Two weeks later Rich finally answered her and it was only after she’d told him she didn’t want any money, that she just wanted some guarantees that he wouldn’t be in the child’s life once she had the baby.
She and Hoop were getting closer but their jobs kept them both very busy. He’d gone to Sag Harbor with her and met her parents and the twins who were enjoying their last summer of freedom before starting their senior year in college. And Cici’s mom had given her a box of baby stuff that Cici had never seen before. It contained some things from her biological father including a child’s rocking chair that Cici remembered from her childhood bedroom. She’d been touched by it.
She’d noticed that Hoop had been quiet after they’d gotten home and they’d only had dinner together once but had texted a few times since. Her phone pinged as she arrived at the office.
Hoop: Are you free for dinner on Saturday?
Cici: Yes. Come to my place I’ll cook.
Hoop: Sounds good. Seven?
Cici: See you then.
She put her phone on her desk and turned back to her computer. But the truth was, for once numbers weren’t the solace they always had been.
Maybe because the numbers were relentless. She’d had 280 days to get ready for something that she doubted she’d be ready for if she had double that many. And it was already done 130 days.
She was making progress at least with getting Rich legally out of the picture. She doubted very much that he would suddenly show back up in her life. She had the feeling that, like herself, he had sort of put their one night together down to island fever and regret. She wondered how his family would feel about that. And she was honest enough with herself to admit she wanted to find out if they were interested in meeting the baby.
“Are the financials that bad?” Iona asked from the doorway.
She had her red hair pulled back into a high ponytail and her sunglasses were pushed up on the top of her head.
“They are actually really good. I think the additional classes are going to pay for the refurbishment of the space upstairs by the end of the next quarter. We are doing really well with them,” Cici said.
“Good,” Iona said as she walked into the office, sat down on one of the guest chairs and crossed her legs. “My mom wants me to go to Greece and find a nice boy.”
Cici leaned back in her chair and admitted that she was glad to have someone else’s life to worry about for a few moments. Plus, Iona was usually so strong with everyone except her mother. “Tell her no.”
“I did. But she said I’m not really looking here and…she’s persistent, Cici. I can’t figure out how to get her off my back without hurting her feelings,” Iona said.
“Fake boyfriend?” Cici suggested. Someday, was her kiddo going to be talking to friends about her like this? She hoped not but the truth was Iona’s mom was a good one…is that what being a good mother was about? Being in her kid’s business all the time?
“Fake one. Are you kidding me, Cici? I need a real solution, not something you saw on a soap,” Iona said.
And for the first time, Cici realized something was going on with Io. Something more than she’d appreciated.
“I was joking,” Cici said. “What is really going on? You can say no to a trip to Greece; the store is busy and we need you here, something like that.”
Iona rubbed the back of her neck. “Sorry I snapped at you. I think my yia-yia has hired a matchmaker. Mom sorted of hinted that this time I’d come back with a man.”
Cici knew that Iona had been feeling the pressure to settle down. She was thirty, they all were this year, and her family had been willing to let her find her own path but they wanted more Greek babies. Something that Iona’s mom said to her frequently. “Okay, so don’t go. Don’t meet the matchmaker.”
“You’re right, but another part of me…” she leaned back in the chair and closed Cici’s office door and then looked back over at her. “A part of me is ready to settle down. You’re having a kid, Hayley’s engaged and I’m over here hooking up with guys who are fun, which is great but I don’t know how to find a guy for the long haul.”
Cici stood up and walked around her desk, perched on the side of Iona’s chair and wrapped her arm around her friend. “No one knows how to find one of those. Do you want them to find you a guy?”
Iona shrugged. “No. Most days the answer is no, but you know I don’t want to spend my entire life single. I always thought someday I’d meet someone and settle down but that hasn’t happened. Part of it is me, you know I have high standards.”
Cici laughed. “The highest…I don’t know what to tell you to do. Whatever you decide, I’ve got your back.”
“I know you do. I guess I was thinking since you are sort of in the middle of…”
“A mess?” Cici asked.
“Not a mess. You are in the middle of figuring out your life and I thought maybe you’d be able to give me some advice.”
Cici felt something shift and settle inside of her. “Thanks, Io, that means a lot to me. I don’t know what to tell you except that I ran from Hoop as hard as I could and I ended up back here trying to figure out something with him. I think that we can’t run from our chosen path, you know. That no matter what you decide, if this matchmaker, your yia-yia, has named a man for you and it’s meant to be, he will find you.”
Iona’s idea for escaping was a day at the spa. They hit the Red Door Spa. They had relaxing massages and then manicures and pedicures while talking about nothing and just laughing and having fun. For the first time in a long while, Cici didn’t really worry about not being enough. With Io she always was.
She looked over at her friend who was busy texting someone on her phone. For the first time, she was seeing the chinks in Iona’s perfect life. She’d always sort of envied Io and believed out of the three of them she was the one who was the most successful at life. Hayley was good in the kitchen and that was where she focused her attention and she really excelled, hiding away from the world making her dreamy, chocolatey confections. Cici, herself put everything into columns and sorted them, adding and subtracting things until everything balanced…until the baby and Hoop. But Iona…she just always mastered everything. She was the one who seemed to know how to breeze through life.
And Cici realized she’d taken her friend at face value.
“Want to see Hamilton tonight?”
“Are you kidding me?! I’ve been trying to get tickets for months,” Cici said. She thought fleetingly of her plans with Hoop but surely he’d understand this was Hamilton. Also, she worried a little bit that she relied on him too much. That she was making him into her life to help bridge the gap between the life she knew and the one she had to make.
“Not kidding. My mom is trying to bribe me to go to Greece,” Iona said. “Dad apparently knows someone…though why we couldn’t have gotten tickets early is beyond me.”
“Io, if we go do you have to go to Greece?” Cici asked. “If so, then my answer is no.”
Iona put her phone on the counter and turned to face her and in her blue eyes Cici saw something she hadn’t seen in her friend ever before. Resignation. It was as if she had given up and she wondered if everyone saw that in her own eyes. She was losing herself and it was only the first trimester. She needed to figure out motherhood. She didn’t want anyone to look at her like she was looking at Iona and feel…pity.
“I’m going. I already decided. It’s like you said. Fate can’t be changed. Hoop ran from you and now you two are dating. Cosmic karma.”
She shook her head. Though she knew that Iona was superstitious, Cici had always been a cold-hard-give-me-proof sort of person. Numbers added up to something. Coincidences didn’t. They were random.
“Are you sure about that? I think I just said that earlier to make myself feel better. You know, since I got pregnant, I’ve felt like I have no control over my life. I’m trying to adjust to the consequences of having made a poor choice and it makes me feel stupid that I ever thought…well, that sleeping with another man would resolve what I was feeling about Hoop.”
Iona shook her head and then started laughing. “Oh my God, you sound like what’s going on in my head. It’s like I’m on a crazy train that is running out of control and I can’t figure out how to get off. I mean, my mom isn’t going to give up on matching me with someone. I figure the best way for me to take control is to meet her guy and then reject him.”
Cici smiled. Best laid plans. That was what ran through her head. She’d fallen into bed with Rich to forget. She hadn’t fooled herself that he was trying to forget someone as well. They’d both sort of figured they’d do this thing and move on and look what had happened.
But Iona was scared. Cici didn’t know why but her friend spent a lot of time being very careful not to let anyone get too close. She was sure that there were secrets Iona kept even from her and Hayley.
She also didn’t have a solution for Iona so it was best to back her friend’s plan and be there for her if it didn’t work out. That was what she was coming to realize about life. That plans weren’t worth the time. She had thought she was in control and Hoop threw all that out the window.
“Sounds good. We can go to Hamilton guilt free?”
Iona nodded. “Yes and you can bring a date. Or maybe Hayley.”
“Do you have a date?” Cici asked.
“Uh, yeah. Mom already has the guy yia-yia’s matchmaker found lined up.”
“You want me there to vet him?” Cici asked. Who was this guy that the matchmaker had found for Iona. She had never really thought much about finding her perfect man.
“Sort of. Will you do it?” Iona asked.
“Yes,” Cici said. “And if Hoop can’t make it I’ll go with your brother,” Cici said.
Iona nodded. “Thanks.”
“Girl, that’s what friends are for,” Cici said. She texted Hoop to see if he could make the 8pm curtain. He texted back immediately saying yes.
She noticed she also had a missed call from her attorney. Which worried her.
“We can go,” Cici said.
“Great,” Iona replied.
“I have to call my attorney,” Cici said. “I’ll be right back.”
She left the spa and went into a private area and dialed Lilia’s number.
“Cici, thanks for returning my call,” Lilia said. “It seems Rich didn’t give you his full name. He is part of the Hallifax family and our firm already represents him.”
“What does that mean?”
“Just that I’m going to be going up against one of our other attorneys…actually one of the partners. The Hallifax family is one of her largest clients. I wanted to give you a head’s up. I saw your text messages with Rich, which will give us a place to start from, but it might not be as straightforward as we’d hoped. I’ll keep you posted.”
Nico Marinos didn’t seem like the kind of man who had to have a matchmaker find him a date. But then Iona had never been to one so she had no idea what special qualities they might have. He was handsome in that Mediterranean way that Greek men had. He was tanned and well dressed. He spoke English with a British accent and he and Hoop had bonded over boats. Seemed Nico designed some of the most expensive yachts in the world.
Iona’s date was the perfect distraction from waiting to hear back from her attorney. She should have guessed Rich had lied to her about his name. And she was anxious because even she had heard of the Hallifax family. They were involved in shipping and politics. They were a dynasty like the Kennedys had been and she was sending them something that said they gave up all rights to her baby.
The men went out at intermission to get drinks and Cici and Iona stood to stretch their legs. The musical was beyond good but tonight she just couldn’t concentrate on it.
“He doesn’t seem that bad,” Cici said. It was hard to find fault with a man who had all those white teeth and the kind of winning grin that Hollywood would totally eat up.
“Sure, he’s nice enough now but that’s probably because he wants to make a good first impression,” Iona said. “He does smell good.”
Cici smiled and then said, “One thing in his favor. And he has a good job.”
“Cici, stop trying to sell me on him. He’s too hot to need a matchmaker. “
“Maybe he’s picky like you,” Cici pointed out, arching her eyebrow at her friend.
Iona tapped her long fingernail against her teeth. “It’s like my mom described the exact perfect man for me. Makes me think that there must be something that all that eye candy is there to distract me from.”
“Like what?” Cici asked. “I’m not being difficult but, like, Rich was good looking but he was on the rebound from some relationship that had him torn up. Is that what you mean?”
Iona nodded and then shook her head. “Yes, just like that. We’ve both binge watched Millionaire Matchmakers on TV. It’s not unbelievable that a man with a lot of money would need help with women but he’s pretty charming.”
“Who is?” Nico asked as he rejoined them, handing Iona her glass of champagne.
Cici felt herself flushing as she realized he’d overheard their conversation. Hoop handed her a plastic glass with sparkling water in it and draped his arm over her shoulder and she looked up at him smiling. There was something so nice about having someone to lean on.
“You,” Iona said. “I’m not going to apologize for wondering why you used a matchmaker.”
Ballsy as always, Cici turned her head into Hoop’s chest to hide her laughter. Hoop rubbed his hand on her back and when she looked up at him he was smiling. It was the first time she’d seen him this way. He was totally relaxed and it made her feel good inside.
“Why did you?” Nico asked.
“My mom did,” Iona said. “Oh, great. That makes me sound worse than you.”
He laughed and Cici noticed that Iona smiled when he did. Her friend was attracted to her blind date. Nico wore a pair of dress pants and a button-down shirt with an attractive print on it. He’d left the first three buttons undone revealing a gold medallion and a small bit of chest hair. He had eyes the color of the Aegean Sea and his hair was black as midnight and well styled.
He was cute, but he didn’t make her heart race the way Hoop did.
Hoop wore a pair of dark wash jeans and a striped oxford style shirt that he’d left only the top button undone on. His shirt was untucked and his brown hair was a little bit mussed, which she knew was because he ran his fingers through his hair when he was reading. She’d noticed it when they’d been on his yacht.
She glanced up at him and felt that swell of emotion that she was afraid to name. It was the same swell of emotion she’d experienced for the first time in Olympus when she’d met him and danced with him. She knew she was falling for him. Hadn’t stopped falling for him from the moment they met.
He winked at her and squeezed her close to him.
“Nothing could make you sound bad,” Nico said and there was a tone in his voice that made her realize that he liked Iona as well.
“Wait until you hear her dressing down someone,” Cici said, smiling.
“She’s right. I can be a full-on diva at times,” Iona admitted.
“I’m told I can be a shark at times,” Nico said.
The lights flicked and they all turned to sit back down. Hoop leaned over to Cici and she closed her eyes as she inhaled his earthy aftershave.
“I like him. He doesn’t seem awed by Iona, which is what I’ve noticed most men tend to be,” Hoop said.
“I like him too. He’s definitely not her usual kind of man,” Cici whispered back. “I think he might be just what she needs.”
He draped his arm over the back of her seat and she settled into the curve of his body, once again realizing how easily he made her not feel alone. She told herself not to get used to it. That he wanted to talk to her, that he wanted to discuss something. But right now, that didn’t matter.
“What about me?” he asked.
“What about you?”
“Am I what you need?” he asked.
She took a deep breath. Fear keeping her words in the back of her throat. She was scared to admit to him how much she was coming to rely on him. Just for emotional support and for this…but it didn’t change the truth she knew deep in her soul.
“Yes,” she admitted. “You are.”
While the second act of Hamilton got underway with its message and hip hop songs resonating in her mind, she didn’t think of anything except the moment. This was what she’d been struggling with. Life was made of moments, not of plans. She had to remember that.