by Mann, Cat
I didn’t eat much or say much at the dinner table and neither did Aggie. She kept quiet all day and I felt awkward. I felt bad that Ari had fought with her over me and I hoped they got over their differences soon. Aggie had been cold to me lately and a little quick lipped but I didn’t think she meant to be. I hoped not anyway. I knew that she liked me, more than liked me – she loved me and I loved her, too. It was just that I had taken her baby away from her. I don’t think she had been prepared for the hard time she would have picking up the pieces and moving on with this stage in her life.
Andy lightened the mood by giving a nice Christmas toast and pouring glasses of wine a bit too full. Max told Ari all about Santa coming and I really regretted not having been there in the morning to see the excitement on Max’s face. I could tell Ari was disappointed that he missed the occasion, too.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here, Max,” Ari said to him as he placed his hand on my back and rubbed his thumb down my neckline. “But my Ava wasn’t feeling well and she is my whole universe.”
His statement was a bit deep for a three-year-old, but it made me swoon nonetheless. Julia and Lauren drew out a long “awww.” And I, of course, blushed. I didn’t have to look up to see Aggie’s reaction because the whole table could hear her audible tsk. Ari tried to ignore her and keep his conversation up with Max. But I could see his jaw clench tight.
We were nearly done with dinner when the front door bell rang. Andy looked across the table to see who was missing, but every seat was full. And it wasn’t as though any of us had ever used the doorbell before. Andy excused himself and disappeared down the hall towards the door. He was only gone for a few seconds when he called for Ari.
Ari stood up, kissed me on the top of the head, and followed his dad’s voice towards the front door. I could hear some talking but I couldn’t make out what was being said. Ari came back a few minutes later holding two small packages and a thick manila envelope.
“What was that all about?” I asked as he took his seat next to me.
“Well, these are for you,” he said and handed me the packages.
“Oh,” I said a little taken back. “Who was that at the door?”
“I don’t know who that person was exactly, but he was sent here by Margaux.”
My eyes got large and I took a painful, deep breath and started to open the first package. Margaux had gotten me a gift from Toy Me. I had seen them before in London. It was a pair of silver scissors that had been molded into a bracelet. I took the bracelet, set it in front of Ari for inspection, and then opened the second gift.
“What the hell…” Ari said as I pulled out a faded blue Cub’s tee-shirt with a Cubby Bear on it -- the same style shirt that had been ruined with my own bloodshed when I was kidnapped four months ago.
I handed the shirt to him quickly.
“I don’t know if she is taunting me or being nice,” I said, trying to suppress a cold chill that was working its way down my back.
Ari took the gifts and slid them under his chair. He took the envelope and hesitated for a moment.
“Maybe I should just throw it away.”
“You can’t, Ari; you work for her. You have to at least know what it says when she asks you.”
“Yeah, man,” Rory said. “If you don’t open it, I will.”
Ari tossed the full envelope down the table towards Rory and it came down on his plate with a thud.
“Do I get to keep whatever is inside if I open this for you?” Rory asked as he toyed with the metal clasp.
“No, you don’t, so just open it and shut up.”
Rory pulled the clasp straight and then ripped the folded part away from the rest of the envelope. He pulled out a wad of cash that was the size of a brick and the whole table gasped.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head; Margaux was officially a nut job.
“Let me see that,” I said in disbelief and Rory tossed it at me. I dodged out of the way, as Ari caught the wad of cash, saving me from hurting my ribs again.
“Oops, sorry, Ava; I forgot,” Rory said with a rare frown on his face.
Ari handed me the cash and I thumbed through it.
“This is the same money I gave her a few months ago for my car.”
“You’re joking,” Ari said incredulously.
I pointed to the hair tie I had used to wad it all together.
“Nope, that’s my hair thing.”
“Why did she do that?”
“I don’t know, Ari; she’s something of a psycho.”
Ari rubbed my back.
“She’s not psycho, Ava; she’s just possessed.”
I smiled, then I laughed, then I laughed harder while I held onto my side in pain.
“That wasn’t funny, Ari,” I said, scolding him.
“Are you sure? Because I think it was,” he said playfully, pointing a finger at me.
I handed him back the money.
“Here, you can have it. Maybe cash will make up for the less then awesome Christmas gifts I got you this year. Can I see that bracelet again?”
“Aw, Ava Baby, how romantic, but I like my presents from you,” Ari said as he put the money down with the shirt and grabbed the bracelet. “I’ll add the money to the donation you made to Pacific Rehab. They need it more than us.”
I smiled at him and kissed the corner of his mouth. “That’s a great idea.”
I looked across the table to see Aggie staring at us.
“What?”
“Do not ‘what’ me, Ava.”
I let out an irritated sigh.
“Did you just give Ari that cash?”
“Well, what’s mine is his, so I don’t really see what difference it makes.”
“How much was there?”
“Ma, stop,” Ari said with a serious look on his face, forgetting to hand me the bracelet.
“Ava didn’t give me the money; we are donating it to Pacific Rehab. Ava has been working with the center’s founder since Misha passed and she has added them to her charity list. She had them construct a memorial in Newport. It is really beautiful.”
Ari and Andy were aware of my financial situation, but I don’t really know if anyone else was. I think for the most part people just assumed I had inherited some money but they didn’t know to what extent. Ari supported the fact that I donated my pay from House to Home back to the cause and we mostly just lived off what he earned at baio. No one was aware of the fact that I work with any charity’s and I liked to have it that way.
“Ava, how much money do you have?” Aggie asked with a bit of a snotty tone.
If she wanted to play this game then I would play it with her.
“I don’t know, Aggie. Hundreds of millions. Why?”
“You’re serious aren’t you?” she asked.
“Ma, that’s none of your business. Stop now,” Ari snapped at her.
Max let out a tiny whimper.
“Yes, I am serious,” I said, ignoring Ari’s plea to end the conversation. I didn’t know why Aggie cared. She and Andy had plenty of money. Maybe she enjoyed thinking of me as an orphan.
Aggie smiled a tight-lipped smile and took a bite of her food and Ari shot me an irritated look.
“What? She asked,” I whispered at him as he got up to put my gifts in a bag by the back door.
We went back to our post on the couch after dinner and watched basketball with the rest of Ari’s family. I fell asleep before the end of the first quarter, thanks to the painkillers. I had loopy, weird, nonsensical dreams about Aggie until Ari woke me up when it was finally time to go home. We walked back to the house behind August, Collin, Julia and Rory.
“What’s gotten into your mom, Ari?” I asked, not able to stand her beef with me any longer. “I swear one minute she is fine and then the next minute she looks for an excuse to hate me.”
“She loves you, Ava, you know that. I don’t know what her problem is. I’ll have a talk with her tomorrow.”
Ari did not have to talk w
ith Aggie the next day because when we left for home Christmas night, she caught up with us on the beach before we reached our gate. Her eyes filled with tears and she enclosed me in her arms and held me in a tight, painful hug.
“Ava, I am so sorry.”
“Okay, Aggie,” I said petting her hair, “it’s fine.”
“No, it’s not fine. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I am just so sorry.”
“Mom,” Ari said pulling her off me, “it’s alright.”
She threw her arms around Ari and cried. He calmed her down after a few minutes and she agreed to let him walk her back to the house. I gave Aggie one last hug, Ari handed me the bag with the gifts in it, and then I headed up our back steps towards home alone.
I sat on the couch and waited for Ari. It took him ages to get home and I was beginning to feel anxious. To kill the time, I pulled the scissor bracelet out of the bag. The bracelet was silver and shiny. I turned it around in my hands a few times while I stared off at the blackness beyond the window. The wind had picked up briskly and was whistling and pounding on the glass. I suppressed a sudden chill, tossed the bracelet back in the bag and took it, the cash and the tee-shirt back to the study. I threw the cash in a drawer, and took the bracelet and left it on top of the desk. Perhaps, Ari could add it to the collection behind the glass case. I walked back up the hall and threw the Cubs shirt in the closet. When I got back to the living room, Ari still wasn’t home. I finally broke down and called his cell phone. I heard it ring the same time the kitchen door slid open; I was relieved when I saw him and hung up the phone.
“What took you so long?”
“Sorry, she just needed to talk I guess,” Ari said as he took a seat next to me.
“Oh, well I was worried about you.”
Ari ran his thumb across my cheek. “Ava, I was at my parent’s house next door. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“You’re right,” I said and put my arms around his neck. I took one big, painful breath so I could inhale his sweet, wonderful, comforting scent.
“Listen Ava,” Ari said in to my ear, “she feels really bad about how she’s been acting and she wants to get together with you tomorrow.”
“I don’t know, Ari,” I said as I bit down on my bottom lip. “Will you come with us?”
“I can’t. I have to go to work tomorrow.”
“Are you serious? It’s the day after Christmas.”
He laughed at me.
“Margaux doesn’t view the day after Christmas as a holiday.”
“Well, I’ll only go with your mom if I can bring Julia or something.”
“Ava, are you for real? You want to spend the day with my mom and Julia?”
“No, I don’t want to spend the day with either of them, but if I have to do something with your mom, I want to have backup.”
“Ava, you are being ridiculous. I think your meds are still messing with you.”
“They aren’t,” I said holding my side in pain as I got up off the couch and walked down the steps to see if Julia was still awake. I knocked on their bedroom door and Rory yanked it open wearing just his boxers. I shielded my eyes.
“Where’s Julia?” I asked.
Rory pushed the door all the way open and I nearly flipped. Their room was a complete mess. Julia was lying on the bed reading a magazine.
“Hey,” she said smiling up at me.
“Um, hey,” I said, “sorry to bother you, but umm… what are you doing tomorrow? Would you please hang out with Aggie and me? I need a buffer.”
“Of course, what do you want to do?” she asked, tossing the magazine aside.
“Uh, well I feel like getting a tattoo, so we had better do something you want to do.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t sound like fun to me. I have to return some things at a few shops in town, and then we can grab lunch or something.”
“Sure, that’s fine. See ya tomorrow,” I said, then closed the door and turned around; I nearly walked right into Ari, who was quietly standing behind me.
“Another tattoo?” He asked raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t know. I was thinking about it.”
We walked upstairs and down the hall to our room and Ari arranged my gaggle of pillows. Then he handed me my meds. I situated myself and took my last pill for the day. Ari gently wrapped himself around me and put his head on my pillow.
“So what are you going to get?” he asked.
“Hmm?”
“Tattoo?”
I looked down at my arm and traced the wing of a bird on my half-sleeve.
“I don’t know, why?”
“Just wondering.”
“Would you ever get one? A tattoo?” I asked.
“Not unless I needed to,” he answered then kissed me goodnight.
Chapter 25
Hide and Seek
Ari kissed me goodbye early the next morning before he left for work. I had my head buried in the blankets and he had to dig through them to find me. I grabbed his shirt collar and gave him one last kiss.
“I put your meds on the nightstand,” he told me, “and you should take them and then try to go back to sleep for a little while.”
I pulled all the blankets off and looked at my phone. Eight o’clock already.
“I can’t. I have to get some work done before I go out with your mom.”
“Ok, but take it easy, Ava, and call me if you need anything.”
“K, I love you,” I said and he closed the door and left for work.
I got ready and then walked down the steps to Julia’s room. I called from outside the door, afraid of what Rory might or might not be wearing or not wearing.
“Julia, I’ll be in the study...just come and get me whenever you’re ready.”
I didn’t wait for her response, just walked back upstairs and sought refuge in my study for a few hours. I worked on a project for Andy, phoned Juan at Pacific Rehab to notify him about Ari’s donation, then opened my mother’s journal to the page I had been working on last.
Julia saved me from a growing pile of post-its a couple of hours later and sat down across the desk from me.
“Nothing more?” she asked.
“Just a few things here and there, but nothing coherent,” I said, looking up at her.
“That’s cute,” she said, nodding at the bracelet Margaux had given me.
I half glanced at it.
“It’s weird.”
“Well, are you ready?”
“I guess,” I said and peeled myself up out of my seat. Julia grabbed the items she had to return and I slipped on some shoes. We walked out the front door and across the lawn to Aggie’s. We walked in through her front door, a first for me, I think, and there in the foyer sat Max. He was crying and his eyes were red and puffy. I scooped him up in my arms.
“Max, what’s the matter?” I asked, holding him to me as best as I could with my still very sore ribs. He couldn’t answer me. He was crying so hard that he was forgetting to breathe. I carried him into the living room and sat him down on my lap. I wiped all the tears off his face and rocked him for a minute while he calmed down.
“Ok, Max, what happened?” I asked again.
“Aggie scared me,” he said and started to cry a little bit again. Aggie came in through the kitchen and I looked up at her.
“What’s going on?” I asked in as civil a voice as I could manage.
“Oh,” she said waving her hand as if she were brushing Max off, “we were playing hide and seek and I guess I startled him.”
“Oh…okay.” I rocked Max back and forth a few more times.
“Julia is coming with us today; I hope you don’t mind.”
Aggie pursed her lips when she saw Julia walk into the living room, but she didn’t say anything.
“Well…. are you ready to go?” I asked her.
“Sure!” she smiled. “Let me just grab my keys.”
We rode with Aggie to town. I sat in the tiny backseat with Max and read him a
book that I found under the seat and he bounced back to normal after a few minutes. We spent the late morning wandering through Aggie’s favorite stores and for the most part, she seemed back to her normal self. She was personable and loving and seemed to have moved on from whatever had been bugging her.
We went for a quick lunch at Aggie’s favorite restaurant. I was thankful to be able to sit. My side ached and Max kept holding his arms out to me, wanting to be held. I could tell he was getting tired. We sat at a table that looked out over the ocean and Max climbed out of his chair onto my lap. He put his little head on my shoulder and his hand on my cheek and fell asleep. Max was a sound sleeper and his body was still having issues adjusting with the time difference between Dana Point and Greece.
While Max slept, Julia babbled on with Aggie. They gossiped about actors breaking up and some Hollywood starlet’s dramatic weight loss. I was incredibly glad that Julia had agreed to tag along. She was the perfect person to have as backup – she and Aggie always got along; in fact, she was much more like Aggie than I ever would be. Or so I thought.
Julia started to talk about New Year’s Eve and how she and Rory were planning to go on a trip to some B&B a few towns south of Dana Point.
“I don’t care about the breakfast; I just can’t wait to do what I have planned in the bed,” she said with a little grin. I didn’t think anything of the comment. It was mild coming from Julia, but Aggie’s jaw hit the floor.
“That’s not an appropriate thing to say in front of Max, Julia, and you are in a public place here.”
Julia shot me a “what-was-that-about?” look and I gave her a confused grimace in return. Aggie normally thrives on girly conversations like that. I thought that maybe having Max around had toned her flirty behavior down a touch. But Max was clearly sound asleep and wouldn’t have understood what Julia meant even if he had been awake.
“Sorry, Aggie,” Julia said, trying her best to look sincere.
Aggie ignored the apology.
“What do you girls say we walk next door after this and get a pedicure?”