Cyprian the Fair

by C. L. Cattano

  “So he can just. . .” Eden sobbed, “just take her?”

  “He can, and he has,” said Katheryn firmly. “They’re already on their way to New York, and from there, they’ll be going on to Italy.”

  “No!” Eden cried and put her face in her hands. “This can’t be happening,” she moaned.

  “Why did they go to New York?” Julia asked as she tried to comfort Eden. “They could have got a flight to London then Italy from here.”

  “Apparently, Mr. De Angelis felt there was some business they needed to take care of, but I was not privy to what it might be,” she said as she looked down at the papers in front of her. “Rafe was not physically present in our meeting. She talked to me over the phone. I think she was at his hotel, and she didn’t sound well.”

  Julia watched as Eden just sat rocking with her hands clasped together and eyes closed tightly. She could tell Eden was trying to control the anxiety she had been dealing with throughout the night. Already this morning, it was once again, devastating her emotionally and physically. “Why are you here now then?” asked Julia. “Did Gabri or Rafe leave a message or anything for Eden?”

  “Not exactly,” Katheryn said with a sigh. “I am here to collect personal and business paperwork from this office and arrange for it to be taken care of by either my office or other appropriate entities.” She focused her attention on Eden again. “I’m also here to tell you the cohabitation agreement is still in force. Gabri assured me the agreement was one Rafe would want to keep, and he agreed to honor it as long as you wish to live in the house.” She pushed a piece of paper in front of Eden. “This paper gives you the right to use the entire house, including Rafe’s room, until her return, if she decides to come back. All current contents of the house, so long as things are cared for, and nothing is removed or sold without permission, can also remain. She requests a few things be stored elsewhere or shipped to her in Italy. I have a moving company here to get the items today.”

  “No!” said Eden mournfully. “I can’t bear this,” she said as she leaned into Julia’s shoulder.

  “What things?” Julia asked softly as she held Eden.

  Katheryn cleared her throat and glanced down at the list. “She made this list when Eden left her and moved in with Jake. It lists what was hers before Eden moved into the house.” She looked directly at Eden. “I had Rafe make it in case you were going to file a separation and support petition with the court. Most of the things she has requested are from this list along with a few other things. There are several paintings, other art, photos, personal items from her room, her computer and some items from her office. My job is to make sure everything she’s asked for is taken from the house and dealt with appropriately.”

  Eden looked up at Julia sadly. “She’s not coming back,” she said weakly. “She’s not,” she said and broke down in tears again.

  Katheryn picked up an envelope and placed it in front of Eden and Julia. “This—” She cleared her throat to get their attention. “This is Bronte’s passport and a letter signed by Rafe giving parental permission for Bronte to travel. There are also copies of all the paperwork we filed and had processed for her dual citizenship. I’ve been directed to take care of anything concerning this to keep it current and enforced, if necessary.”

  “Did they say anything about taking Bronte to Italy?” Julia asked knowing Eden was worried about it.

  “No,” said Katheryn softly. “They said the passport and papers were to be given to Eden so if she allowed Bronte to visit Rafe, she could, or if, in the future, she and Bronte ever wanted to travel.” She paused then looked across at Eden. “Rafe said she held on to it because you never asked about it, but she knew you had to have it in your possession now since she was not going to be here.”

  Eden stared at the envelope and could hear Jake in her ears demanding that she get the passport from Rafe. Now it was in front of her, and she finally understood why she had never asked Rafe for it. If she had, then it would mean Rafe wouldn’t be with them and would not be part of their lives. Rafe having the passport was a way of tying them together, and now, even this small thing was undone. Eden looked over at Julia and shook her head sorrowfully. “She’s really gone,” she said and broke down again in sorrow.

  “I suggest,” Katheryn said, directing her words to Julia, “you take Eden to her room and let us get things moved. This way it won’t be so upsetting for her. I’ll do my best to get everything done quickly.”

  Julia stood up and helped Eden to her feet. “Come on,” she said gently and led Eden out of the office.

  She took Eden to her room and sat her on the bed where she laid down and cried. Julia went over and sat on the Chaise lounge Rafe had restored for Eden and put her head in her hands. She took a breath and looked over at Eden. “What did he talk to you about?” she asked. “Do you know why they went to New York? Maybe I can call my father, and he can intercept them.”

  Eden wiped the tears from her face in misery. “I don’t know.” She sniffed. “The only thing we talked about having anything to do with New York was—” She stopped, looking up at Julia with wide eyes.

  “What?” Julia asked.

  “The affair,” she said softly.

  “The affair?” Julia repeated with confusion. “What about it?”

  Eden sat up on the bed then leaned her head back and took a breath. She knew that telling Julia what happened in therapy was breaking the trust with Rafe, but she felt like she didn’t have a choice.

  She let the breath out and looked up at Julia again. “I asked Rafe about it again in therapy. Actually, Dr. Cathcart asked her.” She looked down at her hands. “It’s what she was talking about when he realized she had an emotional blackout in New York.” She looked up at Julia. “She couldn’t remember part of what happened. She remembered a lot of details but none about actually, you know, sleeping with her. She said she just remembered waking up and crying.”

  Julia furrowed her brow in confusion. “So, what does the affair have to do with them going to New York?”

  “He, Gabri. . .” She sighed. “He thinks she may not have had an affair, and she’s making things up to help herself fill in the blanks.”

  “Holy shit, Eden!” said Julia as she stood up and paced. “If she— Holy shit!”

  “I know!” said Eden distraught. “He asked if I ever confirmed things.” She shook her head. “Why would I? Rafe said she did it.”

  “So you think he might be going to New York to confirm things?” Julia asked astounded.

  “I think so,” Eden said softly and lay back down, emotionally and physically exhausted, but the tears wouldn’t stop.

  3

  EDEN KINGSLEY HAD been sleeping off and on over the last few hours. Now she was staring out the window from the bed. There was a soft tap on the door, and Julia got up to answer it knowing it was Katheryn. She opened the door and looked into the attorney’s concerned face.

  “Hi,” Julia said softly and opened the door wider so Katheryn could come into the bedroom.

  Katheryn remained outside the door. “We’re all finished,” she said solemnly. “I’ll be in touch if they need to contact either of you through me. I have Rafe’s car keys and will take them to Rick who will be here sometime today to pick the car up for storage.” She looked over at Eden, who sat up and looked back at her with red-rimmed eyes. “I’m sorry things turned out this way. I was rooting for you and Rafe. She was always doing things to your benefit, even when I recommended against it. I thought she was working very hard to show you how much she loved you, and it was heartwarming, even though it usually went against my lawyer logic.” She paused, regarding Julia then Eden with sympathy again. “Well, goodbye,” she said softly then turned and walked away. She left the house to continue taking care of the things her client had requested.

  Julia looked back at Eden. “Do you want me to go see what they took then come back and tell you?”

  “No,” said Eden sadly as she got out of
bed. “I’ll come.”

  They walked out of the bedroom and went down the hall. Immediately, they saw the bare places where art had been removed. Inside Rafe’s office, everything still looked neat but the computer was gone. As Eden opened drawers, she saw almost all the files and paperwork were gone too. The things left were household things like instruction manuals, maintenance schedules, lists of service companies and warranties. Photos from the desk were gone along with several from the wall. Pictures of Rafe’s parents and the paintings her mother had done were gone too.

  They walked into the dining room and saw immediately the large painting Greer had done was gone. Eden couldn’t help her tears. “You would think I wouldn’t care about that one,” she sniffed. “But it’s not the painting—it’s the thought she wanted it with her.”

  “You don’t know it went with her,” said Julia. “She may have had them take it to storage so you wouldn’t have to have it in the house.” Eden just looked over sadly at her then continued to walk through the house.

  Several other paintings were gone from the dining room along with some sculptures and glassware from the built-in cabinets. In the living room, more art was gone from the walls and tables leaving gaping holes where the things used to be. Eden looked up over the fireplace, and the painting Rafe had done of her was still there. She sat down heavily in one of the chairs and began to cry. “I guess she didn’t want anything to remind her of me,” she said sadly.

  Julia tried to comfort her by rubbing her back gently. “She said the same thing after you left when you didn’t take the painting.”

  “She did?” Eden asked as she rubbed the tears from her eyes. “I didn’t take it because Jake said I should destroy it and throw it away. He said it was sacrilegious. But I couldn’t bear the thought of doing anything to ruin the painting, or to hurt Rafe more. So I thought it would be best to leave it with her.”

  “Jake really was an ass,” said Julia irritably.

  “I know,” said Eden softly. She looked up at Julia and steeled herself. “Well, I guess just her room is left.”

  “You don’t have to do this today, you know,” she said sympathetically.

  “I just have to get it over with,” she said and made her way to Rafe’s room. She opened the door and saw more art and photos were gone. She went to her closet. It was empty, and Eden’s heart crashed at the sight. “Julia,” she said softly. “Everything’s gone.”

  She went to the dresser and saw the drawers were empty, but the small jewelry box was still there. She pushed open the lid and saw all the jewelry Rafe let Bronte play with was inside and in the ring section were the mood ring, the mother’s ring and two gold rings side by side tied together with a small piece of white silk ribbon. Eden picked up the gold rings and sat down on the floor and wept again for the devastating loss she was feeling.

  “Why?” she asked over and over again. “Why is this happening? Why did he take her like this? Why did she let him?” she cried in despair. “I love her,” she said beseechingly to Julia. “I love her.”

  “I know,” said Julia and helped Eden stand back up. “Let’s go back to your room for a while.” She took Eden, who was still holding the rings, back to her room. “You need to get some rest now. Bronte will be back soon, and you need to pull yourself together for her if you can. I’ll stay as long as you need me.” She pulled Eden into a hug. “I’ll be here for whatever you need.”

  Eden pulled away and went to her dresser and opened the bottom drawer. She took out the canvas school bag she had taken out of Rafe’s car and held it close to her.

  “These are all I have left of her,” she said indicating the bag and the rings. “The things she left were bought or given to us after we met,” she gave a small manic laugh. “Even these rings were bought after we met, so I guess all I have of hers is this school bag.” She began to cry again, and Julia took her arm then led her to the bed where Eden held onto the bag and the rings as she cried.

  As Julia closed the bedroom door and made her way to the kitchen, she heard the front door open and then heard Abby call out, “Anybody here?”

  “In here,” called Julia as she made herself a stiff drink.

  Abby made her way into the kitchen followed by Jude, Flynn, and Stacey. “So, who was here?” asked Abby trying to be nonchalant.

  “Rafe’s lawyer, Katheryn,” Julia informed them. “She brought a moving company and removed all of Rafe’s personal things.”

  “Holy fuck,” said Abby distraught. “I thought she was going to help Eden like she did before.”

  “She’s Rafe’s lawyer and had to do what Rafe and Gabri told her to do,” she said and took a drink.

  “So,” Jude asked hesitantly, “does this mean she isn’t coming back?”

  “Of course, it does,” said Stacey exasperated. “Why else would she take all of her stuff?”

  “Well, she didn’t take everything,” said Flynn. “I didn’t see them go to the workshop, and they didn’t go into the art studio.”

  “No,” said Julia sadly, “she didn’t take everything.” She sighed and took another drink because even though Rafe did not take everything, it was clear she was gone.

  “Hey,” said Stacey suspiciously, “is she still paying the rent on the studio? I need to know if I have to come up with more rent money.”

  “I don’t know,” said Julia indifferently. “You can call Katheryn and find out.” She turned to Jude. “You might want to call about your deal with Rafe too.”

  “I’m more worried about what’s happening with her than if she is going to honor the deal,” said Jude sullenly. “I’d quit if it meant she’d come back and was well.”

  “You can’t quit now,” said Flynn. “You have all those school projects you’ve worked on out there. I don’t think Rafe would go back on her deal.”

  “Guys!” squealed Abby and started crying. “Who cares about all your crap? Rafe is gone!” she retorted. “How could she do this? How could she just let a stranger take her away like this?”

  “He’s not a stranger to her,” said Julia. “He’s known her practically all her life. She put him in charge of everything for now.” Julia couldn’t hide the fact she was angry and hurt at what Rafe had done, and she didn’t know if she could stop being mad at her. Adding to her anger was the fact she was supposed to be Rafe’s best friend, and Rafe chose that man over her or her father.

  “I need a drink,” said Abby and made herself a Captain and Coke then took a soothing swig of the spiced rum from the bottle. “I can’t believe this.”

  “I know how you feel,” said Julia as she took another sip of her drink. “Eden says nothing is left in the house brought in before she moved in. The only thing of Rafe’s left is an old school bag Eden took from the trunk of Rafe’s car. But they’ll probably be demanding it from her some time too.”

  Stacey let out a laugh then snorted, and Abby glared at her annoyed. “What’s so funny?” Abby asked with irritation.

  “Nothing,” said Stacey trying to hold in her laughter. “It’s just,” she snickered, “Eden was actually left holding the bag!” She broke out into hysterical laughter while the others didn’t see the humor. “Oh, come on! You don’t see it?”

  “What I see is you’re a fucking idiot, and you really don’t care about Rafe and this whole situation at all!” said Abby angrily. “Maybe you should go back to your hole!”

  “Hey, I care about Rafe,” Stacey declared. “I told you Eden was fucking with her, and she’d be better off if she dropped her, and it looks like I’m right. She probably should have done it sooner. From what I’ve seen and heard, Rafe is lucky to have someone who’s actually helping her instead of fucking with her!” She turned on her heal and walked out of the kitchen toward the door.

  “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about!” Abby yelled after her. “Eden loves Rafe and would never do anything to fuck with her!”

  “Calm down,” said Jude and put her hand on Abby’s shoulder
as the front door slammed.

  “How can you stand to live with such a-a bitch,” she spat angrily.

  “She doesn’t know Rafe and Eden like we do,” said Jude calmly. “Rafe was really nice to her, so she’s just taking the side of the person she knows best.”

  “What makes me even angrier is, she’s not all wrong,” said Abby sullenly. “Eden took so long to figure things out, and with everything else happening, it’s just turned into this big fucked up mess.” To stop herself from crying, she took a large swallow of her strong drink.

  “It was hard for Eden too,” Flynn interjected. “All she thought about was how to help Rafe and keep her from getting hurt. She didn’t know all the stuff Jake was doing.”

  “I know.” Abby sighed and took another sip of her drink. “So what now? Is Rafe just gone? Is she ever coming back? Will she ever want to see us again?”

  “I guess all we can do is wait,” Julia said with a shrug and took another sip of her drink. “If you want to contact her, you can probably go through Katheryn.”

  “She’ll probably have email,” said Flynn. “Does she have an email account other than the school?”

  “She had one from her old company, and I’m sure she has a personal one,” said Julia, “but I’ve never used it. You can still call her or text. She has an international phone because of all her travel.”

  “I don’t think she’ll be answering our calls right now,” said Abby as she wiped away her angry tears.

  Eden walked out of her room and found everyone in the kitchen. “Hi,” she said softly.

  Abby went up to her and hugged her tightly. “I’m so sorry all of this is happening,” she said sadly.

  “Me too,” was all Eden could bring herself to say. She didn’t want to cry again tonight because she felt like she might not stop.