Theron's Hope (Brides of Theron)

by Pond, Rebecca Lorino

  The first thing she did was call Michael and Emily. After the fourth ring Emily answered, “Hello, Jameson residence.”

  “Oh Em, it is so good to hear your voice. Is Michael there?” She was hoping he was close by.

  “Sure.” He must have been near because she heard Emily hand the phone to Michael and say, “It’s Grace. Why is she in New York calling from her house?”

  “Hello Grace, what are you doing home? I thought that you would be up to your eyeballs in wine and shopping. Is everything okay?” He sounded puzzled. Grace almost never changed her plans when she was traveling so this was extremely unusual for her.

  “Yes, I am just fine. I need you to clear your calendar for the next six days. You will work with me at my house this week. I am hoping it is not a terrible inconvenience but I must insist on it,” she said quite seriously.

  “I have many meetings next week and it is the weekend. Are you sure that this can’t wait until later next week?” He asked. She could tell that he was starting to feel uneasy. She never asked this much of him.

  “I am telling you to cancel all your appointments and have your secretary reschedule them. If it is not possible, let another partner take care of it. I need you here this week. There are many matters we must discuss. Can you be here at 8 am tomorrow morning?” Grace asked him, resolute.

  “Sure. I will call Beth right now and tell her to go in tomorrow morning and start moving those appointments. She will not be thrilled at the aspect. It is the weekend Grace,” he paused then added, “Are you sure everything is alright? This isn't like you at all Grace.”

  She couldn’t let him drag out this conversation, she had many other tasks at hand to complete before she reached her deadline. She quickly changed the subject, “Michael, can you give me your tailor’s number. I need to get in touch with him immediately.”

  She knew that Michael was losing it. She could hear it in his voice. He gave her the number to his favorite suit maker and started asking more questions but she avoided his cross-examination. He was a great lawyer, but she knew exactly just how to avoid his inquisition. She hung up with Michael and called the tailor promising him a large sum of money for him to come to her apartment for Zane’s measurements and make three suits. She promised a lucrative bonus if he could have at least one of the suits ready for the same evening. He assured her that he could easily be able to accommodate her request as it was a family business and he had his wife and children to help him out. He would arrive at 8 am with fabric swatches and take all necessary measurements required.

  She called William and Josephine to let them know she was back and to be expecting a very busy week. She let them know that she would adequately compensate both of them for sacrificing their weekend to her and that her stay would only be for six days and she promised them that they would both have the week off after. With that done and both of them agreeing to work she could relax a bit. She called down to the front desk, catching Tom just before he left for the day, “Miss Abernathy, I was not aware you had returned. How can I help you?”

  She thought fast, kicking herself. She had not made herself seen in the lobby coming up. She quickly replied, “I must have missed you, I came in this afternoon.” Not allowing him to dwell on this last statement, she quickly changed the subject, “Could you please note that I will receive several visitors tomorrow morning. I am expecting my cousin Michael Jameson as well as a tailor, Mr. Johnson to arrive at 8am. Please allow them access to my floor.”

  Tom paused then speaking as he wrote on the schedule at the front desk, “Michael Jameson and Mr. Johnson, tailor, to visit at 8am, Miss Abernathy. Show them to her floor. Got it Miss, is there anything else I can help you with?”

  Good, he bought it, she thought to herself. “No, Tom. Have a good evening.” She hung up and went to look for Zane. He wasn’t in the apartment so she looked outside the French doors leading out to the balcony. She found him looking out at the city with his hands on the polished concrete railing. He jumped in suprise as she began to speak, “It is an awesome view, huh?” Pointing in the direction of the park, “That is Central Park over there.” She stood next to him, her arm touching his, placing her hands on the railing as well.

  “I have never seen anything like it. It is fascinating for several of the senses. Is it always this noisy?” He looked at her. He could see the gentle lights on the balcony reflected off her pale white skin.

  “Believe it or not, this is not very noisy compared to several areas in the city. Because we are so close to the park, it helps a bit. There are not a lot of people that use the park at night.” She looked at him trying to get a glimpse at what he was thinking. “Are you hungry? I know I could sure use a glass of wine.”

  “Food sounds good right about now.” He opened the door for her to enter the apartment and followed her to the kitchen. She went to the double door refrigerator and retrieved an opened bottle of white wine. It was one of her vineyards most recent vintage. She found two long stemmed goblets in the cabinet and poured them each a glass. She raised her glass in the air and said, “Cheers!” She laughed as he looked at her dumbfounded. She could see that he wanted to know what she was expecting as he waited for her response. “It is something we do on Earth. We take our glasses and hit them together like this.” She took the hand he was holding the wine glass in, it and brought it to meet her glass with a clinking sound, “Then, we say ‘Cheers’ or some equally jovial word before we take our first sip. This wine is from my vineyard. I was on my way to check up on it when you took me to your ship.”

  He watched and followed her movements, imitating when he thought he should do the same. As she swirled her glass, smelled the wine, and then taking a sip of wine. It was quite an interesting drink. Sweet and dry yet it had a burning quality. “Does drinking this beverage have any effect on your abilities?”

  “If you drink enough of it you can get drunk. It is considered an alcoholic beverage. There are others that I can make you later in the week if you want to see the difference. It is my experience that you should not mix alcoholic beverages unless you want to be sick. Tomorrow, I will have Jo make some sangria. You will probably like that drink. It is one of my favorites.”

  “Well, I have introduced you to many new foods on the ship, what do you have in the way of food? I am famished.” She looked in the refrigerator. She was not a very good cook but she could make a few things on her own. That was why Jo was such a valuable member to her staff. All Grace knew how to prepare was scrambled eggs, some pasta dishes, and grilled cheese. She had all the makings for grilled cheese and found some soup in the pantry.

  She warmed the canned Italian wedding soup in two bowls in the microwave and started to prepare two grilled cheese sandwiches. After they were a nice golden brown on both sides and the cheese was adequately melted, she cut the sandwiches in half diagonally and placed them on two plates. She retrieved the two bowls of soup and brought them to the granite countered wide bar with five short stools surrounding it where they would eat. She placed a linen napkin with utensils already wrapped in them on the counter, followed by the sandwiches. She began to eat the soup with her spoon and her sandwich in between bites. She could see that he was watching her.

  He dipped his spoon in his soup, stirring it about to see the tiny brown balls and small noodles floating in the clear liquid. “What is this?” He asked.

  Grace laughed, “Now you get to see what it is like to have odd food placed in front of you. This is an Italian wedding soup. It has tiny meatballs with some pasta. The meat is from our cow, or what I am assuming is your equivalent, the ona. The pasta is made from our grain, or your powa. Our powa is off white or tan in color before it is ground up into a fine white power and it's not red like yours.”

  “You are pretty good at describing food,” he said as he made a move to take a bite of the food. He found the meatballs very tasty as well as the broth that they floated in. The Pasta had an unusual texture but it was good all the same. “What is thi
s?” He said pointing to the sandwich.

  “Ah, that would be the bhakta with larta in your language. It is a grilled cheese sandwich in mine. I am sorry that I can’t prepare you something better but I am not a good cook. That is why I hired Jo. She is an excellent cook and we should eat well the rest of the week,” she added shyly.

  “Your quarters are quite nice and very large as well. I was looking around and you have a very nice study and several bedrooms. Do any other people live here?”

  “No, it is just me. I live alone but Josephine is my maid and she comes everyday to clean up and cook for me. This was my mother and Father’s apartment when they were alive and I haven't changed a thing. My mom designed the apartment as it is today. She had a keen eye for art and had the help of a very talented interior decorator. This was my parent's favorite residence. They owned several houses elsewhere but they loved this spot in the city the most.” She gazed into nothingness while she fondly remembered them. They may not have had a family in the traditional sense, like Michael and Emily did, but she still admired them none the less.

  “How about a tour when we finish eating?” Zane asked.

  “Sure, I would be happy to show you around,” Grace said as she resumed eating her food. Grace picked up the dishes when they were done and rinsed them off leaving them in the sink as a habit, that way when Jo saw the dishes in the sink she would know that Grace had returned. It was sort of an unspoken code the two had developed over the years. “I will leave these for Jo. Are you ready for the tour?” She said as she reached for his hand.

  She took him into every room. She showed him the room she called her own when she was a child. It was still decorated the same way, unchanged and frozen in time, with little teddy bears in tutus and ballerina toe shoes laced up their legs on the wallpaper. As they walked through the hallway they encountered a portrait. He could just make out the little girl that he assumed was Grace because of the green color and shape of her eyes. “Is this your family?”

  She looked at it with a somewhat pained look and it seemed as if she was forcing a smile for his benefit. “This was my family. I was 8 when this was taken. We actually had a photographer at the Hampton’s house come to take this picture among many others for the family. My mom liked this one the best and had it blown up and framed.” She could feel the tears building in her eyes with the thought of her mother. She explained to him her family history. She was the youngest of three. Her sister and brother were much older than her. She was born when her mother turned 38. Her mother thought she was going through the “change” but found out that she was having another baby. Her brother John IV was 16 and her sister Rachel was 14 when she was born. Her siblings were never really close to Grace though. That is why Michael was like a brother to her. He was only 3 years older than her and they were alike in so many ways. Michael did not have any other siblings and pretty much adopted Grace as his sister. She did not have many family memories that did not have Michael in them. Along the various portraits on the wall, she saw Michael in most of them.

  Her dad was fond of Michael as well. He saw the goodness in his nephew and recognized the inquisitiveness that his son did not possess. He knew Michael would make a great lawyer in the future and spent time with him to prepare him for a life he thought for sure would be his career. He let Michael work in the firm after school and during summer breaks while John IV was in college. Part of this was the reason that Michael graduated well earlier than expected. He clerked for the lead prosecutor in New York City during his final year of law school and passed the bar exam in one try. It took her brother John IV three times to pass the bar exam and once for Rachel who was a natural like her mother, but like her mother, she had no real drive to head the firm. Her father never worried about Rachel’s future. She would be a great asset to the firm just as Michael would, just not as the CEO.

  Brought out of her reverie by the reality of the late hour she led him to the master bedroom. She pointed at the bed, “I know that this bed is much smaller than yours, but I assure you that it is the largest of standard beds they make on this planet. You are welcome to sleep here but can also sleep in any of the other rooms if you wish. However, I figured that since we sleep in the same bed on the ship, why should we go and change the sleeping arrangements while in my apartment.” She made her way to the bathroom to get ready for bed. “I am going to get ready for bed. We will have visitors coming at 8 in the morning. We might want to get some sleep.”

  Chapter 14

  Zane woke up startled by the loud music coming from Grace’s alarm clock. “What the hell is that noise?” Zane shouted as he sat up in the bed.

  “What?” She said as she pressed down the snooze button.

  “What was that?” He asked. He had slept rather well despite the fact that if he attempted to stretch completely out, his feet would project well past the end of the bed. He made the best of it and bent his knees in a fetal position to sleep in the bed with Grace. He never wanted to sleep without her again. It comforted him to know that she was near and within arm’s reach. He rubbed his eyes and raked his hands through his short dark brown hair. Just then, Grace started to stretch like he noticed she normally did. It was in a manner that Grace would equate with feline. Her back was arched and her hands extended above her head, her knees brought up close to her abdomen and then out straight as far as they would go.

  “That is my alarm clock. We use them to help us wake up.” She pointed to the little box that was responsible for all that loud noise. “You set the time you want to wake up and when the clock reaches that time, the radio starts to play music from a radio station. Do you need me to show you how to use the shower?” Grace asked through a yawn.

  “That would be great.” What he really wanted to ask her was would you want to join me? But he decided against that and would wait to see what would happen.

  She said, “Give me a minute and I will be right out to get you and show you how everything works.” She walked into the bathroom pulling down the back of her shorts as she entered. She came out a few minutes later and called for him to join her. “This is the shower. You turn this dial toward the red mark for hotter water, toward the blue to make it colder.” She put it all the way up to red and let it run until it started to steam. Then she adjusted it toward the blue to a temperature she would most like. She saw him look toward the Jacuzzi bathtub in curiosity. “That is a bathtub. You fill it up and when it is full, you can press this button and air shoots out the jets, massaging your body in the process.” She looked around the room and realized that he was starting to undress. “I am assuming you know how to use the rest of this, so I will excuse myself now.” He noticed that she started talking faster and at a higher pitch up to the time she left the room, shutting the door behind her.

  Grace made her way into the kitchen shaking the sight of his beautiful perfect body out of her head. It was hard enough to keep her hands off of him and she definately did not need any encouragement. She started up the coffee maker looking forward to having a cup of her favorite brew. She turned around to see Jo jump at the sight of her standing in the kitchen. “I am so glad that you are home, Miss Grace.”

  “I am happy to be home and happy to see you earlier than planned. I brought someone home with me. Would it be too much to ask you to make us some breakfast, pancakes, eggs and bacon maybe?” She looked at Jo with a persuasive smile even though she knew that Jo would do whatever she asked of her.

  “Sure, Miss Grace, I can do that. What is your friend’s name?” Jo was curious. Grace had never brought a man home with her. At this point she did not know if it was a man or a woman accompanying her. If she heard a name then maybe she could guess which of the two it was.

  Grace knew just what Jo was looking for in the way of information. Jo wanted to know if she brought a man home with her. “His name is Zane and we are married.”

  “Married! ¡Dios Mio!” She said, clearly in shock. Jo made a move to sit in the nearest chair. Grace came to her aide
. As she got Jo settled in the chair Zane made his way to the kitchen and at the sight of him she looked as if she was going to faint.

  Grace grabbed Jo from behind and held her to keep her from falling from the chair. “Jo, are you alright?” She said as she looked into her eyes. “Zane you are a doctor, can you come look at her and see if she is alright?”

  Zane approached the small Cuban woman and heard her say “Married! ¡Dios Mio! He is a doctor, too. You are a very large man Mr. Zane.” She looked Zane in the eyes and said to him directly, “Where are you from?”

  He looked to Grace for an answer. He did not know how to answer. Finally he said in his softest and gentlest voice, not to scare her, “From far away.”

  “Zane is from a small town in Canada,” Grace interjected, “He moved to Florence about, what was it honey, three years ago?” She looked to Zane expectantly for an answer.

  “Yes, I moved there about three years ago. I practiced medicine there in a local hospital until just recently.” He said checking Jo out like a physician would. He gently used his index finger to prod her head up to face the lights in the kitchen, checking the way her eyes responded to the light, then placing his index and middle fingers underneath her jaw to feel her pulse. “Mrs. Jo, I presume. How are you feeling? I cannot see anything wrong with you. Do you feel alright now? Do you hurt anywhere?”