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The Fat Lady Sings
Sunday
November 11, 2001
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Day 11: Julie's NaNoWriMo novel without a title.
Day 11, and it's Sunday. I realized that if I don't put up an entry today, Monday's entry will be so long you won't want to read it. So here it is, and the novel is really starting to get interesting. I love cliffhangers...
Today's word count: 22,122 (approx)
Goal: 50,000
Mileposts: Mon., Nov. 5: 8,333 words. Sat., Nov. 10:16,666 words.
Thur., Nov. 15: 25,000 words. Tue., Nov. 20: 33,333 words. Sun., Nov. 25:
41,666 words. Fri., Nov. 30: 50,000 words.
An exultation of Yes! shot through Rae's Warding senses, aimed toward her
mother.
Her mother?
Is she a Ward? Rae
wondered in a daze, but she could tell the answer was no just by looking
at Audrey. She looked for and
found Gavin, who opened his eyes wide and nodded, confirming he'd felt it,
too.
"Who..." Dana's mother began, peering at
Audrey. "I know
you.
Rowland."
Audrey nodded and moved to stand beside
her. "It's been ages since I've
seen you, Lindsey. Not since
that party at the Chandler's!" She
lightly patted the drunken woman's arm in a familiar, comforting
way. "Why, do you remember that
magnificent table they set for the
party? I believe it was by someone
you had recommended, wasn't it?" she asked in a low voice, encouraging calm
and quiet discussion. She gently
propelled the woman toward the front
door. "Rae," she called without
looking back, "could you bring us some lovely hot coco and coffee to one
of the outside tables? And maybe
some nibbles?"
Effectively herded out the front door, Lindsey Quinn began chattering
drunkenly in response to Audrey's prompts, who got her situated at one of
the comfortable tables outside. It
was a bit chilly, but sunny, and Rae believed her mother had the situation
well in hand.
Will wonders never cease?
She watched out the window,
marveling, as the two engaged in and animated and
conversation. Gavin appeared
at her side, holding a tray with hot drinks and snacks from a tea
platter. "On the house?" he
asked with a quirky smile, and Rae nodded and smiled
wryly. "I thought I'd go out
and see if my sense gets tweaked.
I can't tell yet if I'm supposed to be
there. I take it you felt
it,
earlier? That happens, sometimes, when a Warding is going the way
it apparently ought to. We can
usually feel it when Ward magic is active around
us. That one was pretty strong,
though."
"For a moment, I thought maybe my mother was a Ward," she
said. "The way things are going
today, nothing could surprise me."
"Oh, you'll know it when you meet another one of
us. You'll
see. I can't really describe
it to you." He nodded toward
the two outside. "I should get
this out there. The sooner she
gets food and hot coffee in her, the better."
Rae nodded. "Let me know how it's going."
"I will," he said, smiling, and used his free hand to swing open the
front door and go outside. Rae
watched the scene surreptitiously from inside as Gavin, all smiles, served
them the snacks and drinks. Dana's
mother chose hot chocolate instead of
coffee. Comfort
food. Gavin asked her a question,
his face suffused with kindness and sincere interest, and soon he snaked
a foot around the leg of a nearby chair and was sitting with them, listening
intently. Rae felt a low buzz
of something and realized that's what he had meant by sensing Ward
magic. She also realized she'd
often felt it before, since coming to the café.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Rowland," Dana said from beside her, breaking Rae's
train of thought.
"Please call me 'Rae,' Dana, or I'll have to call you 'Mrs. Quinn,'"
she answered, smiling. "And
it's all right. It's not your
fault."
"I don't know," she responded.
"If I'd tried harder to stop her from drinking, or paid more
attention--"
"Your mother has to take responsibility for her own actions.
If you decide to get involved,
that's up to you. But ultimately,
what happens is up to her."
Dana nodded hesitantly.
"I've been staying out of her way as much as possible for the last
few years, after Dad and Cara left.
It was easier. But maybe it's time for me to, well, do something
else. I just don't know
what."
"There are places to go for treatment, of course, and all those things
I can tell you that I'm sure you already
know. But you'll need to figure
out what to do. And she'll need
to decide it's time to do it. If
you want to speak with someone who is used to dealing with alcoholism, my
friend Marcie would be helpful.
Even if your mother doesn't go to a treatment center, Marcie can give
you some good suggestions and is a good listener."
"I'd appreciate meeting her.
Logically, I know what I can do to try to help
Mother. When it comes down to
action, though, following through is quite
different. Avoidance is much easier," she said with a thin
smile. "I don't think I can
get away with that any longer. I
was surprised to see her here. I
thought she wanted me gone."
Together, in silence they watched the conversation outside, which
was filled with much hand waving, head shaking, and resigned nodding on Lindsey
Quinn's part. The cups of hot
liquid and plate of snacks were steadily
consumed. "Would it be all right
if I go home early today, Rae?" Dana
asked. "I think I'll call up
the housekeeper and ask her to pour out all the booze in the house before
we get home. Mother will be
angry, but I'll deal with it."
Rae hugged her briefly. "Of
course. Let me know if you need
anything. And let me get you Marcie's number before you
leave."
She went upstairs and retrieved the number, writing it down on a piece
of her new personal stationery that included her upstairs phone number and
email address, then returned downstairs to hand it to
Dana.
"I called home," she said as she took the paper from Rae, "and the
housekeeper told me it was about time I did
something. I always did like
her." She gave a wry smile. "I
told her to pour it all out except for a couple of those little airline
bottles. I'm not sure
why. Maybe it's... if she absolutely
has to have a drink she'll have those, but it won't be enough to get completely
blotto. She'll still have her
wits about her to realize something important happened
today."
Within the hour Gavin, Audrey, and Rae watched as Dana helped her
mother into their car - which had been left running in the alley until Matt
found it and parked it on the street - and drove off toward
home.
"Rae," Audrey said, "I hope you realize what an extraordinary young
man you have working here at your
café." She gestured to
Gavin. "He was marvelous with
Lindsey. Why aren't you in the
counseling profession?" she asked him.
He smiled. "I am. Rae,
I need to go help catch up... I'm sure I left things in a shambles in
here."
"We covered for you, no problem.
I even did a few tables myself," she said,
grinning. "And thank
you. Both of
you!"
"It was nothing," Audrey insisted. "Something needed to be done and
I saw an opportunity to do so.
When you've been to as many hoity toity parties as I've attended,
you learn how to manipulate drunken guests at a moment's
notice."
Rae hugged her mother. "It
might not have been anything for you, but it was for
me. Mom."
Audrey smiled, surprised and
pleased. "Anything for you,
dear. Now... did I see some
pie in a case on the counter?" she asked, wistfully.
Later, with Gavin, Rae, and Elly leaning on the counter at Ancient
Voices and enjoying a well-deserved teatime, the two Wards recounted the
story to the bookstore owner.
"That's quite the turn of events," she
noted. "Interesting how your
mother came to be involved, Rae. I
recall Margaret telling me of other calls where non-Wards directly effected
the outcome."
"It was kind of surreal, watching my mother take over and control
the situation so easily. I'd become so used to thinking of her as some sort of
ditsy bitch that I'd forgotten what she was like when Dad was
alive."
"She was great," Gavin agreed.
"She listened and said all the right things when we were
outside. It was like she was
very much in tune with the Ward magic going
on. Maybe it runs in the family,"
he said, smiling.
"I can tell she's not a Ward," Rae said, "but it was wonderful how
she intervened." She rubbed
her pendant between her fingers.
"And I want to talk to her about my grandmother, who gave me
this."
"So that's what yours looks like," Gavin
said. "I was going to
ask! Mine is a ring," he said,
holding out his right hand and showing her a thick gold band with a stone
intaglio and the familiar symbol carved upon
it. "This one has been in my family for generations, but as
far as I know, I'm the only Ward."
He paused. "As far as
I know," he repeated.
"And Margaret's was that necklace she bought in Venice," Elly
said. "It looks a lot like yours,
Rae."
"I wonder if we'll ever know where they all come from, or why?" the
new Ward mused.
Gavin shrugged. "Maybe. I
can't really say that I'm much interested in finding out, to be
honest. It doesn't matter to
me."
Rae thought about it. "I'm
not sure it really matters to me, either."
***
***
***
She stood in front of Todd's Watch, admiring the play of light across the fur of the
young fox painted so realistically in the
scene. On the bank of a heavily forested riverbank, the fox sprawled,
panting, on the top of a moss laden log.
The river passed beyond the banks, sluggish, the only ripples caused
by the stems of lilies. An
uncomplicated painting at first glance, the longer you studied it the more
incredible details you found.
Beetles crawling on the log, birds in the trees, salamanders in the
shallows along the bank, watercress and mint growing near the
water.
If I close my eyes, I bet I
could smell the mint and the mustiness of his fur, Rae
thought.
"What do you think?" Manda asked, coming up behind
her.
"I love it, of course!"
"Good! I was wondering if you'd like to display it at the
Greenman."
"Oh, I'd love to, Manda!
You can put up as many as you'd like, for display or sale, any
time."
The artist smiled happily.
"Yes, I'd like to. Smaller
ones, mostly, but I thought Todd's energy felt right for the
café. And I wanted to
thank you so much for helping out with the catering at the last
minute. With the show coming
to an end pretty soon, I wanted to throw a little party before it was over,
since we didn't have a grand opening."
"I'm sorry I didn't come to the opening, Manda..."
"Oh, don't be sorry, Rae!
It's wonderful to have everybody here
tonight. They all seem to be
enjoying themselves, especially with all the tasty treats you brought
us."
"You really should be thanking my chefs rather than
me. They're the ones with real
talent," Rae said, gesturing to Kim and Michael, who were serving finger
foods of their own design to gallery guests.
The artist smiled at them, caught their attention, and mouthed
thank
you! along with the ASL
sign for the same. They grinned
back, nodding.
Manda's eyes moved around the room, and face
fell. "Uh
oh. There's some bad
news."
Rae turned to see what she was referring to, and found herself watching
a scene she hadn't expected. A
tray balanced on one hand, Dana was backed up against a wall, her posture
stiff and obviously uncomfortable, as a man leaned in toward
her. Rae knew that back all
too well.
Jeff.
---------------------11/10/2001/20622
Looking at her ex, her heart caught and she felt many things all at
the same time, anger, hurt, sadness, and
attraction. Even as she walked
quickly toward them, she found herself thinking, he really is awfully
handsome.
“Is there something I can get you,
Jeff?” This was the first
time she’d seen him since she permanently the office, which, she realized,
was surprising since that Woodhaven really wasn’t that large of a
town.
The muscles across his back tensed as he stopped and turned toward
Rae. “Well, hello. No,
thank you, Raelynn. I was just
making conversation here.” He
smiled thinly and turned back to Dana, leaning his palm on the wall over
her shoulder.
Stiff with shock as he rudely turned his back on her, Rae moved to
her employee’s side.
“It appears, Jeffrey, that she would rather not speak with
you.” She looked at
Dana. “Why don’t you
go ahead and fill up again,” she said, smiling
comfortingly. Dana took the
opportunity to quickly edge her way out from underneath Jeff’s arm and
walked over to stand with Michael and Kim.
“What, Raelynn… feeling
jealous?” His smile had
a strange edge to it she hadn’t noticed
before. She wondered if it was
that snarky snit that Teri had once referred to.
“Hardly, Jeff. Simply getting an employee out of an uncomfortable
position. I would appreciate
it if you wouldn’t bother her again.”
His dark eyebrows raised in
surprise. “What,
Rae? You’re in catering,
now? Perhaps the hostess at
the restaurant? I’m sure
you look adorable in a hairnet and apron.”
Had he ever used that tone when speaking to her before, she wondered,
or had she just been too drawn by his supposed charms to have
noticed? “I run, and own,
the Greenman now,” she said
quietly. “I can’t
ask you to leave the gallery, but I would appreciate it if you would not
go out of your way to harass my
employees.” Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked
over to rejoin Manda in front of Todd’s
Watch.
Manda, who had been watching the exchange,
smiled. “You gave him what-for,
it looks like?”
Rae, her jaw set, said “What an absolute prick he
is. I’m going to keep facing
this way, all right? Tell me
what he’s doing.”
Manda kept a smile frozen on her face as she said cheerfully,
“You’re about to find out, because he’s walking toward
us. I’m
sorry.”
“Damn.” Rae
waited miserably for a confrontation.
“Raelynn?” Jeff said from behind her.
She fought to keep her expression neutral as she turned toward
him.
“Yes?’
“I’ve been meaning to contact you, by the
way. I would appreciate it if
you would arrange to compensate me for the damages done to my furniture by
your cat.”
“Melata lived in our apartment for less than a week, Jeff, while
we lived there together for a total of two and a half
years. Any damage to your furniture
was likely caused by your dog, not my
cat.” You are not going
to play lawyer with me, you bastard.
He shook his head. “I
have invoices from the cleaning service which clearly indicate that the odor
and stains were caused by cat urine, not by a dog.”
“Expert testimony from a cleaning lady,
Jeff? You can do better than
that. No, I believe you’ll
need to take care of your own cleaning
bills. I’m sure even Judge
Judy would agree, especially once I produced check copies to show who paid
most of the bills while we were together,” Rae countered, referring
to a popular television judge that he secretly admired.
“Judge Judy doesn’t work in Woodhaven,
Raelynn. But Judge Gilmore
does,” he responded calmly, referring to his uncle.
Rae seethed quietly.
“Don’t even think about it,
Jeff. You really don’t
want to piss me off.”
“Is everything okay, here?” Aaron asked, coming up behind
Jeff. Close on his heels were
Michael and Kim.
Jeff glared at Rae, then twitched his shoulder and turned around to
face Aaron with a smile.
“No, I’m quite
finished.” He glanced back
at her, then said dismissively.
“You’ll get a
call.” He walked toward
the door of the gallery, insultingly patting Aaron’s stomach on the
way past. “Good to see you again,
fella.”
Rae put a restraining hand on Aaron’s arm, shaking her
head. “Just let him
leave,” she said as they watched him exit.
Kim spoke through clenched teeth.
“Bastard. That was
your fiancée?”
“The operative word is was,” Rae
noted. “I can’t believe
I spent three years with that
guy.” She turned
to
Manda. “Was he always like that, or was I really that
blind?”
The artist shook her head.
“No, when you first met he’d just finished law
school. He was much nicer, a
lot less full of himself. People
change.”
“I’m sorry that happened here,
Manda. I hardly expected him
to show up here. He probably
thought he’d do some networking, schmooze with people he doesn’t
usually hang out with.”
“Don’t worry about it!
Let’s not do him the honor of letting it effect our evening,”
she smiled at Michael and Kim. “We wouldn’t want it to sour our stomachs, not
with the delicacies we have left to sample!”
The Greenman staff returned to their work, and Rae, Aaron, and Manda
wandered around the gallery looking at more
paintings. In addition to the
River Rest series, the artist was displaying pieces from her less
mainstream works. Scenes
incorporating nature together with magic, both light and dark, mysterious
and ordinary. Aaron stopped
in front of one which showed the dreams of best friends, man and dog, and
how they overlapped and differed from each
other. The title of the piece
was Alter Ego.
“I have furry friends that would really like this one,”
Aaron commented.
“Furry?” Manda asked, puzzled.
“It’s, well… difficult to explain,” he
said. “Think of it as a
sort of science fiction or fantasy thing, where animals have human
characteristics. Some furry
publications, like the Tales of the Tai-Pan, have a shared universe
the members write about.”
“I’ve seen some of the Tai-Pan
issues. They’re pretty
good,” Rae said. “A
lot of furry stuff you find is a bit… out there,” she laughed
uneasily. “But the
Tai-Pan is better than most.”
Aaron nodded. “Certainly a lot better than Furbacina, Queen
Bitch, and that horsy one… oh yeah,
Hungasa.”
Rae chuckled.
Manda looked
confused. “I still don’t
quite get what you mean by ‘furry.’”
“Let’s see. The Tai-Pan, at least, uses gene-teching as an
explanation. Species that could
be achieved in the future,” Aaron said, “combining human and animal
characteristics together, and all that.
David Brin wrote some great books on a similar
theme.”
The artist nodded. “I
think I know what you mean, now.
Maybe I’ll look into it.
It sounds like fun.”
Aaron smiled. “It can be.”
Rae smiled ruefully, deciding not to discuss what she considered to
be the less desireable aspects of furry fandom.
Overall, the night at the gallery was a success, according to the
talk at the café the next day.
Manda dropped by with Todd’s Watch and oversaw its
installation to a prominent display
area. She and Rae discussed
what other areas were available for more paintings and they spent the morning
with tape measures and sketch books, planning out how best to exhibit artwork
in the café.
Rae was preparing a salad, facing the mirrored dividing wall, when
she saw the reflection of Aaron in a booth behind
her. He was intently reading
a book she recognized as one he’d purchased at Ancient
Voices. Given the chance to watch his handsome profile without
his notice, she did so. Even
though he was overweight, he was still quite good looking, and she couldn’t
help but feel her emotions stir she got whenever she saw
him. She watched in the mirror as Gavin took his order and
Aaron returned to his book.
A buzz began, and Rae recognized the now-familiar tingle that meant
that Ward magic was active nearby.
She turned to look at Gavin, who was walking away from Aaron, and
he stopped to look at her as well.
A slight frown creased his brow, and he shook his head to indicate
that he didn’t believe the magic was resulting from his
actions. Together they
turned, drawn in the direction of their
sensing. It seemed to be coming
from Aaron.
Then, without warning, Aaron simply disappeared from the
booth. The book he had been
holding in his hands bounced slightly on the tabletop, its pages
fluttering.
They reached the booth at the same
time. Rae put her hand on the
back of the seat, as if he were simply invisible and touching Aaron would
bring him back. But he was simply
not there. Nobody else seemed to have noticed the extraordinary
event.
Gavin let out the breath he’d been
holding. “Rae, remember
when I mentioned that being a Ward would get harder?
”