by Alexie Aaron
“Okay, now what?” Mia asked, expecting Audrey to hand her something else.
“Do it.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Audrey tapped her two wrists together.
“Here?”
“Yes.”
Mia peeled the edge of her glove away and did as she was told. And as the tats appeared, Audrey stepped away so Mia could see her back in the three-way mirror behind her. She looked like a confused Goth for a moment. But when the wings moved out of her, she smiled. “Oh my!”
“See, you don’t have to be naked to fly,” Audrey said, jumping up and down.
Mia extended the wings as far as the room would allow. She smiled as Audrey touched one of the wings tenderly.
“Even in just the bra, you look fierce. Perhaps you would like darker, stronger colors?” Audrey asked.
“No, it’s perfect. Do you mind?”
“No, please go ahead.”
Mia brought her wings back in and waited until all was settled before hugging her friend.
“They have dresses with backs like this, swimsuits and pajamas. I’m pretty sure though, the pants Ralph made would be fine. That way you could hold stuff. You can’t hold stuff in these pants,” Audrey said, snapping the waistband.
This caused Mia to laugh. “Okay. I guess I can afford a few things, even at these prices,” she said, her eyes opening wide as she checked out the sales ticket.
“Um, don’t get mad, but I may have found a way for you to get everything you need for nothing.”
“We aren’t shoplifting,” Mia said sternly.
Audrey shook her head. “It will just cost you a few minutes and your dignity. Follow my lead.”
Mia followed Audrey out into the store where the manager greeted them. “You look fabulous. I think you look better in those clothes than in these,” she said, unrolling the Ice Queen poster. “If you let us take pictures of you in our clothes for our ad, then you can have everything you wear in the pictures for free, plus the normal modeling fee, of course.”
“When?” Mia asked, thinking about her hairy legs.
“Tomorrow on the beach, just north of Navy Pier. We’ll bring the clothes, swimsuits, etc. You bring, well, yourself.”
Mia turned to Audrey who said, “I had Alan look at the contract. Mia, it’s a good opportunity, and it’s a good company. They donate a lot of their proceeds to ‘developing world’ charities.”
“Let me ask Ted.”
Audrey handed her the phone.
Ted flushed red, listening to Mia on the phone. “Why are you asking me?”
“You’re my husband, you dolt.”
“What are you modeling?”
“Yoga and exercise clothes. I’ll make some money. We can use money.”
“Audrey’s checked them out?”
“Yes.”
“It’s fine with me. Mia…” he paused.
“Yes.”
“Thanks for asking. It means a lot,” he said, putting down the phone. He looked over at Cid who was grinning from ear to ear. “Did you know about this?”
“Know about what?”
“Mia just asked my permission for her to model some yoga stuff.”
“Dude, she asked you. Evidently someone learned something from the past.”
Ted blushed. “I guess it’s my turn to do the same,” he said, printing return to sender on the unopened snail mail that had arrived that morning from Beth. Jake and Cid had blocked her from sending anything digitally. He had gotten a new personal phone number, and her phone number had been blocked on the PEEPs system. How long could he avoid doing this? Beth had decided to use the US postal system to get in contact with him. Before she showed up on his doorstep, it was time for him to man up and take care of Beth Bouvier.
~
Angelo watched from his perch while Mia took direction from the photographer. He looked at the way she moved, and she seemed more graceful than he remembered. He had been alerted by Audrey McCarthy’s seemingly innocent questions about whether he had to be naked to transform, and could he fly with a racerback tee on? He told her that unless he was going to totally transform into a bird or was traveling to the aerie, and as long as the clothes didn’t impede the wings, he could be clothed.
This peaked his interest. He had his little spies follow Mia and Audrey from the latter’s apartment into the city and over to the beach in the wee hours of the morning.
Mia was different, but how far had her transformation come? He knew not to push her. When Mia needed his help, she would ask for it. As long as Sariel wasn’t in the picture, Angelo would be patient to wait. Mia would come to him. He was certain of it.
~
Alan watched Mia emerge from the water over and over again. He knew her well enough to know that she was at the edge of her good manners. It had been an exhausting morning, with her being poked and prodded until she was doing yoga poses that she had never done before. Audrey was looking after Mia like a stage mother. He had her back legally and had insisted on receiving half the promised fee in advance. He knew how slow accounting departments of advertising concerns could be. He wanted to make sure that Mia left this beach with money in her pocket.
Mia brightened when she saw Alan. She waved, and when she was chastised by the photographer, she flipped him the bird. Yes, Mia had reached her limit. Alan walked over and tapped the producer’s shoulder.
“Ms. Martin agreed to four hours of modeling, and you are pushing five right now. I suggest you wrap up or you’re going to fall into the overtime clause, and that will cut your profits in half,” he warned.
Audrey watched as the producer called a halt to the session. She was thankful that Alan had stopped by. Alan, who had long given up on Audrey romantically, greeted her in a cool business manner while he embraced Mia warmly.
“You were marvelous,” he said after Audrey excused herself to go over and speak with the producer.
“I expect I’m going to be hurting in places I’ve never hurt before,” she said. “Do you have time to have lunch with Audrey and me? My treat?”
“Actually, I was hoping to take you to dinner later if you’re still in the city.”
“Me?”
“Yes, I have an important client who wants to meet with you. I insisted that I come along as a chaperone.”
“This client isn’t Angelo Michaels, is it?” Mia asked.
“No. I can’t tell you the particulars, but if you could trust me, in my opinion, I think that this is in your best interest.”
“I trust you, Alan. Can you tell me what I should wear? I’m going to have to purchase an outfit, because I don’t think stretchy is going to be Chicago chic enough.”
“Would I be a prig if I suggested a nice dress and shoes, not sandals? The client is older and may be uncomfortable with Malibu Barbie.”
“I did ask,” Mia said, wrinkling her brow. “I’ll drag Audrey along shopping. She’ll be able to help me. It’s a hell of a time for Ralph to be gone on his honeymoon.”
“Have you heard from them?”
“I got an email with lots of pictures attached. I’m still sorting through them,” Mia confessed.
“I’m so glad they decided on the summer cruise. Bernard was looking a little tired last time I saw him,” Alan said.
“Planning for a wedding and handling the security problems of an entire museum can wear a fella out. I’m sure my bump in the road didn’t help.”
“Mia, we all have them. I remember meeting the two of you at the Gruber mansion. You were so wrapped up in each other, I remember thinking that I wanted a romance like that. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of you, and you couldn’t keep your hands off of him.”
Mia blushed. “We were pretty obnoxious, weren’t we?”
“I wouldn’t say obnoxious. You two were cute together. The differences in your heights and the way you guys spoke to each other… Yes, you were obnoxious,” Alan said, laughing.
“Who’s obnoxious?” Audrey asked, walki
ng over with a heavy duffle bag. She set it down at Mia’s feet. “That’s your bounty.”
“And this is yours,” Alan said, handing Audrey a check.
“What’s this?”
“It’s fifteen percent of this booking,” Alan said. “Mia wanted you to have the whole amount up front.”
Audrey, obviously pleased, insisted, “No, I did this for you, Mia.”
“And I appreciate it. You’re a professional and should be paid for your time.”
“I accept. Whoa, who knew you could make so much money from a few pictures?”
Mia, who was dialing her phone, raised a finger. “Ted, I need to ask your advice,” she said.
Ted, who had just put Brian down for his nap, smiled. “My advice? It must have something to do with a computer or world domination.”
“Regretfully, no. Alan…” Mia proceeded to tell Ted about Alan’s strange offer. “I hadn’t planned on being in the city this long and…”
“Put Alan on the phone, please?” Ted asked.
Mia handed the phone to Alan. She watched as Alan fielded Ted’s questions before handing the phone back to Mia.
“Well?” she asked.
“He says he’s contractually bound not to reveal the client’s name to you but insists that it isn’t Angelo. I’m very curious. If you want to go, then I’d go,” he said. “Alan says it’s an early dinner. Which gives me the idea that the client is older.”
“I still haven’t a clue, but I’d like to go.”
“Then go, and buy yourself something respectable. Go to the dinner, and report back as you’re driving home. Brian and I will have a lads’ night in. I’m determined to beat him at chess this time.”
Mia laughed. Brian’s idea of chess was to see how many pieces he could put in his mouth before Ted had a heart attack. The pieces were too large for the baby to swallow, but they were part of a collectors Star Wars set.
Mia pocketed the phone, turned around and said, “It’s a date. Now all I need is the when and the where.”
~
Cid walked into the kitchen where Ted was working on his laptop while keeping a keen ear on the monitor while Brian slept. “Do you think it’s too hot for Beef Stroganoff?” he asked.
“Mia’s not going to be home for supper, so why don’t we just order a pizza or something?”
“Pizza’s good. Where is Mia going to be?”
Ted explained the mystery dinner date.
“You’re not bothered by that?”
“She asked for my advice. I’m starting to think Mia’s taking our marriage serious.”
“Dude, she’s always taking it seriously. You’re the only thirteen-year-old in the relationship. So the mysterious date with Alan, the stud lawyer, as chaperone doesn’t bother you?”
“It didn’t until now, asshole,” Ted said.
“What are you working on?” Cid asked, sliding in beside his friend.
“I’ve been trying to compose a kiss-off-and-die letter to Beth.”
“Dude, you’re going to dump her again by email.”
“For the record, there wasn’t any she and me. It was all in her mind. The last bit was mostly in her mind. Damn that Roumain! He has a lot to answer for.”
“You know you had a hand in it. You were up to your neck in Bouvier prior to Roumain,” Cid accused.
“I was not! I just felt she was abandoned by her friends, for what?”
Cid stood up and walked around the table. He looked at Ted and shook his head. He opened his mouth a few times, but nothing would come out. He thought a moment and said, “I’d like you to pretend for a moment. This is just pretending, no malice is intended.”
“Okay.”
“Pretend that Mia came home drunk one night, and I waylaid her, made passionate love to her half-comatose body, and then bragged about it the next day.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Ted said angrily.
“Pretend, idiot.”
“Oh, sorry. Go ahead.”
“Then I notify the scientific journals and tell them that all your patents are stolen. That you aren’t a scientist at all, just a hack.”
“No one would believe you.”
“But if they did?”
“Then I would be without a wife, a career and thought of as…”
“You’re starting to get it. If Beth had succeeded the first time, Mia would be in a mental health facility somewhere, her career destroyed and suffering from a broken heart, not just from losing Whit, but from the woman who claimed to be her friend stabbing her in the back. The über-Judas.”
“So, you’re saying that Burt and Mike relieving Beth of her position was not just to placate Mia?”
“No. Who would want to work with someone like that? And I believe Mia never asked them to. She would have forgiven Beth in time, but you and I know that Beth never forgives. She’s a vindictive, selfish bitch. And if you don’t know this by now, then for God’s sake, pack up your stuff, leave this farm and never return. Because it isn’t Beth who is going to destroy Mia. It’s you. For some reason Mia loves you. She could have the world - hell, it seems like Heaven is on hold too. But the silly girl loves you, trusts you. She shouldn’t. I no longer do.”
Ted looked at his lifelong friend and felt the clammy hand of fate move over him. Right this moment, he had to stop being everybody’s friend. He had to choose.
“Who do you want? Beth Bouvier or Mia?”
“Mia. All I want is Mia. I want to protect, love and laugh with her. I want to help her reach the pinnacle of her powers.”
“Even if she has to leave you sometimes behind?”
“She comes back. She always…” Ted slammed his hand on the table. “How could I do all that to her?”
“Were you jealous?”
“No.”
“Is it Murphy?”
“No, I knew about Murphy from the beginning. Angelo worries me.”
“Mia doesn’t like Angelo. He’s not your problem. Destiny is your problem. And if you hurt her again, it’s not Murphy you’re going to have to worry about, it’s me. I’ve been your friend forever, but I can’t let you act contrary to your programming.”
Ted looked sideways at his friend. “How did I ever end up with Mia?”
“You told me from the first time you met her that you were going to marry her. You told your mother that. Mia hadn’t even spent more than a few minutes with you, and you were walking her down the aisle. What happened to that Ted?”
“He became afraid. She doesn’t need me anymore. She can stand on her own two feet. She’s beautiful. How am I ever going to be able to hold on to that?”
“Dude, she’s here now, asking your permission, trying desperately to find her way back to you. And it’s not just for Brian, it’s for her. You have to rise to the occasion, not slink under a rock with dumpy, boring, Beth.”
“That’s not kind,” Ted said, defending Beth again.
Cid threw up his hands and walked out the door, slamming it behind him.
Ted’s phone vibrated, and he looked at the incoming multimedia text. There was Mia holding up two dresses. Which one is the frumpiest?
He chose one and sent his answer, set down his phone and cried.
“How long have you been shadowing me?” Cid asked Murphy as he sat down on the picnic table.
“Since the stroke-it-off.”
Cid couldn’t help it; he started laughing. “Stroganoff… Here I am trying to save my friend from making the biggest mistake of his life, and you’re cracking jokes.”
“Yup. Learned it from Mia.”
“She is pretty irreverent, isn’t she?”
“Yes, it keeps her alive. Cid, I’ve watched her get her feelings trampled, her heart broken and come up fighting. She doesn’t have to be with Ted. She wants to be. We have to fix this. Maybe I should visit Beth.”
“Oh no. Ted has to do it. He has to be the bad guy for once. He can’t be Beth’s friend. He knows that she is going to hate him, and he can’t
stand people thinking ill of him.”
“He had no trouble hurting Mia.”
“Yes, that is strange, isn’t it? I don’t think it’s conscious.”
“If he leaves, are you going too?”
“No. I belong here. The moment I stepped foot on your land, I knew that I belonged here.”
“Ted’s your best friend.”
“You and Mia are tied for second, and my godson needs me.”
“You’re not romantically thinking of Mia?”
“Oh no, not at all. You can have her if Ted defects.”
Murphy was flabbergasted. He pushed his hat back on his head and couldn’t make any sense of it all. “I’m not allowed to be romantic with Mia. She doesn’t want that. She and I are soulmates. That’s enough for me.”
“Yet, we are all afraid that one day she is going to see you as the handsome brute you are and off herself just to be with you.”
“Have you been watching foreign films again?”
Cid looked at him. “Tell me, if Mia died and stuck around, the two of you couldn’t…”
“Doesn’t work that way. When you die, you leave the physical world behind you. She and I would be as we are now. So why kill her?”
“I’ve seen you look at her with longing. You have feelings…”
“Only because she awakened them. I wouldn’t be able to do the same for her because I’m already dead.”
“You could go off into the light together.”
“My place is the farm.”
“So, even if you were presented with the opportunity to spend an eternity with Mia, you would turn it down because of your farm?”
“Yes.”
“So you’re not a threat to Ted, are you?”
“No. It doesn’t hurt to keep him on his toes though,” Murphy said.
Chapter Thirteen
Alan picked Mia up at Ralph’s condo where Mia chose to have a nap, a shower, and then frantically work on her hair. She wore a rather sedate honey-colored, knee-length dress and nude pumps. Audrey quickly emptied her purse and loaned it to Mia, taking her stuff home in a Ziploc bag. Mia found enough cosmetics in Ralph’s bathroom to adorn her beach-tanned face.
