Love-in-Idleness

by Christina Bell

  Quietly, list in hand, Grace left the office and retraced her path to the room where Cam, Ryder, and Chloe were sleeping. The first face she saw was Ryder’s. She sat down next to him and brushed his hair off his forehead. None of this would be easy for him. There was no choice she could make that guaranteed her future with him. Maybe, the reason she had been so hesitant to tell him what he wanted to hear, that they would not break up when they went to college, was that she knew deep down that they probably would. Unfortunately, romantic love and the friendship from which it grows usually disappear together.

  Grace could feel herself getting choked up and stood to clear her head. Dawn was coming. She had to decide.

  Surveying the room, she spotted Chloe, and turning her head, she saw Cam. Now that she was aware of Cam’s motivation for treating her poorly tonight, she let her mind go back to the brief time she spent with him in Central Park. The absolute honest truth was that Ryder had never, for a single moment, made her feel the rush of excitement that she experienced when Cam touched her. It pained her to admit it, but if there was ever a time to be honest with herself, this was it. She had never been really into Ryder in a passionate way. What they had was a friendship that had become intimate. Ryder was the comfort food of relationships. He was her mashed potatoes and gravy, her pint of ice cream. He was a reliable source of warmth and security, but there was no fire in her belly when she thought of him.

  In an instant, she knew what she wanted to do, but the layout of the room and the position of the sleepers within it would make things difficult for her. She could see that faintest glimmer of light peeking through the curtains and knew she had to hurry. If she could move Chloe just a few feet to the right, there was an excellent chance that this would all work. Unfortunately, moving Chloe’s sleeping body was not an option. Even though Chloe was rail thin, she was considerably taller than Grace and would be impossible to budge. Moving closer, Grace inspected the chair in which Chloe lounged and smiled at what she saw. The bottom of the chair had casters. It still wouldn’t be easy to push across the carpet, but it seemed to be worth trying.

  Summoning all the strength in her tiny body, she planted her feet and gripped the back of the chair. She pushed and grunted, but made no progress whatsoever. A glance at the window revealed a small ray of sunlight, and Grace knew that this was it. She braced herself one more time and, as she pushed, she pictured herself wheeling the chair over to the nearest sofa. Suddenly, the chair slipped out of her grasp, and she fell to her knees. When she looked up, she saw the chair lift itself about an inch off the carpet and float to precisely the place where she imagined it.

  Grace’s jaw dropped for a moment, and then she sat down. She closed her eyes again and pictured the chair levitating and moving back toward her about a foot. Within seconds, the chair obeyed.

  “Awesome,” she whispered. The temptation to experiment more was curbed by the risk of waking Chloe. She had only a few moments to apply potions. Tiptoeing, she raced around the furniture, applying the purple powder and the antidote in the exact combination that would produce the desired results. Just as the sun rose over Manhattan, Grace nudged in next to a sleeping boy and fell asleep.

  7:00 AM

  After an early morning call from Miles asking him to go to the penthouse instead of the office, dressed in his work suit and ready for a full day of legal finagling, Theo was met at the door by a smiling Titania. In the brief time that he had known her, he had come to think of her as a friend. She was warm and gracious with people that she liked. Theo felt lucky to be counted as one of those people.

  “Well, hello,” Theo said, smiling with genuine enthusiasm at the sight of her. He never understood why Miles would even consider divorcing her. “It’s lovely to see you here.”

  He was surprised when the fabulous Titania leaned forward and gave him a tight hug. “Good morning, Theo,” she gushed as she released him from her arms. “Isn’t it a gorgeous day?”

  “I haven’t been outside yet, but I’m sure it is,” Theo answered.

  Titania turned and walked toward the kitchen, gesturing for him to follow her. “Come have coffee.”

  When they were both settled around the kitchen island with huge cups of steaming coffee, Titania leaned forward and said with conspiratorial grin, “Miles and I are getting back together.”

  Theo breathed a sigh of relief. He had hoped she would say this when he saw her sunny disposition, but he hadn’t wanted to get his hopes up. He thought Titania was an amazing woman, more than capable of fending for herself with the likes of the Oberons. How would Miles ever find someone else like that? The logic of it all escaped him. “Is this official? When did this happen? I just saw him last night. Is that why you’re here in the apartment?” he asked.

  Titania paused. While her smile remained, her eyes darkened a bit as she leaned in toward Theo, lowering her voice a bit. “I came to stake out my territory. You know, make sure I didn’t lose ground on the custody issue by moving out. My attorney told me to stay here a bit longer.” Titania put her hand on Theo’s. “Miles and I fought last night, but in the middle of the night, he came in and woke me. He had a sudden change of heart.”

  “You’re just willing to trust this sudden change of heart? How could it be so simple? One minute, you’re being dismissed and the next minute, it’s all fine. How do you know this isn’t all some elaborate ploy?” Theo asked. He was loyal to his new boss, but understood that in matters of the heart, Miles could be duplicitous.

  Titania shook her head. “No, I believe him. He makes decisions quickly. Lord knows I’ve learned that the hard way. When he originally wanted a divorce, it was the fastest decision I’ve ever seen, until last night. We spoke when I woke up this morning. Something happened last night while I was sleeping. He claims to have had some sort of epiphany, and honestly, I’m grateful that he finally saw that he was making a mistake. He hasn’t really explained his reasons yet, but I’m willing to listen. Then, when we’re all healed, I will punish him accordingly for hurting me, but not too severely. I really do want to be with him.”

  “I’m happy for both of you,” Theo remarked, “but especially you. It’s been a long haul to get back to a good place with your husband.”

  “And there’s still more work to be done. I need to hear what he has to say about why he tried to divorce me in the first place. Then we can see about moving forward.”

  “I think that’s smart.”

  Titania nodded and lowered her voice a bit. “I still have a strange feeling about last night.” She paused and took a drink of her coffee. “Maybe it’s just that I had a bad dream that I can’t shake.”

  “What was it?”

  Titania laughed like a young girl. “It’s too embarrassing.” She was so charismatic, even the slightest giggle warmed his heart. He was careful to remember that she was only a friend, and that he was marrying Gianni in a few days. Keeping company with beautiful people was new to him.

  “It’s just me,” Theo reminded her. “I promise not to share your nightmares with anyone.”

  Titania’s cheeks flushed, and she looked back over her shoulder as if making sure no one was lingering in the background. “I was in love with a donkey,” she said quickly.

  Theo wasn’t entirely surprised. “Well, considering that you married a stubborn mule, it’s not as shocking as you might think.

  “Oh, you’re right, but it was all just so, well, so specific.”

  Theo understood what she meant and chuckled at the thought of it. Seeing his amusement seemed to help her to find the humor in her dream. They were so engrossed in their private joke, Theo didn’t see Miles and Gianni walk into the room until Titania poked him in the arm to get his attention. They straightened up like schoolchildren caught misbehaving.

  Theo leaped to his feet to greet Gianni. “I thought you were sleeping late,” he said, kissing her on the cheek.

  She reciprocated with a quick peck. “Miles asked me to come.”

  Theo c
ouldn’t put his finger on why, but something felt off. For a moment, he thought it was guilt over his admiration of Titania, but this seemed bigger. Gianni and Miles seemed too serious.

  Miles walked to the cabinet and pulled out two mugs. He filled them both with coffee and handed one to Gianni. Almost in unison, they pulled stools up to the island where Titania and Theo sat.

  “Thanks for being here, Theo,” Miles began. “I think we can better cover what needs to be discussed at home, rather than at the office.”

  Theo was confused as to why Gianni had been invited, but was willing to wait for the answer.

  “It seems our young people have had a long night,” Miles said.

  “Grace went to Brooklyn,” Theo responded.

  “She did,” Miles said. “Now she’s here, as are her boyfriend, my son, and his ex-girlfriend. At least that’s where those relationships stood yesterday. Honestly, I don’t know in what state we’ll find them all today.”

  “Why is Grace here?” Theo asked.

  “Apparently, she did some soul-searching. However, she’s asleep, so we have a moment before we she wakes. I think Gianni and I have some explaining to do. I’m afraid I’ve played Cupid and it’s time to make my confession.”

  Theo interrupted. “I think I know what you’re going to say, but I’ve thought about last night’s dinner conversation. I was wrong to let you try to influence Grace. She can make her own decisions. If she doesn’t want all of this, that’s fine, It’s only another year before she goes to college. I don’t need for her to give anything up for me.”

  “I agree,” Miles said. “Grace and I have discussed it, and now that I know her better, I think she can handle herself responsibly. I have to tell you, I’m not used to teenage girls like your daughter. I’m accustomed to flighty girls who use their money and status to get into scandalous situations. You should be congratulated for raising a daughter who is more grounded than that. I’m no longer the least bit concerned that Grace will undermine your social ascent. I think she can handle anything that happens to her, which is partly why we’re having this conversation today.”

  Theo heard the compliment, but all he could focus on was when Miles might have talked to Grace. “I’m really confused,” he said. “Could you back up a little?”

  “Yes, I’d be glad to,” Miles said, which helped Theo to relax a bit.

  Titania stood up. “Maybe I should go,” she offered.

  “Please don’t,” Miles said. “I’d like to start being more honest with you, now that we’ve chosen to reconcile. Stay.” He looked at Theo. “As long as I’m clearing the air this morning, there are things you need to know. I haven’t been completely honest with you.”

  Theo was surprised to hear this. He could see that Miles and Titania had some work to do on their relationship, but he couldn’t imagine a time when Miles would have lied to him. Their relationship was too new. It hardly seemed that they’d been working together long enough for Miles to have a reason to lie to him. “I’m listening,” was all he said.

  “I’ve been aware of you for longer than you might think,” Miles began. “You’ve been on my radar for just under twenty years.”

  Theo wondered if Miles was disappointed that he didn’t seem more shocked. “I kind of figured. I know you were sending me business because using a lawyer who worked outside your normal circles helped with matters of discretion, but there are a lot of lawyers in the boroughs. Unless you just opened the Yellow Pages to a random page and called the first name you saw, there had to be reason you came to me. It never made sense to me that Miles Oberon would involve himself with someone who wasn’t heavily vetted.”

  “Or someone who is family,” Miles added. “That’s where you come in.”

  Titania spoke up. “What are you talking about? I’m not sure I like the sound of this.”

  Miles stopped and looked at Gianni for a moment, and she gave him a quick nod before he continued. It occurred to Theo that Miles was waiting for Gianni to green light whatever he was about to say.

  “Your late wife was my sister.” He said it quickly and then let his words linger and take their full effect. More than the surprise of hearing that Miles and Emma were siblings, Theo was taken by the force of the moment. There were few conversations in everyone’s life that began with words being laid out that couldn’t be taken back. When this happened, Theo’s gut instinct was to wait patiently for further explanation.

  A full minute passed before Miles spoke again. “We didn’t speak for many years. In fact, it was her marriage to you that caused our rift. She had some idea about living an ordinary life. I was twenty years younger than I am now and very caught up in the trappings of being an Oberon. Emma wasn’t. She was sure that somehow, pulling you into this life would change her relationship with you, so she walked away from her family to start a new one with you.”

  “So, when Emma died, you kept an eye on Grace and me out of guilt?” Theo asked.

  “I prefer to call it regret,” Miles answered. “I was sorry for the way that Emma and I argued and sad that I missed so many years with her. That, and the fact that Grace is about to come into a great deal of money. There’s a trust fund with her name on it, which will be available to her when she turns eighteen.”

  “How much money is it?” Titania asked. Theo didn’t mind her asking. His brief training in the ways of the absurdly wealthy had taught him that it was tacky to discuss sums of money. If Titania jumped in and asked, it meant he didn’t have to.

  Miles didn’t hesitate before answering. “A life-altering amount. Enough that she would need to understand how to exist in the midst of great wealth in order to make sure that she didn’t succumb to foolishness. Now that I’ve spent some time with her, I know she’ll be fine. But, I’m sure you can understand my concerns regarding a teenage girl suddenly becoming rich.”

  Theo did understand. The news was full of rich teenagers who had become rich and famous, but not smart enough not to end up in rehab or jail or both. Grace was far too sensible for this, but Miles had no way to know that until he got to know her much. “How much of this does Grace know?” he asked.

  “Everything except the part about the trust fund. I thought that, as her father, you should know about that first,” Miles answered. “There’s one more thing.”

  Theo almost laughed. His boss was his brother-in-law and his daughter was about to inherit a fortune. What else could there possibly be?

  Gianni stepped forward and put her hand on Theo’s arm. “I’m sorry to throw all of this at you at once, but we decided it was time to tell you what happened. We’re getting married this weekend, and I don’t want any secrets.”

  Now Theo was confused. “What does this have to do with you?” This was all becoming ludicrous.

  “I’m kind of a poor relation of Miles and Emma, a cousin. When my mother married my father, she moved away from the Oberons, just like Emma. Maybe that’s why Miles took it so hard when Emma did the same thing.” She looked genuinely contrite. “I should have told you, but the longer I waited, the harder it became. Plus, if I told you part of the story, I would have to tell you everything, including Miles’ relationship to Emma and Grace. He really didn’t want to share any of this until Grace turned eighteen. I wanted to tell you before the wedding. It just turned into a mess.”

  Theo saw Titania’s face turning pink and imagined that she was flushing with anger at hearing that yet another lie had been told. “If you’re angry on my behalf,” he said to her, “don’t be. I’m not as shocked as you might suppose.”

  “It’s not that,” she said. “It’s just that I thought we were getting back to normal before yet another crop of lies popped up.”

  Miles slipped an arm around her waist. “Listen to me,” he said. “I’m not hearing any lies this morning, only the dispensation of lies. How can that be bad?”

  Titania looked at Miles. “You’re doing that thing you do where you make everything sound more noble than it is. I’ll le
t it go for now, for Theo’s sake, but no more lies. I won’t tolerate any more.”

  Miles stood kissed her cheek quickly and laughed. “Okay, I think it’s time to wake the children. Not that all this confession isn’t warming my heart, but we’ve got a lifetime to reflect on it all, considering that we’re now family.”

  Theo looked at his boss, who was suddenly his brother-in-law, and felt only relief at having this conversation over. There was a lot to process, granted, but when it came down to it, he wasn’t going to change anything based on all of this new information. He just hoped there wasn’t anything else.

  “Come with me,” Miles instructed. “Let’s have some fun messing with teenagers. They’re young. They’ll recover.”

  Due to a bad combination of stress and physical discomfort, Grace didn’t sleep well. She tried to embrace the romantic elements of cuddling up with the boy of her dreams, but clinging to the edge of an overcrowded sofa wasn’t as heavenly as she imagined. Her uneasy sleep lifted moments before Miles, Titania, Theo, and Gianni walked into the room. She stood up quickly and stepped away from the sofa upon seeing her father. It was an unnecessary gesture. Theo hadn’t censured her behavior in years, but the childlike need to please her father wasn’t so easily left behind.

  To her astonishment, it was Miles who addressed her.

  “What is going on here, young lady?” he asked. Grace stared at him in shock for a moment, unable to process why he was questioning her. This entire situation was by his design. She began to stutter out an answer, but before she could form a single word, all four adults broke out in laughter.