Love-in-Idleness

by Christina Bell

  “Oh, thank God,” she sighed and sank into an empty chair. Just as she thought she was off the hook, a rustling from the far end of the room reminded her that she had a lot of explaining to do to a lot of people and no way to predict how it would all go.

  Ryder was the first to awaken. He looked around the room with a befuddled expression, his gaze almost instantly falling upon Chloe, who was only a couple feet away. Likewise, as the beautiful girl opened her eyes, the first person in her line of vision was Ryder.

  “Good morning,” Chloe greeted Ryder quietly. She sat up and was rubbing the sleep from her eyes when Cameron, who was nearer to Grace, sat up with a start.

  So, there they all were, the principal players. Some were lost, others, found, and some none the wiser. Grace hadn’t anticipated this scenario. Rather, she pictured private conversations with those who were truly of consequence to her. Each person needed a slightly different version of the bigger picture. Trying to debrief a mob could only lead to trouble. As she considered the depth of the hole she currently found herself in, she could feel all eyes on her, as if she alone held the answer.

  To make matters worse, before she could utter a word, Puck slipped through the door behind the adults and, with a bit too much drama, exclaimed, “What the hell is all this?”

  Grace shot him the most vicious look she could muster. You son of a bitch, she thought. Don’t play stupid. You’re responsible for at least half of this madness. Even though she had only met him briefly at dinner the prior evening, the account Miles gave of Puck’s contributions to what was easily the most bizarre evening of her life made her want to inflict pain on him. Yes, this might have all come about on its own, but according to Miles, it was Puck’s inability to follow directions that made it all come crashing down in one night.

  Grace fixed her gaze on a small painting that hung high on the wall, one of many arranged in a patchwork of different-sized pieces. This one was right above Puck’s head, and Grace focused her attention on it until she could feel a burning in the space between her eyes, as if someone were rubbing two sticks together in that spot. The painting swiftly lifted itself from its hook and crashed on Puck’s head. His hand flew to his injured noggin and he scanned the room with a confused expression. Grace knew she was smiling too much by the way his expression changed in response to hers. Even if he didn’t realize that she was guilty, her clear delight at his suffering was enough to provoke him. In an instant, a large coffee table book jumped off the table and landed, corner down, on her foot.

  “Ouch,” she yelped, her hands flying to massage her injured foot. Damn you, Puck, that hurt, she thought. There was no way a little painting hurt as much as the corner of a heavy book.

  “Yeah,” Puck offered. “That’s gonna hurt for a minute.”

  Clearly oblivious to the telepathic one-upsmanship that had just occurred, Ryder asked, “Grace? What’s going on?”

  Grace grimaced and continued to hold her foot. “Give me a minute,” she muttered.

  Before she could respond, Miles said, “Well, it seems like you’ve got things well in hand, Grace. I’m going to get on with my day.” He held his arm out to Titania. “Shall we?”

  Titania grinned and took his arm. Before they could leave the room, Grace called after them, “Don’t you want to see how it turns out?”

  Miles looked back. “I told you before. I’m finished with teenaged problems.” With that, he escorted his lovely wife from the room and abandoned Grace with a room full of confused people.

  She looked around. Theo needed to hear about their family link to the Oberons. Ryder and Cam both needed a debrief, but she didn’t know how to approach it until she found out what they did and did not remember about last night. That only left Chloe, but deep down, Grace felt zero obligation toward the Upper East Side’s resident mean girl. “Theo,” she said. “I think I should explain some things to you.”

  “It’s okay.” Theo stepped forward and pulled his daughter by the hand so that she stood before him, looking up into his gentle face. “Miles and Gia explained it all.”

  Grace was suspicious. How much did Miles deem to be the whole thing at this juncture? “What did they tell you?”

  “They explained that Emma was Miles’s sister and that Gianni is her cousin,” he answered. “He also told me that you’re going to come into some money, but we can talk about that later. Tend to your friends right now. Everyone seems a little tense.”

  He took Gianni’s hand and they turned to leave, but before he got far, Gianni slipped her hand from his grasp and doubled back. “Maybe we can sit down and talk about some things soon?”

  “Only if that means you’re going to stop being awful to me,” Grace answered.

  To her surprise, Gianni seemed unaffected by the jab. “Let’s talk, but before we do, think about the last couple of years. Seriously look at how both of us behaved. I think you’ll find there’s room right smack in the middle for us to get along. There always was.” With that, Gianni joined Theo in exiting the room.

  Until her father and Gianni walked past Puck, Grace had almost forgotten that he was in the room. She rushed over to him, grabbed him by the arm, and pulled him to the far side of the room. Glancing back, she saw that Chloe and Ryder were now on the same sofa. Chloe scooted herself an inch closer to Ryder, who tried to discretely scoot away from her. Cam hadn’t budged, but was now rubbing his temples as if to soothe a headache.

  “What am I supposed to say to them? What do they remember?” she hissed at Puck.

  “I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” he answered. “I haven’t even seen you since dinner last night.”

  “Bullshit. Miles told me you’re the one who screwed up the plan. Now fix this.” She punched his arm for emphasis.

  “One thing you need to know about me if you’re going to continue to hang around here. I don’t solve problems.”

  “Well, I’m your cousin, so yeah, I’m going to be around.” Grace was thrilled by Puck’s response to this. As he processed the information, his proud smirk faded. As quickly as he appeared, he was gone from the room. Grace could hear him head down the hall, calling for Miles. Yes, she’d chased off the only person who could help her, but it was completely worth it.

  She would have to start with Ryder. After so many years of friendship, she owed him that. “Cam, could you take Chloe out for a minute?” Chloe had nudged Ryder all the way to the far end of the sofa, trapping him against the arm. “I’ll talk to you next, but I really need a minute with Ryder.”

  Cam just nodded and walked over to Chloe. “Let’s go get some coffee,” he said to her. “You can wait for Ryder in the kitchen while I go talk to my father.”

  Chloe shook her head like an impudent toddler. “I’m not leaving Ryder,” she insisted. “I want to stay with him!”

  At least she remembers his name, Grace thought. She watched Cam practically drag Chloe from the room as she thrashed her arms and tried to dig her heels into the carpet. Frustrated, Cam grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her over her shoulder. Chloe continued to struggle, and Grace was relieved to have her gone. I hope I didn’t make a mistake.

  Grace joined Ryder on the couch. His face showed sheer confusion, and she knew this was going to be a rough conversation, Nonetheless, it felt good to sit next to him. He was her oldest friend and hopefully would still be part of her life after this morning. “What do you remember about last night?” she asked.

  “Not much,” he answered. “I know that we were in the park, but I’m not sure why.”

  Grace nodded. “Yes, we were there.”

  Ryder seemed nervous when he spoke again. “And in this strange way, I feel like I saw something I’ve been missing out on.” He paused a moment and smiled at Grace, his eyes bright. “It was amazing.”

  Now Grace was the one who felt anxious. Where was he going with this? She knew what she needed to say, but instinct told her that he was about to mess that up.

  As she sat there, listenin
g, Ryder continued. “The problem is that it wasn’t you who I was in love with.”

  “Who was it?”

  “I’m not sure. I hope I remember soon.”

  “Where does this leave us?”

  “I think it leaves us exactly where you’ve been trying for weeks to tell me we already were. We don’t want to lose each other, but we both know there’s a lot to experience. We can’t do that if we settle for a romance that should have been a friendship.”

  Grace thought she would fall over. He had given her, almost verbatim, the speech she had planned for him. It wasn’t entirely ludicrous since they spent so much time together that they often fell into the same speech patterns. Nonetheless, it was a sentiment that would have been odious to him yesterday, but that he seemed to have embraced this morning. Somehow, her decision to free him from all magic and take her chances with reality had paid off.

  “So, what happened last night?” he asked.

  “I’m not supposed to explain it,” Grace said.

  “That sounds mysterious.”

  “It is.” Grace laughed. What the hell, she thought. He had a right to know. “If I tell, you have to keep it between us.”

  “Will you tell me who I was in love with?”

  “Yeah, that was Chloe. The raving lunatic dressed in white. You were crazy for her. Now, she’s crazy for you.”

  “That’s insane,” Ryder said.

  “More than you could possibly know.”

  So they sat, his arm around her shoulders, her head on his shoulder. She told him everything that passed since she went to sleep in his guest room many hours ago. They spoke quietly, intimately, like people who love each other should. Grace knew that once they left the Oberon’s penthouse, their relationship would have to be completely renegotiated. For a couple of hours, it was nice to cling to the past.

  Puck burst into Miles’s office, furious and ready to demand an explanation. How was it possible that he was sent to assist in last night’s plan without full disclosure? No wonder he messed up. If Miles had told him Grace was his cousin, everything would have been different. It didn’t make sense. If Grace was their cousin, why would Miles want her to be with Cam? Did Cam just seem more prone to incest than Puck? Was it because Puck was clearly the brother most suited to deviancy? The favoritism never ended.

  In spite of his anger, Puck was careful not to fling the door. Flinging was for women. Instead, he pushed on the door and stopped suddenly so that when Miles looked up, Puck was standing in the door. Miles chuckled. “Good entry. Have you been practicing?”

  “Damn!” Puck said. He could feel himself deflate as he was reminded of exactly who was in charge and why. “You’ve deflected my anger with sarcasm. I hate that.” As Puck spoke, Cam walked into the office.

  “I locked Chloe on the balcony. That should give you time to answer some questions,” he said to Miles.

  “Sit down, boys,” Miles pointed to the empty chairs in front of his massive desk. “We’ve got a lot to discuss.” Puck sat in a chair next to Cam’s, across from Miles.

  Miles had a way of directing the conversation that made Puck feel as though he should raise his hand to speak, but he was spared the embarrassment by the ever-entitled Cam.

  “I’m not sure where to start asking questions,” Cam stated simply. “You sent me to Brooklyn on what seemed to be a fool’s errand, and then the whole world went nuts until this morning.”

  Miles sat back and began to explain. “It would seem we have a bit of an information jigsaw amongst the Oberon men. Let me give you the background and maybe you’ll begin to fill in the pieces for yourselves.” He bent forward for a moment and Puck could tell that Miles was fiddling with the safe that sat in the bottom right-hand part of his desk. When he sat up again, he held something small and metallic between his thumb and index finger. When Miles moved his hand out into the open, the boys could see that he was holding a ring with a flat top.

  Puck’s felt a surge of excitement when saw the symbol etched into the surface. “I know that symbol,” he volunteered. “That’s sulfur.” Miles nodded. “But what’s the metal? Is it copper?” Puck asked.

  “No, I wish it were that easy. Feel it, it’s much harder than copper,” Miles answered.

  “But the color…” Cam chimed in. Puck noticed that Cam’s interest seemed to increase upon seeing that Puck had some knowledge in this matter. “I wish it were a simple copper ring,” Miles continued. “Unfortunately, no one who has seen it has been able to properly identify this material. It is a mismatch with the descriptors of every known metal. The density, color, and even its reactions to other substances are all inconsistent with the definition of any known substance.”

  Cam spoke before Puck could, which was unusual. “How is this relevant to last night?” It was clear to Puck that Cam was primarily interested in the part of the story that pertained directly to him. That was to be expected; since Cam’s education was so deficient in so many areas, his scope of interest was limited to his own paltry affairs.

  “Let me continue,” Miles scolded. “There are three of these rings. Can you guess what the other two symbols are, Puck?”

  Puck didn’t hesitate. “Mercury and salt.”

  Cam looked confused, which made Puck deeply and importantly happy.

  “Exactly,” Miles said.”Those three ancient symbols represent the building block of all that exists in our world. There is a legend that identifies this ring and its companions as having the power of each element. When possessed by an individual, that person has the ability to control our world in unimaginable ways. This goes beyond parlor tricks. We’re talking about manipulating the weather, the rotation of the planets, or causing irrevocable changes in the human population. No one knows whether or not the legend is true or exactly how to harness this power, but you can both see how the moral character of the one in possession of the rings could influence the world?”

  Puck could feel that his eyes were wide as he nodded. This time, he didn’t catch himself before he raised his hand.

  “Yes, Puck?” Miles responded.

  “Where are the other two rings?”

  Almost inaudibly, Cam spoke. “Grace is wearing one of them. She’s always fiddling with it. When she’s nervous, she spins it on her finger.”

  Puck looked at Cam, and then at his father. “Is this true?”

  “Yes,” Miles said. “She has mercury, which is fitting somehow. Mercury is from the earth. It represents an intelligent, perceptive person, often female, since mercury is associated with Venus. Anyway, her mother gave it to her, and until tonight, she thought it was a useless bauble. She would still think that if my sons had been able to persuade her to join our family without full disclosure. Now that I know her a bit, it was a misguided plan, one that would have worked on that blond bit of nonsense in the other room.”

  “Chloe,” Puck and Cam said in unison, both of them distorting their faces derisively.

  “Yes, Chloe.” Even Miles made a little puckered mouth when he said her name, as if he nibbled a lemon. “Anyway, I gave Grace a big dose of reality last night, and I need to get you two up to speed. Your job is to shut up and listen. Do you think you can do that?”

  “So are you saying she knows more than we do right now?” Puck asked.

  “Yeah, you just met her.” Cam’s voice cracked a little when he spoke. “Why…?”

  Miles cut him off. “Let’s try again. Shut up. Listen.”

  As Miles spoke of long-lost sisters and the missing third ring, it occurred to Puck more than once that he was still receiving an edited version. He was pretty sure he was getting the whole story about Emma being related to Miles and Grace needing to be kept close. But there was something else bothering him that he couldn’t put his finger on.

  It seemed as though Miles had been speaking for a long time when he finally began to wrap it up. “One last thing,” he said, just when Puck thought there couldn’t possibly be more.”It’s about you boys.”

&n
bsp; Puck’s ears perked up. He looked over at Cam, who returned his glance and shrugged, as if to say, Your guess is as good as mine.

  “There was a time, quite a few years back, when I had a mistress. Don’t waste a lot of time being shocked by my lack of morals. We aren’t that kind of family. Just follow along.” He paused, but the boys didn’t interrupt. “She had a son who wasn’t mine, and he was so much like his mother that I took to him. He was just as attractive and kind as she was. When she died suddenly, I learned that she had no family and the father listed on the boy’s birth certificate didn’t really exist. She just made up a name. The boy was going to become a ward of the state if I didn’t intervene. Here was this amazing child who meant so much to me, I couldn’t let him be placed into a series of orphanages and foster homes, so I adopted him. Puck, I told your mother that Cameron was a distant relative that was suddenly orphaned.”

  Before he could stop his body, Puck leaped out of his seat, leaped and punched at the sky with one fist. “YES!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. As his feet returned to the ground, he couldn’t keep them still. He wanted to dance and wiggle and shout. He was the one. All those years of knowing that something wasn’t right about Cam, he was right. Cam was just a little orphan, not an Oberon. Puck was the one who would inherit all of this. Puck was the chosen one. His whole life had been building up to this one moment in time. He was the real son. He was the most deserving. Cameron was a charity case.

  When the moment passed and he collected his thoughts, he saw that the others weren’t even looking at him. Miles and Cam were huddled over an old picture of a woman. Even from where Puck stood, he could see that the color seemed a bit faded and the clothes were out of style. He leaned in and saw something unbelievable. It was Cam’s face, but a completely feminine, soft version. A flutter of embarrassment passed through his stomach, but Puck disregarded it. He sat down again and could see that Cam looked troubled.

  “Listen, boys,” Miles addressed them both again. “Go to bed, take some time. I can’t spend my whole day in here, talking about our feelings. I’m sure that the issue of money will occur to you soon. Cam, don’t worry. Your inheritance will come from a different place than Puck’s, but you’ll have plenty. Family money will go to Puck, but I’ve set up a trust fund for you with my own money. You will be absurdly wealthy until the day you die.” Miles stood up. “So, I think we’re finished here.”