Isabelle Schemes...
That night Lawrence would arrive home to find Adam waiting outside his apartment for him. As he wound down his number of performances as Bert he was able to take more nights off to spend time with his boyfriend, but Lawrence had not known he was scheduled to be off this evening. Having greeted each other, Adam explained his presence.
"I heard from our neighbours this morning what you did last night, and I wanted to congratulate you upon it somehow, and I thought that there was no better way than to cook you dinner, then spend the evening together without interruptions. So, go and change out of your scrubs, and come back here. There is a chicken korma with all of the sides waiting that I have made carefully from scratch. There is dessert too, but that is thanks to Nick, who was happy to make a Key Lime Pie for me…"
"It all sounds wonderful, but I am supposed to be spending the evening with Dex…"
"Your brother is actually out himself. I told him what I was planning, and he approved, as he was meeting a friend, although judging by the way that he was preening himself I would say that the friend in question is a special one…"
Lawrence looked amused at that revelation, and thoughtful. "Well, he hasn't mentioned there being anyone, but now that you come to mention it, he has been taking a lot more care of his appearance as of late, and he has been out of the house in the evening more often. I really do hope that he has found his own special someone like I have, because I was starting to worry that he never would do…"
Kissing Adam quickly, he headed along the street to his own home, and hurried upstairs to change and freshen up. On a whim, he decided to pop into his brother's room to 'borrow' some of the new cologne he had been wearing, and as he did so, he noticed that one of the drawers of his dresser was jammed open by an object. Curious, he went over to remove it, and found himself standing with an annotated score for The Mikado in his hands. He suddenly felt his spirits drop, as he now had evidence as to why his brother was out more in the evenings. He realised that Dex had also been singing more, and that was all tied to this. He sighed, and slipped the item back in the drawer, closing it carefully. He really had thought that his brother had found love at last…
His meal with Adam, and their subsequent snuggle time on the sofa was wonderful, and it was only cut short by the fact that he had another day shift the following day. He said his goodbyes, and headed home, to hear the sound of his brother singing to himself. He walked into the sitting room to find Dex with a big smile on his face, and singing about having a list. He stood in silence, and was amused to then hear his brother hum a tune that he actually recognised as Three Little Maids from School. He shook his head, then cleared his throat, startling Dex into silence.
"Don't let me stop you. By the way, I was in your room earlier, wanting to borrow a drop of that new cologne of yours - Adam had dinner ready for me, and there wasn't time to shower and get the smell of hospital off me…"
"That's not an issue. I thought it was lovely of Adam to want to cook for you…"
"Yes, it was. Anyway, how was your evening? You never mentioned having plans this morning. Now, before your reply, I should come clean and admit that when I was using your cologne, I noticed that there was something jammed in the dresser drawer, and so I released it for you. I am curious however to know why there is a copy of the score of a Gilbert and Sullivan light opera in there in the first place, especially one that has written notes on it in your handwriting…"
Dex chuckled, and then sighed. "I guess that the time has come when I need to come clean with you. I was looking for something to do to keep myself occupied in the evenings, and well, I saw a recruiting poster in a coffee shop for the Greenwich Village Operatic Society. They said they were specifically looking for male voices, and well, I miss singing. It sounded like it could be fun, so I decided that I should try out for it…"
"Well, good for you! That explains the score, but from the notes…"
"I thought that I would just be in the chorus at most, but well, I have ended up with a small but named part in their forthcoming production…"
"Wow, that is great! I will definitely need a ticket…"
"That goes without saying, although I am no Sebastian. However, there is something else. There is a young lady there, and well, we might be dating casually. It's going well, and we both agree that this could be the start of something long term between us…"
Lawrence rushed over and hugged his brother with a grin on his face. "That is even better news! Now, if you ever need the place to yourselves, just let me know…"
"I will, but I am at the stage where I think you should meet her…"
The brothers sat down on the sofa then, and Lawrence said, "Tell me all about her."
His brother smiled, and said, "Her name is Miriam, and she works in the florists a couple of blocks from your hospital. She is actually a business graduate, but she loves working with flowers, and she is hoping to open her own store soon. So, as you might have guessed, she is a couple of years older than me, but neither of us see that as an issue. She is an excellent cook, speaks four languages fluently, and lives in a studio in the heart of the Village with an absolutely adorable cat for company…" Dex paused then, and pulled out his phone. The first picture he showed his brother was of said cat, which made Lawrence chuckle, although he had to agree the cat was cute. Then came a photo of the lady in question….
Dex let the image sink in with his brother, knowing full well what it would do. Eventually, the younger man spoke in a quiet voice. "She looks a bit like mom. Her hairstyle and colour, her eyes…"
"That was what struck me about her from the moment we were introduced, and I did wonder if she was a cousin we didn't know about at first, but no, she is no relation to us at all. She was born to a couple in Saskatchewan in Canada, and when she was twelve, her father was moved by his firm to work in the offices here. She is truly the kindest person I have ever met. She's smart too, and can be quite feisty when she needs to be. She makes me feel something that no other woman ever has…"
"Right, you need to invite her for dinner. I think that we should also invite Adam, make it a foursome rather than an interrogation by me. However, it would probably be best not to say who he is until she's here."
"That goes without saying, and not because it might overawe her. Fact is, that show is her all time favourite…"
With his brother now aware that he was seeing someone, and how he was spending his evenings, Dex decided that he would share the news of his foray into the world of amateur theater with his closest friends, and to that end, he posted a photo of the provisional playbill for the upcoming production on his Facebook page. He made it a friends only post, with an explanation and a request that they did not reveal anything about it to the world in general as of yet.
He waited for the responses to come, expecting a few unkind ones, but that was not the case at all; instead there was congratulations, requests for tickets, and from Sebastian a whole set of hints on how to deal with the thorny issue of stage fright. He decided not to go further and mention that he was seeing someone, as it was still very early days in their relationship, and he did not want to jinx it before it had even really begun. For the first time in his life he had found a girl that he felt comfortable with, and who was sympathetic to his little neuroses and foibles. He had told her all about his family situation, and how he had taken the decision to estrange himself from his father to support his broken brother.
He had also talked with her about an issue that he had not wanted to broach with Lawrence yet; the fact that in summer of next year, he and the other former Warblers living in the house would graduate, Lawrence the sole exception. That would mean that they would all have to move out, as per the agreement with Jeff, and a new group of Dalton boys would come to replace them. Lawrence would not need to move out, but he was unlikely to want to stay with strangers. Dex had therefore begun to search for a new apartment for the two of them, but he had quickly come to the conclusion that there was nowhere that he could afford on the wage he would likely be earning in Manhattan, or indeed in most of the city.
He supposed that by then, Lawrence and Adam might have moved in together, but he could not count on that. It would not be a bad thing for him, as he could probably just afford a studio apartment in Brooklyn, Queens or Staten Island, and still have a good lifestyle. He could not force the issue though with either his brother or his boyfriend. When they moved in together, it had to be for love, and not for financial convenience…
As Dex worried about what the future might bring, a long standing scheme of Isabelle's was coming to fruition. She had been suggesting to Constance that she should come through from Allantown to New York to visit her in her office and explore the Vogue closet since she had graduated from high school in the late spring, pointing out that such a trip would also give her the chance to get her bearings around Columbia University and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she would be studying for her medical degree.
She had finally received a reply from the young lady in the affirmative, saying that she was coming to the city for an official campus tour on the Friday of that week. It would take most of the day, and after that, she was taking in a show at Carnegie Hall, before staying at a hotel close by. She would be returning to Allentown the next day, but as the bus was later in the afternoon, she was wondering if Isabelle would be available on the Saturday to show her round the famous closet…
Isabelle knew at once why Constance had suggested that day; she was assuming that the editor would not be in her office on the weekend. Normally, Isabelle would not have been, but this weekend she had to get tings ready in her office for Monday, when Gideon would officially take on his new role as her PA, shadowing her current one for the next two months. That meant having to adjust the layout of the office to accommodate the extra desk, and what better time to do so than on a Saturday morning? Even better, there would be a lot of lifting to do as things were moved, and who better to 'volunteer' to assist her with it than her loving stepson?
Of course, when she broached the idea, to say that Peter did not relish the idea of getting up early on a Saturday morning to head over to Manhattan to move boxes and furniture for a few hours would have been the understatement of the century. In the end, with his father brought into the discussion, a compromise position was reached. Isabelle would head in at her usual time of 9am, and Julian would drive Peter across for 11am. What neither of the two males knew was that it actually suited Isabelle better, and that she had actually won, whereas they believed they had….
With that settled, Isabelle e-mailed Constance back, and told her it would be fine; that she should come to the building for 10am, and then, after the visit, they could head somewhere for lunch at Isabelle's expense, with maybe time for a quick look at some of the shops before it was time for her guest to catch her bus home at 4pm. The reply came quickly, agreeing to it all, surprised that Isabelle was going to be in the office, as the older woman had expected. Of course, in her mind, it was Peter that would be having lunch with Constance, and hopefully they could talk properly at last…
Of course, she knew it could all end in disaster, but her plan felt right. Peter was back to his old self, if not happier than he had been, as he had finally talked through all that he had experienced during the earthquake in L.A., and discussed how he felt about losing his mom, and so much more in one cruel moment… Constance too had been in therapy, and had admitted to Isabelle that she had moved on, and no longer blamed herself for all that had occurred. There was still an element of risk in all of it, however. Seeing each other face to face might trigger something, and bring back all of the heartache and pain. To that end, Isabelle decided that she would keep a close eye on her guest for the first half hour, and bring up her stepson's name, even have a photo of him on her desk. She would see how she reacted to all of that, and if necessary, she could call Julian and abort everything…
When Saturday came, Isabelle found herself entering her office at Vogue at 8.30am, having failed to take into account the fact that the roads would be quieter. She had been having second thoughts about her plan, but had dismissed them now on not one but three separate occasions in the last two days. However, now that the day had arrived, and she was running with the scheme, she was having them again. Part of her hoped that a certain angel might put in an appearance and let her know if the whole thing was mad or not. Kurt had not appeared, and she wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not for her plans. She had decided that it was the former in the end; it was no doubt part of an angels duties to protect the innocent, and in the current scenario, the innocent was surely Constance…
Relishing the fact that her office was very quiet, she began to make a start on the tasks that she needed to complete before the day was out. She decided to commence by sorting through all of the file boxes that sat on what was currently just a side table, but would need to be used as a temporary desk for Gideon whilst the handover process took place. There were quite a stack, and judging by the amount of dust on the ones at the bottom, they had been there well before she had taken over as the official editor, her own boxes placed on those of her predecessor during the handover. She opened those first, half expecting to find relics from forty or more years ago…
As it happened, the oldest material was barely a decade old, which wasn't quite as awful as she expected. There were a lot of memos from that era, copies of some that she had sent to Ms Wintour and that the lady herself had sent, alongside handwritten notes paper clipped on top. Her heart stopped for a moment when she recognised the clear script of one of those notes as being in Kurt's writing, and she immediately read it, just in case it was aimed at her, an oblique way of indicating his thoughts on the events of today.
The fact that it was his request for time off so that he could prepare for his wedding to Blaine made her eyes grow moist, realising that it had to have been one of the last things he ever wrote on the company's headed notepaper. She carefully placed the note in her in-tray, so that she could file it properly on Monday morning. She then returned to the box, and chuckled as she found a lengthy article on the subject of crochet shorts for men, and laughed out loud at the pithy comment that Ms Wintour had attached to it…
Isabelle ended up becoming so caught up in her task that the internal phone ringing came as a shock; glancing up, she realised with a start that it was now after 10am, and she had promised to be in the lobby downstairs to meet Constance when she arrived. She picked up the phone, and after he had spoken, asked the security guard to apologise to her visitor for her absence on her behalf, and then send her up directly in the elevator. She headed straight there, and was in place when the door opened. She found herself confronted with the same young lady she had last seen in person in a hospital bed at New Years, but she now looked so much better, and happier too. Her hairstyle had changed, and now suited her face better. She was dressed in stylish clothes, but still looked demure and ladylike in them.
"I am so sorry that I wasn't in the lobby to meet you as I promised," said Isabelle at once. "I was sorting through some old file boxes, and found a few things that left me quite distracted…"
"It's not a problem, Ms Wright. The security guard knew that I was coming, and he was most helpful. When I was heading up in the elevator, I was actually thinking that it was good of you to make time to see me at all… I'll be honest with you, I was unsure if I wanted to meet you at all, which was why I suggested that we meet today, part of me hoping that you wouldn't be in the office…"
"Firstly, please call me Isabelle, and secondly, I did suspect as much. You are correct in assuming that I normally would not be in the office on a Saturday, but I have a new PA starting next week, and I have to make a few changes to the way the office is set up; it is easier to do that today when there is not so much going on. The main thing as far as I am concerned is that you came."
"I nearly chickened out even now, and stayed on the subway. I thought I could go and see the Statue of Liberty, but then I realised that I had to come… How is Peter? The fact is that I have been thinking about him a lot in the last couple of months, and well, I think that it might be a good thing for the two of us to meet up and have a proper talk. It is the one thing that my counsellor suggested that I should do to get past everything that I haven't done yet. The truth is that I still love him, and well, if that chapter in our lives is over, I need to know and close it properly…"
Isabelle did not reply at once, and when she did, she only told the girl that her stepson was okay, but was looking forward to getting to college. That was enough to get Constance to open up about the open day she had attended the day before at the medical school, and how much she too was looking forward to starting her education.
"My intention is to specialise in general medicine. I have no wish to work in a hospital all my life. I would rather be an MD, a family doctor, seeing my patients for those everyday problems. The college actually has a scheme whereby they guarantee that those who graduate and go into what they term as primary care will not be left with any debt for the education they receive…"
"Going into general medicine sounds like a very sensible thing to do given those circumstances, and that is an attitude that it would benefit more of the younger generation to have," replied Isabelle, before she laughed and said, "And now I sound like my grandmother… Okay, before I get worse, lets take that tour of the place, and then I will show you what is in the closet after that. There are quite a few new items in there at the moment that appear to be your size, and in your style too…"
Constance looked confused for a moment, then realised what Isabelle was saying. "Oh, no, I couldn't possibly…"
"You most certainly could, because that is what everyone that visits it does! There are also some nice scarves that would be a perfect gift for your aunt or even your mother, so I will insist you inspect all of them too..."
As Constance found herself being convinced that being in the Vogue closet was actually the best thing ever, because there were actually several very nice, demure, designer outfits that she would actually wear, and also a timeless classic of an evening dress that would dazzle everyone at the inevitable college ball, Peter was being driven into the city by his father. Indeed, they were halfway through the Holland Tunnel, the link between New Jersey and the south of Manhattan that was approaching a century of operation. He had not particularly wanted to get out of bed that morning, but as his father reminded him, he had made Isabelle a promise that he would assist her with the work in her office, and it would not take up his entire day either.
This suited Peter, as he had no intention of heading straight back to Maplewood once the task he had signed up for was complete. He intended to head up to the area around Columbia University, to take a look at the exterior of one of the dorm buildings in which he had been offered a room as a freshman student. There were still a few people that were surprised with his decision to live in dorms, but it suited him better. There would only be two of the other seniors that he knew well from Dalton coming to New York for college that year, and they were both studying at NYU; sharing an apartment with them would have probably meant a long subway ride for him from downtown each day, and he was not up for that at all.
His reason for paying a visit was that the university had sent him a whole set of images of the interior of the dorm, and the rooms did look fantastic; however, there was not even one image of the outside of the building, and when he had gone onto Google Maps looking for a street view image, he had been shocked to discover none there either. In the era of mobile phone cameras, that there was no picture online at all was a concerning phenomenon.. Armed with the address, he intended to find it, and see if the reason for that was that the building was a complete wreck on the outside, or had very unsavoury neighbours. He intended to take multiple images of the exterior and post them online, either as a warning or a way to calm others that might share his worries. He had said nothing to his parents about his intentions though, just in case they thought he was a touch paranoid…
It was only a short drive from the tunnel portal to the nearest parking garage to the Conde Nast office building in the World Trade Center complex, and thus it was just a few minutes prior to 11am when Julian and Peter entered the lobby. They both had a pass, so entering the gates was no problem; the security guard recognised them both, and came over to speak. On seeing this, Peter turned to his father, and said, "I will head up on my own. I am expected, and you know what a stickler certain people are for punctuality."
Julian did not get an opportunity to reply, his son immediately heading over to the line of elevators, entering one the moment he got there, and pressing the floor button before the guard even arrived at Julian's side. He turned to face the man with an apologetic look on his face, but the guard just laughed. "My son was exactly the same as him at that age; if he and I were out together, and someone over came over to talk with me, he would find an excuse and run. It was the same with my friends… Fact is, I did it too with my dad. The young have always found it hard to converse with their elders in the company of a parent."
Julian smiled, and replied, "I guess that is true, although in truth my father rarely took me or my brother anywhere with him; he was always too busy. This time though his vanishing is not just for that reason. He did make a promise to my wife that he would be at her office at 11am to help her move some stuff, and she is not someone that likes it when people do not keep punctual! As for me, I have made no promise, and therefore have no fixed arrival time. It would therefore have been very rude of me not to stop and chat. Given the work she needs done, exactly how long do you think we can make this conversation last?"
The guard laughed out loud at that, then said, "I think that your boy would have got away with being late this morning; Ms Wright seems to be a bit distracted. Don't get me wrong, she was her usual efficient self when she got here, but then she clean forgot that she had a young lady coming to see her at 10am. I had to call upstairs and then escort the guest to the elevator, which is not like her at all!"
"A young lady?" queried Julian, wondering who on earth it was, as Isabelle had not mentioned having any sort of meeting scheduled for that day.
"Yeah, about your boy's age. We had a little chat as we walked over to the elevator. She's off to med school in the fall, lives in Allentown. Name of Constance…something…" The guard stopped talking then, as Julian had paled, turned on his heels and was charging off in the direction of the elevators…
Said elevators seemed interminably slow to Julian as he headed up to the floor on which Isabelle was based. He was worried sick, and more than a little angry with his wife for doing what she had obviously done. No matter what his son said, there was no way that Peter was totally over what had happened at New Year. He had seen with his own eyes how his son still reacted to the sound of a baby crying, and he still carried that sonogram picture in his wallet even now…
If Peter wasn't over it, then he really doubted that the girl that had suffered a miscarriage would be. Putting the two of them back together like this, with no warning, could set their recovery back months! He did not know quite what had possessed Isabelle to do it; it was as if she was writing one of those agony columns, or thought she was hosting one of those awful daytime shows that were so darn popular, where such situations were played out in front of a studio audience. His wife had lost it if she seriously saw herself as either a female Jerry Springer or a successor to Dr Ruth…
When the elevator finally arrived on the correct floor, he sprinted out and headed straight for his wife's office, half expecting to be able to hear hysterical sobbing, or screaming, but it was deathly quiet, and that was much, much worse! That her office was empty made his blood run cold, terrified as to what was going on. He panicked for a second, wondering if some Shakespearean tragedy was unfolding, before he saw the note on the desk, intended for Peter, stating that she was in the closet.
He headed there at speed, and found his wife in the corridor outside, looking in the open door. She saw him, and when he went to open his mouth to quite frankly yell at her, she shushed him, placing a hand over his mouth as she pulled him away from the door. Once they were far enough away, she took her hand away…
"What on earth are you doing!? Have you taken leave of your senses? I swear, if Peter is set back by this…"
"Before you say any more, particularly as you might regret it, I think that you should see what is happening in the closet, and then decide whether I did a good or a bad thing," interjected his wife with a smile…