The Family You Choose (18 page)

He’d begun to feel like not only a deviant
but an ineffective deviant when he saw her round the corner from
Stephen’s block toward Boylston Street. He smiled to himself. Maybe
not totally ineffective.

He parked his car and rushed to get to the
block she was on, then slowed down so he could stroll into her.

"Sorry!" he said when he bumped into her.
"Oh, hi! It’s Tatiana, right?"

She smiled when she saw him. "Alex, is it? So
nice to see you again. You know, isn’t it funny? I thought I saw
someone who looked like you in a black car just two blocks away.
But it couldn’t have been you, right, because here you are, just
out for a stroll? In Stephen’s neighborhood no less, just as I’m
leaving. Isn’t that a coincidence?"

He couldn’t keep himself from grinning. "Very
coincidental."

Tatiana nodded. "And I bet if I walked back I
wouldn’t find that same black car parked on the street, would I?
Because then it’s not a coincidence anymore, it’s something
else."

It had been some years since he'd turned red.
"You caught me. Yes, that was me, driving around Stephen’s block,
hoping for the chance to see you and get shot down in the street."
She was giggling now. "Let me guess, I’m not the first guy to try
that."

She looked up as if she were thinking. "No,
but you were the first one to try it on this block. On me, at
least." She raised her eyebrow. "But tell me, was I the first one
you did a drive by for?"

"Oh, absolutely, indubitably, yes ma’am. I
honestly can’t think of anyone else I’ve ever met that I would go
to the trouble for."

"When you say it like that, I can’t help but
believe you."

"Scout’s honor," Alex said, holding up his
hand.

"You were a boy scout?"

"I think I made it through a month of the Cub
Scouts before I decided it wasn’t for me. But would a dishonest
person tell you that?"

"I see your point." She smiled. She had a
very nice mouth too. "So, Mr. Sheldon, you’ve gone to all this
trouble to talk to me. Did you have something in particular that
you wanted to say, or have we already covered it?"

"Has anyone told you that you have the most
beautiful eyes?" It really was the first thing he wanted to
say.

"Actually, most of the women in my family
have eyes very much like mine, so it doesn’t usually come up."

"What a lucky family. But I’m not talking
about the color. Yes, they are absolutely the greenest eyes I’ve
ever seen. But have you ever been told that they are the most
beautiful?"

She still smiled, but a touch of sadness
clouded her face. "Just by one other person."

"Well, if he’s not still around to tell you,
I think he’s a little bit of a fool, don’t you?"

"He was a little bit of a fool," she said
softly. "But he was a sweet fool, and you must know that that
counts for something."

"I’ve got to say, not too many people have
called me sweet, but even fewer have called me a fool. What does
that count for?"

"I guess I don’t know." She took a deep
breath. "Mr. Sheldon, I’m not sure Stephen would approve of this
conversation. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee that he
wouldn’t."

"I told you, call me Alex."

"Fine, Alex, but it won’t make a
difference."

"Maybe I just like hearing you say my
name."

"Alex, I should go and we should forget this
little accidental, coincidental meeting."

"Does Stephen have some kind of document that
gives him legal title to you and your time when you’re not with
him?"

"No, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t care
about what he would think."

"And what about what you think? It doesn’t
bother you that he’s with his wife while you’re his little
secret?"

She stood a little straighter. "Stephen has
to make his choices, and I have to make mine."

"And you choose Stephen?"

"In a manner of speaking."

"What would you choose if there weren’t a
Stephen?"

"I suppose that depends on my choices."

"Pretend I’m one of them."

She smiled. "Depends on what I’m choosing
for."

"What about...dinner?"

"Dinner might be a problem."

"Then what about lunch?"

She nodded slowly. "I think lunch could
work."

"So have lunch with me."

"Sorry, I thought we were speaking
hypothetically. Stephen is still in the picture."

"Does he tell you about everything with his
wife?"

"No."

"Do you think you’re entitled to know?"

"Probably not."

"So how would this be any different?"

"I guess the difference would be my
relationship to his wife and your relationship with Stephen."

"Why don’t you let me worry about that?" Alex
didn’t like using such a weak argument to close a negotiation, but
it was the best he could come up with. He held his breath while she
looked like she was thinking about it.

"Alright," she said at last, and Alex knew he
was grinning even more widely than before. "Lunch."

"When?"

"Next Monday."

"Next Monday?!?"

"Sorry, that’s the best I can do. Take it or
leave it."

Alex, always in tune to people’s weaknesses,
could tell that Monday really was the best he was going to get.
"Monday. Where?"

"You decide."

"How will I get in touch with you so I can
let you know?"

"You won’t," she said simply. "You’ll give me
your number, and I’ll call you on Monday morning to find out where
you’re taking me."

"Are you always this bossy?"

"Only if I think I need to be."

He reached into his wallet for one of his
cards. He wrote his home phone number and handed it to her.

"And I expect a call," he said, "by no later
than nine on Monday morning."

"Or else what?"

"I’ll think of something."

"You do that." She walked away to Boylston
Street, and then turned the corner out of view. Alex walked back to
his car and drove back to his office. He was still smiling by the
time he got in.

~~~

Tatiana called Alex at his home at seven on
Monday morning. "Good morning!" she said cheerfully.

Alex had been up for an hour already, but he
hadn’t expected her to call so early. "Good morning."

"So, where are you taking me today?"

He smiled. "How do you feel about
Italian?"

"Like I can never get enough."

"Then Italian it is. I’ll pick you up."

"No, I can find my way. Just give me the
address."

Alex arrived at the most romantic Italian
restaurant in Boston at eleven-thirty. He hadn’t really believed
that she’d be there until he saw her sitting by the window, looking
at the menu. He took a deep, satisfied breath when he walked into
the door, and walked over to the table.

She looked up. Her eyes were still that
green; her lips were still that full. "Hello."

"You found it? Sorry, it’s a little bit out
of the way."

"I suppose that works out, doesn’t it?" she
said with a little smile as she went back to her menu. He smiled
too.

"What are you thinking?" he asked after a
minute.

"Fettuccine Alfredo," she said after a
minute. "Splatters won’t be too visible."

"I’m thinking...veal piccata."

She wrinkled her nose. "Not a veal person.
I’ll eat meat, but veal seems a little bit much."

"Oh," he said softly. "You’re one of
those."

"If by
those
you mean a conscientious
eater, then yes, I am."

"You do realize that the veal is already
dead?"

"That’s a relief. But you realize that your
order is going to wind up getting another calf killed for its white
meat?"

"Just my order? I’ll bet I’m only one of
forty or fifty orders for veal in this restaurant, just for today.
I’m a drop in the bucket."

"You know what happens with drops in water?
They create ripples."

They placed their order and Alex put his chin
on his hand. "Are you worried about ripples, Ms. Hamilton?"

"Maybe a little."

"If it makes you feel any better, this is a
pretty closed circle. You, me, Stephen. Limited scope for those
ripples."

Tatiana bit her thumbnail and moved her head
side to side as if she were thinking something. "Don’t you care
about Stephen?" she said at last.

"He’s my best friend," Alex said, still
staring at her. "I’ve known him since we were seven. I think I care
about him more than anyone else does."

"I don’t think he’s going to like this," she
said slowly.

"Do you agree that there is a ‘this’ not to
like?"

"I don’t go out on many lunch dates."

"That’s good to hear."

"Is it?" she asked. "But you do." It wasn’t a
question. "You made a reservation here. When I came in, they showed
me to your usual table."

He inhaled a bit before he smiled. "It’s a
very good restaurant."

"I expect the food will be very good, but I
don’t think that’s what people come here for."

Alex tried to erase the emotions from his
face. "You said you liked Italian."

"And I’m sure that if I’d said I liked
Chinese or French or Hungarian, you’d have had a special spot in
your back pocket for that too."

The food came. Tatiana swirled her pasta and
took a mouthful. Alex cut his veal, trying not to stare at her
while she ate. He took a bite and sipped his wine. "How much does
that bother you?"

"Being part of a harem? It’s not very
appealing."

"But letting me be one of two...that’s
better?"

"What's the real advantage to what you're
offering? No one would be a secret?" He said nothing. "And for the
record, I didn’t follow you in my car."

"No, but you called me this morning."

"I did." She sipped her wine while looking at
him. "And I think that was a mistake."

"Why?"

"Because I think you do like my eyes, but I
think you like the idea of getting Stephen even better."

"What am I getting him for?"

"I haven’t the faintest. But maybe it has
something to do with the fact that he is sitting in his home right
now, planning his next trip with his family, and you’re leaving the
office to have lunch. Tell me, how much time do you have?"

Alex raised his eyebrow. "As much as I want.
It’s my company."

"Is it really?" She leaned in. "Didn't it
used to belong to Stephen's father-in-law?"

Alex didn't move. "Not exactly. But do you
think Stephen should have it instead? Annabelle has a brother who
might have a better claim, except neither of them wanted it. Even
if they had, they wouldn't have known what to do with it."

"But you do, of course. So you can't stay out
too long. You have to get back and watch it and make sure nothing
happens to it."

"That’s true, but what I’m watching is much
bigger than what Stephen might be watching. Stephen’s father
wasn’t, shall we say, the most cautious investor, and Stephen never
had anyone to learn any restraint from. Black Monday hit him pretty
hard—you just wouldn’t know it."

"But not you, right? You were smart, you
weren’t greedy—you probably managed to turn a profit eventually,
right?"

"I did."

"But as you said, no one knows it. At least,
no one knows how much better off you are than your oldest, best
friend."

"They don’t have to."

"They don’t have to because you do, and
that’s enough. Is that what you were going to say?"

"What if it was?"

"Then I’d want to know what you really
expected to get out of this, right here. Because if you don’t think
anyone can know about this either, how much satisfaction would you
really get out of taking me from Stephen?"

Alex didn’t answer. Tatiana put her fork down
then stood up. "Thank you very much for lunch, Mr. Sheldon. But I
think that’s all." She grabbed her coat and walked out.

"You have no idea how much these visits mean
to me," Tatiana said as hugged Stephen good-bye the next week.

"They mean that much more to me, my little
love."

"Any estimate, then, on when I get to stop
being a dirty little secret?"

"Oh, my sweetheart, I’m just not ready yet.
This is going to be a big blow to Annabelle. I have to respect
that. But I'm trying to think of something."

"I understand." She looked at the picture of
Stephen with his family and smiled sadly. "But I can’t wait to meet
your handsome little boy."

Stephen lit up at the mention of his son.
"You’ll like him, Tatiana. He’s a wonderful little boy. He’s so
smart and strong and—God, you should see his pitch." They both
laughed. "And I think he’s really going to like you too."

"I hope so," Tatiana said sincerely. "But
remember, I have a bonus for him that I think he’ll like even
better." She hugged Stephen again and left.

She was almost to the corner of Boylston
Street when she saw Alex. He put his hands in his pockets and
rocked back and forth on his feet. She folded her arms when she saw
him, more amused than annoyed.

"Mr. Sheldon, is this another
coincidence?"

Alex took a deep breath. "No, it is not. I
planned this. I figured out when you visit Stephen. Annabelle is
chairing the committee for the AIDS ball this year, and the
foundation’s secretary was nice enough to give me the
schedule."

"If you say so."

"Did anyone ever tell you that you are
annoyingly unflappable?"

"Did anyone ever tell you that you look at
people like they’re things?"

"That comment hasn’t been made to me very
often."

"Then maybe it’s because you know to hide it
from people you need something from, and people you don’t hide it
from probably can’t afford to say it to you."

"I think the moral superiority is a little
overdone given the circumstances, don’t you?"