by W. J. May
He didn’t slow his pace.
She finally tugged him to a stop. “Hey! Just a minute then.” She leaned down to take off her shoes, sweeping her long hair off her shoulders, offering a view of her bare back. She glanced up, catching Devon’s growl before he made it.
He groaned softly and looked pointedly away.
“What’s your problem?” she asked with a little frown, lacing the straps of the stilettos around her wrist.
“Just…get into the car.”
She did as she was told, and the next second, they were peeling away from the school. After a few minutes of silent driving, she chanced a peek at his face. “You want to tell me what’s going on? Did you step on a nail or something?”
He shot her a look from the corner of his eye, his lips twitching up and betraying him with a grin. “I can’t be held responsible for my actions…when you’re wearing that dress.”
“Oh.” Rae looked down at the red silk in surprise before smiling to herself. “Ohhh!”
“I thought it was best we get to a public place as soon as possible. Otherwise, there’s no telling what might happen.” He stroked a finger from her thigh to her knee, feeling the fabric. “And I really don’t want to accidently rip this before you walk across the stage.”
Her face flamed as red as the dress and she turned her head to stare deliberately out the window. “Understood.”
They got to the restaurant about twenty minutes later and slowed to a stop as a white-gloved valet stepped forward to take their car. Devon shot her an almost anxious smile as she gathered up her purse and gave her hair one last cursory check.
“Are you ready?” he asked softly.
It was right then, as his voice cracked a little at the end, that Rae realized he was just as nervous to be doing this as she was. Their first ever date. As she peered up at the tall columns beckoning them inside, she decided he couldn’t have picked a more intimidating place to do it.
She tucked her hair reflexively behind her ears. “Ready if you are.”
With that, the two of them strolled arm in arm up the marble stairs.
If Rae had thought the restaurant was intimidating on the outside, she couldn’t believe how much worse it was once they breezed through the double doors. The second they were in, both of them pulled up short, arms tightening instinctively around each other as their eyes tried to adjust to the overwhelming sparkle of a million iridescent lights. It was beautiful, there was no denying it, but that beauty seemed to come at a dauntingly oppressive price. Everywhere they looked was gold. Gold plates, gold silverware, gold lining on the velvet tablecloths. And where there wasn’t gold, there was crystal. The glasses, the vases, the chandeliers, the tops of the little canes the butlers carried as they showed them inside. Yes, butlers! With canes!
“This is fancier than the Royal Ball…” Rae muttered as they were shown to a candlelit table in the center of the floor. “Where did you find this place?”
Devon’s eyes darted almost apologetically around. “I Googled ‘top-rated restaurants in London’.” He looked distinctly embarrassed. “I wanted to take you somewhere nice.”
“It is nice,” Rae was quick to reassure him, settling into her chair with a deliberately casual smile. “It’s very nice. Nicer than nice.”
“Madame et Monsieur,” the waiter interrupted her. “Today we will be starting with either one of two dishes. Eggplant soufflé or camembert infused with honey and wheat grass.”
He paused, clearly waiting for them to decide, and Devon caught Rae’s eye across the table. A single eyebrow cocked on his handsome face. “Can you hold on a minute?” he asked the waiter.
Fifteen minutes later, they were happily munching on a bag of fish and chips, lying back on the roof of Devon’s car. They’d made a little mat of old newspapers between them to catch the grease, and were quietly staring up at the stars, smiling with contentment.
“This,” Rae took a slurp of her milkshake, “is more my speed.”
Devon laughed and slipped his arm beneath her neck. “Mine, too. Sorry about before. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“You were incredibly sweet!” She giggled at the absurdly awkward scene before returning her eyes to the sky. “And it was certainly memorable.”
“I swear, if you’d said you wanted the eggplant, I would have stuck it out the whole time with you.”
“I was terrified that you were going to say that. Then I’d have to sit there, pretending I spoke French!”
He rolled onto his side and gazed at her affectionately. “You do speak French, genius.”
That’s right, she did. Well, technically she could understand every language. It was an amazing tatù she’d picked up from the future Queen of England. “I forgot about that! Technically yes then, but I don’t know any French foods,” she countered. “Unless they were serving croissants. That and, well, the only other thing I know is that they like to eat frogs. And French fries.”
“I would not have made you eat frogs on your graduation,” he promised.
She rolled onto her side so she could see him as well. “Oh yeah, why not? You actually fought me on my graduation. What’s a few frogs…”
He threw back his head and laughed. “Sorry I couldn’t tell you beforehand. I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.”
“I know your dad wasn’t very happy,” Rae said tentatively. They had generally avoided the subject of Devon’s father since he’d technically kicked him off school grounds the day before.
Devon sighed but shook his head with an honest shrug. “I can’t help that. It’s actually something I’ve come to realize—while sleeping on Julian’s floor.” He flashed her a dry grin. “I can’t help how he feels any more than I can control my own heart. He’ll come around in time—or he won’t. I don’t know. But there’s nothing I can do to change it either way. I’m out now. It’s time for me to start my own future. Free of the protective eye of my father.”
Rae mulled this over, impressed as ever by his predictably mature response. “Today’s my last day there too. As of tomorrow, Molly and I are free and clear to move into our new place.”
Devon shut his eyes and rolled onto his back, tilting his face up to the stars. “You have no idea how amazing that sounds. I can’t believe it’s finally here. It seems like we’ve been waiting forever.”
“It’s here. I’m not staying back at Guilder to mentor like you did.” She laughed. “Ironically, I was never asked.”
Devon chuckled. “I kinda offered to do it. Carter agreed.”
“Really?”
He shrugged. “Carter’s not as tough as he looks. He pretends to not want us to be together but sometimes I get the feeling that he’s trying to push us to be.”
Rae reached for his hand and squeezed it. “He’s got the hots for my mom. He’s trying to make it less obvious by having a Kerrigan in the spotlight.” She wadded a piece of newspaper with her free hand and tossed it perfectly into the bin by the car. “I don’t care whatever the reasoning is. Come tomorrow, you and I can finally start on this ‘life together’ that you’re always going on about.”
He poked her in the ribs and she giggled. “As long as it doesn’t include more dinner dates like this one—I’ll be just fine.”
He brushed the bag of food to the side and rolled on top of her, holding himself carefully over her body so as not to wrinkle her dress. “Whatever am I going to do with you?”
“Hmm… I can think of one or two things.”
He was just leaning in to kiss her when a sudden alarm dinged on his phone.
She pulled away in surprise as he pulled it from his pocket and switched it off.
“Hold that thought,” he grinned, “we have a graduation to get to.”
She blinked in disappointment as he slid off the car. “You actually set an alarm?”
He rolled his eyes and offered her a hand. “Rae, please. I set the alarm the minute I saw you in that dress.”
* * *
&nb
sp; Rae had never seen the school so packed. Every slot was full in the car lot and they actually had to park on the winding side street that led up from the main gate. As they walked arm in arm into the main auditorium for the ceremony, Rae finally saw the families of the people she’d been going to school with all these years. Mothers with the same shade of hair, fathers with the same smile. It was surreal. Once you were at Guilder, it was kind of like the rest of the world faded away. It was easy to forget that it was even out there, that anything else existed outside the tiny bubble. But sure enough, the school year had come to a close and the walls of their little community had been lowered down temporarily to let the rest of the world come inside.
“Rae, Rae!”
She turned around to see Nicholas waving frantically, tugging along an older man with the exact same glasses as his son. “Hey Nic,” she greeted him as they got closer.
“Rae, this is my dad, Thomas MacGyver. Dad, this is Rae.”
“Rae Kerrigan,” Mr. MacGyver said warmly, holding out his hand. There was no malice in the way he said her last name, it was spoken only as an introduction. “Nicholas has told me all about you.” They shook with a smile. “I saw you in the Oratory today. I have to say, I’m very impressed.”
“Oh,” Rae blushed, “that was all Devon Wardell. He knows how to make me look good.”
“I’m sure.”
A bell tolled from inside and all of them looked on towards the auditorium.
“Well, we better get our seats,” Nic said hastily. “I’ll see you up there, Rae. Bye Devon.”
The two of them rushed away as Rae and Devon proceeded slowly inside. All the normal chairs and testing equipment had been pushed aside, leaving a sea of finely decorated white circular tables, each seat with a corresponding place holder.
“Let’s go see where we’re at.” Devon guided her swiftly through the crowd.
Every now and then, someone would brush up against her or she would inadvertently shake the hand of someone new. Each time, the warm buzz of an unfamiliar tatù would hum through her veins, warming her blood with the very thought of it. By the time they reached their table, she had a bit of a head rush.
“You okay?” Devon asked softly as they took their seats.
Rae’s eyes were dilated in wonder. “I think I can melt that candle with my mind…”
He patted her sympathetically on the shoulder and glanced around. “Do me a favor? Don’t.”
She shot him a sarcastic smile as Molly and Luke suddenly sat down at the table beside them.
“Luke!” she said in surprise. “Great to see you! Having a good time?”
“Dinner was wonderful,” Molly said dreamily as Luke and Devon shook hands. “We went to this place called Clos Maggiore. Have you heard of it?”
Rae bit back a smile. “Sure haven’t.” As Molly started babbling on to Devon, she turned to Luke with a conspiratorial whisper. “Did you go with the camembert or the soufflé?”
His lips parted in surprise, before they were suddenly joined by Rae’s mother. Beth took one of two remaining seats on the opposite side of the table, and squeezed Rae’s hand in greeting.
“Mom, there’s someone I want you to meet.” Rae gestured beside her. “This is Luke.”
As Luke looked up, Beth’s face paled. “Luke? The one who found me? The one who brought us together?”
Rae nodded.
The second she did, Beth bolted right back up from the table and pulled out Luke’s chair, tugging him to his feet. He gasped in surprise, but before he could say anything, she was embracing him in a hug so hard it turned his hands blue.
“Thank you,” she murmured softly when she finally released him. “You’ve no idea what you’ve given me. What you’ve given us. As long as I live, I can never repay you.”
Luke blushed beet red and stammered his excuses. “It’s really no big deal Ms. Kerrigan—”
“Please, call me Beth.” She smiled at him fondly. “And it is a big deal. It’s truly the greatest thing anyone’s ever done for me. Please know you always have a seat at our table, a place in our home.”
He smiled and sat down quickly, scooting closer to Molly, but looking very pleased with himself. Meanwhile, Devon leaned over and whispered to Beth, “What about me? You never gave me the ‘seat at our table’ speech.”
Beth shook out her napkin matter-of-factly and placed it on her lap. “Luke’s not the one sleeping with my daughter.”
Perhaps it was well-timed that Carter chose that particular moment to take the only remaining seat. His eyes glanced over Luke curiously before coming to settle on Beth. “You look lovely tonight,” he said softy. The tender look in his eyes made Rae’s stomach turn and she kicked her mom under the table.
“Don’t you need to be sitting with the rest of the faculty, sir?” Rae asked pointedly.
He rewarded her with a tight smile. “Actually, no. As headmaster of this school I can generally sit where I please.”
Devon squeezed Rae’s hand under the table and she lowered her voice so only he could hear. “Great…that’s just great.”
Just then, the lights dimmed and the room fell silent. An official-looking man Rae had never seen stood up to make a speech, then one by one, she and her classmates were called up to walk across the stage.
It was almost funny. After all this work, all these late night missions and life or death moments of truth, they were handed a small slip of paper signed by both Carter and Dean Wardell.
And that was it.
Rae walked back to her seat feeling rather deflated. A strange hollow feeling had settled in the pit of her stomach, a feeling she saw reflected in Molly’s eyes as well.
“So, that’s all?” Molly said, sounding a bit underwhelmed. “After all this?”
Devon chuckled under his breath. “I told you: graduation’s a rite of passage, but the ceremony itself is pretty lame.”
“I’ll say.” Rae held up her diploma to the light. “This looks like binder paper.”
“I assure you it isn’t, Miss Kerrigan,” Carter snapped peevishly. “And the ceremony’s not over yet.” His eyes sparkled. “We still have our awards of achievement to hand out.”
Both Rae and Molly sat up a little straighter as he walked to the stage to present them.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Devon warned quietly.
“Oh, come on,” Molly shot back. “No one has done more to help this school and keep it safe than me. And Rae, of course,” she added hastily.
Rae rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the stage. Carter was holding two plaques in his hand: the awards for Excellence in the School, and Excellence in the Field. As he tapped the microphone, the room fell quiet again.
“This year, Guilder’s awards for excellence were rather easy to place. When the faculty cast their votes, both names came up unanimous. So, let us begin.” He held up the first plaque. “The Guilder award for Excellence in the School…goes to Nicholas MacGyver. Come up here, Nic.”
Molly and Rae clapped politely along with the rest of the room. They supposed it made sense. Nic was undoubtedly the brightest one in their class. It made sense that he’d be getting the award for academia. He stumbled up to the stage, shook Carter’s hand, and waved it in the air for a second before returning to his seat.
This time, the pressure was on. The entire graduating class sat on the edge of their seats as Carter cleared his throat to begin again. “And lastly, the Guilder award for Excellence in the Field. As many of you know, the Guilder Academy serves as a gateway of sorts, placing its students in various work programs as early as their junior year. We’ve had students go on to become lawyers, ambassadors, even members of parliament. This year, the student we’ve selected is a little different. While her gift made her the perfect fit for the field of choice, it’s her commitment to excellence and passion for her work that has made her this year’s recipient.”
Rae could almost hear him calling her name. All the blood she spilled for this sch
ool, for the Privy Council. All the sweat and tears—the cover-ups and collusions. This was her moment. The chance to finally prove herself. And best of all, her mother would be here to see it.
“The Guilder award for Excellence in the Field goes to…Alecia Montgomery!”
* * *
“That was such bullocks!” Rob swore as the rest of the graduating class mingled politely as the party disbursed. “I mean, no offense Alecia, you do great work, but come on!”
Molly giggled, sipping her second champagne. “That’s so freaking rude, Robbie.”
Alecia held up her hand. “I was as surprised as the rest of you. That being said…” She held up the plaque and waved it around in their faces with an uncharacteristically childish grin. “Suck on that!”
The group cracked up as Devon pulled Rae a step back so he could whisper in her ear. “I warned you not to get your hopes up. It’s a Catch-22. The agents for the Privy Council undoubtedly do more for anyone to keep our community safe. However, the school can’t admit who’s in the PC and who isn’t. Because of that, the award always goes to someone with a regular job.”
She pinched him hard in the side. “You could have told me that.”
“And miss watching you get all worked up for nothing? Not a chance.” He chuckled. “Plus, you have a cross of two tatùs, that’s kind of like cheating.”
She giggled and was about to say something equally cutting, when his eyes suddenly cooled and he took a step back. She followed his gaze over her head to where his father was cautiously approaching them through the crowd.
The second Devon saw him, he detached himself and started walking away. “I’ll meet you back at your room, Rae. We can leave for that other thing whenever you’re ready.”
Rae hated the pain in his eyes. “Devon, wait—”
“Hey,” he squeezed her hand as his eyes sparkled down into hers, “I’ll see you soon.”
Without another word, he turned and vanished through the crowd. Rae braced herself for what was sure to be an uncomfortable conversation with the Dean, but before he could reach her, a tiny bouncing girl stepped in between them.