Chapter 8

Christopher

I was in my office, but I certainly wasn’t getting any work done. There were three things plaguing me. The first and most potent was Lillie. I knew she was out there somewhere, packing up to leave town and through no fault of her own, she was having to start over. I felt responsible, even if I wasn’t involved. I still felt strangely committed, and this was an unusual feeling. I’d spent every year of my young adult life turning off my feelings of obligation, at least toward other people. They were dangerous, the personal sense of obligation far more powerful than the individual involved could possibly imagine. I wanted to be able to turn that part of me off—to be just purely business and not need people. I just couldn’t seem to find the way, though.

The second was my niece, Marga. I remembered what it was like to be ten-years-old. The world was running you and there were no options but to do as you were told. This mess between Corey and Daphne was probably tearing her apart and I couldn’t stand to know about it and not do something about it.

The third, was Steve. He was avoiding me, and I didn’t like what that possibly meant. He knew I didn’t share his value system and the fact that he wasn’t hanging around, told me he was making a deal somewhere, in some way. I knew it involved our company, and that’s what bothered me the most. I didn’t want Steve to represent me.

As I stood at my office window and looked out at the snow gliding to the ground below, I came up with an idea that could help all three problems at the same time. It was the sort of inspired resolutions I was famous for—but I’d never been able to apply them to myself.

“Corey?”

“Hey, Chris. Listen, now’s not a good time. I’m at work.”

“Like you’ve never interrupted me at work. Listen, just have one question for you. I’m going to Europe for two weeks. Have some scouting to do for the business and I’d like to take Marga along.”

“Marga?”

“Yeah, it would be great. She’s never been on a trip like that and it would be great for expanding her awareness. I’ll have someone along to look after her, so she’ll never be alone. We’ll fly over on my jet, so she’d be in the best hands. Anyway, you and Daphne could use some time alone to decide what you’re going to do about this…this thing you’re going through. You okay with this?”

“Yeah, well, I guess so. You’ll have to check with Daphne, though. You’ll have to talk to her, I’m not getting in the middle or it will be a definite no-go.”

“I understand. You’ve got it. I’ll call her now.”

“Okay, you’re on your own. Take care of my girl.”

Corey disconnected, and it struck me as odd that Corey had already taken the attitude that Daphne would have no problem letting Marga go with me. If Daphne was as difficult to get along with as he let on, she might be more resistant, but he didn’t seem to think so.

“Daphne? It’s Chris.”

“Hi there! Haven’t talked to you in ages, but I bet you’ve heard plenty.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to get in between you two and I tell him that all the time. Listen. Have a question for you. I’m headed to Europe for a couple of weeks, taking my jet. I’d like to take Marga with me. What do you say?”

“Marga? Really? Oh, Chris, are you sure? She’s only ten, you know, even if she thinks she’s going on thirty.”

“She’s a great kid and I’ll have someone along to look after her if I’m in a meeting. No kidding, Daphne, I think it would be good for her to get away for a while. I also think it might not be a bad idea for you and Corey to have some alone time.”

“I agree about Marga, but Chris, I’m not so sure Corey and I will accomplish any miracles while you’re gone.”

“Well, at least let me give Marga a nice holiday. What do you say?”

“You’ll have to take her out of school for a few days, I think. She’s only off until New Year’s.”

“The school can hardly turn down an opportunity for education like that.”

“True. Well, want me to let her know, or do you want to?”

“Tell you what. Why don’t you bring her over this late afternoon, to my apartment? I’ll have our companion there and everyone can meet. Sound good?”

“Perfect. We’ll see you then.” Daphne disconnected.

I was contemplative. Something was odd about Daphne’s side of their difficulties. I couldn’t put my finger on it except to believe that maybe she wanted to stay in my good graces and not say something that would piss me off and take Corey’s side.

My next call was the one I really wanted to make. I was saving the best for last. The phone rang several times before she answered.

“Hello?”

“Hello, my little elf.”

“Chris?”

“Who else?”

There was a lapse at the other end, as though she was trying to gather her wits and not say something stupid.

“I didn’t expect you to call,” she said finally.

“No? Why not? I told you I would.”

“Lots of guys say that, and never do.”

“I’m not lots of guys.” I felt a little hurt that she’d thought so little of our night together. “You okay talking to me?”

“I can’t think of anything I’d rather do,” she reassured me, and I relaxed again. “Listen, how’s the packing coming?”

“Pretty much done, except for the breakables. The movers are supposed to bring special boxes for those and I’ll wrap them when they get here.”

“When will that be?”

“Day after tomorrow.”

“Where will you go after that?”

“Not sure. I have to wait for the house to close before I can put money down on an apartment. I think I’ll take one of those long-term motel rooms; you know the efficiency kind.”

“Sounds dreary,” I commented.

“Well, it’s only temporary. I can handle anything if it doesn’t last too long,” she said cheerily and again I felt a chill of recrimination. If, no, when she found out I wanted her parents’ building, she’d think I was setting her up to get what I wanted. There would be hell to pay and I wouldn’t blame her if she walked away. I would just delay that as long as I could.

“Listen, I have a favor to ask.”

“Well, I can’t imagine what I could do that you can’t do for yourself, well scratch that…” she giggled. “Sorry, my mind goes funny places.”

“I love where your mind goes.” I meant it. “Anyway, could you come over to the apartment about five this afternoon? There’s something I’d like to talk to you about and someone coming I’d like you to meet.”

“Sure, I guess so. I should have this wrapped up by then – pun intended!” She laughed again, and I was struck anew by the gaiety she brought into my life. That was something I’d never had before her, and I found I liked it.

“Okay, see you then.”

“Hey! Do I need to dress any certain way? Am I going to be Rudolph this time?”

“No, nothing like that. You’ll like this much better.”

“I’ll take your word for it. Okay, see you then. Oh, and Chris?”

“I’m still here.”

“Listen, I thought you were only being polite in asking for my number. This is the house phone and I’m surprised it hasn’t been shut off yet. Let me give you my cell number.”

“Ye of little faith,” I commented as she gave me her cell number. She disconnected, and I was left with a warm glow. It was beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

***

Lillie called from the lobby and I sent the elevator for her. She emerged, and I was waiting with open arms. “How have you been?” I asked, genuinely wanting to know as I took her coat and hung it in the closet. I handed her a cup of hot cocoa and we went into the living room. She headed straight for the big windows and the view.

“I’m fine. Just about done. I could stand here all night and look out these windows.”

“Okay, if you want to, but I think it would be nicer if you laid down with me.”

She spun around, an odd look on her face. “Is that why I’m here? A call girl?”

“What? Oh, God, no, Lillie. That’s not why I invited you here. Listen, sit down. I want to ask you something and we’re expecting guests shortly.”

She took a seat on the sofa and I sat next to her. “So, you know I’m a businessman, but you don’t know all the details. I will tell you more about that later this evening, but for now let me say that my business is going to take me to Europe for two weeks. I’d like you to come with me, for two reasons. One, I just want to take you. The second, I’d also like to take my niece, Marga, and I was hoping you’d help me look after her. She’s ten.”

“So… is this like a job?”

“Crap, didn’t mean to make it sound like that. I’d really like you to go as my date, companion, lover – however you’d feel best looking at it. Lillie, I want to spend time with you and I can’t think of a better opportunity than to take you with me. I’m only taking Marga because of what Corey and Daphne are doing to her. I’ll be in a few meetings, but otherwise thought it might be fun if we went together. Am I wrong? Selfish?”

“No. I guess it’s just the way it came out.”

“I’m not good at this stuff. In business, I can say exactly what I mean, but this… with you… it’s all coming out in a jumble and I don’t want you to feel like you’re a convenience. Promise me you won’t take it that way?”

“It’s okay, I get it.”

“So… will you go and be with me?”

“I can’t.”

“Why? Is it what I said?”

She shook her head. “No, but you forget. I’m moving. I have to supervise and make sure everything goes as planned. The house is to be sold and I need to find a room.”

I stood up and faced her. “That’s no problem. I’ll send my team over to supervise and they’ll follow up to make everything gets to Florida or put in storage. Whatever you want. Come with me to Europe. Take a break before you decide what you’re going to do next.”

She shook her head.

“No? What’s wrong?”

She was hesitant and suddenly it hit me like someone shining a bright light into my eyes. “Lillie, I’m covering all the expenses. This won’t cost you a penny, I swear.”

“It’s not that…” she began but I could tell it was exactly that and she hadn’t wanted to admit it. I felt like a heel. I should have found a way to make that clear at the outset instead of embarrassing her. I was so used to paying the way for everyone around me, it never occurred to me that anyone would question it.

The bell that signaled someone was in the lobby rang and I tapped my phone. “Hello?”

“Chris, it’s us.”

“Great, Daphne. Come on up.”

“Well, I’ll get out of your way,” Lillie said, heading to the closet for her coat.

How had I managed to fuck this all up? Lillie was my first objective and the whole thing would fall apart if she didn’t come with me. Yet, I’d managed to make her feel awful and now she was leaving.

The elevator doors opened and in walked Daphne, with Marga right behind her. I hugged them both and turned to introduce them to Lillie, but she had slid into the elevator behind me and was gone.

I was desolate, but more than that, I was angry with myself. I’m not sure how I got through the next half hour and I know Daphne noticed I was only half in the conversation. My mind was reeling.

Daphne had taken the reins. “Marga, your Uncle Chris has invited you to go to Europe with him over the holidays. You’ll fly over in his plane and see all sorts of wonderful Christmas traditions. I think it would be an awesome experience for you. Do you want to go?”

“Oh! Yes, very much, Uncle Chris!”

Marga came over to hug me and I was happy she was enthusiastic. I briefly went over the plans with Daphne. We didn’t talk about Corey and her; the whole point of this was to extract Marga from that atmosphere.

“You mentioned having a companion along who could help look after Marga?” Daphne was looking around. She’d obviously seen Lillie leave but was too polite to ask outright.

“Yes, yes I’ll have another female along so Marga won’t have to ever use the facilities or go anywhere unaccompanied. I’ve invited a friend, but she hasn’t given me an answer—her life is in transition at the moment. If she doesn’t go, I’ll hire a professional nanny. Not to worry, Marga… it will be someone fun, I promise.”

Daphne nodded with approval and I made body language motions that everything was resolved. I felt like a heel kicking them out, but I had to find Lillie and fix things. I knew I couldn’t sleep leaving all that in limbo. I think Daphne picked up on that because it was only a few sentences later before she was standing and moving toward the elevator.

“Well, we need to get going. We have to get you some clothes and probably a set of luggage,” she was already planning in advance and I realized what a great mom Daphne was. I hoped whatever it was between Corey and her could be worked out.

Marga gave me another happy hug and Daphne kissed me on the cheek. I waved them off at the elevator and immediately went into my home office to find the information I had on Lillie. My only hope was that she was still at her parents’ house. Since everything was packed, there was a possibility she’d already moved to a motel. That’s when I remembered that she still didn’t know about my business. Could I possibly resurrect her trust in me and tell her about my stores without losing it all?

First things first, I told myself. Find her and then worry about the rest.

It was time for me to call in some favors. My first call went to a college buddy who was now serving on the Chicago PD. I gave him the license number to her car and he called me back in a few minutes with the address on the registration. “Don’t tell anyone where you got this,” he urged me, and I assured him it would go no further. It was the same address on her resume. I hoped she was still there when I arrived, but if she wasn’t, I’d drive all night and check every motel near the house. She wouldn’t go far; she would feel most comfortable in her own neighborhood.

If there was one thing I did well, it was to read people. Then how did I manage to fuck this up? I asked myself again.

I never noticed how slowly the building’s elevator moved, or maybe it was because I was in an exceptional hurry. I burst out the doors into the garage and was tooling down the street moments later. I set the navigation system and it wasn’t long before I pulled up before a house that had a crooked “For Sale” sign in the yard and only one window had a weak glow. I parked out front and went up to the door.

I tried to get Lillie on the phone so I wouldn’t scare her, but she wasn’t picking up. I tried texting but then deleted it before I sent it – expecting that she’d hide or even leave to avoid seeing me.

I was at the door then and I knocked, standing back from the house so I wouldn’t scare her. She opened the door, inches first, and then opened the storm door when she recognized me. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to talk to you, please?”

A neighbor’s dog had begun barking and it had started to snow. She looked around and then in a hush now voice, motioned me inside and closed the door behind me. “There’s nothing to talk about,” she said.

“Can I at least come in?”

She hesitated, and I realized she might be embarrassed by the condition of the house.

“I know everything is torn up and that you’re moving. I just came to see you, not the house.”

That seemed to pacify her, and she stood back so I could pass through into what was probably the living room. Its walls were lined with stacked boxes and I saw in the middle of the room, a pallet made of a sofa pillow and a couple of tattered blankets. Next to it was a lighted candle and beside that, Lillie’s phone; its screen black. I knew she’d turned it off.

She was wearing sleeping pants and an over-sized t-shirt. She was so short it reached down far below her knees and that’s when I noticed how cold it was in the house. “Aren’t you cold?”

She shrugged. “They already turned off the power,” she explained.

“You can’t stay here, honey. You’ll freeze to death.”

She flinched when I used the endearment; I know I saw it. “It’s okay. The boxes are insulation and the candle puts off a little heat.”

“I think the boxes are tinder and the candle the beginning of a fire you might not escape in this confusion. Get dressed, you’re coming with me.”

“I don’t want to go to your apartment.”

I was taken aback, but put myself in her shoes. I understood. “I understand. But you’re not staying here so dress, blow out the candle and I’m getting you a room.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but must have thought twice about it because she did as I told her. We left her car in the drive to discourage vandals as the house already looked deserted. I drove her to the Hilton and got her a room. “Send up two steaks with the trimmings, a bottle of wine and I want breakfast sent up in the morning. Tell your chef to send up his best,” I told them.

I was trying to erase the vision of her pitiful little bed and her tattered appearance when I’d arrived. It broke my heart and made me feel horribly guilty. The first thing she did when we got to the suite was to shower. She came out in the complimentary white terry robe, her locks damp and trailing down her back. The robe was huge on her and she looked all the smaller within it – the sleeves rolled up to allow her hands the freedom to move.

Room service arrived with the dinner cart and we were finally alone. Dinner was set up on the table by the window and we sat there, sharing the wine and eating. I let her settle down before I brought up the business I was there to settle. I wanted her mellow.

The wine was almost gone when I ordered a second and after it arrived, I filled both our goblets and settled back. “Will you hear me out before you answer?”

She nodded, not in agreement so much as in allowing me to have my say.

“Thank you. You will get to know me better, Lillie, but believe me now when I say that I don’t bullshit people. I won’t take it from them and I won’t dish it out. People who do know me will tell you that.”

I waited for her reaction, but she was silent—waiting for me to continue with my next thought. “You are different from anyone I’ve ever known. I can’t tell you all the ways because I haven’t uncovered all of them yet, but someday I will. For now, you have to understand how my mind works. I’m a problem solver. I’m entrepreneurial. I like challenges and when a problem presents, my mind goes into overtime.

“Now, I think you picked up on the fact that I’m not happy with the situation in Corey’s household. I want to take Marga out of there for a while. I’m also going to Europe on business, so the opportunity was timely. But, and that’s a big but, the first thing that came to mind was that I wanted to invite you to come with me. That was way before I thought of Marga. I didn’t make any secret of the fact that I don’t want to be married or have children of my own. You know why. So, this seemed like the closest I could ever come to having that. But the important point I’m trying to make here is that I wanted you to come more than I wanted Marga. I just thought we’d make a cozy little family and everyone would get along well; she could see what family could be like and me, well, I’d have you with me.”

“If you don’t want to be married or have children, why is having a cozy family for two weeks something that has you interested?”

“That’s a fair question,” I nodded. “I guess I just wanted to be surrounded by people I care about and who care about me…and to leave bullshit behind. Sort of a mental vacation for me. Is that so selfish? Is it wrong?”

She studied my face and sipped her wine. I thought she wasn’t going to answer and just about the time I was going to reiterate my point, she spoke up. “Okay, I’ll go.”

It took my breath away. She’d made a conscious decision to do it without my having to talk her into it. She was simply awesome. I thought it only appropriate that I be equally respectful.

“Thank you,” I said simply. “I’ll make the arrangements as I promised.”

She covered a yawn and I realized she must be exhausted. She’d been packing all day. There were two bedrooms to the suite. I caught her eyeing one of the doors.

“Listen, let me stay here with you tonight. I want to make sure you’re okay and I’ll drive you back to the house and see to it that everything goes as planned in the morning. I’ll sleep in the other room if it makes you more comfortable.”

She studied me and then shrugged. “It’s your room,” she said in a rather cocky tone and then got up and headed into the bedroom, closing the door symbolically behind her. Although I didn’t like it, I had to respect her privacy and keep my promise. I checked the doors, turned off the lights and used the bathroom for a quick shower. I turned down the bed and crawled into it, my mind working over the various tasks I’d have to put into motion the next morning. I was almost asleep when I heard my door creak and felt a light weight on the bed at my back. A slender arm went over my waist and a pair of soft, rounded breasts pressed into my back. She wiggled her hips, settling in and then there were a few moments of silence before I heard her even breathing. I could sleep then; she was safe.