EPILOGUE
The Human Condition
Felicity
“Ms. Harper, what brings you here?” Theo’s secretary asked as I got off the elevator on the top floor.
“I was wondering if he had an opening to squeeze another appointment in?” I smiled.
She looked at me oddly. “He’s in a meeting, but I’m sure if I tell him—”
“I’ll wait. Can you just put me up next?”
She looked nervous. “Mr. Darcy said to always put you through.”
I sighed. Every time I came here, someone stepped all over my plans.
“Today I’m here to pitch him something, not as his fiancée, so just treat me like you would anyone else.”
“He has nothing after the meeting, so you can wait.” She pointed to the chairs.
I sat down in the waiting room, taking a magazine, and the very first person I saw was Deborah Day, in the arms of none other than her co-star from Theo and Mr. Hamilton’s movie. Both of them were smiling at each other with ice cream cones in hand. The title above it read, “Only weeks after her Deborah Day and Alexander Arnold’s movie, Mr. and Mrs. Beauchamp, broke box office records, the pair have confirmed they are actually dating in real life.”
Life had changed so quickly over the course of the last year that even I had a hard time believing it. Just like Mark had said before he disappeared altogether, my problems didn’t magically go away. I didn’t see things anymore. I was no longer nauseous or had headaches. For the most part I was still me, both the good and the bad. Since I had tried to kill myself, I decided to see Dr. Butler once a week. He was ashamed of himself for not realizing I wasn’t schizophrenic, and I had to talk him out of quitting.
Theo and his family weren’t on speaking terms. He couldn’t bring himself to tell them the truth about Arty or lie by being around them and keeping silent. Nor could he handle how disapproving they still were of me. It was easier to just keep his distance. On top of which, Arty had left to only God knows where. I knew it took everything Theo had for him not to hunt him down. He was trying to give him space. His father, Charles, on the other hand, was in the hospital. Theo never said a word to me about it. However, I knew from his bloody knuckles not to bother asking. He could keep the secret from Lorelai and Arthur for now… at least until Arty could talk about it. But he wouldn’t let Charles go.
The only people we saw often were Walt and Tori, who would be welcoming their first child next spring, along with Rosemary and Chief Petty Officer Lucas Jackson.
I had texted my father the news, and he called me right way. He even flew to California to see me, but I wasn’t ready, and Theo was more than happy to let him know. While we were in the darkest part of our lives, no one else had been there for us, and now everyone wanted to come back. It actually made it worse, like they were saying they truly could not love me if I had schizophrenia.
“Felicity, what are you doing out here?” Theo came out, walking toward me, the group of men behind him heading back toward their offices. He shifted his gaze to his secretary, who quickly picked up the phone.
“Don’t blame her. I asked her to let me wait because I came here on business.”
His eyebrow rose. “Business?”
I lifted the folder I’d brought. “Do you think you can pencil me in?”
He glanced at his watch. “I guess….”
“I know you have nothing else, you—” I bit my tongue. The last time I’d called him an ass at work, everyone’s heads turned, and I’m sure someone even gasped.
Knowing what I was thinking, he made room for me to step by. “Lead the way.”
I felt his eyes on my ass, so why not give him a show? I walked confidently with my head high until I reached his office. He closed the door and seized my waist, pressing into me with his hard-on.
“Do you treat all your visitors like this?”
“Just you.” He kissed the back of my head and let me go, going behind his brown desk. Unbuttoning his jacket, he sat down, leaning back in the seat. “What can I do for you, Mrs. Darcy?”
“It’s still Ms. Harper for another two weeks—”
“Minor details.” He smirked. “Aren’t you going to get on with it?”
Rolling my eyes, I opened the folder. I put the paper down on his desk. “I would like to pitch a movie idea to you.”
“The Human Condition?” he read aloud. “A love story about a young couple and how their lives drastically change when one of them is diagnosed with a mental illness. I get what this story means you, to us, but it’s been done before.”
“Yeah, but not often through the eyes of the person with the illness. Readers, movie watchers, we all trust the narrator to set the story. But I think we have someone who seems totally normal tell the story. It might give better insight to those looking at mental illness from an outside perspective. I didn’t have schizophrenia, but I did live as someone who did and was treated that way. At Crossroads, I met a few very good people. I want a story for them.”
He stared at me. “It’s going to need a sexier edge to it and maybe a hotter title.”
“Like the couple meeting at a sugar baby party?” I chuckled, and so did he. His green eyes seemed to shine.
“Sure. What about the title? Calling it Sugar Daddy might send the wrong message.”
“How about Sugar Baby Beautiful?” I replied.
He looked confused. “What does that mean?”
“I’d like to think it means the kind of beauty even the richest people can’t buy.”