked at her face. “Some bodacious beach bitch you are, Mia Cooper. You can’t even keep a husband.”
Chapter Eighteen
Maggie licked Ted’s face. He turned over. She climbed in bed and licked his face again.
“Mia, I…” Ted’s eyes opened wide. It wasn’t Mia kissing him. It was the dog licking his face. He pushed her away. “Sorry, Maggie, daddy’s got a hell of a headache.”
He looked beside him at the empty bed. “Where’s Mia?”
“You told Ralph that she and Brian should stay with him and we’d pick them up and drive them home today,” Cid reminded him from the doorway.
“I forgot. I guess I thought she might want to come home and explain herself last night,” Ted said, getting up and walking into the bathroom. His phone pinged with a message. Cid walked over, glanced at it, shook his head and waited for Ted to return.
Cid waited until the nature call had finished before he dropped the other shoe. “Ted, she’s not coming home.”
Ted walked out and stared at Cid. “What? She’s got to come home. This is her home. She and Brian and me.”
“You didn’t call her. Maybe you could have left her a text congratulating her or giving her a high five for helping Richie out. Something.”
“She was at the beach with Mike,” Ted reminded Cid. “I’m the injured party.”
“They were at the beach together, not in bed together. Mike’s got a girlfriend. Meg may have been there too. You aren’t thinking straight.”
“You saw her, dude. She just gets prettier every day. How do I hold on to that?”
“She chose you,” Cid said. “She wanted to be with you. She loves you, dude.”
“There’s something wrong,” Ted said. “When I picked her up in New Orleans, she didn’t tell me all that went on between her and Angelo. And why was she so vicious with Roumain? Dude, she was going to bisect him with an angel’s sword.”
“To protect you, Brian and us. You were pretty happy when you told me about it when you came back. What has soured you on the whole deal?”
“I know Mia. I know her so well that when an eyelash is out of place, I can see it. When she went to Chicago, it wasn’t just to talk to the priest. She went there to talk to Mike. Now don’t deny it. You know she did. You hear everything.”
“She said she was in ‘need of a father confessor.’ She didn’t say, let’s go to the beach, and I’ll parade around half naked and become a nerd queen for all to see.”
“She could have told me.”
“Do you tell her about the emails and texts you and Beth have been sharing?” Cid asked.
Ted paled. “How?”
“There are no secrets when it comes to the internet. I don’t know what gives you the right to condemn your wife for asking for a friend’s advice when you’ve been having a relationship with the woman that tried to have Mia committed, the woman that betrayed her by sleeping with Whit, the woman that tried to undermine her with Burt.”
“Beth needed help. She asked, and I helped her.”
“And then she asked again and again.”
“There’s nothing going on, Cid.”
“Just say that I believe you, are you sure Beth knows there is nothing going on?” Cid asked and walked out the door.
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~
Mia carried Brian past the super’s wife. “Do you mind watching this stuff until I can get him upstairs?”
“Sure, hon, you get him settled. Your father said you were going to be here indefinitely.”
“That was kind of vague, but as good an answer as any.”
“Husband dump you?”
“Not yet.”
“You wanna talk about it?”
“Not right now, but thank you for your concern,” Mia said as she hefted the heavy carrier up the stairs. She opened the door, and the familiar smell of dust and old books filled her nostrils.
Brian sneezed.
“Oh dear, mommy’s got to clean this place up. It’s hardly baby ready.”
Brian babbled on. Mia suspected he was asking why he was there, where was his father, and where was Murphy. “I’m sorry, darling, we’ll get this all sorted out. Until then, it’s going to be just mommy.”
There was a knock on the door. Mia opened it to find the super and the rest of her packages. “Oh, you didn’t have to…”
“Yes, I did. The missus says our Mia’s in trouble, we need to help her out.”
Mia’s eyes watered. “Thank you. I’ll try to get better organized. I’m not used to living in the city.”
“We’ll help you out. The door is always open to you and yours. What’s the little fellow’s name?”
“Brian, we named him after a very brave man.”
“And a great linebacker.”
Mia followed the man out and thanked him and his wife again before she shut the door. Brian reached out his hands, and Mia released the straps and pulled him to her. “Oh, baby, your mommy is in trouble,” she said.
~
“What do you mean Mia’s not coming home?” Burt asked Cid who was loading up the back of his truck with what looked to Burt to be baby stuff.
“There was a little disagreement. Actually, there wasn’t much communication at all. We see Mia on the beach…”
“I saw that. Atta girl, Mia. She did PEEPs proud,” Burt said. “Come on, Ted can’t have a problem with that. He loves to show off his arm candy.”
“She was with Mike.”
“So. Nothing happened.”
“How do you know?”
“You see, the two of them have this odd arrangement because they understand the dark parts of the other. He’s her father confessor. They talk about stuff you and I can’t begin to understand. There must be more. Why isn’t Ted on his way to fetch her home?”
Cid nodded. “You’ll have to talk to Ted to get the rest. I’m late. I said I’d get this portable crib to her by Brian’s next nap.”
“Cid, you’re Ted’s best friend. Why are you helping Mia?”
“Ask Ted,” he said and slammed the tailgate.
Burt walked in the office. Ted was staring at the empty monitor in front of him. Burt wanted to just walk out. Mia and Ted didn’t need Burt’s interference, but he owed Mia. He knew she loved this man. He needed to fix this.
“She’s gone,” Ted said. “Took my kid and…”
“I believe you share the child, and you’re being an ass.”
“Am I? What have you heard? Has Cid been running to you with stories?”
“First of all, Cid only told me that Mia isn’t coming home for a while because of a misunderstanding you two stubborn idiots had about the events of yesterday.”
“If it was just yesterday then…” Ted said and slammed his head down a bit too hard on the console table.
“Wow, I’m in Bizarro World. The sickening sweet twosome of Mia and Ted have had a tiff. But instead of communicating, you two have gone to your separate corners. Now, I understand Mia may have crossed the line and been a bit too slutty in her choice of bathing suits, and then she paraded her beautiful body in front of millions, if you’re to believe the YouTube numbers, but she didn’t cheat on you.”
“She’s holding something back. Something that happened in New Orleans. I think she slept with Angelo.”
Burt angled his head backwards and blew air out. “Mia, if I remember right, was forced to go with him to take care of her leg, and it was yours and Murphy’s idea. I’m going to find out.”
“How?”
“I’m going to ask Angelo. He flew in with Orion, who right now is at the Chicago Library doing research with Audrey.”
“You’re just going to walk up and ask Angelo if he screwed my wife?”
“Yes.”
“He’ll beat you to a pulp.”
“Nah, he won’t.”
The center monitor came to life. Jake popped up dressed as Marvin the Martian. He marched across the screen and blew his herald trumpet. “Da da dada dah!”
Ted looked warily at the screen.
Burt, who normally would ignore the ghost, asked, “What’s new, Jake?”
The main printer started printing. Burt walked over to the nearest one and saw that Jake was printing transcripts of chat sessions between Ted and Beth Bouvier. Another printer started up, and Burt pulled out emails between the two former techs. He looked at the most recent letter, sent this morning, where Beth commented on how Mia wasn’t worth it, and she heard that Brian was really Mike’s child.
Burt picked Ted up out of the chair and threw him through the window. He stopped to make sure Ted was breathing before he got in his car and left.
Murphy moved down the hillside. He was surprised to see Ted on the ground outside the office and the window busted outwards. He had seen Cid leave, and then Burt drove off soon after he arrived. He helped Ted into the farmhouse before he went outside and began to board up the busted window. There was rain coming. PEEPs would be upset if all their computers got ruined. He moved inside and looked at all the paper on the floor. He was picking them up and placing them in orderly piles when he read Mia’s name. He put the pages in number order and read them through.
“That witch worked her evil and got back in,” he said to Jake. “Where are Mia and Brian?”
Jake didn’t know, but he rolled security footage of Cid packing up the back of his truck with baby furniture.
“I’ll ask Cid. Tell me, what happened to cause all of this?”
Murphy watched the webcam footage of Burt confronting Ted. Murphy put his hat on the back of his head as he watched Burt toss Ted through the window.
“Too many emotions, not enough plain speaking.”
~
Burt stood outside of Angelo’s penthouse door. It took him a moment to compose himself before he could bring himself to knock on the door. It was opened by Angelo’s driver.
“Hello, you may not remember me, but I’m Burt Hicks, and I’d like to speak to Mr. Michaels please.”
“He’s on the patio. He’s not in a good mood.”
“Great,” Burt said. “I’d still like to talk to him.”
“No one’s stopping you,” the driver said and walked out the door, leaving Burt alone in the apartment.
Burt slipped off his shoes, afraid that they would spoil the white carpet. “Who has white carpet?” he asked himself as he walked towards the wall of windows looking out onto the stone patio. He opened a door and ventured into the heat of the afternoon sun.
“Hello, Mr. Michaels, Angelo,” Burt called out.
“Over here, Bertram. Behind the statuary.”
Burt followed Angelo’s voice and found the expensive statues. He walked through the low maze until he found Angelo perched on the wall of an herb garden.
“What can I do for you?” Angelo asked.
“There’s a big problem, and I’ve promised to ask you a question. But first, I want you to promise not to toss me off this building.”
Angelo turned and looked down at Burt. “Am I a barbarian? I think not. Ask me. I promise to be a gentleman.”
“Did you sleep with Mia in New Orleans?”
“No, I did not. We didn’t even shake hands. It all blew up thanks to Roumain’s lies.”
Burt rubbed his jaw. “Ted thinks tha
t you did.”
“He’s a fool. He doesn’t know what he has. He doesn’t deserve her.”
“Ted says Mia’s been different since New Orleans, that she was hiding something.”
Angelo thought a moment.
Burt watched his face and saw sorrow cross it. “Mia found something out that she fears telling Ted. That would be the only thing that she would possibly keep from him.”
“Something she did?”
“No, the girl is loyal, a bit self-destructive at times, but loyal. You see, Bertram, Mia is a very powerful being. She feels things so strongly. An injustice was done to her and Ted, and she takes the responsibility of it happening upon herself. She stores it here.” Angelo tapped his chest. “She would not have been able to stop it even if she recognized the signs. The sad part is that she didn’t even know about it until I told her. This is all on me. She cried and asked me to stop talking, but I opened my big mouth and… I’m ashamed.”
“So she feels guilt. Mia doesn’t do well with guilt.”
“You know her better than I.”
“You should have seen her in the beginning before we came and ruined her life. She was this little spitfire, shy but oh so damn sexy. I fell in love so fast and hard that I scared myself. We really don’t need to go any further into that. She trusts, you see. She believes what she’s been told, but people lie to her, use her and hurt her. I’ve discovered a former colleague has been spreading poisonous thoughts to Ted. That one’s clever. She tried all this out on me, and in my flitch state, I believed her. Ted’s susceptible to the lies because he’s insecure. He still holds the baggage of being a skinny nerdy kid who no one noticed. Mia grows more beautiful as she becomes more powerful. I can barely believe this is the same woman. So he figures that he might as well lose her now rather than later.”
“He cheated on Mia?”
“No, well, maybe with a few words, but no endearments. He’s feeling guilty so he’s running away.”
“So the two are running away because they don’t want to face the other with the truth and, of course, the guilt of the pain this will bring the other one.”