by Unknown
I shrugged. He did have a point.
“Well, my mom got a sudden job offer and she had to accept right away. We just bought all new stuff when we got to Chicago. I think she had always planned on us coming back as soon as she wasn’t needed anymore.”
“Yeah, but she went out of her way to put this house in your name before she died and she gave you specific instructions not to tell Margaux. Doesn’t that seem a bit odd to you?”
“Yeah, but that was just the way my mom worked. I sometimes think that she despised Margaux more than I do. My mom never told her where we lived when we were here; everything came through a post office box. But that all changed when we got to Chicago – Margaux visited us whenever she was in the city on business.”
“Maybe they made up,” Ari said with a yawn.
I stood up, not wanting to think about them anymore, grabbed a change of clothes, and slipped into my closet to undress. When I came back out, Ari was already in his boxers and under the sheets waiting for me. I crawled in next to him and he was out in a matter of seconds.
I stayed awake for hours unable to sleep. Ari’s iPad kept me company and I stayed up reading the news. When I got tired of that, I checked my email. I had received a message from Nora in London. August had been on top of things and had emailed to tell her that we were going to be visiting the states for a while. I had some guilt about leaving London without saying goodbye but she didn’t seem angry about that. She said the wedding would be in late July and wondered if we would be able to attend. She added that she didn’t have an address for me and so could not send August or me a proper invitation.
I really did want to go to Nora and Adler’s wedding, but the thought of returning to London made my skin crawl. I sent Nora a lengthy email back keeping her posted on my own recent engagement, my new home and my sweet reunion with Ari. I let her know I would check with August and Ari about planning a trip to London for her wedding and let her know as soon as possible.
Turning off Ari’s iPad, I tried again to sleep but it was futile. At dawn, I slipped out of bed and made my way down to the kitchen and the big coffee pot my mom kept there. I made the coffee and then poured myself a giant cup and sat down at the piano. Reluctant to wake anyone, I played very softly. The keys felt wonderful under my fingers. After about an hour of Mozart, I was startled when August sat down on the bench next to me. He put his hands on the keys and began to play “Grace Kelly.” I took the low notes, joining in on his intended duet. We both sang the fabulous French version and when it was done, we wiggled our fingers together and gave a loud “cha-ching.”
“Was that Mika?” Ari said standing behind us.
“Yeah, I guess it was,” I said. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
“No Baby, its fine. I’ve been listening from upstairs for a while.”
“Come here; I’ll teach you,” I said as August got up to get a cup of coffee. Ari took a seat and I showed him which keys to hit for a very simple version of Heart and Soul. He wasn’t horrible and when we finally got through it, he kissed me on the cheek and smiled.
“Did you sleep at all last night?” he asked with concern.
“No, I guess I just had too much on my mind. By the way, we have been invited to Nora and Adler’s wedding. It’s the weekend before ours -- are you guys interested in going?”
“Yes!” August said a bit too excitedly. “Adler’s friend Smith is going to be there and I’m planning on making my move.”
“I’m sure Smith’s girlfriend will love that, August.”
“Please, Ava, that girl doesn’t have a clue.”
“Well, good luck with that, Aug. What about you, Ari – do you want to go? We don’t have to.”
“No, of course I want to go.”
I hesitated a bit before saying, “I’m not sure I want to go back there.”
August gave me a disappointed look.
“Ava, seriously it’s a wedding and it’s Nora’s wedding at that. You have to go.”
“Ok, but I think Ari and I may fly there and back in the same day. I don’t think I want to stay overnight in that city ever again.”
“Fine,” August said, “you guys do whatever you want. I am going to stay a while.”
“Ok, just remember to be in California on August the Fourth at seven o’clock,” I said, then got up to start on breakfast for everyone.
We had arrived in Montréal just in time for the Franco Foiles festival that takes place in the middle week of June each year. The festival showcases different events each night downtown. On our first evening, we went to see the hottest new French singer, Brigitte. She was wonderful and we had a fantastic time. We didn’t make it home until very late into the night. I fell right asleep in Ari’s arms and I was met by nightmare after nightmare on the other side of my consciousness. I woke up screaming twice and sent a very sleepy Ari into near hysterics. He was super sweet to me; knowing I had no control over when and how menacing a dream might be.
He had the best way of calming me down, by stroking my face and talking to me really quietly, just as he had the first few nights my screams brought him into my dorm room so long ago.
This ritual provided an avenue for us to learn even more about each other, and I found out something new about Ari every night. I learned that he had broken his nose twice, once when he was eight and had been learning to surf with his dad, and then a second time when Rory punched him in class.
I learned that his favorite food is a gyro and that he’s been grounded only one time in his life, and that was when he and Rory snuck a whole bottle of ouzo and drank it all. They both got really sick. Ari said he didn’t get grounded for the drinking but for ruining his mom’s carpet when the ouzo came back up.
He even told me about his first kiss. This story made me laugh so hard, I giggled all night long, keeping him awake. He was only thirteen years old, he was shopping with his mom and sister at the market and some girl just walked up to him and started kissing him. Aggie had to shoo her away and she told Ari to get used to it. He told me he had never been more embarrassed in all of his life.
I know that he reads Ernest Hemingway and Edgar Allen Poe and he can watch the waves crash on the sand for hours without ever getting bored. Most importantly, I have learned that Ari loves me more than anything else in the whole world and he would do anything to make sure I never forget it.
Ari does not like to be asked who he is. Not that people ask him too often. One look at him and if you know anything about Greek history, you can tell who he is – Ari Cal Alexander, son of Agatha and Andrew Alexander, descendant of the two most beautiful deities ever known Adonis and Aphrodite.
He is perfect. Square jaw, straight nose, despite the fact it has been broken twice, and perfect skin. His eyes are a never-ending clear brown and his smile lights up every room he enters. There isn’t a soft spot on his entire body. He is lean, firm, and athletic. Ari is much more than an incredibly pretty face; he is a genius. His mind is extraordinary. I love watching him think, and argue and debate. His form of speech is always articulate and eloquent. He is never wrong, unless of course, his argument is with me, and then he’s up against it because in my opinion I am never wrong. Above all, Ari is kind and compassionate. He has the biggest heart and most unadulterated soul of anyone I have ever met. Ari’s love for his family and for me eclipses all else.
That night, he asked, as always, if I wanted to talk about my dreams and my answer was always the same: “No.” My nightmares were nothing new; no new information and no signs of No. 6, who failed to show himself. I hoped that my killing his five brothers had scared him off, but deep down inside my gut told me I was grasping after a false hope.
Chapter 24
Nerves
Montréal is by far one of the best cities to live in. There is always something to do. For the first few weeks of our summer sojourn, we stayed busy with art shows and exhibitions, concerts and visits to parks. We dined at Accords Wine Bar and Aix Cuisine du Ter
roir, two of the absolute best places to eat in Montréal, and after a month, we were all exhausted.
Ari and I were able to stay on our “best behavior.” I think the fact that we had set a date and that I had decided that I really did want to wait helped ease some of the pressure and helped keep my mind clear. I learned to focus on Ari and the rest of the world at the same time, although doing so took a lot of practice.
There were a few times that Ari slept on the couch because of me, and a few times because of our noisy neighbors in the room down the hall. Some nights both of us moved down to the couch and August was close behind.
“Hey, Baby,” Ari whispered in my ear one morning after he, August and myself had all crashed in the living room the night before, and I was dog-tired.
“We’re out of coffee and creamer and, well, a bunch of stuff…August and I are going to the market.”
“Mmm,” I mumbled in return. I felt a kiss on my forehead and shortly after heard the front door close.
Dreams came to me...images of Ari floated into my mind, scenes of a wedding danced in my unconscious thoughts and then faded away. I saw images of all of the people that I love, together on the beach. Dreams of Ari and Rory sitting together in the sand on a breezy clear night came and went in my mind. The images seemed to be happy ones, but my body responded to them with fear. I felt trapped and scared and I was starting to panic. A window, small and rectangular, appeared in my mind and all I could see from it was the low-hung moon, hauntingly full and bright white, taunting me.
I woke up dripping in a cold sweat; my throat was sore and my voice nearly gone. Julia and a fat-lipped Rory were leaning over me.
“What the hell is going on?” I screamed in a panic.
“You tell us, Ava. You’ve been screaming for ten minutes straight. I tried to wake you but you punched me in the lip.”
I looked down and noticed my swollen knuckle.
“Oh gosh, Rory, I’m so sorry. I was having a nightmare, I think, but ….” I shook my head. There had been nothing scary about my dream and no amount of mulling it over could explain the terror I evidently had felt.
I climbed into the shower, turning the water icy cold to wash the unknown fears away.
****
When I had called Margaux, a month earlier to tell her about being engaged to Ari, she had been thrilled. She told me not to worry about anything and that she would take care of my dress and shoes. She started right in texting me so that I could keep track of her progress and I found that I was actually very pleased. I had told her I wanted to keep the dress simple, light but still elegant. Our wedding was to be held on the beach at dusk; the late hour dictated that, though the ceremony would be outside, it would be formal. She told me she had a huge surprise for me, and that she would not show me the shoes until the day of the wedding. She herself always trotted around on five-inch heels, so I was a tad anxious about the “surprise,” but she promised the shoes would suit the beach sand just fine. I had no option but to trust her. I didn’t have to worry about bridesmaid dresses since August was my maid of honor. Rory was Ari’s best man so we told them they were in charge of their own attire and begged that they keep it appropriate.
Aggie called me sometimes as often as three times a day to go over wedding details. I always told her she should do whatever she thought best, but she still insisted upon my input. I did make a few choices. I chose my flowers, for instance. I have always loved white anemones, with the stark white petals ringing a black center, so I made sure to request them for our wedding flowers. I was planning to wear my hair down, with soft waves trailing down my back. Julia, great at putting on makeup, agreed to help me out with hair and face. All that I really cared about was being with Ari; the rest just didn’t seem important to me. Aggie on the other hand was worrying over every detail. Sometimes to keep from hurting her feelings, I handed the phone off to Ari. He always knew exactly what to say to ease her anxiety.
We spent the last few weeks of July just lounging around the house. I sat and played the piano and gave Ari a few lessons. He picked up the basics in no time at all. He could even pick out a few songs by himself by ear, and though he played slowly, the result was impressive.
Ari was trying to learn phrases in French, too, but August constantly teased him. For instance, he would have Ari repeat some words to me that had been presented as just everyday phrases but that were actually really raunchy and almost always had something to do with sex. I loved this game; it made me blush, and then laugh and laugh. Ari wasn’t quite as fond of it – he often became angry at August, though his frustration made me laugh even more.
Ari didn’t realize it but the game actually did help him with his accent and pronunciation. He sometimes sounded like a genuine francophone, which was a very becoming sound for him.
Julia and Rory liked being in Canada more than they let on. They kept to themselves a lot during the daytime and they eventually hatched a plan to stay in Montréal while the rest of us traveled to London for Nora’s wedding. I booked same-day return-trip tickets from Montréal to London for the day of the ceremony. Ari and I were planning to fly out of London non-stop to L.A. right after the wedding reception. August was planning to hang back in London for a couple of extra days. His parents were going to be in town, so he was going to visit with them before he came back to California.
August liked California so much that he had actually started looking for jobs there. Ari was not too crazy about the idea of him living with us in our new home and I didn’t push the idea. In our entire relationship, Ari and I had never really been alone -- unless I counted the trip to Chicago for Mia’s funeral, which I did not. I was looking forward to having him all to myself for a very long while.
Whenever I thought about my own wedding night, I became extremely nervous. I think Ari could tell I was edgy and that made me feel worse. It wasn’t as though he and I sat around and talked about sex all the time, but because we were living with August and Rory, the topic was bound to crop up at least once a day. I knew I wanted to marry Ari; I loved him more than anything else in the whole world. I had already proven that I could not be without him. I just hoped he understood that my feelings of nervousness were those typical of a bride and not at all directed towards him.
One night, about a week before Nora’s wedding, I had just concluded a very long, very tiring phone call with Aggie. I hung up the phone and put my head in my hands. Ari came up, put his hand on my back, then began to run his fingers through my hair.
“Do you want to elope first, Ava? We can. It would just be our little secret; we can run off and get married and I promise no one will have to know.”
I kissed him and shook my head no.
“I appreciate the offer, Ari, but I want to marry you the right way, with your family there behind us. That’s the only way to do it.”
He smiled at me then scooped me up in his arms and carried me off to bed, slamming the door behind us with his foot.
For our final week in Montréal, I did a lot of packing. Since I was selling the house, I needed to go through the rooms and decide what to do with all of the stuff. I didn’t need the furniture, but there were still some keepsakes and pictures that I decided to pack up and ship out to our home in California.
I had cleaned out most of my old bedroom, and I didn’t find anything in it that I wanted to keep. I took all of the books to the library of the school I had attended and sent my old clothes to charity.
August’s room had been just about empty to begin with. My mother and I never had visitors when we were in Québec, except for Perry, so the room had rarely been used.
My mother’s room was a completely different story. She had literally not packed a single thing of hers when we moved. Her jewelry box was still sitting open on the dresser. I picked out her favorite necklaces and even her wedding ring and I wondered if what Ari asked about was right. Maybe we did just up and leave in the middle of the night. When she told me we were moving, I didn’t suspect anyth
ing. She told me she had a job and I believed her. When we got to Chicago, she started work right away.
Now, the more I learn about who I am, the more I realize that I really didn’t know who she was. So many of my questions remained unanswered. I had learned from Margaux that my mother was a Fate. I knew my father had been a Fate as well, a trait inherited from ancestors on both sides of his family. For the first time in history all three Fates had been combined in a single offspring and I was that offspring. I had the blood of all three. I had not yet told Ari my discovery.
Ari, August and I flew out at dawn on the day of Nora’s wedding, one week before my own. I was ready to leave as soon as we landed. Being back in London brought all of the horrible and painful memories back to me. Ari squeezed my hand and never let it go the whole day.
Nora and Adler’s wedding was really lovely. Adler’s family was affluent and well known in the community. Their guest list was quite impressive and ranged from a very famous research scientist to a pop star and even a few actors. Nora looked ethereal in her floating white satin gown and Adler was visibly awe struck by her splendor the whole time.
Ari and I had plenty of entertainment watching August try to bring The Smith Plan to fruition. August had been right – Smith was clearly gay. But I don’t think he had the same feelings for August that August had for him. Nevertheless, I was happy to see him trying to move on from Claude.
I enjoyed seeing Nora again, and apologized again for not having been able to say goodbye to her when I left England. She, for her part, was very excited to meet Ari finally.
“Well, now I understand why you were such a mess when you were here, Ava,” she said when she first saw him. “I would have been a mess too if I had left him behind.”
Ari laughed and pulled me closer to him. We danced a few slow songs and then I hugged each friend – Nora, Adler and August – goodbye and Ari and I made our way back to the airport to go home at last.