A Beautiful Fate Read online

  “Hey, you guys wanna watch Caddy Sha… holy shit, I deserved that... sorry.”

  Rory had scared me half to death and I let out a little scream. Ari pulled me off his lap and sat me next to him on the bed.

  “Shut the door, Rory,” Ari demanded calmly, but Rory just stood there, looking a bit like a deer staring at headlights.

  “Shut the damn door, Rory,” Ari said again, with more force.

  “Right, sorry. I’ll just leave the two of you to it then.”

  With that, he finally left and shut the door.

  “I am so sorry, Ava.” Ari said, looking at me sweetly while brushing the hair away from my face.

  “No, it’s fine. It is probably for the best that that happened anyway, Ari – I don’t think I am ready to do that yet.”

  Ari kissed my forehead, “I would wait forever for you.”

  I blushed and he smiled.

  “Well, do you wanna watch Caddy Shaaa?” Ari teased.

  “No.”

  “Good, me either.”

  He scooped me up and tossed me on his giant pillows. I let out another giggle and Ari’s beautiful smile spread, once again, across his face as he crawled under the blankets next to me, wrapping his body around mine. We lay there like that while he stroked my hair and traced circles on my back; he asked me another round of questions and I fell in to a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

  ****

  I woke early, still wrapped in Ari’s arms. I stretched and found my phone on the nightstand and saw that it was only four-thirty in the morning. There was no use in trying to fall back asleep. I was up. I snuck out of the room, went to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. Half way through The Times, Andy walked in.

  “Morning, Ava! I am not used to having anyone up before me. Everyone in this house likes to sleep in.” He frowned. “Anything new?” He asked, pouring himself a cup.

  “No, I had no dreams at all, actually.”

  “Strange,” he said, scratching his head.

  “Tell me about it. I can’t remember having a dreamless sleep in my whole life until just recently.”

  “Hmmm. We will get this figured out.” Andy nodded more to himself than to me.

  Aggie joined us an hour later, then Ari woke up and found us all in the kitchen. He kissed me on the top of my head and a sweet chill went down my back.

  “Morning, Ava Baby,” he said with a sleepy smile, and then started making a new pot of coffee.

  I had read the paper completely, even the boring stuff, and looked up and noticed a pair of running shoes by the back door. I padded over and tried them on. They had to have been Lauren’s because they were bright pink and orange Nikes, just her style. They were a perfect fit. Ari was sitting at the table, reading my discarded paper. I walked over to him and he instantly wrapped his arm around my waist and looked up.

  “I’m going to go for a run; do you think Lauren would mind?” I said, pointing down to the borrowed shoes.

  He gave a laugh, “Nah, she won’t be up for hours, so you’re good. Be safe. You want me to go with you?”

  I smiled playfully, “nah, you’d only slow me down.”

  He kissed me goodbye and my cheeks grew pink. I was not used to this kind of affection, especially with an audience consisting of his family members.

  As I walked towards the back door, Rory entered the house wearing his jogging gear. He noticed me heading out.

  “Ah, awesome, wait up and I’ll go with you.”

  “Alright, I guess.” I looked over at Ari, who was rolling his eyes at Rory.

  “How was your night last night, cuz, huh?” Rory asked, nudging Ari with his elbow. “Wink, wink.”

  “Rory,” I said with agitation, “If you don’t come now, I am leaving you. I have to be in class in less than three hours, so let’s move.”

  “Yeah, alright. You’ll fill me in later, won’t you, Ari?”

  By then Ari was already back to his paper, thankfully giving no attention to Rory.

  I have to admit, running with Rory was actually fun. He kept pace and helped push me a little faster than I was used to. I filled him in on the fact that I had not had any dreams.

  “Yeah, that’s because you were caught up in dreamland with Ari.” He puffed and I chose to ignore his comment, knowing that acknowledging it would only provoke further Ari-related conversation. After that, we just ran and I concentrated on clearing my head. My world seemed to be happening too fast for me to handle.

  We got back to the house and Rory veered off to his place to clean up before class. I made my best attempt to knock all the sand from Lauren’s shoes and then walked into the house and put them back where I had found them. Ari was waiting for me, talking to his mom and looking as handsome as ever. He had on dark fitted jeans, dress boots and a light sweater. He would fit better in a J-Crew magazine rather than in his mother’s kitchen. He astounded me. I felt even more aware of the fact that I had just run six miles and probably looked like it, too. We said our goodbyes to his family and Ari drove my car back to campus. He dropped me off at the front door to our dorm so I could clean up before class, parked my car and went to his own classes.

  Chapter 11

  Favorite Song

  Ari began walking with me in the hallways at school, always holding my hand. We sat together in the lunchroom and ate dinner together in the evenings. At first, we got all kinds of second glances and curious stares. To the rest of the world, our relationship seemed to have come out of nowhere. Only Ari and I knew that we had really been together almost since the day I started at Dana Point.

  I spent most of my evenings in the library, and, after hours, Ari and I usually hung out together in either his room or mine. I always tried to be good and proper and insist that he return to his room at night, but I woke up with nightmares and in every instance, he came right back to talk me to sleep. I had gotten only glimpses of the men that had been sitting at the round table in my dream. Their faces faded in and then right back out of my memory. Each night when I went to bed, I wondered if I would see them again; the thought of what they might have in store for me was scary.

  On Sunday night the girls from my hall and I still gathered to watch a movie, but there wasn’t as much actual watching as there had been. Sophie, Viola and Emily kept peppering me with questions about what Ari and I had going. I tried my best to appease them, but I am a private person so I dodged as many of the questions as I could without being kicked out of their little group. I think our whispered conversations upset Skylar and Keri. They shot their icy-cold dagger stares at me every time I opened my mouth.

  Ari and I left for his home on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. I had agreed to join them for the long weekend. For starters, being at Ari’s sure beat the alternative of being alone on a holiday... and then, too, the idea of spending four days without Ari seemed torturous. I packed up half of my closet even though we were going to be there only four days – no telling what might be called for. Ari and I spent Wednesday evening with his family sitting around eating pizza and watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. I had never seen the movie before and when the Alexanders found out, they freaked and insisted that I watch it with them immediately. Ari sat next to me on the couch with his arm wrapped around my shoulder. His sister splayed out on the floor in front of the television and his mom and dad sat on together and held hands on the overstuffed chair for two. Rory showed up half way through the movie, flopped down beside Ari and laughed loudly aloud, occasionally slapping his knee.

  When the movie finally ended, Ari and I snuck quietly off to his room. He shut the door to his bedroom, then scooped me up in his arms. A quick breath escaped my mouth as Ari lifted me up around him and started kissing me. My back was pressed against the door and Ari’s body was pressed firmly up against mine, keeping me in place. His teeth grazed my ear, sending a flash of heat across my skin. He held me in his arms, slowly made his way to the bed, and softly dropped me down on his fluffy blankets. He settled in nex
t to me and we continued to kiss, his hands exploring the rest of my body until I felt my mind start to fade away and give in to temptation. I nudged him back and he knew it was time to stop.

  Once my heartbeat returned to normal, I got up, disappeared into his giant walk-in closet to slip on a camisole and some girly boxers, and then joined him again under the blankets. Ari usually slept in his blue-and-white striped pajama pants and a white undershirt when he was with me, but lately he had been sleeping without the shirt, which was fine by me; I loved to nuzzle my face against his warm chest. The beating of his heart was like a lullaby and his scent was intoxicating. The sound and the scent of Ari made me pass out with a giddy glee.

  ****

  Ari and I lay tangled up in each other limbs, his chest serving as my pillow and his face buried beneath my hair. The blankets had been lost to the other side of the bed hours ago. I heard Ari’s door creak open, but I was too tired to give much acknowledgment to whoever was disturbing my sleep. I half-heartedly cracked one eye briefly and saw Andy walk into the room, with Rory and Thais standing behind him in the doorway. I groaned softly and buried my head more deeply into Ari’s chest, wishing all three of them would just go away.

  “Ari,” Andy said as he shook Ari’s shoulder, “come on, get up. Tee-time is in a half hour.” Ari didn’t budge. “ARI!” Louder this time. “Wake up!” Andy said again, shaking his son so vigorously that I could feel the strength he put into the motion. I made another small moan and Andy gave me an apologetic smile.

  “Ari,” I said in a whisper.

  A smile spread across his face and he blinked his sleepy eyes at me. I tilted my head toward Andy and Ari’s smile faded. I rolled my head grudgingly off Ari’s chest to a nearby pillow. He gently covered me back up with the blanket, then rolled over and wrapped his arms back around my body, snuggling his face into my hair.

  “Mmm, go without me.” He groaned to Andy. “I can think of much better things to do than play golf with you guys.”

  Andy chuckled, “I’m sure that’s very true, but I reserved this tee-time over a month ago and you aren’t backing out now.”

  “Nick could go in my place,” Ari mumbled.

  “I don’t think so, Ari.” Andy’s voice had become deep and authoritative. No one in this family liked to be told no.

  Ari knew when to give in. He kissed me on the temple and sat up.

  “Fine, I’ll go. I’ll be out in a second.”

  I heard Andy sigh and mumble something unintelligible as he walked away.

  Before the door closed, Rory sang out in his loud booming voice, “good morning, Ava!” I swatted my hand in the air at him and then rolled over in the opposite direction. Ari made his way to the closet, got dressed then came back to my side in bed.

  “I’m only playing the back nine, so go back to sleep and I’ll be here before you wake up.” I pushed my head deeper into the mass of pillows and fell back asleep as he kissed me softly on the top of my head.

  I don’t know how long I slept before the dreams came to me. I was once again in a dark room dominated by the round table. The men I had seen once before were sitting around the table in deep discussion of something I couldn’t make out. I remembered Andy asking me to stay in the dream as long as I could and to try to focus on my surroundings. The room was thick with cigar smoke and smelled musty. I sensed that the room was not large, but I couldn’t actually see the perimeters. I stood still for a bit, acclimating myself to the darkness and the cigar smoke, then took a few steps closer so the men’s faces were no longer hidden in the shadows. I stood for another short period of time, just looking at the six of them, studying them. Their features were all quite similar – dark hair, olive skin tones, and dark, old eyes – but their weight and height varied from one to the next.

  I looked carefully at some papers that covered the table, but couldn’t make them out. I took a few more steps, trying to see what was written on them, but to no avail. I stepped even closer. A sudden silence in the room caught my attention. I swallowed hard and looked up. The man in front of me was staring right at me...not through me, but at me. Somehow, he knew I was there. He started to shout, “Moirai, Fate. Fate, she is there!”

  Backpedaling as fast as I could, I tried to force myself to wake up. The man reached out to grab me. Terrified, I slammed my eyes shut. I could feel hands around my shoulders. He was shaking me and my own screams echoed in my ear. When I finally opened my eyes, all I could see was … Ari.

  “Holy hell, Ava!” he said, cradling my face in his hands. “What happened, what’s the matter?”

  Calming down and slowing my beating heart was a challenge and took several minutes. When I could, when the hysteria had calmed, I told him exactly what had happened.

  “Are you positive they saw you?”

  “Yes, I am absolutely positive. He looked right at me.”

  Ari let out a deep breath then stood up. “OK, don’t worry. We’ll figure something out,” he said.

  “K.” I tried to brush the dream away and move on by grabbing some clothes out of my bag and walking down the hall to the shower. I took my time washing my fears away and calming my nerves. After drying off, doing my hair and applying a pinch of make-up, I put on a black knit sweater that fell ever so slightly down my shoulder, paired it with a pashmina and a skirt, and made my way into the kitchen.

  I found Aggie busy working on a huge Thanksgiving feast, and was able to settle down for the better part of the morning to help her. She gave me the task of making the pies. I made seven pies, which struck me as horribly ironic since I eat almost nothing with sugar in it except for an occasional spoon of peanut butter. I embraced the chore -- it was a pleasurable enough way to get my mind off my fears.

  Aggie was very easy to talk with. She asked me questions about my childhood, my mother, the foods I like to eat. She was playful and at times sarcastic; in other words, she seemed to be a lot like me. This was the first holiday I would be spending without my mom and my mind kept floating back to her, Chicago and the brownstone. I think Aggie could tell that I was homesick; all of a sudden, she came around to my side of the big marble island and held me in a warm hug.

  She stroked my hair for a moment, then pulled back and took my face in her hands.

  “Ava, I know I am not your mom and that I can never come close to filling the void her death has left in your life. But I want you to know that I will always hold you in my heart and that I am here to help you whenever you might need me.”

  Tears pooled in my eyes and Aggie threw her arms around me once more until I caught my breath.

  “Here,” she said, walking over to a shelf in the kitchen that held both cookbooks and pictures in expensive looking frames. She grabbed a 5x7 frame and handed it to me.

  “This is your father, and this little guy here is Ari when he was just one year old. It was taken a few months before you were born.” The picture was of a smiling, good-looking man holding a little boy on his knee. Both of them had mischievous grins on their faces. Little Ari looked exactly like grown-up Ari – his eyes a bright, clear brown, his smile broad, and his hair stuck up all over his head. I felt a pang of jealousy and found myself wishing I had been the baby sitting on my father’s knee in the picture with my dad instead of Ari.

  “Adrian loved Ari so much. We were all so close. Your father was the best man in our wedding and Andy and I miss him dearly. I know there hasn’t been a day that has gone by that Andy hasn’t spent time searching for you. Adrian was so cryptic about your mother. He said so little about her; he wouldn’t even tell us her name. It hurt us a bit to know that he was keeping such a large part of his life hidden from us, but now I know that he was trying to protect you… and us as well. Whatever was out there, he didn’t want it finding our home. I will never forget the last time we saw him. He told us that you would find us someday and he gave us the letter to keep for you. He held on to Ari for dear life and cried. Thinking about how he was that day made me suspect he might have known
something that we didn’t. I think Adrian somehow knew that Ari would one day grow up and fall in love with you.”

  I took in a sharp breath at her last comment, but Aggie didn’t seem notice. I gazed at the photo a little longer, then handed it back to Aggie.

  “No, Ava, I want you to keep this; it’s yours.”

  “Aggie, I can’t take this photo. Thank you for showing it to me, but it belongs with you.”

  Aggie playfully shook her head at me. “Ava, you are just as stubborn and bull-headed as your father was, maybe even more so. I can tell that you and I are going to have some fun arguments and I look forward to them.”

  Ari’s home began to fill up around noon and friends and family started in on decorating the three Christmas trees -- a fir in the entryway, a spruce on the sun porch and then the largest one, a white pine, in the living room. Ari just shook his head and laughed at his mother’s tree fixation, but I have to admit that the house, little by little, was being transformed.

  Lauren sat at the piano punching the keys in an attempt to play some Christmas songs. I took a seat next to her and showed her the right notes to hit. She soon gave up and let me take over. I finished her song, then quickly threw in the Peanuts theme song for my own enjoyment. Lauren thought my choice was hilarious and gave me a couple of requests. I obliged her for a little while then snuggled up with Ari on the couch to watch The Wizard of Oz on TV. I was feeling at ease with the Alexanders; I didn’t even mind playing the piano with them around.

  Aggie prepared a huge Thanksgiving meal with all of the traditional menu items. There was the turkey, of course, and the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, the gravy, green beans, rolls, some strange cranberry concoction that traditionally no one ever ate – and of course my pies. The spread was endless. Everyone sat at the dinner table, talking over one another, sharing stories and laughing loudly. Afterwards, I helped Aggie clean up by clearing dishes and wiping tables and counter tops. Once we were done and the kitchen spotless, I found that most of the people who had stuck around into the evening were hanging out together on the deck. The air was mild and soft; the sky a perfect clear black was littered by millions of stars shining down. The deck was adorned with yards and yards of twinkling lights and lanterns, and music came softly through the outside speaker system. I walked out to join the others and started talking with Rory, who carried on and on about football until Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat Song” came on. Rory let out a great sigh but had a smile on his face. He was trying desperately to feign a look of annoyance, but was failing miserably.