by Alexie Aaron
“You’re being kind. I’m adequate at best,” Mia commented.
“You have to learn to take compliments,” Alan scolded.
“Let’s say we have a difference of opinion.”
“Okay, I’ll let you off with that.”
“So, can you tell me, who is my mystery date?”
“No. I promised, and I take my promises seriously.”
They walked out of the elevator, through the lobby, and outside where a black sedan with driver waited for them.
Mia was relieved not to see Angelo’s driver at the wheel. She watched as the driver expertly maneuvered them through the evening traffic and safely brought them to an elegant restaurant that Mia had heard Ralph talk about before. The Everest was located on the 40th floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange.
“Our host chose this early hour so we would have the least distractions. He wants you to fully enjoy the seven course French meal.”
“I can handle the seven courses, but I may need to be prompted on the right fork to use,” Mia admitted.
“Just be yourself. You’re not being judged.”
“Monsieur Jefferies, Ms. Martin, follow me, s’il vous plaît.”
Mia followed the maître d’ to a table where an elegantly attired older gentleman rose.
Alan took Mia’s hand and placed it in the gentleman’s hand while he introduced them, “Mia, may I present Émile Neyer, your grandfather.”
Mia felt the warm hand of Émile through her glove. Émile gently removed her glove and held her hand a moment. Such love flowed from the man that Mia was overcome. Alan contributed a comforting hand to her back.
“I have felt you in the wind, Mia. I thought I’d never see your face, but here we are,” he said and released her hand.
Mia sat down, pulling her glove on while the men settled themselves. She accepted the offered glass of wine, but she didn’t trust her shaking hand to hold it quite yet.
Alan stared at her a moment before speaking, “Mia, Amalie or, as you know her, Amanda is Émile’s eldest daughter. She came to the United States to go to school and never returned. They knew of your mother’s career and have read her papers, but they didn’t know Amalie had a daughter until your aunt Aubree saw the Ice Queen poster. You see, you’re the image of Adele, your grandmother, at your age. They had their people contact the photographer who contacted me. I confirmed that you were indeed Amalie’s daughter. Émile wanted to meet you, privately.”
“I’m not surprised that my mother has a family, sir. My cousin Sabine, who has been doing a genealogy search, mentioned that my mother had a sister and both of her parents were living. That was the first I knew of this. I have been busy, but I did intend on pursuing an investigation of my own, I assure you.”
“You are married?” Émile asked
“Yes, and I have a child, a boy, Brian Stephen Cid Martin. He would be your…”
“Great-grandson!” Émile said with jubilation. “Here I find a granddaughter and a great-grandson. Boys are rare in our family. You are blessed to have one so soon.”
“I am pretty lucky. Tell me about my grandmother. Is she well?”
“All in good time. Let’s first start our meal.” He nodded to the waiter.
Mia took a sip of the wine. It danced on her tongue. She suppressed a giggle, and Émile winked at her.
“Mia lives out in the country in a refurbished farmhouse,” Alan said.
“We too live in a farmhouse, in Alsace. It is an old house, but we love it,” Émile assured her. “Your grandmother is ailing, but I’m sure she will rally when she hears the news that I have found not only our granddaughter but our great-grandson too.”
“I don’t mean to be indelicate, but can you explain why my mother would not mention you to me, ever?”
“Very simply, we embarrass her. We are artists and clowns. Amalie doesn’t like laughter, and we can’t help who we are. You either laugh or you cry, and we prefer to laugh. Your aunt Aubree is a comedian. She was touring your fine country when she saw the poster, found the contest video, and finally, the one of you putting yourself in such danger. PEEPs, I believe it is called.”
Mia blushed. “I don’t normally participate in contests. That was a one-off. I do, however, investigate the paranormal with my friends in the Paranormal Entity Exposure Partners. My husband Ted is one of the partners,” she said proudly.
“And where is my great-grandson during these investigations?”
“We have a wonderful friend who watches him while we are away, and sometimes, my cousin Sabine helps out. She has triplet girls. Her husband recently passed. We named Brian after him. He was a very brave man, a knight.”
Émile listened to her intently, and when he talked, his face readily expressed his emotions. “Aubree’s two daughters are living at the farm with us. Just until they are out of university.”
“That’s what family is for,” Mia said wistfully. “I had a much different experience growing up. I had two godfathers and a grandmother to watch over me when I was small.”
“I am sorry, we have not met sooner, Mia,” Émile said, meaning it.
“Me too. Tell me, how long are you here?”
“Not long, I will be leaving in the morning. I, however, issue an invitation for you, your husband and son to come and spend time with us. Your grandmother, Adele, would so love to have someone to fuss over. Think about it. I will pay for your journey. Life has been good to us. Let us share it with you, Mia.”
“I would love that, Grandfather Neyer.”
“No, you must call me Papa Émile, I insist.”
“Thank you, Papa Émile. Thank you for finding me,” Mia said sincerely.
~
Alan took her back to Ralph’s and walked her to the condo where she would change before traveling back to the farm.
“Alan, what a surprise! How did Émile become your client?”
“He set up a trust for you and your heirs.”
“Without meeting me first?”
“He said that he could tell by the PEEPs video that you had a sense of humor and you were one of theirs.”
“This is overwhelming,” Mia confessed.
“Don’t worry, Mia. I will take good care of you. You’re part of my family too. You and that rascal ghost of yours.”
“He’s hardly mine,” Mia said dryly.
“Keep telling yourself that,” Alan said, kissed her on the cheek and left her standing in the doorway.
~
Mia tried Ted’s cell as soon as she had cleared the city traffic. It went to voicemail. “I have so much to tell you,” she said excitedly. “Call me!”
She next called the house and Cid picked up. “Martin residence, head house-elf speaking.”
“Cid, this is Mia.”
“So says your caller ID,” he reminded her.
He sounded funny. His voice had a tremble to it. “Cid, what’s wrong?”
“Come home, and I’ll explain everything.”
“Ted? Brian?”
“Brian’s fine. Come home. How did your dinner go?”
“I met my mother’s father. I have grandparents in France and an aunt and cousins.”
“That’s wonderful. Hold on to that feeling. Come home.”
Mia pushed the truck to its factory recommended top speed. Soon she was pulling into the driveway. Ted’s car was gone. Mia launched herself out of the truck. Cid ran out of the farmhouse holding on to Brian.
“Where?” Mia asked, tears streaming down her face.
“On his way to Kansas.”
“His parents, sisters?”
“They’re fine. Everybody is fine except… Come on in. Hug your son, and don’t hate me, Mia. I swear to God, I thought it was going to go in a different direction.”
Mia rocked Brian and told him about Papa Émile. “I held his hand, and so much love poured out. It was like an unending jar of jelly beans.”
“Bnnns.”
“Come on, you’re a Martin. Try again. J
elly beans,” Mia enunciated.
“Welly bees.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful, she said as she rocked her son.
Murphy looked in at the two and turned and asked Cid, “Does she know?”
“She has a feeling, but I told her we’d talk after Brian was put down for the night.”
Mia walked downstairs. She was dressed in Ted’s Chiefs jersey and skintight, black yoga pants. She walked to the front door and opened it, looking outside.
Cid stared at her. Did she expect a different scenario? Did she want to see their car there and Ted busy in the barn inventing something?
Mia shut the door and sat down on the couch. Cid walked over. Mia opened up her hand, and inside lay a platinum leaf ring, Ted’s size. “I found it on the dresser. What did I do?” she cried. “No note, no explanation, nothing.”
“It’s my fault.”
“Tell me,” Mia said. “Sit down please. I’m getting a neck ache.”
Cid pulled the chair over and told her of his and Ted’s conversation. “I pushed him to do the right thing. He was supposed to call her and tell her that it was over and to leave him alone. At first, I thought, when I heard him packing, that he was going there to break up with her in person. It was when he woke Brian up and cried, holding him, that I knew that something was terribly wrong. He handed him to me and said, ‘Take care of them,’ and left.”
“So he chose her? He doesn’t love her. He feels sorry for her. I refuse to believe that all he wants in his life is basic Beth. But, she is someone whom he can always be better than, someone that isn’t going anywhere, isn’t sprouting wings for heaven’s sake.”
“I think that the thought has been with him longer than we imagined,” Cid said. “I think, he thinks that he deserves her, that fate has decided that he has to leave everyone he loves and take care of her.”
“But she’s horrible. I have to stop him,” Mia said, getting up. “He’s not thinking straight. What route does he take?” Mia asked herself. She pulled off the Chiefs jersey. Underneath, she was wearing a black yoga top with a matching bra.
“You’ll never catch up to him. He’s had two hours head start.”
Mia touched her wrist. “I’ll catch him alright.” She turned around and walked to the door. Cid could see tattooed feathers moving on her back.
“Mia, what are you doing?” Cid asked, following her out into the yard.
Mia tapped her wrists together and a pair of beautiful, luminous wings sprouted behind her. “I’m getting my husband back. He’s got some misguided comic book idea of what a man of caliber is all about. He thinks that you sacrifice what you want in order to be a hero. Well, fuck that.” Mia closed her eyes and pleaded with the powers of flight and flapped her wings. She took off running and flew. Low at first. She buzzed right over Murphy on top of the hill before she turned west and disappeared.
Cid sat back on his heels in disbelief. Murphy picked him up and set him on his feet.
“Did Mia just fly out of here?” Cid asked.
“Guess so. Gone after Ted, I imagine.”
“What if she crashes, or Ted rejects her pleas?” Cid asked frantically.
“She has to try. She loves him. She left Brian with his godfathers. She did right.”
“And if she fails?”
“We’ll pick up the pieces,” Murphy said with more confidence than he felt.
~
Mia passed the hollow and began to follow the route she and Ted had taken to visit his folks. She had a few hundred miles to go before she would start to look for him. She had to concentrate on the movement of her wings. It was a bit like rowing, the better the angle, the farther she would travel between flaps.
“My god, Mia, slow down. You’ll kill yourself before you reach him.” Sariel was above her. “Be still, glide. Let me,” he instructed.
Mia did as she was told, and Sariel reached down and pulled her to his chest and held her there.
“I have to reach him. He’s a fool, I know, but he’s my fool,” she said, crying. “Get me there, and I promise you my sword and shield when the time comes to fight.”
“I don’t need to be bribed to do the right thing,” he scolded. “Mia, you’ll fight beside me because it too will be the right thing to do. Look down. Is that the car?”
“I think so.”
“‘I break for geeks’ is written on the bumper.”
“That’s the car,” she said.
“I’m going to release you. Glide ahead, and set yourself down. Get ready to jump if he doesn’t stop.”
Mia nodded. She glided down.
Ted was arguing with himself as he drove. He couldn’t stop the tears that streamed down his face. He hated leaving Mia and Brian, but he had to do the right thing. Beth had no one. Mia had everyone. What did she need him for aside from fertilizing her eggs? He had given her a son. That should be enough. Time for him to save Beth.
There was something glowing in the middle of the road. He slowed down, and when he made out the winged creature, he stopped and pulled off the road. He expected it was Angelo or perhaps Sariel sent to fetch him. He wasn’t possessed. He had to convince the messenger of this.
He got out of the car and walked towards the mighty winged… “Mia?”
“How dare you leave without a word,” she spat. “Leave your ring, leave your marriage, and leave your son. What kind of coward are you?”
“It’s for the best. You don’t need me.”
“I do need you,” she argued. “You’re my world.”
“Beth needs me. She has nothing.”
“Do you love Beth?”
“No.”
“Are you aware that she is very self-sufficient? She has her own house, a budding ghost-hunting concern, and ten thousand dollars in the bank.”
“No.”
“All you have is her word for things, and you run to her, why? You don’t even like her.”
“She and I got along well before you came along.”
Mia flapped her wings behind her, lifting them up so they didn’t trail on the blacktop. She walked towards him and stopped. “I didn’t read the emails. I have no idea what was lies and what was the truth. I can’t help you out there. What I can do is show you your own words to me.”
Mia pushed into Ted’s mind, past the math and into his memories. She started a chain reaction that would present the truth before his eyes. She added in hers, and between the two of them, a holographic image emerged of their life together. “This is the truth, Ted.”
She resisted the urge to extend her wings. She didn’t want to distract him.
She waited until she felt she had made her point. She extended her wings and lifted herself off the ground.
“When did that happen?” he asked, looking at her wings.
“Most recently. It’s a byproduct of me saving your ass. And look at the thanks I get. You leave me and run to the person who wants so much to destroy me. Well, let me promise you one thing. I’ll not be destroyed. She can’t win. She’ll drop you like yesterday’s news when she finds out that I won’t let your defection break me. She’s using you. She hates me because I won. Because you love me. I know you love me, and you’ll always love me. Why? Because I’m wonderful, fantastic, and the best fuck you’ll ever have. Not that you’d know. Go ahead and bump naughty parts with boring Beth. I’m done.”
Mia lifted herself in the air and flew away.
Ted stood there stunned. “What just happened here?”
“Are you going to leave him there?” Sariel asked.
“Yes,” Mia said through clenched teeth. “Fucking idiot.”
“Mia! Your language is appalling.”
“I told you I’m not angel material.”
“Evidently not. There are better words.”
Mia let loose with a blue line of coarse, very descriptive words before she broke into laughter.
“That’s not what I meant,” he said, tipping her over.
Mia stalled and started
to fall but flipped back before she lost her composure. “That was uncool, Sariel.”
“We could continue to circle, or I could show you how to soar, Mia.”
“Since I will crash when I see him continue on to Kansas, why don’t you show me? I do worry that I’m a little distracted.”
“Come, Misfit. Yes, that’s my name for you. Misfit, follow me upwards.”
Mia copied the way Sariel moved and soon caught up to him. He taught her how to remain airborne in any position. What Mia really excelled at was flying in close proximity to Sariel without her wings touching his. She instinctually understood the smallest movements and copied them. It was nothing more than learning to dance with a new partner, but this time, it was above the clouds.
There was no sexual tension, because neither of them were attracted to each other that way. Sariel had learned his lesson that Mia was not led by her loins. If he wanted to win her as his shield maiden, he would have to respect her and wait until she was ready. He was surprised when she took off for the first time. His feather inside of her alerted him that she was airborne, and he was there in minutes. He expected to see that the large Italian birdman had convinced her to fly, but when he saw that she was flying solo, quite badly but remaining airborne, to chase down the love of her life, he was impressed.
“The car is moving, Misfit,” Sariel said.
“Which way is it going?” she asked, too afraid to look.
“He’s going home. Congratulations, Mia, you won this battle.”
“But I haven’t yet saved the marriage,” she said.
“Whatever happens, don’t settle. You are meant to be adored, Misfit.”
Mia looked around her confused. “Could you point me in the right direction?”
“Oh, Misfit, you still have so much to learn.”
Sariel guided Mia to the farm and watched as she landed. She turned, looked up and saluted before she pulled her wings in and walked into the house.
“The phone’s been ringing off the hook,” Cid said as Mia made her way into the kitchen and collapsed into a chair.