Silent Pretty Things

by O. J. Lovaz

  “All right, that doesn’t sound so terrible,” said Diane.

  Anna glanced at her phone. Michael had sent her a picture of a hardcover novel he had seen at a bookstore. She replied, “Christmas gift already?” Then she saw the time.

  “Hmm, it’s getting late, almost seven thirty. We should get going soon. Sarah and Michael will be expecting us to pick them up by eight. And we still haven’t come up with our perfectly manufactured controlled situation.”

  “Right,” said Frank. “Let’s put our heads together here for a moment. What kind of event can we come up with where we could create situations, distractions, instances of controlled chaos, perhaps?”

  Diane’s face lighted up as if a voice had whispered the answer to her ear. “I got it. We need to plan a family reunion—at your parents’ big house. That place will provide plenty of opportunities for controlled chaos, as you cleverly called it, Frank. Also, it’s the only way to ensure that Uncle Victor will be there—he must be the host. And yet, all the work must be done for him. Um…Aunt Lydia, of course. We’ll need to insert the idea into her mind, you know, like they did in that movie with Leonardo DiCaprio. She must be convinced that it was really her idea—Anna, it’s time to earn your stripes as a psychologist.”

  “That could work. It really could,” Frank exclaimed. His face too lit up. “Now, how do we make sure that Aunt Marlene shows up? It’s a long drive for her. Should we get her a plane ticket to sweeten the deal?”

  “No, that’s not what will convince her to go,” said Anna. “You, Diane, seeing you—that’s why she’ll make the trip. Through Mom, we can send her the message that you’ll be there and that you want to see her, that the wait is over and reconciliation is at hand.”

  Tears suddenly came running down Diane’s cheeks. “I’m sorry…I’m…I’m just a little emotional. You’re right, Anna. That should work. It’s a great idea. Oh God, is there any chance Mom didn’t do this horrible thing? Please, God, let it all be a mistake. Please let me…forgive her.” With those last words, she held on no longer and wept wretchedly. Anna held her in her arms, also tearing up. They were in that moment like kids again. They were family once more.

  Embracing Diane, Anna felt both her cousin’s sorrow and an almost inexplicable joy. Perhaps, there is a sort of happiness that can only be experienced by sharing grief. In any case, Anna could hardly get herself to pull away from Diane. When she did, she saw a faint smile in her cousin’s face. She then turned her gaze to Frank, who had been rendered speechless.

  She knew Frank desperately needed her to take over.

  “I think that we have all the basic elements of our plan. There are, obviously, a lot of details that we still need to hash out, but we won’t get there tonight. Don’t you agree, Frank?”

  “I do. It’s a great start. We can talk again tomorrow or Monday and start putting more meat on the bones.”

  “All right, then. Let’s get on to the fun part of the evening,” said Diane, trying to smile.

  “Yes, we should go now. Oh, look at the time. I’ll send Michael a message.”

  “I’m texting Sarah,” said Frank.

  “Do you mind coming back this way to pick me up? I just need to fix my—”

  “Makeup?” Anna finished Diane’s sentence. “Of course, go ahead. We’ll be back in twenty minutes, give or take.”

  “I can’t wait to meet Sarah and Michael.”

  Anna and Frank barely talked on the way back to the hotel. They’d been driving for four or five minutes already when Frank remarked in a subdued voice, “We did very well, I think.” Anna agreed impassively and commented no further.

  She could’ve easily called it a night and just stayed at the hotel, but she abandoned that thought as soon as they walked into the hotel lobby. Sitting there were Michael and Sarah, chatting animatedly, electrified and ready to party.

  They went back to pick up Diane, who promptly came down brandishing a sunny smile. They met up with her in front of the building. Sarah and Diane seemed to click instantly.

  Within minutes, the crowded Volvo was heading down the freeway toward downtown Boston. Diane and Sarah’s rowdy energy wound up rubbing off on all of them; even Anna got in the mood for a little fun. They went to some of Diane’s favorite spots. First, she took them to the Theater District, where they had Thai food before going to a bustling night club.

  After a few drinks and some dancing, they went for a change of scenery at the North End, Boston’s Little Italy, where they did a little walking to earn the right to enjoy the best cannoli any of them had ever had; and finally, they took the train to Harvard Square for the last fun of the night. There, Frank and Michael played a game of pool that they may have taken more seriously than they made it look like with their carefree behavior and amusing banter. Michael eked out a win, making a tough, and probably lucky, shot in the end—his own face betrayed as much. Frank seemed to like him more every minute, and the feeling appeared to be mutual.

  A train ride and a short walk later, they were back in the car, leaving the city. This was a distinctly happy moment for Anna. How glad she was now, observing them together, that both Michael and Sarah had come. Even accounting for the alcohol, it was clear that they all had become much closer—the way they talked to each other, their lighthearted laughter, the way Frank tapped Michael on the shoulder to share an inside joke, or the way Sarah leaned on Diane, laughing hysterically; all were signs of that proximity.

  Perhaps—she thought—on balance, life is still smiling at us. Could we not all move out here, like Diane did, and forget, leave behind all which threatens this newfound happiness? The vision warmed her up, but only fleetingly. An image of her mother, left behind in darkness, flashed before her; and a shiver ran down her spine. It was then she felt the warmth of Michael’s hand on hers.

  CHAPTER XI

  Things moved along at a dizzying pace for Anna following the trip to Boston. The second evening after their return to town, she and Frank called Diane from his apartment for what turned out to be a remarkably productive conversation. They devised an assortment of crafty strategies, tactics, and ploys designed to achieve their main two objectives at the family reunion. First, they needed to spy on Marlene and Victor as a means to obtain the pass codes to both phones. They presumed that, at least in theory, that task should prove the easiest.

  The trickiest job, of course, would be to get each of them to leave their phones unattended long enough for someone to take them and look for the text messages—all of this undetected by anyone. But their explosion of creativity bolstered their confidence that they could accomplish this ambitious and risky undertaking. Frank, especially, appeared exceedingly pleased with their combined ingenuity.

  Anna came out of their little conclave with a tough assignment which was quite fundamental: planting the idea of the family reunion in her mom’s head. A failure on her part would spell disaster for the entire operation. She spent the better part of Wednesday awfully anxious about her mission, in no small measure because she regarded herself a terrible liar.

  She resolved to call her mother and invite her to share a glass of wine with her in town, midafternoon the following day. She was very happy to hear from Anna and, to her invitation, she responded in a muted voice, “Um…okay, sure…where? The Courtyard…yes, I know where it is…three p.m., got it.” She changed the subject abruptly, asked Anna if she had seen Frank, how was he and, “Have you seen Sarah lately? Such a nice girl. God bless them. Frank sent me a lovely picture the other day. You do know that they are engaged now, don’t you? Well, I hope so; this is no way to find out. Ah, good, good. Your dad says hello.”

  That night she went to the movies with Michael. They watched a scary movie, but it wasn’t any good. More than anything, it was a good excuse to cuddle. The auditorium was empty but for them, so they did a little more than cuddling. After that, they went to Michael’s apartment, where they finished what they had started at the cinema. More and more, she felt an intense conn
ection to Michael, both on a physical and emotional plane; and from the way he looked deep into her eyes when they made love, she could tell that he too was all in.

  She woke up on Thursday morning to the mouthwatering smell of sizzling bacon. She found Michael in the kitchen, already dressed up for work, and on the table, breakfast for two—scrambled eggs, bacon, toasts, coffee, and orange juice. What a guy! She gave him a little something to fantasize about at work.

  Then, in the most nonchalant way possible, he just gave her a copy of the key to the apartment. “Take your time, just lock the door on your way out. Here, you can keep that one. It’s a copy.” Another big kiss and he was out the door.

  Anna kept looking at her shiny new key; to her, it was much more than just a key to an apartment. It opened more than a door—it opened possibilities.

  His apartment was small, but it was nicely furnished and very modern. She walked around looking at his stuff. She found a nice picture of him with his dad in front of a baseball stadium. It must have been from about ten years back. The resemblance was remarkable.

  She left the apartment shortly before noon and went to her house. Close to an hour later, she drove to town, and having time to spare, she stopped by Stephanie’s shop for a lemon tart and coffee, but mostly to see her friend and get her up to speed on her and Michael, Frank and Sarah, her cousin Diane, and their trip to Boston.

  Time flew by with Stephanie and before Anna knew it the time was two forty-five. Anna hugged and kissed her friend and went out. The Courtyard was only five minutes away on foot from Stephanie’s. She got there with time to spare and picked a table.

  While she waited, Anna kept rehearsing in her mind the things she was planning to say to her mother with the object of, as imperceptibly as possible, inserting in their conversation the idea of a family gathering. She looked down at her phone and saw that the time was 3:02. When she looked up again, her mother was coming in through the front door. Anna stood up and beckoned to her.

  Lydia Wilde had been a woman of considerable beauty in her youth, and now, at fifty, was still quite attractive. By anyone’s guess, she would not have looked a day over forty. Her figure was still rather youthful, and she carried herself with an elegance that seemed natural and effortless. Anna had her to thank for her striking green eyes; only in her mother, those eyes had acquired a permanently downcast appearance, even as she smiled, as she did now, approaching her daughter.

  “Hey, Mom, it’s great to see you.” Anna hugged and kissed her. They both sat down.

  “You look happy. What a rare pleasure this is, sharing a glass of wine in town with my baby girl.”

  “You look great, Mom. I really like that dress.” Lydia was wearing a beige belted dress that reached just below the knees. Anna was struck by how well-toned her arms still were. She wondered why she hadn’t noticed that before.

  “Why, thank you, sweetheart. Surely, you must have seen it before. I’ve had it for a very long time, though I probably hadn’t put it on in years. I don’t go out much anymore.”

  “Yes, I know. It’s almost impossible to get you out of that house.” Anna opened the wine menu that had been brought to her a few minutes earlier.

  “Yes, well, you know how your father gets.” Lydia looked about her restlessly.

  Anna sighed. “Yes, he’s an egotistical control freak, but that doesn’t mean it’s right.”

  Lydia rolled her eyes, closed them briefly, put her hands together, and exhaled audibly. “It would be an awful waste if all we talked about was your father, don’t you think?”

  “On that, we can agree. One last thing, though—where is he today?”

  “He said he’d be out all day inspecting rental properties. What do I care?”

  “So that’s why you could get out of the house today.” Anna sensed a sardonic smile creeping up on her face and looked down at the wine list to conceal her dry amusement. A brief silence followed. Anna didn’t look up until her mother spoke again.

  “Could we talk about something else now? You must have interesting news to share if you invited me here.”

  “Sorry, Mom, nothing more about Dad, I promise.”

  “All right, then.”

  “And…I really don’t need any special reasons to want to spend some time with my mom, I hope you know that. But I do have interesting and amazing news.”

  Lydia jerked forward. “Aha! I knew it. Come on, tell me already.”

  “Easy, easy. Let’s order some wine first. Here comes the waiter. Take a look at the menu and see what strikes your fancy.”

  “Oh, I’ll just have the same as you, as long as it isn’t too dry.”

  “I think I know what you’ll like,” said Anna. “I’ve learned a thing or two from Frank—he’s the wine snob of the family.”

  They shared a quick laugh.

  “I was so happy to hear about Frank’s engagement. Sarah’s such a sweet girl.”

  “Yes, I really like her,” said Anna.

  The waiter, a fine-looking young man, was now standing beside them. Only when he had their full attention, he asked whether they were ready to order or if they needed a few minutes. Anna pointed at the menu. “We’ll have a bottle of this Sonoma Valley merlot.”

  “Excellent choice,” said the young man and started for the kitchen, walking at a brisk yet elegant pace.

  “A whole bottle, Anna?” Lydia’s eyes opened wide. She looked worried.

  “Yeah, why not? Live a little, Mom. It’ll be fine.”

  “Well, all right, but I don’t know if I’ll have more than the one glass.”

  The wine was brought over promptly, and two glasses were served for the ladies. “Would you like to order food as well? Maybe an appetizer?” asked the young waiter.

  “It will just be the wine. Thank you,” Anna responded. She turned to her mother, who’d just taken her first sip. “So, how do you like it?”

  “Mm, it’s really good. Fruity, but not too sweet.”

  “I knew you’d like it.”

  “All right, enough about the wine now. Tell me the news. I’m dying to hear them.”

  “I actually have two big news. I almost don’t know which one to tell you first, but…well, here it goes.” She sipped her wine slowly, looking straight into her mother’s eyes, to build up the mystery—this she had shamelessly taken right out of Frank’s playbook. “I’m…dating again. I met this great guy. His name is Michael, Michael Donovan.”

  “Oh, that’s great Anna.” Lydia’s face lit up. “Gosh, I don’t think you’d dated anyone in like, two years, right?”

  “Right, so—”

  “And you’re so darn pretty. I’m sure there’s plenty of guys attracted to you.”

  “Yes, well, nobody I liked much. But with Michael, there was an instant, mutual attraction, and”—she smiled—“things have been moving kind of fast.”

  “Huh…well, you know, you’re an adult woman, obviously, but do be careful. You don’t want to get stuck in a situation with a man before you’re really sure he’s the one for you.” Her gaze dropped slightly as she said those last few words. An introspective look settled on her face for a fleeting moment.

  “I know what you mean, Mom. Don’t worry. This is a great guy. But, yes, I’ll be careful.”

  “And what does Michael do?”

  “He’s the…” For a moment, she drew a blank. “Archives director at the Blake County Historical Society. He’s a historian, a very smart, polished guy. Oh, you should have seen him and Frank together—they were insufferable.” She chuckled. “They just feed off each other. They might like each other too much.”

  “You mean he and Frank are friends already?”

  “They met only days ago, but they were instant friends. It was amazing. We just came back from a quick trip we did together—Frank, Sarah, Michael. and me. It was so much fun.”

  “Well, I’m intrigued. When do I get to meet this Michael?”

  “That could be arranged…soon enough.”

>   “And you say you went on a trip together? Wow, that’s…great. Where did you go?”

  “All right, before I answer that, I need to tell you the other big, big news.” Again, Anna sipped her wine slowly for dramatic effect. Her mother’s face was brimming with anticipation.

  “Are you ready?”

  “Come on, child, for God’s sake, tell me already.”

  “We found Diane. We saw her. We were with her this past weekend…in Boston. That’s where we went, to see Diane.”

  “Oh, dear God! Anna, that’s amazing…amazing. How is she? Does Marlene know about this?”

  “Not yet, she doesn’t. I was thinking maybe you could be the one to tell her.”

  “I’d love to tell her that Diane is fine. She is, right?”

  “Oh, she’s doing better than fine. It’s such a great story. You won’t believe it—she went to school and became a nurse. She works at a large hospital in the Boston area. She has her own apartment. You know, she’s really got her act together. I’m very happy for her.”

  Lydia appeared on the verge of tears. Anna had not expected this news to have such a profound effect on her mother. Her face worked with emotion. “I can’t wait to tell Marlene. I’ll call her tonight.”

  Clearly, Diane was the best card she had. The time to put her strategy in motion was now. She pounced at the opportunity.

  “And that’s not all, Mom. You know, I could really tell that Diane is more mature now. Maybe time has worked its magic; whatever the reason, she’s changed for the better.” Anna took a quick sip of wine. “She didn’t say it like this, exactly, but I sensed that she’s ready to reconcile with her mother. Now, listen, this is important. You can’t just tell all this to Aunt Marlene. Both mother and daughter are proud women, so we must tread carefully; but we do have a chance to help them reconcile. We must think it through, though.”

  “Thank goodness, Anna. I’m so happy to hear all this. You have no idea how my sister has suffered. To be separated from her only daughter, without news, fearing that she might be living a hard life, not knowing if she’s even alive—that’s a slow death; it’s what it is. If there’s anything—absolutely anything—I can do to bring her daughter back to her, I’ll most certainly do it. God knows she’s suffered enough already.”