Moore to Lose (11 page)

The first (and only) time they would ever interact was a week after Mia had returned from California. A devastated Mia stood before the bust of Augustus Caesar in the Roman Antiquities room. She had been drawn to this marble statue from the time she was a small child. Visiting Augustus had become a family joke. Mia never understood why she was always pulled to the bust, but she liked to think that maybe she had known Julius Caesar’s nephew, Octavian, in another life.

Standing before the statue, she didn’t even realize that she was quietly crying, although she was wiping tears away with the heels of her palms. She heard a click and saw a beautiful Mykonos Blue Hermès Kelly Bag being opened; the owner removed and handed her a white linen handkerchief trimmed with purple embroidery. Jackie was looking straight ahead at Augustus as she handed the delicate fabric to Mia.

Eyes trained on the handsome Roman, she observed, “I’ll bet he was a heartbreaker.” It was a voice she’d known her entire life.

Mia sighed, “I’ll bet he was a tennis player.”

Jackie nodded her head and smiled, “You’re probably right.” And she gracefully floated away, leaving a tear-stained Mia, linen handkerchief in hand, to her Augustus.

As Mia and Lois made their way through the museum toward the Hudson River School painters exhibit, Mia veered off to the left toward Augustus. Lois was used to indulging her daughter’s obsession which had been on-going since the age of four.

“So, have you heard from Tom now that he’s back in LA?” Lois was pretending to look through the new exhibit catalogue, but Mia knew better. The Inquisition was about to begin.

“Yeah, we talk a couple of times a day.” They began to walk toward The Great Hall again to head upstairs to the opening.

“Is this serious?” Mia could tell from her tone that Lois was seriously worried.

“Define serious?”

“Do you see a future with him?” They entered the elevator with several other people, so Mia did not immediately answer.

As they exited onto the second floor, she answered her mother’s question, “Short term, yes. Long term, no. I don’t think he’ll ever be your son-in-law, Mom, or that your grandchildren will bear the surname Sheehan.”

Mia almost laughed aloud at the relief on her mother’s face.

“So, what is it, just physical?”

“No, it’s not
just
physical, but he is one damn fine specimen.”

White-gloved waiters in short cut jackets were circulating about with trays filled with crystal champagne flutes. Mia grabbed two. She did not hand one to Lois. The first one was gone in two sips and she immediately began on the second. She could feel the alcohol hitting her bloodstream. The last time she’d eaten was seven hours before and it had been a yogurt.

“I’m very concerned about the age difference.”

Ta-da, there it was. The age difference. Mia knew this was coming.

Standing before Jasper Francis Cropsey’s
Autumn on the Hudson River 1860
, Mia was astounded by the perfection of Cropsey’s composition. Looking at it with her photographic-trained eye, she noted that the horizon was beautifully placed about one-third of the way up the canvas, a small pond on the lower left and a stream leading in from the right toward the center of the painting led one’s eye around the canvas. Brilliant, Mia thought. Why had she never noticed before that the Hudson River School painters compositions were like perfect photographs? She was having an epiphany moment, fueled by the champagne on an empty stomach.

“Look at this composition, it is perfection.”

“Are you going to answer me?” Lois sounded annoyed.

“I’m sorry, Mom. What? What was the question?”

“There was no question, I said I’m concerned about your age difference. Tom is ten years older than you. He’s a grown man and you are still a teenager.”

“Mother, I’m a junior in college.” Where are those champagne waiters? I could use one going by right about now, Mia thought.

“You’re still a teen. And don’t ‘Mother’ me.”

“And your point is?” Mia grabbed a glass off a passing waiter’s tray.

“My point is, how much do you really have in common with this man? At his age, men like to do different things than young girls your age.”

“Really?” Mia squinted at her mom, “I hadn’t noticed. Seriously.” She pounded down the champagne, “Tom and I have a lot in common. We get along very well. And I know you noticed what an absolute fox he is.”

Lois sighed. She clearly wasn’t going to win this battle but the war was far from over. They stopped in front of Albert Bierstadt’s
Lander’s Peak
. Mia loved the jagged peaks of the mountains, they looked like the Rockies.

“I was really hoping that something would happen with you and that sweetheart.”

Mia looked at her mom, a perplexed look on her face, wondering who the hell she was talking about.

“You know who I’m talking about.” Lois continued, “That sweet, gorgeous boy in California. Schooner. Schooner Moore.”

Mia could feel the muscles in both her face and stomach contract, “Schooner Moore? Yeah, he’s a
real
sweetheart, Mom.” And with that, Mia turned on her heel and stalked away.

Lois didn’t follow Mia, but watched her from across the gallery. The myriad of emotions flying across her daughter’s face at lightning speed was both very telling and alarming to watch. Every muscle in Mia’s being was bristling. Lois could actually see the tense twitches coursing through her daughter’s body. She had clearly struck a chord just mentioning the young man’s name.

For the first time in a year, Lois Silver finally had an indication of what had happened to her daughter.

Back in the Silver’s apartment, Lois tore through papers she had stashed in the top drawer of the nightstand next to her side of the bed. Although nearly two years had passed, she was sure she still had Dee Moore’s phone number somewhere.

The past summer, Mia had returned home from California sullen and withdrawn. She arrived on an earlier flight than scheduled and sat in the airport for five hours without contacting them to let them know she was there. Announcing that she would not be returning to school in California, Mia immediately inquired if either her mother or father had any connections associated with an east coast college, so that they could get her admitted, even though final admission deadlines had long passed for the fall semester. Lois and Bob were thrilled that Mia was not actually planning to drop out of school and began to call in favors. With Mia’s strong academic record and high SAT scores (and the fact that the Silvers were actually paying for Mia’s education in full versus her attending on a financial aid scholarship), it turned out to be surprisingly easy for them to get Mia placed at one of the most prestigious small Liberal Arts schools in New York state.

Barely emerging from her room for most of the summer, an unkempt Mia refused to confide in her parents the reason for fleeing California or for her uncharacteristically depressed behavior.

Her reaction this evening to Schooner’s name and Lois’ suggestion that she would’ve liked to have seen them together as a couple was extreme, to say the least, Lois thought. It was also very telling. Something had happened between Mia and Schooner that had left her young daughter devastated.

Lois wondered if Dee had seen any odd changes in her son’s behavior the past summer. Did he come home from school sullen and miserable, too? Had Schooner and Mia experienced a tragic breakup? It was Lois’ experience that when one party was so utterly devastated, the other party was suffering an equally miserable reaction — especially with a young love. Her daughter’s response to whatever had happened between them had been alarming. Lois couldn’t help but think that maybe the Moores had seen an equally disturbing behavioral change in their sweet (yes, he was sweet, very sweet, no matter what her daughter said) son.

After thirty minutes of unsuccessfully trying to locate a scrap of paper with a phone number scribbled on it, Lois gave up the search and reached for the telephone. She dialed directory assistance in the 714 area code and asked for the phone number of a Gavin Moore located in Newport Beach.

The directory assistance operator checked for the number and informed Lois that the Moores, in fact, had an unpublished number. An unlisted telephone number. She had struck out. Reached a dead end.

Lois hung up the phone and sighed. As a mother, she knew in her gut that her daughter had put 3,000 miles between herself and that beautiful blonde boy because he had shattered her heart. Her gut also told her that Mia had probably done the same to him.

Lois Silver’s heart ached for the both of them.

“I see Rob with my parents over there.” Joni was pointing into the large crowd.

“Where? Give me a landmark.” Mia was scanning the field.

“Woman in hot pink, two rows up, a few people to the right.” Joni was waving, but in the sea of black caps and gowns, it was unlikely they’d see her.

“Oh yeah. Yeah. I see them. Do you see my parents anywhere? Or Tom?” Mia continued to unsuccessfully scan the crowd.

“Looking.” Joni joined the search.

Commencement day. A long way from walking The Quad in California during freshman orientation. That seemed like a million years ago. It was a million years ago. Mia pictured Henry and Rosie in their caps and gowns and smiled. She missed them and wished there were a way to share this day with them. But so much time had passed. She just hoped that their lives were happy and that they were moving on to exciting things in their post-collegiate worlds.

And then there was him. She’d successfully not thought about him in quite a while. But today, well today was graduation day, the last day of her college career and she had met him on the very first day of her college career. Long ago and far away. A lifetime ago. She tried to picture what he might look like, so tall and lean, in his cap and gown. So handsome. And she felt her eyes filling with tears. It had been three years. Three years this very week. She didn’t hate him anymore. And that was a good thing. “I wish you happiness,” she said silently, in her head, “I’m happy and I wish you happiness.” And she was happy. She’d had three great years being in school back east, made wonderful friends, had Tom in her life and a job waiting for her in New York City at BBDO — one of the biggest ad agencies in the world, where she’d interned the past few summers. It had all worked out. Her whole world was before her, exciting and unknown. Mia was honest enough with herself though to admit to the slightest wonder, what would it all be like if she was sharing it with him? And then she told herself to let it go, because that was a dream that was never going to come true.

“I see them!” Mia tried to follow Joni’s pointing finger.

“Landmark, please.” Mia laughed.

“Right edge of the bleachers, like five rows up. There is a woman in turquoise directly behind Tom.”

“I see him. I see him. I see him.” Mia was jumping up and down and just the sight of him flung the thought of Schooner back 3,000 miles to his own graduation.

Mia hadn’t seen Tom in two months — the longest she’d gone without him since they’d been together. Even from a distance he looked incredible. As if reading her mind, Joni pinched her arm, “He is so hot, Mia. The man is just sexy.”

Mia laughed, “Too sexy for his own good. And for mine.”

Ninety minutes later, Mia and Joni were college graduates and were milling their way through the crowd in search of finding their loved ones. Tom was walking towards her and all she could see was his smile. Breaking into a run, she flung herself into his arms and her feet were off the ground as he spun around with her in his arms.

“I’m so proud of you, Jailbait.” Putting her down and taking her face in his hands, he kissed her deeply and she put her cap on his head, making them both laugh into each other’s mouths.

Mia had not realized just how much she missed him until that moment. Turning to her parents for kisses and a group hug, she felt surrounded by so much love. After two years, Lois had finally accepted Tom as a part of their world and they actually got along well.

Later at dinner with Tom and her parents, Joni, Rob, and Joni’s parents and younger sister, Mia felt like she had her own pack — Joni, Rob, Tom and her parents — they were the core of her world. She reveled in the moment because she was well aware that the very next moment would change everything. Rob and Joni were going to be living upstate in Ithaca where Rob would be working on his MFA (at Cornell!)and she was going to be moving down to the city. They would no longer be a part of one another’s everyday world. Mia knew she would miss having them right outside her bedroom door, sharing the kitchen and the one bathroom in their tiny student ghetto apartment.

Tom was clinking on his wine glass. “To Mia and Joni, you now have a whole new world in front of you to explore. Be bold. Be adventurous. Take risks. Fail. Get up. Do it again. I’m really proud of you two and I can’t wait to see you both conquer the world.” He was met with a round of “here-here.” He then reached inside the inner breast pocket of his blazer and pulled out an envelope. Handing the envelope to Mia, Tom smiled, “This is the first part of your graduation gift.”