The Magic Mirror

by Michael Gemignani

15th floor.

  We walked down the gilded hallway until we reached the doors to Robin=s office. This time Robin was not there to greet us. He had told us that he usually arrived at work early and stayed late in order to maximize this earnings. Indeed, given his intense drive to make money, I was surprised that he had spent any time with us at all. We were not clients, nor would we ever be his clients. Perhaps he was willing to entertain us out of curiosity concerning his parents or about two men who went to such trouble to track him down. Perhaps he just wanted to impress two strangers from the country with his wealth and status. Whatever his motives were concerning David and me, his motive concerning the mirror was clear. He saw the mirror as an instrument of untold riches. My hope was that it was precisely that, though not the riches that so appealed to Robin.

  We entered the office. As before, men and women were busy at their desks, staring intently at their computer screens, talking excitedly on the phone. Occasionally, someone looked up at us, but seeing our clothing, quickly sized us up as of little interest, and paid us no further attention.

  We walked back to the conference room in which we had talked with Robin just the other day, but it was empty. I went up to a woman studying a screenful of figures. APardon me,@ I said to catch her attention.

  She looked up at me. In a tone that barely disguised her annoyance at being interrupted by someone such as I, she said, AYes, sir. What may I do for you?@

  AI truly am sorry to interrupt, but I am looking for Robin Marshall. Could you tell me where we might find him?@

  ARobin Marshall? Yes, I think I=ve heard the name. If anyone here knows where he is, it is the woman at the desk closest to the front door, the one in the blue jacket.@

  I thanked her and David and I went over to the woman she had pointed out. APardon me,@ I said again as respectfully as I could. AWe are looking for Robin Marshall. We have a 10 a.m. appointment with him this morning. Could you tell us where his office is?

  The woman looked up at me with a mildly puzzled expression. ARobin Marshall? Yes, he works in a cubicle against the back corner wall,@ she answered. His name is on a plate next to the entrance of his space. I haven=t seen him this morning, but you can go back and look for him.@

  I thanked her and David and I walked toward where the woman had told us Robin=s office was located. We found his cubicle, but he was not there. The desk lamp was off as was the computer.

  I felt my anxiety mount. If Robin was missing, then so was the mirror, My fear was that Robin had found the mirror to be everything I said it was. With the mirror to show him the future, there would be no end to the wealth he could make speculating on events that the mirror told him were certain to happen. He would not need his position at the bank, or wealthy clients, to double, triple, infinitely increase his wealth until he would be the richest human being on the planet.

  Why had I given the mirror? No, the mirror told me to give it to him. But now we had to find him.

  We went back to woman who had directed us to his cubicle. AI am terribly sorry to bother you again, ma=am,@ I half stammered, Abut Robin is not in his cubicle. Do you know how we might get in touch with him?@

  She looked up. AYou say you had an appointment with him?@

  I nodded yes.

  AWell, it=s not like Robin to miss appointments. I hope he=s not been in an accident. We do have the cell phone numbers of our brokers.@

  She reached inside the top drawer of her desk and pulled out a small book,. She took a piece of paper and wrote down a number. AHere is his cell phone number. You might try calling him.@

  I was ashamed to admit to her that I did not have a cell phone, so I asked if I might use the phone on her desk to try the number she had given me. She agreed, pushing her phone across the desk so I could more easily reach it.

  I was so nervous that my hand was shaking as a I haltingly dialed the number of Robin=s cell phone. His cell phone rang six times before I heard Robin=s recorded voice. AThis is Robin Marshall. I=m sorry I cannot take your call at the moment. Please leave your name and number and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you.@

  Why didn=t Robin answer? Where was he and what was he doing? All I could stammer into the phone was, ARobin, David and I are here at your office. You said you would meet with us, but . . .@ My voice trailed off and I hung up the phone. I was close to tears. I thanked the woman again for letting me use her phone, and David and I silently exited into the hall.

  Robin is Found

  For a moment, David and I stood speechless outside Robin=s office. The unexpected turn of events had left us fearful and bewildered. If we still had the mirror, we could have consulted it to find Robin, but now Robin had the mirror. We slowly made our way back to the elevator.

  APerhaps the mirror didn=t work for Robin,@ I ventured as the elevator was returning us to the first floor. ARobin wanted to use the mirror for selfish purposes, but we=ve been using the mirror only to try to help Samuel and Martha. It may be that the mirror won=t work if someone is only interested in themselves.@

  I did not really believe what I was saying, but I wanted to think that the mirror could only be used for good. I did not want to give up the mirror so that Robin could realize his dream of untold riches, not after he had rejected his parents, parents who loved him and who wanted nothing more than to see him again before they died.

  We left the building. The light of the late morning sun was so bright that I had to shade my eyes with my hand. David and I soon were able to find shelter in the shadow of buildings as we walked back to the car.

  AWell, what do we do now?@ David asked as we reached the car.

  AI suppose we go back to the motel, pack, and go back the way we came,@ I replied glumly, unable to think of any alternatives. We had no idea of where Robin might be, and no mirror to guide us.

  AHe might have even fled the city once he knew what the mirror could do,@ I said sadly. AHe probably didn=t want to risk having to give it back to us.@.

  We got into the car and drove back to the motel. APerhaps we could try again tomorrow to see if Robin returns to his office,@ David ventured.

  Having found Robin, neither of us wanted to leave without him, or knowing at least what had become of him. We sat on our beds facing one another, both of us wrestling silently with Robin=s disappearance and what we should do now.

  I finally broke the silence. ARemember, David, why we came this far. I fled my parents because I did not think they loved me. And I had the strange encounter with the man in the forest, a man who looked like my father. He gave me the mirror and told me that when I learned how to love, I could return to my parents.

  AI suppose that if I knew how to love, I would see them in a different light. They might not have changed, but I would have changed, and I could love them, and, in loving them, I could come to know their love for me.

  AAnd then Martha and Samuel took me in and treated me as their own son. But I was not their own son. They grieved their loss of Robin, and so I set out to find him and try to return him to them.

  AAnd then we met and continued the search for Robin together. You were running away from painful circumstances in your own family. And you, too, had a strange encounter in a forest with a man, a man who looked like the uncle you were fleeing, who told you that you, like me, had much to learn. And when you learned what you needed to learn, you could return to your family. You would be changed, and through your change, you could bring change to those who left behind.

  AAnd so I have to wonder what we have learned from our adventures together. Are you ready to go back to your family, and, if you do, what will you say to them? Will they accept you and the leadership you could offer?

  AAnd can I face Martha and Samuel knowing what I do about Robin? I promised I would return within three months, and there is still ample time to keep my promise, but, if I keep it, is it worse for them than if I do not keep it? And if I returned, cou
ld I lie to them? Would it better for them to think Robin was dead than to know that he had rejected them?@

  David was silent for a moment before replying. AYes, I have often thought about the family I left. Do I want to return to them? I could easily make my way in the world alone.

  AI still remember the man in the forest. If I didn=t go back to my family, would he pursue me? Have I learned what he wanted me to learn? I suppose the only way I will find out is to go back.

  AIf I have gained nothing else from this time together, it has been coming to know you, Adam. We have become good friend, but more than friends. We have shared some uncommon times together. I admire you for trying to help Martha and Samuel. This was not something you had to do. You could have stayed with them and been a son to them. They would have missed Robin, but you would have cared for them, and they would have loved you. You gave up your own secure place in their lives so that you might restore to them what they truly longed for. This, for me, is love. And in continuing to search for Robin, even when it would have been easier to give up, you demonstrated love.

  AWe have met many people on our journey, and we have shared disappointments and successes. We did what we thought we had to do. You were true to your promise to Martha and Samuel, and I was true to my commitment to join you. I have never regretted that commitment. Our time together has changed both of us in ways we have yet to discover.

  AAnd now that we have lost Robin, I think we have no other choice than to go back. You will return to Martha and Samuel. You can become the son they have lost. And I can go back to my family and try to be the head of both my family and its business as my parents intended me to be.

  AFurthermore, if the mirror enabled us to find Robin, then the mirror will enable Robin to find us, if he wants to. We can hope that Robin will use the mirror for good purposes as well as bad.@

  I thanked David for the kind words he had for me and agreed that we had little choice now but to return home, wherever home might be. I myself was unsure whether my home would be with Martha and Samuel or with my own parents. I knew, though, that I had to go back to my parents at least to tell them that I loved them and to apologize for running away.

  David and I had just started packing our suitcases when there was a knock on the door to our room.

  I walked slowly to the door, half-hoping, half-afraid, that our visitor was Robin. My hope was that Robin had come back, bringing the mirror with him. My fear was that Robin was still cold and selfish, coming back to us only to see if we would sell him the mirror so no one could later accuse him of stealing it.

  Cautiously, I opened the door a crack and peeked outside. Yes, it was Robin, so I threw open the door and invited him to come inside. Yet, this was not the Robin I remembered from Chez Louis or the office at the bank. This Robin was not wearing a suit, or at least a suit coat. He appeared not to have shaved that morning, judging from the stubble on his cheeks and chin. His shirt was out on his right side. And he was holding the mirror in his left hand.

  AI=m sorry that I didn=t meet you this morning as I promised,@ he stammered as he stepped inside the door. AI had an extremely difficult night and overslept.

  ANo, to be truthful, I thought of running away. But you gave me the mirror, and you might be able to help me now. That=s why I came back.@

  He hesitated, almost, it seemed to me on the verge of tears. AI=m sorry I took that cursed mirror. I would have been better without it.@

  He hesitated briefly. AOr perhaps not,@ he said softly. I=m so confused. Please help me.@

  Was this truly the Robin for whom I had had such contempt? Now, instead of scorn I felt pity.