by Ruth Hay
“I understand that, Mom. It’s just things have changed for me.”
“Oh, what things?”
“I’ve met someone. Hold on! It’s early days yet and I don’t want to share details. I would like to invite him to spend the night fairly soon, so you can see my problem.”
Jillian was doing a quick mental shift to accommodate this new reality.
“Of course! I take it the man in question does not have the space for you?” Jillian held her breath. Although Abigail did not intend to give her mother too much information, the answer to this question would provide a beginning point.
“Kevin is living with two buddies at the moment. I don’t want to be the lone female in an all-male situation. It would be uncomfortable at best.”
“I see. I guess hotels are out of the question?”
“Naturally! We are both in new career paths and the money is still tight.”
Jillian could not immediately see a way out of the dilemma. She knew, however, Abi would not have called without some idea of a solution.
“So, Abi, what did you have in mind?”
“I am wondering if the time is right for Portia to move back home. Aunt Megan has plenty space and she has cut back her work hours, or so I was told. Portia is coping well with Devon’s group and he keeps an eye on her at work. The question is whether or not everyone in the family thinks she could adjust to living back at home again?”
“Ah! I can’t answer that for you, Abi. Do you want me to ask your grandfather for his professional opinion? I can do that and possibly he and your grandmother could see what Megan thinks about the idea.”
“Oh, that would be a great help, Mom! Could I impose on you to do it ASAP? I am really anxious to get moving on this.”
“I’ll make the call as soon as I have time, Abi, but I must get to work now. We have a busy evening ahead.”
“Thank you so much, Mom! I knew I could rely on you. I’ll say goodbye and hope to hear from you soon. Thanks again! You are a sweetheart for doing this! Bye now.”
With that she was gone, leaving behind a mother consumed with curiosity. Who was this Kevin? Where had Abi met him? How long had it taken to move their relationship to this level? Did Louise know about him? Her instinct was to question her younger daughter about this immediately but she realized it was impractical. Better to wait until the drive home with Terry. She could ask him what he knew and she could call Louise from the car.
* * *
“Mrs. B.? Do we have a reservation for a party of six for tonight? I can’t find it on the computer unless it’s one of those from the internet booking service?”
“Right, Chris! I’ll check at once. Thanks for not interrupting my call. It was important to me.”
“No problem at all. You rarely get a minute to yourself in this place. I was happy to step in.”
Jillian went to the computer station to check on bookings with the thought of how well Chris was working out. He definitely had the makings of a manager and the right attitude, which she knew was more important than almost anything else in the restaurant business.
Something more to discuss with Terry tonight. Sometimes it’s useful to have that long ride home.
Aylward Beck took the call from Jillian in the living room. Marian was already in bed fast asleep but he maintained his habit of staying up late and reading or watching the late news reports. He enjoyed contemplating life in the silence above the city when the view outside was darkened and the focus became all about the interior. And despite his original reservations, he did love this interior. Its simplicity soothed his mind and he found he could think clearly without the previous worries and distractions that had plagued him in the old place. He thought of it as ‘the old place’ or ‘the old life’. It truly was behind him now and some days it was difficult to conjure up the vast house where so much of his married life had taken place.
Certainly, the events that had precipitated these changes had been traumatic. His Marian’s heart attack was the first and most serious, but the main impetus for the family changes had occurred in Mexico, on the night when, with Marian’s agreement, he had outlined how their accumulated wealth would be distributed.
It had taken many months of thought and deliberation to compose the plan, but both of them had decided to divest themselves of the major part of their wealth while they were alive to see the results benefit their family. And the results had been far beyond their expectations. Money, well invested in personal dreams, could transform lives forever. This had been the case with Terrence and Jillian. The influx of cash had allowed them to combine their individual skills and strengths and produce, not only a superb restaurant business, but also a solution to their failing marriage.
Aylward saw the evidence of this every time Jillian visited her mother-in-law and spent a comfortable hour or so discussing the grandchildren. When Jillian worked as a manager in the grocery store chain, such meetings had been impossible for several reasons. Now that she appeared to be happy and secure in her marriage, Jillian had become the daughter-in-law they had always hoped for.
And here she was, intervening on behalf of her niece, Portia. This, too, signalled a huge change. For years, it had been obvious to the senior Becks that their children had very little to do with each other and that division had spread to the next generation. On Christmas Day gatherings the cousins rarely spoke to each other, and when they did communicate briefly, there was undisguised disdain from Terrence and Jillian’s three, toward Megan’s Portia.
Of course, and to Aylward’s eternal shame, no one had known how truly disturbed young Portia had become. All had been revealed in the most dramatic fashion during the Mexican vacation when Aylward had been fortunate to find a former star psychotherapist student of his in the same resort.
Between them, and with the surprising assistance of Wesley’s lovely wife, Zoe, they had begun the therapy that would save Portia and restore her to sanity again.
Jillian’s enquiry had brought all of this back to the forefront of his memory. She wanted to know if he considered the timing right for Portia to live at home with her mother. He had begged off an instant response. He needed time to think about his reply. For a year now, Portia had shared a small apartment with her cousin, Abigail. From all accounts, this had worked well. It had provided an opportunity to mend fences, gradually, for Portia and her mother after their relationship had been fractured beyond healing.
First, Megan had to deal with her husband’s lying about his gambling addiction. Then she had to face her own contribution to the disintegration of her daughter’s psyche. Neither confrontation had been easy for Megan. It had required deep, soulful thinking and a real determination to make the life changes that would aid in repairing years of damage.
Her father’s many hours of talking to Megan over the last year, had demonstrated her new self-knowledge and her aim to re-unite with her only daughter. Megan was conscious of how much she owed to her niece, Abigail, who had kept Portia under gentle supervision ever since they had returned from Mexico to the Forest Hill mansion and Abi continued in that role while Megan re-organized her life.
He was satisfied that Megan had made enormous progress. She had reduced her working hours as a solicitor but the relationship with Portia would need to be on a wholly different basis from the arms-length situation that had created the secret fears and insecurities that had demolished Portia’s self-image and left her vulnerable to a workplace attack.
In addition to this challenge, it was becoming increasingly obvious that Maurice Anderson was not likely to overcome his addiction to gambling despite the residential course he had attended and the promise of funding for the research study for which he had obtained a leave from his university position to pursue.
This decision about Portia’s relocation weighed on Aylward’s mind. If he gave his approval, could Megan sustain her expressed intentions to put what remained of her family back together? Would he be colluding in further damage of the fragile girl? Wa
s it better to leave all as it was? Did Portia need to make this move at this time?
Aylward put off the TV which had been flicking along on mute while he deliberated. He picked up his book and took it through to the bedroom where Marian lay fast asleep. He had a lamp at his bedside which cast a focussed light on a book so as not to disturb his wife if he was wakeful.
He was not in the mood to read, however. Looking down at Marian as she slept peacefully, had given him a solution to his dilemma about Megan. He would invite their daughter to a conference on the subject of Portia and he and Marian together would assess the situation. It was the way they had solved most of their family problems in their long life together.
He sent aloft a prayer of thanks that this option was still available to him.
Chapter Four
Thursday.
“Louise, can you talk for a minute?”
“I’m at work, Mom!”
“Yes, I know that, but don’t you have a break around now?”
“I suppose so. What’s so urgent? I’ll see you next Monday at the restaurant.”
“This won’t take a minute. Do you know this Kevin who Abi is involved with?”
“Mom! Are you asking me to spy on my sister?”
“Not exactly, but I need to know how serious it is. Other people’s wellbeing may depend on it.”
“Well, that’s the weakest excuse for gossip I ever heard!”
“Louise Beck don’t you dare come all righteous on me! I know how you love to gossip. Do you know anything or not?”
Her mother’s tone was becoming more irate by the minute so Louise decided to put her out of her misery.
“All right, Mom! I was teasing you. I’ll tell you what I know but it’s not that much. Abi was out with Kevin at a club Jason and I frequent occasionally so I have seen him in the flesh, as it were.”
“So, what did you think of him? Is she involved or just playing around?”
“She seemed keen on him and he was attentive. He’s a couple of years older than Abi, I’d guess. He works in a bank, supposedly; could be a steady type. She’s being cautious because of her previous encounters with the lower orders of males but I think he is a candidate. Why do you need to know?”
“Don’t say I told you this, Lulu. Your sister wants to invite Kevin for sleepovers.”
“Oh, Mom! Just say it like it is. We’re not kids any more. Wait! There’s only one bedroom in the apartment and Portia sleeps there too. She’s not thinking of a threesome, is she?”
“Louise! Bite your tongue. Of course not!”
Louise laughed out loud at her mother’s expression of disgust. Then she sobered up.
“Ah, I see the problem now. Portia will have to move out or risk being exposed to a randy male.”
“Crudely put, but somewhere in the right area. Does this change your opinion of Kevin?”
“Nope! And I have to go now. My boss is signalling for me. You owe me a coffee for this interruption, Mom. See you Monday.”
* * *
Jillian sighed and clicked off her phone. She was sitting in the restaurant’s delivery van which was piled high with the pick of the produce from the Farmers’ Market. It was her weekly task, completed early, so Terry could decide on the weekend specials. She was waiting in a side alley for traffic to clear and had taken the chance to contact Louise.
Not entirely satisfactory, but a start, at least. I don’t want to be responsible for setting all this in motion if Kevin is just a fly-by-night.
She thought, not for the first time, that the complexities of family life demanded a great deal of a parent’s time and attention. It seemed as if that never stopped. And yet, she consoled herself, would she have it any other way? Far better to be involved than sitting on the edges of her children’s lives waiting for an occasional fragment of information about them.
She would try a more subtle approach when Abigail arrived for the Monday meal. Even if Aylward decided against moving Portia, it was a mother’s duty to keep up with her child’s romantic liaisons.
With this conclusion reached, she drove off back to the restaurant.
Devon Beck watched in admiration as his cousin strode along the hallway to meet him. It was their weekly mutual check-in. Things went at such a fast and furious pace in the Tech Hub that the meeting was necessary just to make sure everything was going well. Devon had begun this routine when Portia was first introduced to the building. It felt like his obligation to watch over her initially, as he had been instrumental in finding her the connection that led to her employment. They had continued with the weekly coffee break even after Portia had integrated into the arts community and had many others eager to speak or work with her.
Devon was proud of her progress. Considering the condition she was in after the Mexican meltdown, it was somewhat of a miracle that she could function so well. No one in the building knew of her breakdown and unless she was pressured with deadlines or unacceptable standards of work, she was sure to be accepted as a fully functioning member of the group.
Devon checked on her schedules in the weekly meeting. He pretended this was a part of his own group’s integration with the teams on different floors. There was some truth in this assertion but he was really making sure Portia was on an even keel, mentally.
So far; so good!
Today, he noticed a frown wrinkling his cousin’s forehead and he asked at once what was bothering her.
“It’s nothing to do with work, Dev. I’m thinking about Abi and her new boyfriend. Do you know she wants me to move back home with my mother? She wants the apartment to herself, or rather, for herself and Kevin.”
Devon heard the slight tremor in her voice and plunged in to the unknown.
“Who’s Kevin? I haven’t heard about him.”
“Well, if you ask me he’s just using her. All right! You don’t have to say it. I haven’t exactly had a good reputation with men so I am not one to judge him, but honestly, Dev! He’s all over her and he ignores me completely like I was invisible. Oh, sure, he’s not there to see me. I get it. Wouldn’t you think it would be polite to talk to me for one minute? He could at least pretend. I might help him out if I thought he was a good guy.”
Portia’s rant came to an end and she picked up the paper cup and hid her face behind it. Devon could see she was embarrassed. He was not feeling too happy at what he had heard. He glanced around to see if there was anyone else within listening distance but no one was using the common area at the moment, for which he was glad.
“Look, Portia, this is really none of my business. You need to talk it over with my sister. As far as moving is concerned, how would you feel about that?”
“I’d like to not see Kevin again if that’s an answer, but Abi has been so good to me that I don’t want to see her abused by this idiot.”
“Wait! Has he done something you feel is abusive?”
“Not really, Dev. I just feel he’s a creep who’s selfish and ignorant. He only talks about himself all the time and I think he’s pressuring Abi to move me out and him in.”
“That doesn’t sound good. Let me check into this for you. Give me his name and where he works and I’ll try to get a handle on his background. One of my guys has a brother who’s a private eye. Don’t you worry any more about this.
Now, let’s change the subject. I hear your latest paintings are causing a lot of excitement upstairs and you have sold two more!”
Abigail Beck emerged from a meeting about the possibility of transitioning from the print magazine department of Zoomer to the online section. She had accepted the meeting not because she was interested in online work exclusively. It really would remove her from the public eye in a way that was detrimental to her long-term ambition to be on Zoomer TV. The meeting was an opportunity to gain a higher profile with the company executives and plant the idea that she was bright, attractive, knowledgeable and available, should the chance arise of being a newsreader or interviewer. It was all she could do for now. Her
previous job at a newspaper had shown her how dangerous it was to try unorthodox procedures for her advancement such as attempting to seduce the office manager or giving away precious information too soon to shady characters.
She estimated the meeting had gone quite well. She knew she had the required ‘look’ for TV presenters. It was a look she had perfected over years and was now able to re-establish after living at Forest Hill in the wilderness while she babysat poor Portia. Portia was still her responsibility but because of it, and their grandfather’s generosity, she could afford the small, but expensive, one-bedroom apartment downtown.
She switched on her phone and saw immediately there were several messages waiting in line for her.
Goodness, people, I’ve been incommunicado for about an hour. What’s the emergency?
She tried to figure out which of the calls had priority and soon decided her grandfather was the only one easy to reach at this hour of the day. Hopefully, he would have a clue as to the emergency.
“Abigail! Thank you for returning my call. I won’t waste your time. I have a question to ask and it involves Portia. You need not answer immediately if you want time to think it over.”
By now Abigail’s mind was racing.
Portia. A breakdown? The apartment. Could it be about Kevin?
“Fire away, Grandpa!” She spoke with more confidence than she was feeling inside.
“My dear, you know your cousin better than anyone else in the family. We all owe you a debt of thanks for watching over her during her illness and you were there while both of you stayed with Megan until the Forest Hill house was emptied. This part is what I want to ask your opinion about.
You saw Portia with her mother. Do you think Portia and Megan can now live comfortably together again?”
There was silence on the line. Aylward waited with his hand over his mouth. He knew he was stepping over a line in asking Abigail to give an opinion about her aunt, but truly, she was the closest person to Portia and the only one who had seen mother and daughter together most recently.