by Sara Marks
“I do!”
“I was joking.”
“I’m not. I also love mermaids. Ask Becca. For years I was going to turn into one when I grew up. It was my career goal for quite a while.”
“Are you a good swimmer?”
“Fantastic! I’m a much better swimmer than I am an artist.”
Wil laughed at her.
“You are great at riding horses and swimming? Did you want to become a unicorn later?”
“No, I was going to be a mermaid princess who came on land to ride her unicorns. That’s why my grandparents bought me Windfola.”
Wil blushed, probably remembering his plan to buy her horse.
“Then your income would be princess-based.”
“Obviously, a great plan.”
This time they both laughed. Wil wouldn’t let her see what was on his paper. They left the exhibit and headed for a cafe in the museum to grab lunch. As they left the exhibits, Lizbeth saw him fold his paper and slip it into his back pocket. As they made their way to the cafe, they got distracted by a collection about roosters across cultures. They stood before a painting of a rooster called “The Cock.” Neither recognized the artist, but Lizbeth felt inspired.
“The thing that catches my eye about this cock is the color and shape. Notice the left curvature of the cock. The shape is of an average cock. What are your thoughts about the cock, Wil?” Lizbeth said.
She turned to face Wil and found him trying to stifle a laugh.
“Do you find cocks funny, Wil? A cock is nothing to laugh at. If you had a cock as grand as this would you want people laughing at it?” Lizbeth said.
She would have continued, but she started laughing herself. She let Wil take her hand and pull her out of the room.
“You’ve seen my terrible drawings. Let me see what you did,” Lizbeth said once they were seated with lunch from the cafe.
“No, it’s nothing.”
“Wil, don’t worry. I won’t tell your aunt how you aren’t a well-rounded young lady.”
Wil laughed at the joke, but refused to let her see what he had drawn.
“This isn’t over. The more you refuse, the more I want to see what you drew,” Lizbeth said as she got up to throw away their trash.
She was standing at the trash can, throwing away their lunch, with her back to Wil, when she heard a familiar voice.
“WI-IL!” Caroline called from the other side of the cafe.
Lizbeth stood there for a moment, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and collected herself.
“Ginny said you would be here,” Caroline was saying when Lizbeth returned to the table. “We thought we would come find you.”
Lizbeth saw she was not alone. Charlie had come with his sister.
“Oh, Lizbeth. I didn’t realize you were here too,” Caroline said with a sneer, when she saw Lizbeth.
Caroline’s tone had changed as soon as she had seen Lizbeth. Charlie smiled broadly, pleased to see both Wil and Lizbeth.
Lizbeth greeted the siblings once she was back at the table.
“You two are here together?” Caroline asked Lizbeth, putting on her best fake smile.
“We both came to see the Matisse exhibit,” Wil said.
“You were both here at the same time and ran into each other?” Caroline asked.
“No, we decided to come together.”
Caroline’s fake smile faded quickly.
“I didn’t realize you two were speaking,” Caroline said.
Lizbeth looked at Wil to see if he would explain it. The scowl returned to his face, and the taciturn nature she disliked was back. For the first time, she wondered if the scowl had ever been about her. Wil got to his feet.
“It turns out Lizbeth and I have some associates in common.”
“Really? Who?” Caroline asked.
“My aunt.”
Caroline looked confused, but took Wil’s arm, linking her arm through his.
“I’d love to see the Matisse exhibit with you,” Caroline said as they walked away.
Wil didn’t protest as Caroline led him back toward the exhibit. Lizbeth and Charlie quickly followed.
After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Charlie asked, “Have you spoken to Jane over the break?”
Lizbeth had briefly spoken to Jane who was back at home in New Orleans.
“Yes.”
“How is she?”
Lizbeth stopped and turned to Charlie.
“You should ask Jane.”
“What?”
“You know the way things ended between the two of you, after Halloween?”
“Yes.”
“If you want to know how Jane is doing, then you need to talk directly to Jane and ask her. I’m not getting in the middle of it. I made enough mistakes last semester. Only Jane can tell you how she is doing.”
Charlie looked confused and started walking again. Lizbeth followed Charlie as he wove through the different rooms of art. Walking around the Met with Wil was a direct and obvious journey. You might see something that caught your eye, but you made your way to your destination. Walking with Charlie was like following a child with ADD. He had to stop and look at everything that caught his eye. Lizbeth felt like an indulgent parent letting her child be curious and explore. Caroline and Wil weren’t too far ahead of them. She could hear the clacking of Caroline’s heels and her voice carried from room to room. Caroline was leaving a wake of exasperation as she moved through the exhibits. Other visitors and docents were complaining, rolling their eyes, and glaring in her direction.
When Lizbeth caught sight of Caroline and Wil, she could see the former clinging to the latter. She could see the scowl on Wil’s face as Caroline prattled on, not looking at the art. They weren’t even heading in the direction of the Matisse exhibit anymore. Lizbeth stopped walking when they got to one of her favorite Degas paintings, The Dance Class. Charlie wandered around the room and Lizbeth sat down on a bench looking at the painting. She had spent years in the Met, and she frequently found her way back to The Dance Class.
“He has a thing for butts in my opinion, but I don’t know if you have noticed that,” Wil said, sitting down next to her.
Lizbeth nodded, but said nothing. She was suddenly exhausted and wanted to go home.
“Your scowl is back,” Wil said quietly to her.
“I don’t scowl, you do.”
“You scowl--trust me.”
Lizbeth felt ashamed that she was letting Caroline ruin their day. Wil’s knee touched hers and the small gesture made Lizbeth want to cry. Wil must have realized this as well and pulled out his sketching paper from his jeans. Lizbeth watched as he unfolded it and saw that it was a well-done sketch of her.
“Me?”
“Why are you always surprised? Here, you can keep it. Let’s get out of here before Caroline realizes where I am,” Wil said with a smile.
He got up, pulled Lizbeth to her feet, and they quietly made their way out of the room. If Charlie noticed, he didn’t say anything.
***
“Ginny just sent me a text. She wants you to join us for dinner. It won’t be fancy, you do not have to change clothes.”
“Okay.”
They had grabbed a cab to make sure Caroline didn’t catch up with them. Now they sat next to each other in silence. Lizbeth had slipped Wil’s sketch into her purse along with her own doodles. She didn’t know what she should do. She wanted to touch him, hold his hand, or kiss him. She just wasn’t sure if it was appropriate. Before she knew it, they pulled up in front of his building and they were in the elevator standing next to each other. She had lost her chance.
“Hi! Don’t be mad,” Ginny said when the elevator door opened.
“Why?” Wil asked.
“Caroline and Charlie are coming over too. Ca
roline said they lost you at the museum, so I told them to just come to dinner with us.”
“Are we going out, ordering in, or is someone cooking?” Wil asked.
“Someone is cooking! Becca!”
Wil turned to Lizbeth.
“She’s very good,” Lizbeth said. “I’ll go help her. You get wine.”
Wil did as he was told and Ginny went into the kitchen to help the sisters.
“There will be six of us,” Ginny told Becca before going off into another room.
“Who are the other two people?” Becca asked Lizbeth.
“Charlie and Caroline, Wil’s roommates at school. Please, no matter how much you dislike Caroline, butt out,” Lizbeth said
“What?”
“I love you, but I know her and the two of you will not mix well. Plus, I am pretty sure she thinks I’m competition.”
Becca sighed as she started a pot of caramelizing onions.
“Ok, but because I love you. I’ll pretend this is dinner theater. You should know, you’re her competition if it’s Wil she wants. She has every reason to be jealous of you.”
Charlie and Caroline arrived a few minutes after Wil and Lizbeth. Caroline stood in the kitchen while Becca and Lizbeth finished dinner. Becca had been making French onion soup and roasting chicken before anyone had arrived. Lizbeth helped with final touches. All three siblings were good cooks, having spent much of their lives in a restaurant kitchen. Only Josh wanted to make a career out of it. While Wil and Charlie were around, Caroline was on her best behavior, especially if Ginny was watching. Caroline showed her true colors when Wil and Charlie went to clean up the kitchen after dinner.
“I heard Jorge has been hanging around the sorority again,” Caroline said to Lizbeth once the guys had left. “Did you know he and Wil grew up together?”
“Excuse me?” Lizbeth said.
She looked at Ginny to make sure Caroline didn’t upset the teenager. She could see the color rising in Ginny’s face.
“Jorge, the admissions officer from Duke,” Caroline said.
“I know who he is,” Lizbeth said.
“I heard he spent Thanksgiving at your sorority house and one of the officers went to Mexico with him or something. I assume this means you broke up.”
Lizbeth didn’t respond. She saw Becca distracting Ginny and was relieved. She thought she heard Becca saying something about being roommates next year and how cool it would be. It was clear that Ginny was focused on Becca, but Lizbeth could see that she was anxious.
“I think Caroline’s a bitch,” Becca said on the walk back to their house.
“You’re not the only one.”
“As we were leaving she told Wil that she thought you looked pale and exhausted. She suspected the stress of last semester must have caught up with you. What the hell is she talking about?”
“What did Wil say?”
“Oh, you want to know what Wil said now? Well, he said he thought you looked very refreshed and pretty, especially your eyes. Does he have an eye fetish?”
“I don’t think it’s called a fetish unless it is a sexual obsession, but yes, he has a thing for women with pretty eyes.”
“I don’t think he likes Caroline. Ginny had a change of heart about her tonight.”
“Really? It was the Jorge comment, wasn’t it?”
“Did she tell you about it?”
“No, I was sort of dating Jorge for a few weeks and I didn’t realize he was a liar until... well, until Thanksgiving.”
“Is it related to why Wil came to the house that morning?”
“Yes.”
“Is it part of the reason why the two of you look like you constantly want to make out, but never do?”
“I don’t know... maybe.”
***
Lizbeth woke up the next day to her phone ringing. It was Jane calling with news that ruined all her vacation plans. As soon as she hung up, she rushed around the house, packing so she could get back to campus as soon as possible.
Lizbeth was in full panic by the time Wil arrived that morning. They hadn’t made any plans, but his presence felt inevitable. She wasn’t in the mood for distractions. She had to get back to campus. She had to find Lydia. Layla was trying to calm her down, but Lizbeth just wanted everyone to stop talking and simply do what she asked.
“I need to get back to campus tonight. I don’t know where Mrs. C is. I don’t know how much this is going to cost,” Lizbeth said to Wil through her tears.
Lizbeth was struggling to focus. She was on hold with American Airlines, hoping to use her mother’s miles to make this flight less expensive. At the same time, she was pulling clothes out of her dresser and closet and throwing them into her suitcase. There was a pile of used tissues in the trashcan. Lizbeth had a sudden desire to let Wil wrap his arms around her.
Wil looked around the room in confusion. He had his black coat over his arm. Lizbeth wondered for a moment if he had been planning this day in his head and if she was going to ruin all of it.
“Lizbeth’s in a panic,” Becca said.
“What happened?” Wil asked.
Lizbeth paused and tried to pull herself together. This was not the way she wanted Wil to see her, not after all the work she had done to make things better between them.
“Lydia,” Lizbeth said with a hiccup.
Wil sat down in a chair by the bed. He leaned closer to Lizbeth and waited for her to continue.
“She went to Mexico with Jorge. She got cash from Mrs. C to pay for the trip, and it might have been the sorority’s money. Jorge took her and the money to an illegal casino and lost all the money he and Lydia had. He owes the casino thousands of dollars, which nobody can afford! Lydia is being held by the casino owners because Jorge ran off. She called Jane because she can’t reach her parents and said someone beat her. She is afraid they will do worse. She is positive she’ll be raped and doesn’t know what to do. She swore she intended to pay back Mrs. C when she got her student loans, but she won’t get anywhere near this much money.”
“ Why did Jane call you?” Wil asked.
“Mrs. C isn’t answering her phone, and Lydia’s parents aren’t answering theirs. Jane told her to call the embassy in Mexico and then called me because we solve our problems together.”
“Jane’s parents can’t help?”
“They don’t think we should do more than call them embassy and keep trying to contact Lydia’s parents.”
“Does Lydia know your family has money?”
“What? No, but even if she did, we can’t get that much money together quickly. It’s all tied up in the restaurant and in trusts. Jane and I have no idea what to do, but we have to get back to campus and find Mrs. C. She can get in touch with the national office about this.”
Wil sat there thinking. Lizbeth returned to her packing frenzy. She couldn’t seem to focus and deal with her anxiety. Wil’s presence wasn’t helping either.
“Have you called Charlotte and Colin?” Wil asked.
“Yes, they have no idea where Mrs. C is and they can’t go to Georgia to look for her. None of her kids can.”
“She isn’t with them?”
“No, she did this at Thanksgiving too. She told each child she was at another’s house. I guess none of her kids speak to each other that often.”
“You never told anyone about Jorge, did you?” Wil asked Lizbeth.
“Wil, it’s not my story to share. I couldn’t do that to you and Ginny.”
“I appreciate it and I know she does too, but you have to tell people now. The national office will know what to do.”
Lizbeth didn’t say anything as she paced around the room trying to think of what to do next. She didn’t know what to say.
“I can go back with you,” Wil said when she didn’t respond.
She cou
ldn’t look him in the eyes now. She didn’t want to see his disappointment or the return of the scowl.
“No, I can’t ask you to do that. There isn’t enough time for you to get ready. We have to leave in a few minutes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I need to fix this. Just let me go,” Lizbeth said, her voice almost a growl.
Lizbeth looked at Wil and noticed his stiffness and, as she expected, the scowl had returned. She couldn’t worry about pushing him away. She was too focused on her guilt at not having told Lydia the truth about Jorge. If she had fought harder to get her to come to New York or pushed someone else to invite Lydia to visit, maybe this could have been avoided. She wondered if Wil was angry at her for letting this happen.
“I will see you back on campus then. I don’t want to get in the way if you are about to leave,” Wil said as he got up and walked out of the room.
***
Lizbeth returned to a quiet campus and house. She had never seen it so quiet, but felt like she was generating enough noise to make up for it. On the cab ride from the airport to the sorority house, she checked in with her family, Jane, Marie, and Charlotte. Jane and Marie were also on their way back to campus. Nobody had seen or heard from Mrs. C since the end of the semester. Lizbeth was hoping she would find her in the house when she got there. Maybe her phone had died or something minor. Lizbeth had called the national office and told them everything she knew. She gave them the phone number Lydia had used to call from Mexico, and contact information for Lydia’s parents.
Lizbeth unlocked the house and turned on the lights. She heard the cabbie honk his horn. They had agreed on this signal before he drove away. Lizbeth turned off the alarm and turned on the heat. It was cold for Georgia. She walked through the house, going from room to room, hoping to see signs that Mrs. C was present. Everything looked pristine. The house had been cleaned just after everyone left. Her last stop was the door to Mrs. C’s rooms at the back of the house. She knocked on the door and waited. Lizbeth didn’t have a key to those rooms. They had never considered that someone would need to access them between semesters. She reset the alarm and took her things up to her room for bed.
Lizbeth unpacked including a dinner that Jack had prepared for her before she left New York. She sat at her desk, laptop open, trying to figure out what to do next. She created a list of things to take care of, and a timeline to make sure they were addressed quickly. Lizbeth wanted to get Lydia help before people were back on campus next week. Before going to bed, she set her phone to wake her up early. She had to Skype with the people at the national office the next morning. She hoped they would be able to do something in the next 24 hours.