A Promised Fate (26 page)

I squeezed my mother’s shoulder and a small
black figure popped up in the window.

“Hey, Max?”

He looked up at me from his hotdog with
mustard smearing his lips.

“Someone is here to say hi to you.”

His brow furrowed just like Ava’s does. I am
always amazed at how very similar Max and Ava are to one
another.

I pointed to his tiny black cat, whose yellow
eyes gleamed in at us from the sunporch.

“Eeee!” He squealed and shot out of his seat
like a rocket, out the door and straight at the kitty, who happily
rubbed against him and covered Max’s still damp skin with lots of
itchy allergen infested cat hair.

“A cat, Ari?” My mom
tsked
and put her
fists to her hips.

“It’s a stray.”

“You can’t keep a cat.”

“Last time I checked, this is my house. I can
do whatever I want here.”

“Last time I checked, you were allergic.”

“Mmm … deathly. I called Ava’s doctor, he
prescribed some good allergy medicine for me and the cat can stay
on the sun porch.”

“The sun porch?” Her nose wrinkled in
disapproval.

“What wrong with that? That room is bigger
than some houses! It’s a kingdom to that cat. It’ll be safe there
and fed and warm and overly loved. And it really makes Max
happy.”

“You mean it makes
Ava
happy.”

My brow rose in question.

“She called me crying the other day over that
silly cat.”

“She didn’t.”

“Ari.” My mom gave me an indulgent smile.
“Ava comes to me for everything … We’re friends.”

“Friends? You two complain about each other
all the time!”

“We are also women … ”

“Right. Where is she anyway?”

“Upstairs. She’s getting ready for
tonight.”

I walked away to grab the garment bags I had
hung in the back hallway and returned, shaking them at my mother to
get her attention. “Listen, Max’s suit is here along with the
shoes. You need to have him in L.A. by seven. Call Lirik after you
get there and then I can meet you backstage.”

“We'll get him there on time, I promise.”

“Make sure you get him in the bathtub after
he’s done with that cat, please. He needs to brush his teeth, make
sure you comb his hair, he’ll try to be sneaky out of the bath, you
really gotta grab him to dress him. And pack him some pajamas for
the ride home.”

“Max isn’t my first encounter with a child,
Ari. I think I can handle a few hours with my grandson.”

“Right…”

Since Ava, Max, Margaux and I were all
walking down the runway together at the end of the show, Max was
required to be at the function. It was something we normally
wouldn’t bring him to. Late hours, loud music and crowded spaces
aren’t suitable for three year olds, in our opinion. My mom and dad
had volunteered to watch Max for the evening and bring him to the
show in time for him to walk with us and then they would take him
home again and get him in his bed at a semi-reasonable hour.

After shoveling the rest of Max’s spinach pie
into my mouth, I left the kitchen and headed to our bedroom. Ava
stood at the bathroom sink wearing only my worn-out gray hooded
sweatshirt. Thanks to her bump, the sweatshirt was short enough
that when she lifted her arm to apply her makeup, the fabric slid
up the back of her leg, revealing the smooth curve of her naked
bottom. Unnoticed, I watched her from the doorway as she leaned
over the sink and carefully rubbed on moisturizer and dabbed the
soft skin under her eyes with white cream. She does this thing with
her mouth when she puts on her eye makeup. Her lips part in a sexy
way and she blinks slowly and carefully.

“You’re beautiful. You know?”

“Thank you.”

“May I come in?”

“Mmm. I’m almost done.”

I took a seat on the counter top and observed
her as she continued to do her makeup. Her skin was pearly and
glowing and her hair flowed down her back in long, soft pin
curls.

“Detective Bryant called me this
afternoon.”

She blinked up in the mirror to look at
me.

“Ava, he said that you did set the alarm that
morning.”

Her hands shook with a slight tremble and she
tossed her eyeliner back in a drawer.

“You set the alarm at eight and ten minutes
later, a key was used to unlock our door and the code was entered
to disable the alarm. So, I am going to ask you this one more time.
What are you keeping from me? Who did this and what do they want
from you?”

“You still think this is me? That I am
keeping something from you?”

“Oh, I
know
it’s you.”

“Ari, no … I’m not keeping anything from you.
I know that I deserve some of your distrust. I know that I messed
up before and selfishly kept secrets from you. I wounded us, Ari, I
know that. I left a tiny mark on our marriage. I wedged a small gap
between us. Because of those mistakes, you will always have a
flicker of doubt with me. And I am so sorry. When I kept The Kakos
from you, when I hid the scary parts of my past, it wasn’t because
I wanted to do you harm, I kept my secrets because I thought I was
saving you. I thought I was protecting you. I was wrong, I hurt you
and I hurt us. I learned my lesson Ari, I won’t do that again.”

“You’re keeping
something
, Ava.”

She blinked at me again and her eyes turned
angry. “Well, I think you're the one with the secret. What was
Julia doing here this morning?”

My gaze shot past the doorway, into the room
to the open window.

“Julia? Just … talking. She walked up the
beach and came to say hi. I honestly don’t know what her deal is.
I’ve got nothing to do with her shit.
This
issue is between
us, Julia's not involved. You gotta come clean, Baby. I’m not going
to allow you to keep me in the dark the way you did last year with
No. 7. I won’t let that happen this time. You
are
going to
tell me what you know.”

Ava applied a shiny, nude gloss to her
rosebud lips, crammed the lid back on the tube and tossed it in her
messy drawer. “You’re unbelievable.”

She left the bathroom to change and I
followed her. “We
are
going to talk tonight. We need to get
to the bottom of all this.”

“Yes. We do. And we are going to start off
with who you are, Ari.”

Ava had made a threat and I was angry.

****

Our ride to the show in the limo was filled
with a bitter silence.

A valet opened the car. The outside space we
stepped into was too loud and too bright and hummed with too much
excitement. We were ushered straight to a path sectioned off on
both sides by thick velvet rope. Photojournalists pushed against
the barriers and their flashes went off like strobe lights. The
effects were dizzying. People called Ava's name, screamed her name,
begged her name. Everyone wanted Ava. Her fingers trembled and her
gaze jumped from one side of the path to the other, assessing the
tumult.

“Look at
me
,” I said, grabbing her
hand and forcing her to ignore the noise and look up to me while I
talked. “They want photos of us together on the carpet and then
some of you by yourself. I’ll be standing to the side so just
please, don’t forget to smile.
TIE
has been granted an
exclusive interview with you, but the interviewer has a strictly
limited number of questions she's allowed to ask. I’ve previewed
them. You'll be fine. At the close of the show, after we have
walked out with Max and Margaux, Olivia Chavez will meet you by the
curtain and escort you to the greenroom lounge, where we stay until
midnight.”

“I'm not
giving
any interviews.”

“Yes, you are.
TIE
is paying top
dollar for it, Ava. Now, remember to speak at appropriate times and
smile as often as necessary. Our seats are at the front of the
runway and there will be cameras on you pretty much the entire
evening, so do not forget about them. They’ll be focusing on your
reactions, so stay positive.”

She batted her lashes and dramatically rolled
her eyes at me like a snotty teenager, letting me know that she
considered my instructions patronizing. She doesn't get that I am
under immense pressure at
baio
. Her eye rolls annoy the hell
out of me.

“I don't ever want to see you do that again.
Understand?” I said through tightly gritted teeth.

She rolled them again and my grip on her hand
tightened. “You're acting like a spoiled brat,” I said as softly to
her as I could muster.

“Well,
you
make me so mad sometimes
that I just want to scream in your face,” she responded. Our noses
were a mere inch apart.

“Scream then, Ava. Just get it over with and
scream.” I stared coolly back into her eyes, daring her to make a
scene. The moment was saved by a reprieve of sorts as our arrival
was announced and we approached the arbor that marked the beginning
of the red carpet. Crowds pressed toward us, camera shutters
fluttered and reporters conducted interviews with celebrities,
models and designers. People cheered for Ava and she gave me one
last death stare before she wiped the look away and replaced it
with a full, bright, convincing smile.

We were directed down the designated carpeted
area to a backdrop covered with
baio’s
logo. Here the
serious press members were standing, ready for us to walk their
gauntlet.

With my arm wrapped securely around her
waist, I pressed our warm bodies close together and we produced the
smiles we knew they expected. When the time came for me to step out
of the photo area, I stood and watched as she stood perfectly
still, her face unwavering, her back stiff and rigid.

“This way.” One of the show’s coordinators
waved her towards the door. I followed behind her and we were
herded like cattle, sent into the theater and directed to our seats
along the side of the main runway. People were watching her as we
walked in and took our seats. I took my place beside her and
propped my arm over the backrest of her chair. Her body and legs
were crossed away from me.

I felt Ava release a breath of tension and I
looked up in the direction of the door to see August, with Collin
at his side, heading towards us.

“Look at you!” He cheered and kissed Ava’s
cheek. “You’re stunning! Apparently, yellow is the color of the
show! Why didn’t you tell me? I would have worn something
different. Did you see the pictures? You’re everywhere, Ava! If
people didn’t know who you were before, they sure as hell know you
now…”

She rolled her eyes.

“Stop doing that,” I warned under my breath.
She blatantly ignored me. August took his seat on the other side of
Ava and I lost her to him. An usher sat Rory and Julia on the other
side of Collin and, soon after, the theater dimmed.

We watched the show in silence.

We walked the stage with Max and Margaux when
the show was over, the four of us waving in silence.

We formally announced Ava’s pregnancy and we
formally announced the launch of the new store,
baio babe,
under a shroud of a bitter, ever growing, angry silence.

Interview time came and Ava was swooped away
from me to a semi-private corridor backstage.

I could not hear her but I watched Ava as she
listened intently to her questions and answered with her winning
smile. Despite her anger with me, she exhibited a remarkably
careful poise and elegance.

“You're a lucky man.”

Looking briefly over my shoulder, I found
myself staring into the face of the man who seemed to make the
tabloid headlines as often as Ava and I did. A Forbes billionaire,
recently separated from his wife, Dove, due to his infidelity, and
currently embarking on one of the most expensive divorces in United
States history, along with a bitter custody battle over their
little girl.

“Yes, I know. I am very lucky, indeed.” My
stare went back to Ava.

“She’s beautiful.” He kept his eyes on Ava,
too. Straight on Ava. “I’m Cameron.”

“Ari.”

“Oh, I know
who
you are, Adonis.” My
penetrating gaze flashed away from her and went right to him.

Cameron Gallo spoke with the sort of southern
accent that would make some women swoon. It was an almost fake,
good ‘ol boy drawl with just enough twang to prove
authenticity.

“We should talk. I think you may be
interested in who
I
am,” he said, moving closer to me.

“I’m not interested in anything about you.
Who
I am is inconsequential and none of your business.”

“You’re right, it doesn't matter to me who
you
are. It’s Ava I have my eye on.”

I felt a curtain of disassociation closing in
around me. I grabbed his arm and said, “You know, you need to step
back and stay the fuck
away
from Ava. Whoever or whatever
the hell you are, I'm warning you and I'm not going to warn you a
second time.”

“You’re going to change your mind you know,
Ari. And when you do, you’ll come looking for me. Just ask your
friend, Julia. She knows how to find me.”

“Julia? You and Julia?”

He smirked and I felt the rush of blood
draining from my heart and pooling in my throbbing throat. I hated
this guy.

“You still don’t know anything, do you?”

“What do you mean? What do you want?”

“This isn’t about me. I’ve already lost
everything
I
ever wanted. It’s about her. Them. You’ll see.
Xo, Ari. Until next time.” Somewhere inside me something turned to
ice.

He left and when my gaze returned to Ava's
backstage interview site, she was gone. Olivia Chavez talked solo
at her camera and wrapped up her special on the
baio
show.

****

The greenroom lounge was noisy and crammed
full of after-show partiers. I looked around the room for Ava and
forced my way to the bar where I knew I could find both a drink and
Rory.