Fool's Gold (Contemporary Romance) (17 page)

Beta’s heart ached for her. It was nearly as hard to see her in pain here as it had been at the hospital. In some ways it was worse. At the hospital she’d had a timeline for recovery and release. This was just an endless purgatory of rejection. He wanted to reach out, stroke her hand. Offer sympathy and a little comfort. Instead, he took a deep breath and kept his hands safely in his lap.

“Well, you were wonderful,” Sol said. “Now where’s our waitress? I’m hungry.”

The food turned out to be mediocre, though that was by New York standards. It would have been the best sushi place in Nebraska if it had been back home. Sol and Aaron each sang a couple more songs, and Victoria even covered an Etta James piece, but blessedly they left Beta alone. After another hour or so, Sol settled the check over Beta’s protests, and the whole group headed out to the front of the restaurant.

“Are you kids catching the train here?” Sol asked as they emerged onto the street. A train station was just across the street from them; Beta hadn’t even noticed it when they’d walked up.

“I’m going to walk a little first,” Victoria said. “Beta?”

“I was just going to walk home. It’s not far.”

Sol smiled knowingly. “Alright, you two be safe.”

Aaron slipped his arm around Sol, laughing. “Good night, folks.” They strode across the street and disappeared down the stairs.

“I know I said I wanted to see Chuckles later in the week, but would it be okay if I popped in tonight?” Victoria asked. “I can give you a little bit to pick up if you need.”

“Uh...” Beta’s mind raced. The living room was clean. His bed was made. There might be a bowl and a glass in the sink, and some clothes on the bathroom floor, but that was about it. “Okay.”

“Thank you, Beta. I’ve been missing the little furball.”

C
HUCKLES
 nearly leaped into Victoria’s arms as they entered the apartment. She caught him, laughing, and turned to Beta. “Thank you so much for keeping him all this time, Beta. I thought I’d have my own place by now.”

“It’s nothing.” It wasn’t. He’d actually grown attached to the little guy, and he was going to miss him when she finally got her own apartment.

Victoria sat on the leather sofa, cradling the cat in her arms. He purred at full motorboat levels.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” He went to the bar that separated the kitchen from the living area. The space wasn’t huge by any means, but it put Jerome’s apartment to shame. Beta still didn’t understand why the company--or Sol--kept a place so nice unrented.

“No, thanks.” She leaned back on the sofa, resting her head on the leather and stroking her fingers along Chuckles’ belly. “I don’t think I’ve properly thanked you, Beta.”

Part of him, the part that was still a fifteen year old boy and would never grow up, wondered what she had in mind. The part that actually was grown-up (it was only a minor shareholder, he was pretty sure) kept him from sticking his foot squarely in his mouth and saying something he’d regret. He settled on, “For what?” and sat beside her on the other end of the couch.

“For coming to New York when I was in the hospital. For taking care of Chuckles for the last six months. It’s meant a lot to me. More than I realized.” She had a look of sadness about her, a strain that Beta understood all too well.

Being on your own was hard. Not just the trials of being in a place by yourself, they both learned those lessons in college, but the trials of being in a new city without support. Knowing that if you caught a cold there wasn’t anyone else that could take care of you. Knowing that when you were tired and lonely and it was a Tuesday night, your friends and family back home were already in bed.

Beta considered all those things, and tried to work out how to put them into words. Eventually he just said, “You’re welcome.”

Victoria hummed something to herself, and they sat in a comfortable near silence broken only by the continuous hum of a happy cat.

It was close to 1:00 when Victoria finally set Chuckles beside her on the couch. “I need to head home, Beta. Thank you again.”

“Any time.” As much as he wanted to give her a hug, or even to just touch her shoulder, he kept himself in check. He opened the door and left it to her to make a move.

She smiled, and if the sadness had been in her eyes before, it was manifest in the shape of her mouth and the slump of her shoulders then. “Good night.”

Beta closed the door behind her, then collapsed directly onto the floor. Letting her leave might have been the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life, but he knew it was the right thing to do. Chuckles came over, rubbing his head on Beta’s knee.

Beta scratched the cat behind the ears and leaned back against the door.

***

Victoria was still on his mind when the phone rang the next morning. Beta was already at his desk, and the building was otherwise silent but for the
Star Wars
theme playing and the phone itself threatening to vibrate off the desk. He scooped it up, hoping it was her, but instead the caller ID showed his mom’s number.

“Mom?”

“Ben, good morning.”

“What’s up, Mom? I’m already at work.”

“So early, Benjamin? It’s only seven.”

“It’s eight. What do you need?” Chatting with his mother was low enough on his list of things to do, anyway, and the fact that she was calling barely seven hours after Victoria had left had put him on edge.

“Nothing, dear. I just haven’t heard from you in a few weeks and I was wondering if you were ever coming back home.”

“I wasn’t planning on it, no. I’m happy here.”

“Have you talked to your sister lately? She hasn’t been returning to my calls.”

Beta sighed. That was just like his mother: try to turn one sibling against the other. “Christine is a grown-up. The next time she plays a show in the city, I’ll try to go watch it, but otherwise I let her live her own life.”

“Well, there’s no need to be rude. I just thought that maybe if you’d seen that horrible Strauss girl, then you might have talked to her about Christine.”

“Do you want me to hang up the phone, mother? Because that’s what I’m hearing right now.”

“Now you listen to me, young man. That Strauss girl is nothing but trouble and I don’t want you seeing her, you understand me? Why, I just talked Sister Jeanie and she was telling me that Octavia Strauss was out last weekend with another man and if there’s anything I’ve learned it’s that a bad apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, so--“

Beta turned off the phone and set it carefully on his desk. That was about enough of that. If she wanted check on him, fine. He could live with that. If she wanted to ask about Christine, so be it. He could sort of understand that. But to call and start harping on Victoria? What had she ever done to his mother to deserve that kind of tirade? And who cared if Victoria’s mom made bad decisions? It wasn’t like Victoria was following in her footsteps.

He ground his teeth and tried to focus on the screen. He had a list of tasks as long as his arm, and they weren’t getting any shorter while he worried about pointless crap.

The phone rang again.

Beta snatched it up, ready to start firing full photon torpedoes, but as he hit “Answer” he realized it wasn’t his mother: it was Victoria.

“WHAT DO YOU-- Uh, hi, Vicks.”

“Wow, good morning to you, too. Am I interrupting something?” She sounded awful cheerful.

“No. I just had a chat with... with someone I’d rather not have talked to. What’s up?”

“Hey, I have the evening off and I was wondering...”

Beta didn’t know it was possible for a human body to freeze up like a copy of Windows 98, but he found that he couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe and couldn’t think.

“...if you had any plans tonight?”

“No,” he squeaked.

“Well, I’ve been in New York for nearly six months and I haven’t been to the Natural History Museum. Do you want to go?”

His hands unclenched and flew to the keyboard. Seconds later a browser was open and he was staring at the visiting hours. “It closes at 5:30. What time did you have in mind?”

“Oh. I hadn’t looked. But you do want to go?”

He glanced at the task list and then at the clock. Screw it. He could take an afternoon off. Sol would understand. Probably. “Yes. Of course. Uh, I can go any time after lunch.”

“How about 3:00 then?”

“Okay.”

“See you then.”

The phone went dead. Beta very carefully set it back on his desk, then leaned back in his chair. “Well, holy shit.”

“I had no idea you were so happy to see me.” Sol stood in the doorway, an amused smile on his face.

“Good morning, boss.”

“I take it you just won the lottery?” Sol asked.

Beta shook his head.

“NASA accepted you for astronaut training?”

“No.”

“Well, do tell. I don’t want to stand here and keep guessing.”

“That was Victoria. She wants to go to the Natural History Museum.”

Sol grinned. “Congratulations on your date, Benjamin. And you’re welcome.”

“I’m welcome?”

“Well, it was only after she met Aaron and me that she warmed up to you, right?”

Beta raised an eyebrow.

Sol rolled his eyes. “I’m jesting with you, Benjamin.” He backed out of the office.

“Hey boss, is it okay if I take the afternoon off?”

“Of course, Benjamin. I would never stand in the way of young love.”

Things were turning up.

T
EDDY
 Roosevelt sat astride a great green horse with a pair on Indians flanking him on either side. The lot of them were up on a pedestal, towering over the Central Park entrance to the museum. Beta waited on the steps behind Teddy, scanning the crowd for Victoria.

She strolled up from the south, probably from the 72
^nd
Street station. She wore a long cream and black pea coat cinched tight around her a waist. Brown hair flowed in waves beneath a simple red knit cap. Beta waved from the steps, trying to catch her attention.

She saw him and waved back as she approached. “You have any trouble getting the afternoon off? I didn’t really think about you being in a nine to five job.”

“I’m good. If you didn’t pick up on it last night, Sol’s a pretty laid back guy.”

“I guess that’s true. You want to go inside and get out of the cold?”

“I’d love to.” Beta left his hands out of his pockets on the off chance she wanted to stroll as a couple. Victoria jammed her hands into her pockets, oblivious.

Beta stopped at the service desk inside the door and paid for their tickets. He still wasn’t used to being able to spend forty bucks without worrying about it. It felt good.

“I can get mine,” Victoria offered, pulling a wallet out of her coat.

“It’s okay.” Beta took the two dollars of change and stuffed it into his coat. “My treat.”

“Beta, you don’t have to pay for me. It was my idea.”

“It’s okay.” He took a map.

Victoria made a “harrumph” sound, but didn’t argue the point. They walked toward the towering dinosaur skeleton, and Beta took in the atrium for the first time.

Rose colored pillars towered over the periphery, and some kind of long necked dinosaur climbed toward the heavens in the middle. It was up on its hind legs, kicking out toward a second dinosaur with the front.

“What is that thing?” Victoria asked.

“I dunno. A brontosaurus?” They walked closer, looking for a plaque.

“God, look at the thing’s claws.” Victoria pointed toward the smaller, attacking dinosaur. It had claws the size of carving knives, each with a wickedly curving tip.

“Bet it would make a heck of a back scratcher,” Beta said.

Victoria made that “harrumph” sound again. “There.” She pointed to the gold plaque on the base of the exhibit. “It’s a barosaurus.”

Beta shook his head. “I don’t think that was in any of my kindergarten dinosaur books.”

“See, it’s defending its baby.” Hidden in the back was a much smaller skeleton.

“Kind of morbid, don’t you think?”

Victoria shrugged. “That’s life.”

Beta pointed to the hall beyond the one they were in. Displays with bears and elk were visible. “Do you want to see what’s in there?”

“Where’s the whale?”

Beta checked the map. “Down there on the right.”

They walked side by side, and Beta noticed that Victoria had taken off the mittens and stuffed them into her pockets.

Victoria gasped as they reached the entrance to the oceanic exhibits. The whale hung overhead, a massive, leaping blue creature. Even Beta paused. It was truly breathtaking the way it curved toward the ground, as if it were diving from the blue glass panes of the ceiling into the tile below.

“I knew it was here,” Victoria said, “but the pictures don’t do it justice.” She walked forward, her neck craned up as she passed under the beast.

Beta trailed back a step, splitting his attention between the whale, Victoria and the gaggle of elementary students that were wandering the gallery.

Victoria stopped directly under it and turned slowly, taking in the galleries to either side. Stuffed walruses stared back, jealous witnesses to her fascination.

Victoria grabbed his hand. “Come on, let’s go upstairs and see it from above.”

Her hands were like ice. Ice that warmed his heart and took away his breath. Beta walked beside her, letting her admire the whale while he threaded them through the crowd. They stopped at the top of the steps and Victoria squeezed his hand. “Isn’t it wonderful.”

He glanced at their clasped hands. “Beyond everything I ever imagined.”

Victoria faced him and smiled, and at the same time she seemed to realize that she had hold of his hand. Doubt flashed in her eyes and her grip relaxed. Beta squeezed her hand, thinking to enjoy it for that final second, but to his surprise, she squeezed back and her smile only broadened.

“Thank you again, Beta. Ben.” Her eyebrows furrowed. “Should I call you Beta or Ben? You’ve been Beta since we were seven.”

“Whichever you prefer.” He didn’t care; he was just happy to have her talking to him.

“How about Ben? We’re in a new city, in a new life. I think it’s time you should have a grown up name.”

“Ben it is.”

Victoria squeezed his hand again. “What else do you want to see?”

He didn’t have the faintest idea. All he wanted was to spend his afternoon with her, and it didn’t matter where. They go could go watch paint dry for all he cared, as long as she didn’t let go of his hand.

Brighter lights shined from an adjacent gallery. “How about the fish?”

Victoria swung their hands as she walked, and she told him how she still hadn’t found a singing gig. She talked about work as they passed by school after school of fish, and he told her about Jerome and Sol as they walked through the meteorites.

A line African elephants marched through the middle of another gallery. They stopped to admire them, and Beta turned to Victoria. “So what happened with you and Trent?”

She stayed quiet for a minute, and he thought she wasn’t going to answer. Then she spoke, her voice just above a whisper, “He wasn’t who I thought he was. He was handsome and charming, but he was also an egotistical workaholic that didn’t really care about people.”

Beta blinked. “Wow.”

She wasn’t finished. “And I caught him cheating. It wasn’t like ‘hey, he’s fucking that girl,’ but I caught another girl at his apartment. He tried to explain it away. And then I caught him with the same girl again at a restaurant.”

That wasn’t what Beta was expecting to hear. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but catching the asshole with his pants down was a shock. Guys like Trent were supposed to be smooth, careful. They were supposed to know how to keep their women apart.

“That’s... I don’t know what that is. I’m sorry.”

“I am, too. I should have known better.” She squeezed his hand until it throbbed. “But it’s done now. I’m moving on.”

“Good.”

Beta hardly noticed the museum, and when they found themselves being ushered toward the Roosevelt Hall by a security guard, he was shocked to see it that it was already after 5:30.

They stopped on the front steps with an icy wind snaking fingers down their necks. In front of them, out past Teddy and his Indians, lines of cabs clogged the street, stretching off into a white stream of headlights on the left and a crimson stream of taillights on the right.

“Is this where we part ways?” Beta asked.

“Is that what you want to do?”

“No.”

Victoria laughed. “I had a feeling you would say that. I know a wonderful Greek place if you feel up to a trip to Queens.”

“Absolutely.”

They walked hand in hand toward the train station.