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Once upon a time there were two sisters who decided to do something about the fact that their respective sons persisted in being bachelors well beyond the point when their respective mothers decided that they wanted grandchildren. Anne, the elder of the two, and her sister Kathleen had not hesitated to join the ranks of the married as soon as they graduated college. Anne married George Darcy, a young advertising executive from a well to do family, and settled in a rambling Tudor on the Long Island's exclusive North Shore to raise a son and daughter. Kathleen married a lowly graduate assistant and after three years of typing his papers and working at a shop to help make ends meet, he became a professor of history at a small college in Massachusetts. Kathleen then spent a few more years typing her own papers and then joined him at the college as a professor of English. She and her husband, Hugh Fitzwilliam, produced two sons. The elder of the two--Jeremy--succumbed to leukemia before his 10th birthday. His bereaved parents found that they were unable to have more children, thus Richard, four years his junior, had spent most of his life as an only child.
Kathleen was very concerned about Richard. He had recently gone through a very messy break up with a woman who left him for a close friend of his and the experience had left him rather cynical and wary about becoming involved again. Anne's son, William, had not fared much better in his dealings with women; he had recently been forced to break off a promising relationship with a woman who left the country to spend two years abroad. The experience had not embittered him as Richard's had, but he was still way too far from finding a wife and settling down to please his mother. The two sisters were lamenting the sad state of their sons' love lives over lunch at a Manhattan bistro one afternoon.
"When I was his age, William was a five year old," Anne declared.
"Well, at least your William is willing to make an effort. Richard just seems to have given up completely," Kathleen sighed.
"I can understand that, Kathy. It's only been what--a month? It's going to take some time for him to come around," Anne assured her.
"It's been closer to two months now and quite frankly I don't think that little witch was worth half of the time he's spent pining over her!"
"Kathleen!"
"I mean it! She was pushing him for a commitment, wanted to move in with him and dragged him to every jewelry store window to look at diamond rings and all the while she was seeing Frank Churchill behind his back. I think she was just waiting to see who would make the better offer. The first one who gave her what she wanted won. And good riddance, I say!" Anne patted Kathleen's hand to calm her. She had always been fiercely protective of her son and even more so after Jeremy's death. But Richard's break up had aroused a particularly nasty streak of motherly anger.
"Poor Richard; and such a catch he would have been."
"Both of them are great catches!" Kathleen agreed. "I just don't understand why they can't find a pair of good women and settle down."
"Well, given Richard's recent experience I don't blame them for being a little cautious."
"Yes, but I do wish they'd get on with it. My friends all became grandmothers before they were out of their forties! I'm running out of time."
"Hey! I have nearly a year on you! How do you think I feel," Anne smiled. "What is Richard doing now? Is there any chance of finding someone at work?" Kathleen shook her head.
"He's an engineer, and he's in an area with an alarming dearth of women. In fact, I believe that there's only one woman in his firm. She went with him to Phoenix, I think. They work as a team, but he insists that they're just friends."
"Well, maybe something will develop. Why is he in Phoenix, by the way?" Kathleen shrugged.
"It's some sort of assignment" she said. "But your William has it made. There must be dozens of women in his company."
"Yes, but William hasn't gone out with many of them. He says he finds female investment bankers too aggressive. I gave him a stern lecture about his male Chauvinist leanings. He gets it from his father, you know." Kathleen smiled as she toyed with her salad. She could well imagine her favorite nephew saying such a thing. She had a pretty good idea of what type of woman William would find attractive and said so to her sister.
"Really? Maybe you ought to find him a wife then," Anne suggested.
"Only if you find Richard one," Kathleen countered.
"You're on! I'll find your son a wife and you'll find one for mine," she laughed.
"I wish it was that simple, Anne," Kathleen said. "But we both know that young men aren't eager to marry these days and those boys were particularly enjoying their bachelorhood before their current dry spells."
"I know. But I also know that unlike women, who often decide they want to be married and then go out in search of a husband, men don't think about marriage until the right woman comes along. If we could find the right women..." Anne stirred her coffee thoughtfully. "You know, the more I think about it, the better I like this idea. Let's do this, Kath," she urged. "There's nothing to lose and everything to be gained."
"You want me to find William a wife?" Kathleen asked in surprise.
"You just said you could," Anne replied. "I'm challenging you to find my son a wife and in return I'll find one for Richard."
"I don't know, Anne."
"What have you got to lose? If we succeed our sons will get married and we'll be on our way to becoming grandmothers. If we don't, I don't see how we could be any worse off than we are now. We'll make a contest of it; the first one who gets her nephew married wins!"
"Wait a minute! Finding a man a wife is one thing, getting him married to her is another. Suppose the bride's family insists on a big fancy wedding and a long engagement?"
"All right," Anne agreed. "We'll settle for getting the boys engaged." She extended her hand and Kathleen shook it. "Now we need a little incentive..."
"What?"
"I think there ought to be a prize for the one who gets her nephew engaged first," Anne replied with a cryptic smile.
"What more do you need than to see your nephew engaged?"
"I need to see my son engaged! I want grandchildren, too!" Anne exclaimed. "A prize might make both of us take this plan more seriously. What's to stop you from resting on your laurels while I do all the work on Richard's behalf?" Kathleen smiled.
"What did you have in mind?"
"The loving cup."
"No!"
"Why not? We've been arguing over who should have it all these years. Let's let our little contest decide things for us." Kathleen was reluctant to agree. She loved the large Tiffany silver trophy urn that had belonged to their grandfather. Years ago, when their mother moved out of her house and in with Anne Darcy and her family, she had given some of her possessions to her three children. Her son Stewart expressed an interest in the urn, but Kathleen had talked him taking another of her grandfather's trophies. But when she tried to claim the urn for herself, she and Anne had had a bitter squabble over it, to a point where their mother decided to hold onto it until the sisters came to a civil agreement as to who should have it.
The little contest the sisters had devised seemed like a good way to decide the urn's fate. But too much could go wrong to prevent a victory, and Kathleen really wanted the urn. She was forced to concede, however, that Anne would have the more difficult task ahead. Finding a new love interest for her son would be a big challenge. In fact, the more Kathleen thought it over, the more it seemed as though she was assured of victory. So she agreed to the scheme and the plot was thus hatched.
"Oh, I'm not at Richard's place. I prefer being in an apartment with real furniture in it," she teased, speaking of Richard's new co-op, which he had yet to completely furnish. I'm staying with an old friend of mine from college. Hugh is at a conference in Kalamazoo and I thought this would be a good time for me to spend some time in the Big Apple. And I'd like to see you, too. Are you free this evening?"
"Not anymore," William smiled as he turned on his PDA and began looking for a phone number. "Let me take you to dinner at my favorite restaurant. You'll like it, I think. They do a great coq au vin."
"You really know how to turn a girl's head," Kathleen smiled. They made plans to meet at the restaurant and Kathleen hung up the phone satisfied. "Well, that's a good start. If I play my cards right, I ought to be able to learn quite a bit about William's taste in women tonight. Of course, I already have a pretty good idea."
William and his aunt were very close in spite of the fact that they lived a good distance apart. William had spent many a summer in Massachusetts with his aunt's family, and as he approached manhood he had relied on his aunt's advice to untangle the web of mystery surrounding the opposite sex. It had begun quite innocently; Kathleen noticed that William was a bit depressed shortly after he arrived at her home during the summer of his sixteenth year. With gentle coaxing, she managed to get him to talk. He revealed that he was having girl trouble, and over a pitcher of iced tea, he and Kathleen had discussed and resolved his problem. William continued to confide in his aunt, unbeknownst to anyone else, well beyond his teen years. She was the first to know that he had fallen for Laura, his most recent girlfriend, and the first to learn that he was going to lose her. So Kathleen felt that she only needed a little information to complete the profile she had begun to develop on her laptop.
She was taking the contest with her sister very seriously, not only because she wanted to win the prize, but because she truly wanted to see her nephew settled with a good woman and happily married. She was determined to accomplish that goal, and if she managed to win the prize and see her son similarly happy along the way, so much the better. She flipped open her laptop and booted it up. A folder labeled "Will" appeared on the screen and she opened the character profile she'd found at a writing site and read its contents, skipping over the basic descriptive information and a few other items she'd need to fill in to get to the more interesting points. Kathleen read the series of questions she had amassed and tried to memorize a few of them and figure out how to work them into conversation. After an hour or two she realized that her plan would never work and decided upon a more direct course of action. She opened a new file and began typing. A few hours later she dressed for dinner and went to meet her nephew.
"Hello, Aunt Kathy," William said as he bent to kiss her cheek. Kathleen smiled and allowed William to escort her to his table. She sat down and observed her nephew carefully as he perused the menu. She thought she had developed a good profile of him, but she was concerned that her judgment might be biased and thus be insufficient for her purposes. So she made small talk with her nephew and placed her order before she put her plan into action.
"I was wondering if I might persuade you to act as a Guinea pig in a little experiment of mine," Kathleen began lightly. William put down his water goblet and smiled.
"I thought you taught English, not science," he teased.
"Oh, there's nothing scientific about my little experiment," she said as she pulled something out of her purse and unfolded it. "I am going to be teaching a writing course next semester, and I am considering putting this to use." She handed the pages to William.
"What's it for?" he asked as he looked through the document.
"It's a character profile form I found on the net. It's for developing characters in fictional stories, but I thought it might be useful in an autobiographical sketch exercise I want to give my class. I think it might be a good icebreaker to use at the start of the term and the mini-bios the students produce from it would be a good assessment tool ...well, never mind all that. I just want to test the form."
"On me," William said with a raised brow.
"Well, I have asked a few people to fill it out and give me their impressions of it," Kathleen lied. "It shouldn't take more than a half hour of your time and who knows? You might learn a thing or two about yourself." William smiled and stuffed the form into his pocket.
"And how will you know whether or not it's a good form?" he asked.
"You'll tell me, of course, and I'll see if it captures the real you," Kathleen replied.
"If it's good, will you make me a character in one of your stories?" William asked as the waiter appeared with the bottle of wine he'd ordered.
"What sort of story would you like?" Kathleen had written and published numerous short stories in various publications over the years. It would be an easy task to fulfill William's request.
"You decide; you're the writer in the family. Just make it something that suits my character."
"I promise to put the form to good use if you do a good job of filling it out. How's that?"
"You're on," William said. Kathleen smiled in relief and turned her attention to spending an enjoyable evening with her favorite nephew.
When she returned to her friend's apartment she learned that Richard had called. When Kathleen turned in for the evening she climbed into bed with her phone and dialed Richard's number.
"Hello?" Kathleen blanched at the sound of a woman's voice.
"Oh! I...I--."
"Hold on." Tineke handed the phone to Richard. "It's for you."
"No kidding," Richard smirked as he reached for the phone. "Hello?"
"Richard! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything," Kathleen said awkwardly.
"Oh, it's okay. We've just taken a break to eat something," he replied easily.
"You took a break to eat?" Kathleen repeated incredulously.
"...A break from studying the architect's plans, mom! Purge those impure thoughts from your mind, madam." Kathleen heard female laughter in the background.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Richard. I just thought...well..."
"Do you honestly think Tineke would have answered the phone if we were in the middle of --?" Richard asked.
"Does she honestly think I would sleep with you?" Kathleen heard Tineke shout in the background. "Please, I have standards! I think I'm going to go throw up my dinner." Richard threw a pillow at her as she left the room.
"I'm sorry," Kathleen said sheepishly.
"Well, thanks for breaking up my evening," Richard said sarcastically. "How's life on the East Coast?"
"It's pretty good, although it's not much fun being in New York without you or your father. William took me out to dinner tonight and we had a lovely time, though."
"Well, he's probably better company than me or dad," Richard laughed.
"True, but I miss you anyway."
"I miss you, too, mom."
"How long will you be out there?"
"We're not sure. We're only in the preliminary stages of the investigation. We can do some of the analysis back in the city but we won't leave here until we've collected all the relevant data and that can take a while--I'd say a minimum of two or three more weeks. I'm sorry I won't get to see you on this visit to the Big Apple, but I'll try and get up to see you when I get back, okay?"
"Okay," Kathleen said wistfully. She suddenly felt a strong urge to embrace her son. "Is that why you called?"
"Yeah, I just wanted to touch base and see how you were doing. I talked to dad earlier. He said the weather in Michigan is abysmal and he missed you."
"In that order?" The two shared a laugh before they said goodnight and Kathleen turned off the light and fell asleep.
The following morning, William sat down with the form his aunt had given him and read it over as he drank his coffee. The phone rang and he reached for it.
"Hello?"
"What's this I hear about you making moves on my mother while dad's away?"
"Hey, Fitz," William replied with a smile.
"How's it going?"
"The usual; how are things in Arizona?"
"Interesting. We'll be moving soon, though. We're going to be setting up an on-site office so we can observe and tag debris as it comes out of the rubble. So we'll have to move out of our cushy hotel digs and into a little motel closer to the site."
"Who is 'we'?" William asked as he laid down his pen to pick up his cup.
"Me and Tineke; you've met her, I think. She and I are the principal investigators on this case."
"Oh, so you brought female companionship with you?"
"Not funny, cuz; our relationship is strictly business, especially since her boyfriend Sven looks like he could eat me for an appetizer."
"Sorry," William said unapologetically.
"How's my cat?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know? Haven't you been over to the apartment?"
"I've been there daily and done exactly what you asked: put out fresh food and fresh water, policed the litter box..."
"Then why can't you tell me how Squeaks is doing?"
"I did try playing with him as you suggested and he simply ignored me. I tried to comb him and he ran away after a few seconds. I gave up after that. He looks kind of bored."
"Well, in that case he's probably fine. He always looks that way," Richard admitted.
"You're right, except when I gave him that cat toy that made him dance on the ceiling. What the heck is in that?"
"It's catnip, William. You've never seen a cat do that before?"
"I think I've seen people on LSD acting like that on a documentary once," William said doubtfully. "That was the most I've seen him animated all week." Richard laughed.
"But he's doing okay, otherwise?" Richard asked.
"Is that why you called, to check up on your cat?" William asked teasingly.
"Why shouldn't I? He's the only life I have responsibility for, other than my own," Richard said defensively. "Just keep him alive and well till I get back, okay."
"Okay," William said absently. "Fitz? Which of my traits do you think makes me come alive?"
"What?"
"Never mind." William tossed aside his pen. "Listen, I have to go. I've got an appointment with a client."
"William, it's Saturday."
"It's my dentist."
"You allow someone you give financial advice to probe your mouth with sharp implements?"
"I give very good financial advice, Fitz."
"Oh. Take care of Squeaks."
"Will do."
William stuffed the form into his pocket and took it with him to work on in the dentist's waiting room. He carried it with him that afternoon when he decided to go to a movie and worked on it while waiting on line. The more he thought about each question, the more he learned about himself. He began to realize something else, as well, and he revealed it to his aunt the following day as they strolled through the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art together.
"You know, that form would work very well for a dating service," William said as he stood before a large Manet painting in the Impressionists Gallery. Kathleen smiled at his remark. "I mean it made me think about my personality, how I'd like to be perceived by others and how I perceive myself. This contains the kind of things I'd like to know about a woman before I became involved with her."
"Want a blank copy for duplication?" Kathleen quipped.
"I'd like to think I wouldn't need duplicates. I'm tired of wading through the pool of available women trying to find the right one, you know? I just wish someone would go out and find her for me and deliver her to my place," William laughed wistfully.
"You sound lonely," Kathleen said gently. William's sigh convinced her that such was the case in spite of the protests to the contrary.
"I'd just like to simplify my life, that's all."
"I can publish this on the web for you," Kathleen offered. "With a photo--." William made a show of trying to take back the form but allowed Kathleen to hold it out of his reach. William shoved his hands into his pockets and the pair walked on. "So, think it works?"
"The form? Yes, I think it's great if you want the class to engage in a bit of self-reflection. You should get some interesting essays from it."
"Good," Kathleen smiled. "And that self-assessment made you want--." She tried not to put words into William's mouth. He shrugged.
"I guess I don't want to be alone," he said. "As I filled it out, it occurred to me that the best way to get clues to my character would be to have someone else intimately acquainted with me do it. And then I realized that there was no one else." Kathleen wrapped her arms around one of his.
"Well, that's hardly a difficult problem to solve," she said as she led him into the next gallery and changed the subject. A few days later she was back in her own home and reading over William's form. He had done a remarkably detailed job of filling it out, attaching two pages of notes to the end of it so he could provided detailed and well-thought out responses to each question. Kathleen read it over and sighed. The phone rang and she picked it up absently.
"Hello, Kathy."
"Oh, hello, Anne. How are you?" she said as she continued to read.
"I'm very well. How are things in your neck of the woods?"
"Very nice, except for the three inches of rain that fell while both Hugh and I were away; it washed out two beds of annuals. So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call? Don't tell me you've already found Richard a wife?" Kathleen said, knowing that such was not the case.
"You know, it's not really fair, starting this contest while he's out of town," Anne grumbled, good-naturedly.
"Hey! This whole thing was your idea. No one twisted your arm."
"I know, but it's really hard setting him up on a date when he's out of reach."
"You've found him a girl already?"
"Well, I've considered a few young women of my acquaintance, but I need your help."
"My help? Why on earth would I want to help you?" Kathleen laughed.
"Well, you want me to find your son a good woman, don't you?" Kathleen was forced to concede that she did.
"What do you want to know?"
"What's his favorite color?"
"Blue; what does that have to do with anything?"
"Does he prefer blondes, brunettes or redheads?"
"Richard has always dated indiscriminately. He actually brought home a girl with blue streaks in her hair once. No, wait--that was Marina. To be honest, I don't know that he has a preference."
"Let's see," Anne continued as she continued down her list, "Does he like quiet nights at home, or does he prefer to go out and party?"
"What are you working from, a Cosmo quiz?"
"Just answer the question!"
"I can't! These are questions you have to ask Richard, Anne!" Kathleen exclaimed.
"But I can't!"
"I can give you his phone number--."
"But part of the deal was that neither of us tell either Richard or Will what we're up to. If I ask him these questions, he's bound to become suspicious."
"You think?" Kathleen teased.
"Kath!"
"I know; call and see if Richard will give you his ex's number."
"Very funny, Kath!"
"Good luck, dearie!"
William sat at his desk checking over a client's portfolio when a coworker knocked on his door.
"William?" He looked up as she opened the door and peered in. "A few of us are going for drinks after dinner. Would you care to join us?" William glanced at his watch and weighed his options. All he had to look forward to after work was a visit to Richard's indifferent cat and an evening in front of the television. He sighed.
"Sure. I'll stop in for a few minutes," he said. Jessica smiled.
"Great! I'll see you down at the Brewery. William nodded weakly and returned to his work. A half hour later he entered the pub and looked around. He saw Jessica waving at him from the end of the bar and headed in her direction. As he neared her, warning bells began to go off in his head. There were no other coworkers in sight and no sign that any had been there. Jessica's slightly guilty look confirmed the trap.
"Where is everyone?" William asked.
"They're not coming," Jessica admitted, her eyes averted from William's accusing glare.
"Not coming? Or were they simply not invited?"
"All right, they weren't invited," Jessica replied defiantly.
"Then why did you imply that they were?"
"Would you have come if I just invited you out for a drink after work?" William took a seat at the bar and accepted the beer she ordered for him in spite of his anger.
"No, probably not." Jessica smiled.
"Well, there you go."
"So as far as you're concerned that justifies resorting to deception."
"Hey, you know what they say: All's fair in love and war." William gave her a bitter smile.
"Apparently, you're not familiar with the Geneva Convention, the Declaration of Human Rights--."
"We aren't talking about war here, are we?" Jessica said coyly.
"What are we talking about, then? You deliberately misled me into thinking that I was coming down here for a drink with my coworkers. I think that qualifies as an ambush, wouldn't you? That's more an act of war than anything else." Jessica pouted.
"All I wanted to do was buy you a drink."
"And knowing that I would refuse--."
"Why would you refuse? What's wrong with me?" Jessica demanded. "Am I not pretty enough for you? Do you have something against blondes?"
"Jessica--."
"Are you gay? Is that it?" William sighed and shook his head.
"Why does it follow that because I won't go out with you that there has to be something 'wrong' with either of us?" he asked.
"Why don't you want to go out with me?"
"I don't date coworkers," William said evasively. He was too polite to say that he found her pushy, self-absorbed and simply not his type.
"You can make an exception in this one case, couldn't you? It's not as though it's a company rule or anything," Jessica said as she shifted slightly in William's direction.
"It's my rule and I see no reason to make an exception." William said as he rose to his feet. Jessica grabbed his arm. "Why should I want to go out with a woman who starts off a relationship with a lie?"
"Don't go yet! I'm really sorry about the deception, William, really! I just thought...I thought that once you got here we'd laugh over my little joke and forget it. Why don't you stay and have another beer?" William gently pulled his arm away.
"Thank you, but no. For one thing, I didn't appreciate your little joke, but more importantly, I have a dinner engagement I have to get to. I'll see you tomorrow, Jessica. Thanks for the beer." With that he walked out of the pub and hailed a cab. "She wouldn't like my little joke either, I suppose," he said before he got into the cab and gave the driver Richard's address. He stopped the cab a block away and picked up some takeout before keeping his dinner date with Squeaks.
Kathleen was sitting at her desk when the telephone rang. She absently reached for it as she continued to read the paper before her.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Mrs. F."
"Marina! How are you?"
"I'm terrific! I just got some wonderful news. Remember that I told you that I had applied for an artist-in-residence position at the Keith Wooten Studio?"
"Vaguely, yes. I'm sorry, Marina, I'm a bit scatter-brained preparing for the fall semester."
"No problem. Long story short, I applied for a two-year grant that would enable me to work with the master craft persons at the studio as well as do my own work. You wrote me a letter of recommendation for it and I won the residency!"
"Oh, Marina, that's wonderful!" Kathleen replied. Marina was a young protégée of Kathleen's, a young woman who lived down the road from the Fitzwilliams throughout her youth and who had kept in touch even after she left home. She was a talented artist who had spent two and a half years in Europe studying medieval arts. "When does it begin?"
"It starts in September. But I'll be moving back to the states before then. My internship here at the cathedral is just about up."
"Are you sorry to be leaving Paris?"
"Yes and no. I think I'll miss it, but not as much as I miss being in the states and around people like you and Ricky and my dad. How is Ricky, by the way?"
"Oh, he's fine. I spoke to him the other day. He'll be happy to hear that you're coming home to the states."
"I hope so; I really hope so because I'll be moving to New York. In fact, I was kind of hoping to ask a favor of him," Marina said hesitantly.
"What kind of favor?"
"Well, I have to find a place to live and get myself settled. I'm going to have about a month off between situations and I thought that I might spend a little time in New York looking for an apartment and getting my bearings. Do you think he'd put me up?"
"Oh, of course he would! Why would you think he wouldn't?"
"Well, he might find it a problem having me hanging around his place. I mean his girlfriend might take exception. It would only be for a couple of days..."
"Well, as it happens, Richard is between girlfriends at the moment, so your timing couldn't be better, to tell you the truth."
"Knowing Ricky, he'll have a new girlfriend before I can even book a plane ticket," Marina said a bit uneasily.
"Not this time. It was a bad break up and I don't think he'll want to be involved with anyone for a while. He's been so out of it lately that I've been worried about him. Your visiting him for a while might be just what he needs."
"I doubt he'd think so," Marina said.
"Nonsense! I'm sure he'd love to see you! I tell you what; I'll broach it with him the next time I talk to him. When do you think you'll be home?"
"Right now, my plan is to fly into Boston a week from Friday," Marina replied as she looked at her appointment book.
"Well, let me speak with Richard and call you back. And why don't you fly straight into New York? It doesn't make sense for you to move your stuff twice. Take it to Richard's place; he has plenty of space and then just move it to your new apartment from there."
"I don't--."
"I'll clear it with him. You just get that ticket changed," Kathleen said. She hung up the phone and lifted the paper she'd been reading. "You know, Marina would be just perfect for William. She's smart, pretty, creative, worldly...she's moving to New York." Kathleen's smile widened. "And if having a woman living in my son's apartment puts a slight crimp in his love life for a few weeks, I could get a very nice head start on that lovely, scheming sister of mine..." She picked up the phone and dialed Richard.
Richard's jacket was hanging from a twisted I-bar in the wreckage of a collapsed office building. He had donned a hard hat and crawled into the basement with the architect to assess the damage to the foundation. Tineke was working on a simulation on her laptop, which was perched on the hood of the car the pair had rented for the duration of their stay in Phoenix. She heard a phone ring from inside the car and reached for the one sitting on the driver's seat.
"Hello?"
"Oh, hello! You must be Richard's friend. This is his mother." Tineke looked down and realized that she had accidentally answered Richard's phone.
"Hello, Mrs. Fitzwilliam. My name is Tineke and I'm really not sleeping with Richard; we're just coworkers."
"So he told me," Kathleen laughed. "Is he around?"
"Actually, he's...well, maybe you don't want to know where he is at the moment. But he should be back in a few minutes. Shall I have him call you?"
"Yes, please. Nice meeting you, Tineke."
"Same here." Tineke closed the phone and placed it to Richard's jacket pocket. A few minutes later he emerged from the basement, covered in dust and sneezing.
"Did you miss me?" he asked Tineke as he peered over her shoulder at the screen.
"Why, were you gone?" she teased back as she backed away to give him a closer look at the model.
"This looks good. I've got new measurements to put in, but what I'd really like to do first is go back to the motel and take a shower. My teeth even feel dusty," Richard said as he gratefully accepted the bottle of water Tineke offered him.
"You had a call while you were down under." Tineke gestured toward the jacket.
"Oh?" Richard went to his jacket and pulled out the phone. "No message."
"It was your mom." Richard raised his eyebrows. "Your phone must have fallen out of your pocket. It was on the driver's seat and I mistakenly assumed it was mine when I answered it, but I remembered after the fact that I left my phone back at the motel charging. Anyway, she wants you to call her back."
"Thanks," Richard said before he sneezed again. Tineke picked up the computer and shut it down after carrying a short distance away from Richard, who was brushing dust off of himself. "What I really need--after a shower, that is--is a Laundromat." Tineke gave him a distasteful look.
"I'm still driving. Don't touch anything in the car." Richard smirked at her and got into the car. They arrived back at the motel, where Richard immediately sought a hot shower while Tineke scouted the neighborhood for a Laundromat and a place to have dinner. He emerged feeling refreshed and clean. He pulled on a pair of shorts and a tee shirt before he pulled out his phone.
"Hey, mom!"
"Hello, Richard! How are you? Where were you? Tineke said I wouldn't want to know."
"...And thereby aroused your curiosity? I was probably under a collapsed building when you called."
"Richard!"
"She did warn you," Richard smiled. "So, what's new and exciting?" he asked as he flopped onto the bed.
"Marina is coming back to the U.S."
"Finally! Was she expelled or is it voluntary?"
"Richard...she's moving to New York to become an artist-in-residence at a prestigious studio. She's very excited about it."
"Cool!"
"When is she coming?" Richard asked as he reached for the bottle of water.
"She ought to be here at the end of next week."
"Bummer! Tineke and I will probably be here for at least another two weeks."
"Oh, that's a shame. I know she's looking forward to seeing you. By the way, she wants to spend a little time in the city looking for an apartment, getting oriented, you know, checking the place out."
"Tell her to come and stay at my place. She can have it all to herself and she can take over the care and feeding of Squeaks."
"Who's taking care of him now?"
"Will."
"Oh, good," Kathleen smiled. "Maybe William would be willing to show Marina around while she's in town."
"Mom, Emmy is hardly a stranger to New York. She spent a lot of time there as a kid, remember?"
"That was years ago. I'm sure William would be willing."
"Probably."
"Do they know each other?"
"I have to imagine that they met at some point or another. But they probably wouldn't remember."
"Well, I'll worry about that later. And I'll call Marina and tell her that you'll let her stay at your place."
"How long will she be in town? I'd like to see her."
"I'm sure she'd be willing to stick around long enough to see you. It's been a while since you last saw each other."
"Last summer in Paris; Erin and I were there on vacation," Richard said a bit glumly. "I was able to spend only a little time with her." Kathleen noted the change in her son's tone at the mention for his former girlfriend and her heart went out to him.
"Well, you and Marina ought to be able to spend a great deal more time together once she moves to the city."
"Yeah, that will be kind of cool. Anyway," Richard said as he rose to answer Tineke's knock, "I've got to go. Can you give Emmy your set of keys?"
"Of course. Take care and Richard please don't go into basements of collapsed buildings anymore."
"I'm not going back in there, promise."
"I'll talk to you soon."
"I love you, mom."
"You, too."
Author's note: The form Kathleen uses was inspired by a character profile form from Laura Hayden's "Left-Brain- Right Brain/Creativity Program." It's available as a tool for writers at http://suspense.net/whitefish/profile.htm/.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Fitz! How's it going?"
"Just great! It took a little getting used to but now I'm just about settled in here," Richard replied.
"Well, don't get too settled," William laughed. "I want you back here in a few weeks. By the way, who is Marina Escher and what's this about her moving in with you?"
"Emmy? She's a close friend of mine. We've known each other since the fourth grade. And she's not moving in with me...well, I guess she is moving in with me, but it's only temporary. Who told you about her?"
"Your mother, and I'm still waiting for an explanation." Richard sighed.
"Emmy has been living in Europe for the last few years and she's coming home to become an artist-in-residence in some program or other. She doesn't have a place in New York yet, so my mom asked if she could stay with me. I have no problem with it."
"Why do you call her Emmy if her name is Marina?"
Because her name is Marina Escher; M-E, get it?" Richard said impatiently.
"Oh."
"What made my mother mention it to you?"
"She asked me if I could pick her up at the airport and bring her to your place. She says that you had keys made but never gave them to her. So I guess I have the only keys to your place."
"That's not true! My mom has a set of keys to my place and she was supposed to get them to Emmy!" Richard thought back to his last conversation with his mother, but dropped the matter as unimportant.
"Well, I can only tell you what she told me," William said. "So, tell me about Marina."
"What would you like to know?" Richard asked as he settled back in his chair.
"I don't know. I just feel a little silly going to meet a complete stranger. Tell me a little about her background."
"Well, as I said earlier, I've known her since the fourth grade. She lived a few doors down from me in Northampton."
"Have I ever met her?" William asked.
"I can't imagine that you wouldn't have met her at some point on one of your visits. You may have seen her during her chubby phase, though, in which case you may not recognize her when you meet her again."
"Is she attractive?"
"Yeah, I'd say so. She's got dark hair, deep brown eyes, nice smile...she's about Gee's height, I'd say," Richard said. William wasn't convinced by the description.
"Were you two an item at some point?"
"Emmy's like the sister my parents never gave me, Will. She'd never been a love interest."
"So, in other words, she wasn't pretty enough to tempt you," William teased.
"It never came up," Richard said a bit defensively. "Look, she's only going to be a house guest and she'll be sleeping on the sofa bed, all right?"
"If you say so," William smiled.
"Not only would I say so, Emmy would agree."
"Well, that's good to hear because I think your mother is trying to set us up. I wouldn't want to get in the middle of something--."
"My mother is trying to set you up with Emmy?" Richard blurted out.
"It sounds like it," William said. "Why? What's wrong with her?"
"There's nothing wrong with her; I'm just surprised. My mom is not the matchmaker type, usually. And from the sound of it you seem interested."
"Yeah, I guess I am. I've been in a dry spell and I thought, you know, what the heck? But if you think it's a bad idea..."
"I don't. I just think that you two are an odd pairing, that's all."
"Odd in what way?"
"Odd as in you and me odd. I mean I would never think of hooking you up with Emmy in the same way no one would expect that you and I would become such good friends," Richard explained.
"Why not?" William asked suspiciously.
"Well, you and I are like oil and water. I'm a country boy who likes to wear jeans, spend my free time in the great outdoors, and drink beer while you're a city slicker with a taste for designer clothes, your idea of a good time is something indoors that requires pricey tickets, and your drink of choice is a wine with an interesting nose." William laughed at his cousin's depiction.
"Am I that bad?"
"Yes!" Richard replied emphatically. "But I love you in spite of it, cousin," he laughed.
"So, Marina is a country girl?"
"Heavens, no! She was born in New York City and hated it when her family moved into the 'boonies,' as she called it. Said it completely stifled her development. As soon as she could she took off for the bright lights of the big city. She went to art school in Philadelphia then she got a scholarship and went to live in Paris for a few years. Now, she's moving back to New York."
"So she's a city slicker at heart, too," William concluded.
"No, at least not in the way you are. She's...unique." William began to worry.
"So...she's an artist?" he said.
"Of a sort. She's actually a calligrapher. One rainy afternoon at my house she became fascinated with my dad's collection of books on medieval art. She decided on the spot that she wanted to recreate the old style of illumination and book making by hand, and that's what she's been doing ever since. She spent her time in Europe studying old manuscripts and stuff."
"Interesting," William replied.
"So she's cultured enough for you. She knows about art, she drinks wine, and she probably dresses well when she's not in her studio."
"Uh huh."
"What's the problem?" Richard asked as he lifted his bottle of beer.
"Nothing, I guess." William was becoming increasingly indecisive about following up on Kathleen's suggestion. A few days later, however, his doubts were banished with his first sight of the woman in question. He was standing in the international arrivals terminal at Newark Airport when he heard his name spoken. When William turned and saw the woman standing at his side, he was immediately taken aback by her beauty. Richard's description of his friend, he decided, was woefully inadequate. William was also confused; he thought he was looking for her, rather than the reverse.
"Marina?" She nodded, returning William's smile. "How on earth did you know who I was?"
"I've seen a zillion pictures of you over the course of the last sixteen years. I would have known you anywhere," she said. "Besides, we've met before." William's face betrayed him. "Don't worry," Marina said as she allowed William to take her large suitcase and portfolio, "I wouldn't expect you to remember me. I was about twenty pounds heavier then and I had longer hair."
"When--?"
"Oh, about five years ago. There was some family thing going on at the Fitzwilliams' place and I was invited to the barbeque." William nodded dully. For the life of him he couldn't remember her, even as a woman twenty pounds heavier. He was certain he would remember someone with such beautiful eyes and smile. He led Marina to his car and loaded her luggage.
"Is this all your stuff? Aunt Kathy made it sound as though you'd be bringing half of Paris with you," William said as he opened the car door for her.
"These are just my clothes and a few things I couldn't bear to be parted from," Marina said impishly, referring to the two Pullmans and the portfolio in the trunk. "I shipped my half of Paris home in a trunk." William smiled and got into the car. They fell into easy conversation, comparing their perceptions of Paris, discussing other parts of Europe they'd been to and discussing Marina's friendship with Richard.
"I met him on my first day of school in Northampton. My father had moved us there when he was appointed superintendent of the school system. I walked in that day and was the only person who didn't know anyone in the entire school. Everyone else pretty much gave me the cold shoulder, except Richard. He came and sat at my table at lunch. Never said a word, mind you; he just sat with me at lunch every day. By Friday, I was thoroughly disgusted so I slugged him," Marina said as she smiled at the memory.
"Why?" William laughed at the thought of his cousin being assaulted by a girl.
"He made a spectacle of me. You see, he was a popular kid, and when he began to sit next to me, all his friends began to migrate over. As a result, instead of just being left to myself I found myself the object of intense scrutiny. I sat at a table with eleven other kids who gave me the silent treatment."
"He never said a word? That doesn't sound like Richard."
"Well, he finally spoke after I hit him. He demanded to know why I'd done so. I gave him my explanation, at which point he told me that he had been waiting for me to speak. Who knew?" Marina shrugged and William laughed. "We've been great friends ever since."
"Even though you wounded his male pride in front of all of his friends?"
"I think that worked in my favor. I guess he figured that if I had enough moxie to attack him when he was surrounded by his clique I must be someone worth reckoning with. Besides, his mom sort of adopted me as a surrogate daughter and from that point on Ricky couldn't avoid me even if he wanted to."
"Ricky?" William exclaimed. "He lets you call him that?"
"Doesn't he let you call him that?" Marina countered.
"He barely tolerates being called 'Fitz'!"
"You never punched him out in front of his friends," Marina surmised. William smiled as he pulled into a parking space in front of Richard's building. He got out and off-loaded the luggage and led Marina inside.
"I don't know what to do about the key situation. According to 'Ricky,' his mother has a set of keys for you. I suppose you can hold onto these, if you'll take care of his cat," William said as he unlocked the door.
"He brought Squeaks to New York with him?" Emmy cried. As soon as she was inside the apartment Marina dropped her portfolio and scooped up the cat, which purred with apparent fondness. William just blinked at the sight. Richard's cat had barely acknowledged his presence when he dropped in on a daily basis to feed it in his cousin's absence. "So you two know each other, I guess."
"I gave Squeaks to Ricky about seven or eight years ago," Marina said as the cat nuzzled her face. "I found him when he was just a tiny stray. My dad has allergies so I couldn't keep him and Ricky took him in."
"I can't believe that behemoth was ever tiny," William smiled. "By the way, I took the liberty of lying in a few things," he said as he went into the kitchen. Marina put the cat down and followed. "I didn't know what you'd want so I just got a few basics: milk, eggs, bread, cheese..."
"Thanks, William. That was awfully nice of you," Marina said.
"I'll give you the grand tour." He showed Marina around the spacious, sparsely furnished one-bedroom apartment. Marina flopped on the massive bed as soon as she saw it.
"Oh, man! I'm sleeping in here till Ricky gets back," she announced. She rolled over and gazed at William, who was becoming increasingly attracted to her with each passing moment. "Where is he, by the way?"
"He's in Phoenix investigating a building collapse or something," William said as he gingerly sat on the edge of the bed.
"A building collapse?" Marina gave him a confused look.
"That's what he does for a living. He works for a firm that investigates accidents and disasters to determine what caused them. It's a really interesting job. I think he actually uses computer simulation to recreate the accident to find the cause. Then he reports his findings to the insurance company or attorney, whoever his particular client is." Marina nodded.
"I thought he just worked in an office."
"He did; then he was head-hunted by another firm about six months ago. He really likes his new job."
"Is he away a lot?" William shrugged.
"Some," he replied.
"Oh. What do you do?"
"I'm an investment banker." Marina wrinkled her nose. "What's wrong with being an investment banker?" William asked with a slight pout.
"I don't know; it just makes you sound like a stuffy conservative capitalist who's only interested in making money to the neglect of everything else."
"Do I look like that kind of a guy to you?" William asked innocently, wondering exactly how accurately she'd pegged him.
"Looks can be deceiving," Marina replied
"So, in other words, I don't. Perhaps you shouldn't pre-judge me. I don't hold the fact that you're an artist against you."
"Gee, what a guy," Marina said sarcastically as she scrambled off the bed. "I don't know about you, but I'm famished. Let's go see what we can make out of those provisions you stocked."
"I have a better idea," William suggested. "Let me take you out to dinner." Marina seemed a bit surprised by the notion, but she quickly recovered and smiled.
"Are you sure you wouldn't mind being seen with an artist?"
"Well, in my casual dress no one will recognize me as an investment banker, so I think I can safely risk it." Marina burst into laughter and William didn't know whether to be insulted or charmed. He decided on the latter, as Marina picked up her purse and led the way to the door.
"So, did Emmy get in all right?" Richard asked William the following evening.
"Oh, yes, and I gave her my set of keys until she can meet up with Aunt Kathy. She's taken over the care and feeding of Squeaks," William reported.
"Good woman," Richard replied.
"Pretty, too. I think you intentionally misled me, Fitz."
"Hey! I told you she was pretty," Richard shot back. "You chose not to believe me."
"You never told me how pretty she was. She said she'd lost twenty pounds since the last time we met and showed me an old picture of the three of us taken up in Northampton. I was standing right beside you two and I would swear it was a different person." Richard laughed.
"Emmy is a master of disguise," he said enigmatically. "When we were in high school she made a habit of changing her persona every couple of weeks just to keep people guessing."
"Really?"
"It was kind of fun seeing who showed up on my doorstep every morning. She experimented with personalities the way other kids experimented with drugs; drove her dad bonkers for a year."
"Why?" William asked. Richard sighed.
"Emmy is a very special, truly unique person. That can be both a blessing and a curse, you know? We all go through a period in our lives when we try to find ourselves, but that's something she had to struggle with at a time when nearly everyone else we knew was struggling to conform. Emmy has never been a good conformer. She's always been her own person, and I really admire her for that."
"You know, I can't imagine you two as friends," William admitted. "I mean I hear both of you speaking very fondly of each other, but you and Marina seem as incongruous as you and I allegedly are." Richard chuckled at the reference.
"Well, I guess you're right. My mom sort of took Emmy under her wing after her mom split and she and I grew up together. We became close friends, differences be damned. I can't explain it, but there it is."
"I guess so," William said. "So how is the investigation coming along?"
"You don't want to know," Richard said darkly.
"That bad?"
"No, I meant that literally. Every time I start talking about my work, your eyes begin to glaze over."
"Well, I am very interested, but quite frankly, you don't exactly have a flair for describing things in laymen's terms," William admitted. "After a while, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"All right," Richard sighed. "Building fall down, go boom. People die, building owner sued. Why? Bad building. Structural beams crummy." William laughed.
"Never mind, Fitz."
William appeared at Richard's apartment a few days later bearing a shopping bag. Marina smiled as she admitted him.
"Hi, William. How nice to see you again," she said.
"I hope you don't mind my dropping by like this. I noticed last week that Fitz was running a bit low on Iams so I stopped by the pet shop..." William fell silent as he opened the door to the cabinet where Squeaks' food was stored and saw a brand new four pound bag of cat food. "Oh, I guess you had the same idea," he said sheepishly.
"It was sweet of you to think of it, but I found a pet shop this morning," Marina explained. "Hey! It won't go to waste. I'm sure Squeaks would be happy if we doubled his rations." William smiled and placed his purchase in the cupboard beside Marina's. She suggested that he have a seat and offered him a beer.
"Or don't you drink beer?" she asked impishly.
"Oh, investment bankers drink beer, as long as it's an obscure, pricey micro-brew," William said self-effacingly.
"Well, you're in luck. That's exactly what Ricky stocked." She insisted on pouring William's beer into a glass and he took the jibe graciously.
"So how are you settling in?" he asked as his eyes scanned the open portfolio on the living room floor.
"I'm doing all right. Haven't got any leads on decent apartments yet. I have more than a month before I start the program, so if I don't find anything right away it's not a disaster."
"...And Fitz will put you up till you do?" William asked.
"I guess so, but I wouldn't want to wear out my welcome," Marina replied. "In fact, I had hoped to be out of here by the time he returned." Something about her comment troubled William, but he sloughed it off.
"Tell me about this program you're involved in. Fitz said you'd be an artist-in-residence."
"Oh, yes!" Marina replied as her eyes lit up. She bent to pull together the sheets of paper that were scattered across the floor. William rose from his seat to take a look at her work. "I am going to be working in one of the country's premier calligraphy studios."
"I didn't even know there were such things." Marina smiled tolerantly.
"It will be something like an apprenticeship, but I will also have plenty of time to do my own work."
"What is your own work, exactly, if I may ask?" Marina pulled a few of her pages out of her portfolio for William to examine.
"Well, I do standard calligraphy, that is, posters, logos, signage and the like; it pays the bills. If I'm forced to, I'll also design invitations and other small items. But my real love is illuminations." She held up a poster that was a modern rendition of an illuminated page from a medieval book. William was very impressed. "Before the Gutenbergs invented the printing press in the fifteenth century all books were made by hand; hand-written and illustrated, I mean."
"By monks in monasteries, I believe," William chimed in. Marina nodded.
"I fell in love with the art of these incredible works, some of which were tiny and some of which were as large as this page. I decided that I wanted to recreate them; I make books completely by hand. I write the copy, I decorate each page and I bind them myself. Wait, I can show you a finished one," she said as she rose and disappeared into the bedroom for a minute. She returned with a book, which she handed to William. It was bound in fine black linen with gold lettering on the front and the pages were of handmade paper. William carefully flipped through a few pages, but stopped reading abruptly when he realized that the writings were extremely personal and probably meant for Richard's eyes only. "That was one of my earliest works. It's not very good."
"Are you kidding? It's beautiful!" William said sincerely. It was apparent to him that a great deal of time and effort was lavished up the book. Every bit of it was handmade. He handed it back to Marina who slipped it into its case.
"I hope to be able to show some of my books at the studio's gallery this fall," Marina said.
"Do you have more here?"
"No, they were sent in the trunk and that has yet to arrive." William nodded and sat on the floor to look through Marina's portfolio. "Hey, you're wearing jeans! I didn't know investment bankers did that!"
"They're designer jeans," William declared haughtily.
"Oh." They exchanged a smile.
"I hope my showing up here unannounced isn't a problem," William said.
"Oh no, not at all. In fact, I was getting a little bored, to tell you the truth. I was considering going out and finding something to do." William brightened.
"There's a new exhibit of Celtic illuminations at the Morgan Library," William suggested. "That ought to be right up your alley if you haven't already seen them."
"I never tire of looking at illuminations," Marina confessed. "You're on." William rose and helped Marina to her feet. They spent the afternoon at the Morgan, a museum dedicated to the written word. The Morgan Library was originally the personal library of financier J.P. Morgan, who had it built onto his Madison Avenue home to house his collection of rare and unusual books, along with the ephemera of famous authors. William was rather pleased with himself. His ploy of showing up with cat food had been a success. If Marina had thought he had taken her to dinner out of some sense of obligation, there could be no mistaking William's intent on this occasion.
When William and Marina left the library they walked a few blocks north to Grand Central Terminal and had an early dinner at the legendary Oyster Bar. It was such a pleasant evening that they walked all the way home, some twenty blocks further north, laughing and conversing as they went. William was rather pleased with himself after leaving Marina at Richard's place and heading toward his own. The day had gone very well and by the time he reached his apartment, William was already looking forward to his next date with Marina.
"Emmy! You know, I was beginning to think I was only going to hear my own voice when I called the apartment. How are you?"
"Ricky! It's good to hear your voice," Marina said as she settled back on the couch and absently stroked the cat curled up at her side.
"Oh, I don't know about that. I've been listening to it for a day and a half now and it's no thrill to me. Where have you been?"
"I'm sorry," Marina replied, somewhat hesitant to reveal that she had spent the previous evening at a movie with Richard's cousin. She wondered for the first time whether or not William and Richard had ever discussed her. "I've been out exploring the city. It's been ages since I've been in New York."
"Yeah, well, if you're going to go running around all over the place you ought to consider getting yourself a wireless phone. How am I supposed to look after you if I can't find you?"
"Who said you had to look after me?" Marina countered.
"I did."
"I'm a big girl, Ricky. And how do you expect to look after me, anyway, if you're on the other end of the country?"
"I have my methods." Marina bit her lip.
"You sent William to look after me," she accused.
"No, I think that was my mom's idea, although William has been known to hatch an idea or two on his own. But I placed a mini-cam on Squeaks' collar and have been keeping you under surveillance," Richard declared. Marina smiled.
"Oh. No wonder he keeps following me into the shower." Richard laughed.
"I'm sorry I'm not there to be a proper host," he said seriously.
"You've never been a proper host before; why worry about it now?" Marina teased.
"Well, now you're at my place, not my parents' house, and I feel an obligation--."
"Don't, Ricky," Marina interjected. "I'm fine on my own, really. You needn't worry about me at all."
"I'm not worried. I'd just like to be there with you. It's been ages since the two of us had a chance to hang out together."
"I know," Marina replied wistfully. "We didn't have much of a chance in Paris."
"No," Richard sighed, "And I apologize for that. Erin put a real damper on things."
"Well, I can't blame her for being jealous." There was an awkward silence for a moment. "When do you think you'll be back in the city?"
"I have no idea. I'd like to think that it'll be some time next week," Richard said as Tineke came bounding into his room with a pizza and a six pack of beer. He had left the door open and she entered without knocking. "We have to see--. Hold on a moment." Marina heard a brief conversation between Richard and Tineke and shut her eyes tightly. "Excuse me. As I was saying," Richard continued, "We have to finish up all of our on-site assessments before we leave. We won't have the luxury of being able to come back. The building has been scheduled for demolition because it's structurally unsound. If we don't gather all the evidence now, we'll never have a second chance to get it." Marina hadn't heard much of Richard's remarks beyond the first couple of words. Her head was throbbing and she rubbed a temple with her free hand.
"I'd better let you go. It sounds as though you have company," she said.
"Hey, you don't have to leave yet. We're just kicking back with some pizza. I want to hear all about what's been going on in your life," Richard said.
"Maybe next time; it's rather late here, you know. You're keeping me from my beauty sleep."
"According to my sources you don't need any."
"What does that mean?" Richard chuckled, but didn't explain.
"All right, but you have to promise me a decent chat soon," he said. "And get yourself a wireless."
"I have one," Marina replied. "But who says I want you checking up on me all the time?" she asked archly.
"All right, then, have it your way. I'll just have to use all the vid-cams I've installed in the apartment."
"I noticed those; why do you think I'm always out of the house?" Richard smiled.
"I'm glad you're back, Emmy. I've missed you." Marina felt a lump in her throat.
"Thank you. 'Night." She hung up before Richard could say another word. She absently returned the telephone receiver to its cradle and went into the bedroom, where she pulled back the sheet on Richard's bed and slid under the covers. Marina suddenly felt lonely and she pulled the sheet up to her chin as if to ward off the feeling of isolation that threatened to engulf her.
She tried to sleep but was haunted by painful memories of that summer many years earlier when her friendship with Richard was changed irrevocably by his rapidly developing interest in the opposite sex. Once he began to date Marina felt her place in his life being pushed aside in favor of stronger attractions. She had never recovered from the blow to her self-esteem and had silently resented every female in Richard's life ever since. The sound of Tineke's voice had been enough to irritate the old wound she'd been harboring for over ten years. Marina felt all the absurdity of her situation as she fought the old, familiar frustration. It was no surprise to her that Richard still had the power to unwittingly cause her pain. She still nursed the disappointment of his visit to her in Paris. The phone rang and she sat up and reached for the phone.
"Hello?"
"I hope I haven't called too late," William said.
"Oh! No, William...no," Marina said as a feeling of relief washed over her.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine," she said as she wiped away the tears that had spontaneously come to her eyes. "How was your investment bankers' ball?"
"It wasn't a ball, it was a stockholder's meeting held in a ballroom," William laughed. "And it was dreadful," he said as he tried to erase the memory of Jessica clinging to him like a leech the entire evening.
"So you guys bore even yourselves?" Marina teased as her spirits rallied.
"Did you just call me boring?" William asked.
"Who me? Never!"
"I certainly hope you didn't. I might change my mind about the invitation I was about to extend."
"What manner of invitation? I'd like to know before I decide how sincere to make my apology," Marina said impishly. William was amused.
"You're in a good mood tonight. Oh, by the way, have you spoken to Richard? After I dropped you off last night I found a message on my machine from him asking if you were still alive."
"Did you call him back?" Marina asked.
"I didn't have a chance to. I was too tired to call him last night and too busy at the office today."
"And then your ball tonight..."
"Yes," William sighed tolerantly.
"I did speak with him today and convinced him that I'm alive."
"Good, now about that invitation--."
"I'm waiting with bated breath," Marina purred.
"What would you say to a picnic at the Cloisters this weekend?"
"I'd say I'll cook, you drive, name a time." William laughed.
"Does 11:00 a.m. on Saturday work for you?"
"That's a little early for a picnic, Will," Marina suggested.
"I thought you might like to go inside the museum and impress me with your extensive knowledge of medieval art once more."
"You know, I do like other forms of art, Will. We could go to some other museum."
"No, no! I love the Cloisters, especially in the summer when the gardens are in bloom. And I love the grounds as well."
"All right, you needn't twist my arm! I haven't been to the Cloisters in years," Marina said. "And a picnic is a great idea."
"Can you cook, by the way? I don't remember whether or not Richard mentioned that your talents tended in that direction." Marina sobered.
"What has Richard told you about me?"
"Not much; he said that you are the sister he never had and told me a little about growing up with you as a constant fixture in his home. He's obviously very fond of you."
"William, did Ricky...did he ask you to look after me?"
"Yes--well, no, not really, in so many words. But when he spoke of you it sounded as though he'd take it amiss if I neglected you."
"So that's why you've been so nice to me?"
"Marina, if you think I asked you out because Fitz put me up to it, you're greatly mistaken. I asked you out because you're a lovely, interesting and vibrant woman I enjoy sharing my time with. I wouldn't have bothered with you otherwise."
"Oh, right," Marina smiled, "Your investment banker philosophy wouldn't have allowed you to make such an investment with no expectation of a return." William laughed, but both he and Marina were conscious of the deeper implication of her remark, and it was a moment before William spoke again.
"I'll see you on Saturday," he said.
"I look forward to it." The pair exchanged goodbyes and Marina hung up the phone. Thoughts of her date with William kept the oppressive memories of her youth away this time, and she slept well that night.