Chapter 32
Distances
“I love him.”
Victoria moved her cellphone to her left hand and lifted the coffee pot with her right. “You just met him, Casey.”
“He gave me a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Titanium.”
She grimaced. “I have no idea what that is.”
“It’s a watch. It’s gorgeous. It’s twelve grand a pop.”
“Wow.” She put the coffee pot back on the warmer. “Sebastian can be pretty generous,” she added, remembering her pimped-out bedroom and wardrobe.
“He’s not overcompensating for anything, is he?”
“What? Uh, no, I don’t think so.”
“How big is he?”
“Casey!”
“Hey, I had to ask.”
“No you didn’t. That is not a thing you ask your friends.”
“Don’t be silly. Of course it is.”
“I never asked you how big—” Victoria looked around furtively then dropped her voice. “... how big Bill was,” she whispered.
“I told you anyway.”
“I begged you not to.”
“Oh yeah, you did. Sorry about that.”
***
Casey loved your gift. Thank you.
You’re both welcome.
He says he’s thinking of scuba diving now. And he hates sports.
We can do a diving trip together. You don’t get nervous on yachts too, do you?
I’ll be fine. That sounds like fun.
No, really. I’m always ready to calm all your fears.
I’m going to pretend I don’t know what you mean by that.
:-)
You don’t have to overdo it, you know. A tie would have been fine.
I thought we were trying to cheer him up.
Are you trying to impress my friends?
Yes.
Is it working?
I think Casey likes you even more than he likes me right now.
:@)
Did you just text me a pig emoji?
Damn it.
Hang on.
O:)
Awww. You’re adorable.
How’s your day?
Good. But you’re busy, and I don’t want to keep you. We can catch up later tonight.
I’m fine.
Don’t you have work?
Yes.
O:)
LOL. How’s New York?
Boring. Cold. Quit your job at the coffee shop and come join me.
Victoria?
Hey, I wasn’t serious. I’m not really asking you to quit.
I know.
But now that you brought it up— any luck finding a new tutor for Benson?
No.
Are you even trying?
No.
Sebastian.
Yes, dear.
I can’t keep working for you.
You still can. If you want.
We both know it will get weird pretty soon.
Not for me. I thought you needed this job.
I do. But I can find something else.
Do you want my help?
No. But thank you for offering.
You can stay. At least until you find something else. Benson really likes you.
You think so?
Yeah. I have no idea why.
Hey!
:(
You have to admit, you spend more time with his uncle than you do with him.
We could have him tag along sometime.
Out of the question. Let him find his own girlfriend.
***
Victoria had just fired up her Macbook when the doorbell rang. She’d just had a quick shower after getting home from work, and was about to get back to her writing.
“Hang on, there’s someone at the door,” she said, standing up.
A young man in a delivery guy uniform held up a large paper bag. “Delivery for Victoria,” he said, sounding bored.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t order this.”
The man read the bill taped to the paper bag. “Victoria Slade. Apartment 4E. 23 Calista.”
“Yes, that’s me, but—”
“Look, ma’am, we already got paid for this. You want it or not?”
She smelled mole sauce, and she suddenly felt very hungry. “Yeah, sure. Thanks.”
After tipping the delivery guy, she dropped the paper bag beside her macbook.
“What was that?” Sebastian said over her cellphone speaker.
She opened the bag and found warm, foil-wrapped packets. “Someone just dropped off some take-out. Funny, I was just about to heat something up for dinner.”
“Try the grilled chicken.”
She smiled. “Did you have this sent over?”
“Well, I couldn’t let my assistants do nothing all day.”
“There’s enough food here for five people.” She frowned. “Are you implying something about how much I eat?”
“I saw you stuff an entire meatball in your mouth. It was horrifying.”
Victoria stuck her tongue out as she unwrapped the chicken. “I’m making a face at you right now, in case you’re wondering,” she said.
“So immature. The mole is really spicy, be careful.”
“Oh my God,” she said, her mouth full of chicken. She chewed and swallowed. “This has to be the best thing I’ve ever had in my mouth.”
“I resent that.”
“Why would you...” Then it hit her. “Oh.” She smiled, her cheeks turning pink. “Second best thing then.”
“That’s better.”
“What time is it over there?”
“It’s 11 p.m.”
“Don’t you banker types have to be up early or something?”
“I need to be up by five.”
“Wow that’s really early.”
“I need an hour for the gym before a breakfast meeting at seven.”
“Maybe you should go to bed now. It’s only eight o’clock here, I’ll be up for hours.”
“I’m fine. Pretend we’re having dinner together.”
Victoria couldn’t help smiling. “So romantic.”
“Will you stay over tomorrow night?”
“I’d love to.” She paused, her smile fading. “Does Benson know about us? We moved our study session to Wednesday. He’ll wonder why I’m spending Tuesday night at your place.”
“I’ll talk to him before the party. This isn’t something I can explain over the phone.”
“I suppose you’re right. I’m a little nervous.” None of the men she had dated had kids. What if Benson didn’t like the idea of her dating Sebastian?
“Don’t be. He likes you.”
“As his tutor, maybe. Not sure about the other thing.”
“You mean as my girlfriend?”
“Yes.” She felt giddy. She wondered how long it would take before she got used to hearing him call her that. “What will you tell him?”
“That I was helpless against your feminine wiles.”
“Very funny.”
“You showed up in my office in that rumpled shirt smelling like doughnuts and stale coffee. I couldn’t resist.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“Oh God, what if he thinks I was just after you all along.”
“He’s ten, Victoria. That’s not something that would cross his mind.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry.”
“Did you try the grilled salmon? There should be some mushrooms too.”
“I love the mushrooms, thank you.” She took another bite. “This is bad. I’m supposed to be writing.”
“You need to eat first. Tell me about your novel.”
“Well, it’s science fiction. In the future, there’s a war between a human colony in the other side of the galaxy and their alien neighbors. The protagonist is a young woman who pilots a mecha.”
“What’s a mecha?”
Victoria licked some sauce off her thumb thoughtfully. “Hmmmm. It’s like a plane that needs a pilot. Except instead of a plane it’s a huge humanoid robot-like thing.”
“Does it fly?”
“Yes, but it has to transform into a specific mode first. Then it’s basically a jet plane. Oh, and it’s aided by a built-in AI.”
“Artificial intelligence?”
“Yeah, that’s right.” She grinned. It was nice being able to talk to someone other than Nicolette about her work. “Her mecha’s IA is the computerized mind of her sister who passed away when she was a kid.”
“So it’s like they’re flying together. Like Jarvis.”
She laughed. “Yes. Only the robot’s as big as a small building. But yeah. Flying together. Fighting side by side. Most of her inner conflict centers on her forgetting that her mecha isn’t really her sister. Sometimes she forgets her sister is gone.”
“That’s a pretty good story.”
“Thank you.” She was grinning like an idiot.
“Can I read it?”
“Sure. When it’s done. Nicolette says never show someone an unfinished draft.”
“That’s good advice. She’s like a sister to you, isn’t she?”
“She’ll roll her eyes if I tell her that, but yeah, she is.”
“Did you ever wish you had a sister?”
“I do. Even a brother would have been great. My parents had me really late in life. My Mom was, like, forty. It would have been difficult for her to have any more children after me.” She paused. “You were really lucky to have a brother. It must have been so hard for you when he passed away. And your mom too.”
“It was. I miss them every day. Benson is all I have now.”
And me. She blinked, surprised at how much she wanted to say it out loud. She cleared her throat. ”What about your Dad?”
“We’re not very close.”
“You think you and he will ever... I dunno — have a real relationship?”
“I doubt it. I don’t think he likes me very much.”
“Isn’t he lonely?”
“I don’t know. You’ll meet him tomorrow. Maybe he’ll tell you.”
“It’s going to be awkward, isn’t it?”
“Excruciatingly. You’ll need to hold my hand through it.”
“I will. I promise.” She reached out and lightly touched the corner of her phone, as if somehow a slight physical connection to the device that carried his voice from so far away could lessen her longing to be with him.
“I can’t wait to see you,” Sebastian said.
“Me too. Did you just yawn?”
“No.”
“Sebastian.”
“Yes, dear.”
“You’re falling asleep. Get to bed.”
“I am in bed.”
“Alone?”
“Of course I’m alone. No, wait, there’s a couple of supermodels here I forgot about.”
“No kidding.”
“They fell asleep while you were talking about the flying robots.”
Victoria frowned. “Did I bore them?”
“They say you need a bit more social commentary in your novel.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’ll make a note of it.”
“Hey. Vi, I was kidding.”
“You’re not very funny.”
“I know. But you don’t have to worry about you and me. We’re solid.”
“You didn’t seem sure.”
“About what?”
“Last night when I asked you if you were going to be faithful. It seemed like you weren’t sure.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin and tossed it in an empty paper bag. “Look, I get it. You’re probably used to sleeping with a different girl every night—”
“Victoria, I —”
“I know being in a relationship is a big change. But if it’s too much for you, maybe you should tell me now.”
“It’s not.”
“We can go back to the way things used to be.”
There was a silence that was much longer than Victoria could bear.
“I don’t want that,” he said. “Even if we wanted to go back the way things were, I wouldn’t be able to do it.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You make me happy.”
“Oh.”
“No one’s ever done that in a long time.”
“Sebastian ...”
“Stick around, okay? I promise not to make any more bad jokes.”
Victoria had to laugh at that. “Okay.” She wrapped her arms around her legs that were folded against her chest.
“Thank you. Now tell me what you want.”
“What I want?”
“From me. Is there something I’m not doing that I should be doing?”
“I don’t know. Will you cook for me again sometime?”
“Yes. Anything else?”
“Well ... Wait, did you just call me Vi?”
“I did. Do you like it?”
“I think I do.” She smiled. “Should I have a nickname for you? Bash?”
“Not if you want me to answer.”
“Seb?”
“I’m going to bed now.”
“No, wait!” She laughed. “Did anyone ever call you something other than Sebastian?”
“No.”
“Seriously.”
“It’s always just been Sebastian.”
“Fine. Sebastian.” My Sebastian, she thought. “I’ll wait for you to go to sleep before I end this call, okay?”
“Don’t hang up. I want to hear you wake up.”
“Do I snore? Nicolette says I do but I’m not sure she was serious.”
”Sometimes. You sound like an emphysemic bullfrog.”
“You’re my boyfriend. You’re supposed to think my snoring is cute.”
“You sound like a cute bullfrog with respiratory problems.”
“Hey.”
Sebastian chuckled. “Good night, Vi.”
“Good night.”
She sighed contentedly, and rested her finger on the side of her phone as she waited for him to fall asleep.