Joy and Tiers

by Mary Crawford

  “I should really call Marcus. Oh Geez, how do I explain all this to him?” She turns and spins on one foot like someone who’s had many years of dance lessons, “Wait! Is any of this confidential?” she asks. “Should I wait to tell folks?”

  I can almost watch the questions tumble around in her brain like bingo balls at a retirement home. “Ivy gave me permission to share her story, so I doubt she would mind,” I interject.

  “Does Ivy even know that she’s adopted? Why hasn’t my mom said anything during all these years? Even when I was going to the doctor with my mysterious pain, she never said a word. I’m so confused,” Rogue says as she grabs her cell phone and gets up to walk outside.

  I pause for a moment uncertain what to do. I want to respect her privacy, but she’s still pretty shaky and I’m worried about leaving her alone.

  When Rogue notices that I’m behind her, she turns around and motions me to follow her. “Are you coming?” she asks. “I want you there. I’m not ready to be alone right now.”

  I’m not sure why I have such an inordinate sense of male pride and empowerment from her simple words of trust, but I do. I’m also aware this is a completely inappropriate time to be thinking about how attractive she is. Yet, for some reason I can’t seem to stop my brain from going down that path. It is kind of bizarre for me since I’ve met both sisters. I thought Ivy was pretty in a generic sense of the word pretty and I appreciated her sense of humor but I wasn’t extraordinarily attracted to her.

  Even though on the surface, Ivy and Rogue look alike, from the moment I started surveillance on Rogue, her energy has attracted me. She has an external toughness that hides a real tender side.

  By the time I grab our drinks and book bags and finally catch up with Rogue, she’s already on the phone with someone. I’m not purposely trying to eavesdrop, but I hear her becoming more agitated, “... No ... listen...Marc! I really can’t explain this on the phone. Can you meet me at the coffee shop? Let’s see... on the scale of importance…Remember when that waitress tried to pretend she was pregnant with your baby? That was like a three. This is like a 27.... Oh shut up! I am not pregnant! I would actually have to have sex before I can get pregnant. You of all people should know that I don’t even have time to breathe, let alone have sex. I’ll see you in ten minutes, you big, stupid jerk.”

  Rogue hangs up her phone and stuffs it in her back pocket. She surreptitiously wipes tears from her eyes with the hem of her oversized Miami Heat T-shirt.

  I clear my throat to alert her to my presence. She spins around and her eyes widen when she sees me. Her hand covers her mouth in horror and she gasps as she says, “Please tell me you didn’t hear that conversation.”

  I shrug nonchalantly as I respond agreeably, “Okay, I’ll tell you I didn’t hear that conversation.”

  “For my own sanity, I’m going to choose to believe you,” she replies. “That was my friend, Marcus he’ll be here in a few minutes.”

  “He’s your best friend, right?” I confirm.

  Rogue nods as she says, “Yeah, he’s like a big brother, only way cooler. I don’t know how I would’ve made it the last six years without him,” she declares, her affection clearly evident.

  “Have you decided what you’re going to tell him?” I ask.

  “Not precisely, but I’m guessing it’s going to be something along the lines of my entire life is about to change.”

  The conversation seems lighthearted enough, yet as soon as she utters those words out loud, she starts trembling uncontrollably again. I lead her over to a little bench in a secluded corner of the patio. I motion for her to sit down as I remove my jacket and hang it around her shoulders.

  I snag our drinks and placed them on the little side table next to the patio bench. I silently sit next to her and place my arm around her shoulders. As corny as it sounds, I just try to sit there quietly and wick away some of her pain. I can’t think of anything more useful I could be doing at the moment. We sit there for about five minutes. The sound of silence was so deafening, I’m sure she can hear every beat of my racing heart.

  “Tristan,” Rogue says in a small voice. “It’s true you know.”

  “What’s true?” I ask, having lost complete track of the conversation.

  “That everything is going to change in my life. I’m so scared. I was barely juggling everything as it was. Now, I have a bunch of new complications. I don’t know how I’m going to cope. What if Ivy hates me because Mama decided to keep me and not her? What if Mama hates me because I found out her secret? What if they hate each other and I’m stuck in the middle? What if Ivy’s disappointed in me and doesn’t want anything to do with me?”

  I reach up and brush Rogue’s hair out of her face as I try to calm her fears, “First, I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed in you. You are bright, funny and obviously a hard worker. Secondly, I’ve met Ivy. She’s also charming and sweet. Chances are she’s also felt like something has been missing all of these years and she’ll probably be just as anxious to meet you.”

  Rogue gives me a watery smile as she responds, “Thanks, you’re probably right. I wonder who should tell everybody? I feel like I’ve been dropped into the middle of a Lifetime movie without a script.”

  “Isn’t life best done as an improv anyway?” I quip. “Seriously though, I am here as long as you need me. Let me play facilitator, mediator or sandwich boy. I’m fine with whatever works for you. Just let me know what I can do to help,” I offer.

  “Don’t you have a business to run?” Rogue asks pointedly.

  I laugh at the sass in her tone. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. One of the perks I like best about being the boss is I get to decide what my priorities are. You, Ivy and your mom have just moved to the top of my list.”

  “What about your other clients?” Rogue probes.

  I shrug as I reply, “With the exception of the assignment that I’m literally writing code for right now, every other client can be reassigned to employees.”

  “You have employees?” she asks, startled, “I was under the impression you were a one man shop.”

  I lift my shoulder in a one sided shrug as I responds, “I am if I choose to be. But, I also have the flexibility to bring in as much staff is I need to if I have a large project.”

  “Wow! It must be nice to be the head honcho. I can only dream of the luxury of setting my own hours,” Rogue remarks. “Actually, just cutting down to two part-time jobs instead of three would be nice.”

  I squeeze her shoulders lightly as I respond, “I remember those days. When I was in college, I had a work-study job in the computer lab, I was coding on the side, I proofread papers to make extra money and I delivered pizzas. The thing I don’t remember doing is sleeping. But, I got really lucky and I got in early on the phone app craze. I was able to develop an app that detects whether your iPhone or android has a keystroke logger installed.”

  Unlike most people I tell this story to, Rogue’s eyes aren’t completely glazed over with boredom nor does she look like she’s mentally trying to calculate my net worth. Instead, she seems to be just listening. What a refreshing change of pace. I feel oddly energized by that.

  “Initially, I marketed it as a standalone and it did really well. Then, I was approached by all three of the big virus protection companies. I did something that, at the time was pretty unheard of, I made a deal with all three companies to incorporate my technology into their existing software packages. Consequently, I found myself in a position where I don’t have to cobble jobs together anymore. In fact, realistically I probably don’t have to work another day in my life. But, it’s just not the way I’m wired. So, for the most part unless I have a charity project that I’m working on I completely ignore my bank balance and let the accountants and lawyers worry about all that stuff. I pretty much live my life the way I always have with slightly upgraded housing and transportation options.”

  Before I can figure out what’s going on, I feel a stinging sensation in
my thigh. I can’t believe the little minx pinched me!

  “Ouch! What was that for?” I exclaim as I rub the sting out of my thigh.

  “I’m just checking to see if you’re a figment of my imagination,” Rogue replies shaking her head in disbelief. “I don’t know any sane person on the planet who would haul their butt out of bed on a Monday morning to go to work if they didn’t need to. You must be bonkers!”

  “Well, I might go into the office a little later on Monday mornings,” I concede.

  “Still, it’s a little bizarre that you have tons of money and you’re still working on these crazy hours to do what exactly? Earn more money? I guess if it were me, I’d have a little fun celebrating my success,” she comments wistfully.

  “Really? What would you do if I gave you an unlimited account at a travel agency?”

  Rogue’s eyes widen for a split second before a shrewd look crosses her face. “Well, the first thing I would do would be to clarify your definition of unlimited. Does it apply to only me? Is it for a specified period of time? Can it be applied to group? Can the group be amorphous? There are a lot of things to consider,” she says with a teasing smirk.

  “I could’ve sworn you told me you were an Art major, not Prelaw,” I quip. “But, just for the sake of this hypothetical, let’s say I’m all in. Now what?” I ask, curious about where she’s going to take this.

  “In that case, there are so many choices that it’s mind-boggling,” she answers becoming animated. “I’d be tempted to head down to a homeless shelter and ask if anyone would like to go home and be reunited with their families. It would also be great to fun to go to all the foster programs and treat all the kids to vacations at any theme park they wanted to go to with all the junk food they could possibly eat. Maybe I’d meet with the military family support groups and offer to reunite the families for a surprise visit with their loved ones for Christmas. If I had no restrictions on travel, I could work with some nursing homes and bring some out-of-town relatives to visit their lonely patients who are always alone,” Rogue suggests. “See, you might be sorry you let me get started. You might have created a monster.”

  I’m absolutely humbled by Rogue’s choices. I have a whole team of people in charge of my money, yet none of them have come up with as many great ideas as she’s rattled off in the last twenty seconds. Even more telling to me is that not one of those requests benefits her personally. As if I needed one more reason to find her irresistible, she’s given me about half a dozen.

  “Monster?” I reply. “I don’t see a monster. I see the most generous person I’ve seen in a while. But, I can’t help but notice you conspicuously left yourself off of the list.”

  Rogue blushes as she mumbles, “Well, that’s okay. Between my work and school commitments, I don’t really have time to travel anyway, so it’s better not to even think about it.”

  “Hey now, this is pie-in-the-sky hypothetical fantasy stuff. You’re not allowed to let real world problems drag you down in hypothetical land. It’s a violation of the rules. Everything is happy in hypothetical land. Consider it an open-ended ticket.”

  “Okay, I’ll tell you but you’re probably going to think I’m a total nerd,” she confesses, sheepishly.

  A loud bark of laughter escapes before I have a chance to self-sensor. “Rogue, I write computer code and I have a chess game set up in my living room —not a decorative one, but a regular chess set—one that gets regular use. Does it really seem like I would be in a position to judge?” I ask.

  A grin tugs at her lips. “Well, when you put it like that, perhaps mine doesn’t look so silly by comparison. I’ve always wanted to go to the Louvre and see all the famous artwork. I’ve also never flown first class. Not that I’d ever make a habit of it, but it seems like something you’d want to check off your bucket list. I just want to see what it’s like to be treated like you’re the most important person in the room,” she admits.

  Chuckling, I reply. “Trust me, flying first class on an international flight is entirely worthwhile. It’s one of those luxuries you might not want to forgo once you’ve had a taste.”

  “Oh, I don’t think I’ll ever have to worry about that. If I ever got to go anywhere like the Louvre, it would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip for me. It would mean I won the lottery or I was going on my honeymoon,” Rogue explains. “A normal person doesn’t just take those trips on a whim. Those are the kind of trips you take to celebrate a momentous occasion. That’s why my trip to the Louvre is staying firmly in fantasyland because in reality it’s never really going to happen.”

  “I don’t know about that. You can never stop dreaming big, because one little thing can change your whole life.”

  Rogue smirks at me as she retorts, “Well yeah, if you’re some brainiac computer whiz who invents some amazing computer program. But, I’m studying art so I can be a tattoo artist. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a tattoo artist on every corner. People are even ordering tattoo gear off of Amazon and holding their own tattoo parties. Everybody thinks they can do it now. There’s a long road between me and greatness.”

  “Something tells me you’re pretty stubborn—” I tease.

  Rogue does something that catches me completely off guard. She makes a funny face and sticks her tongue out at me. It shouldn’t be sexy but, in an odd way it is. All I can think of is kissing those amazing lips and playing with that tongue.

  “So mature too,” I add in response to her gesture. “I didn’t mean it as an insult. I just meant that you seem tenacious enough to reach your goals. You’re very compassionate, so I bet you’re an amazing artist.”

  Rogue’s eyes tear up and she buries her head in my chest as she mumbles, “Tristan, that’s the sweetest thing anyone has said in a really long time. Not everybody gets that.”

  Just then, a loud voice bellows across the patio, “What the hell did you do to her?”

  Rogue jumps out of my arms and stands up quickly. She places her hands on her hips and barks an order at the guy marching toward me.

  “Marcus Taylor Brolin, back the hell up! Tristan was not hurting me. Not that it’s any of your business, but Tristan actually said something really nice to me.”

  Marcus gives me the evil eye as he addresses Rogue, “If he wasn’t hurting you, why do you have raccoon eyes?”

  Rogue gasps as she licks her thumbs and starts wiping under her eyes.

  I lean over and murmur in her ear, “Relax, he’s exaggerating. Until he pointed it out, I didn’t even notice. You still look beautiful to me.”

  Rogue looks up at me with her amber colored eyes and smiles. She mouths the word “Thank you,” before she turns to Marcus.

  Rogue walks up to him and pokes him in the chest. “I’ve been crying. Women do that. Last I checked, it’s a free country and I have the right to be emotional. If you’d had the day I’ve been having, you’d be emotional too. So, stop being a jerk.”

  Obviously, I missed something. Maybe it had to do with their earlier conversation. But, all things considered, I didn’t think his reaction was all that out of bounds. After all, he did find his best friend in the arms of a total stranger than she does look a little worse for the wear.

  I walk over to Marcus and stick out my hand as I say, “Hey, I’m Tristan.”

  Grudgingly, he nods and shakes my hand. He glances back and forth between Rogue and I as he says, “Does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on here?”

  I look around at the patio which is starting to get crowded with Sunday morning breakfast patrons. “Let’s go grab one of the booths in the back so we’ve got some privacy,” I suggest.

  “I’ll go talk to the manager. I come here so often I’ve got one in the back corner that practically has my name engraved on it. How do you take your coffee, Tristan?” she asks over her shoulder as she is walking away.

  “Black, as strong as it comes,” I answer.

  I watch as Rogue has a visceral response to my answer. I can see her full b
ody shudder.

  She shakes her head in disgust, “I don’t know how you can drink that stuff. In my opinion, it should be used to strip paint,” she retorts.

  I laugh at the sour expression on her face as I remark, “Remember how I told you I never slept in college? I never said that I didn’t have some help from industrial-strength caffeine.”

  Rogue turns back toward Marcus and asks, “The usual?”

  He responds, “Make it a double.”

  Rogue’s eyes widen in surprise as she asks, “Marc, don’t you have Nicola’s back-piece this afternoon?”

  “Why do you think I asked for the double?” he answers. “Somebody I know got me out of bed before my alarm clock went off.”

  Rogue looks concerned but eventually shrugs, “Well, wouldn’t be my choice before a back piece, but I’m not you.”

  As she walks away, Marcus looks over at me and comments, “Women can be such nags.”

  If you were to look up the definition of a no-win situation. This would be it. I could have a little male bonding moment with him and agree. But, I also know he is Rogue’s best friend and any disloyalty to her will reflect badly on me. There is no good option here. I elect to do what any prudent person would do under the circumstances. I look down at my phone and I check my text messages. I hold up my finger as I say, “Just a sec, this might be important.”

  I can’t help but smile as I read the incoming text from Kelly. It looks like our budding remote videographer was in a little bit of panic to leave his latest victim and left some coding strings behind. Since every programmer tends to code slightly differently, this could potentially be a big break.

  I look up and notice that Marcus is studying me intently. He raises an eyebrow at me as he inquires, “Good news?”