The Silver Thread (45 page)

Thoroughly impressed with her husband’s rationale, Annika turned to smile at him.

“If the zombie apocalypse ever comes, you’re definitely the one I want to have by my side.”

“Aww, love, you know I would kill every last one of them if they dared touch a hair on your head,” he said, and kissed her on the head before continuing to run the comb along her scalp. She understood how such a soothing motion could have lulled his twin sister to sleep. It was just as relaxing as the wine, if not more so. He set down the comb and began to run his fingers through her damp hair, not catching on a single tangle.

There was a knock at the door, and Talvi stopped playing with her hair.

“Get down on the floor,” he ordered, pointing to the side of the bed farthest away from the door.

“What for?” she asked, wrinkling her nose in confusion. “It’s just our dinner, babe. I got us Chinese.”

He looked at her skeptically, and in a few short strides, he darted in and out of the bathroom, before peering through the peephole at their visitor. When he cracked open the door, Annika noticed that he was holding his straight razor in his hand. She sat silently on the bed, observing as he folded the blade out of sight of the person, put it back in his pocket, and took out his wallet instead. After he paid, he locked the door and brought their dinner over to the bed, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

“What was that all about?” she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

“All that discussion about zombies put me on edge,” he said, flashing a smile before sniffing the take-out boxes. “Did you order ma po tofu for me?”

“Yeah,” she said slowly, still perplexed about the business with the blade. “You said you’d been craving it for a long time.”

“I didn’t think you would have remembered that,” he replied, kissing her on the cheek before unwrapping a pair of chopsticks. “The last time I had this was when Yuri made it for me nearly two years ago. No one else in the family likes it.”

“Then I hope this is half as good as hers,” Annika said, digging a fork into her rice and vegetables. “I’m sorry I never thought about how much you must miss her.”

“Let’s not speak about her right now,” he replied in a quiet voice in between bites.

“Alright, well, I’m sorry about bugging you so much about your past. Your dad said that I was only focusing on you to avoid focusing on all the changes happening with myself. I think he’s right.”

“You mean to tell me that my father came to my defense?” Talvi asked in disbelief.

“Oh yeah,” said Annika with her mouth full. “He told me that I need to adjust my learning curve for you, because you’ve never had a girlfriend before. Is that true?”

“Well…yes, it is,” he admitted, still surprised to learn what his father had told his wife.

“I thought Zenzi was your old girlfriend,” said Annika, remembering a distinctly annoying elven girl who hung all over Talvi the first time he took her to the Tortoise and the Hare. “Hey, did something crazy happen between the two of you?”

“Let’s not speak about her right now, either,” Talvi said, focusing on the television. “I don’t wish to ruin this peaceful moment with you.” Annika laughed to herself, because only he would call this a peaceful moment, when there was the rattle of machine gun fire mixed with brain-obsessed, bloody zombies screaming in the background.

“Alright, well, is there anything you want to ask me, since we need to learn how to communicate more?”

“Yes, actually there is,” he said after swallowing another bite. He waited until Annika turned to face him. “What’s your middle name?”

“It’s Jane,” she confided with an embarrassed smile. “My mom got to pick my first name, so my dad gave me my middle name from a song he liked.” Talvi’s expression became more intrigued.

“Sweet Jane?” he asked, to which she nodded. “Why, you weren’t yet a twinkle in your father’s eye when that song came out. I have that record album at home. I just love Sweet Jane.”

“Why am I not surprised?” she murmured, smiling softly.

“When were you given that name, sweet Annika Jane?” he asked. “I don’t even know your birthday.”

“It’s July third.”

“That’s only two days from now,” he hummed. “I’ve already got a gift in mind for you, but it won’t be ready until next April. Is there anything else you would like in the meantime? Something expensive? Something rare?”

“I’ll opt for something rare since neither of us have an income right now,” she said, grinning even wider at him. “You can make me dinner…without using any fairy magic.”

“Ah, that is rare indeed,” he said. He set his dinner on the nightstand, then took hers away and put it beside his. He pulled her into his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist. “Do you have anything in mind that you might enjoy tasting that evening? How many courses do you think you can manage to fit into your little body?” His fingertips walked lazily up her spine and then slid back down and curled around her waist. “Three? Four? More? I have a feeling you’re going to be thoroughly stuffed by the end of the night.”

“I have a feeling you’re not talking about my birthday dinner,” she said with a coy smile, ready to make up with him, ready to move in perfect harmony and sync with him, and feel that connection that had been absent for too long. She pushed his hands down onto her hip bones, guiding them to rest on her ilium. She curled her fingers under his jaw, then reached out toward the wicked creature in front of her and gently took a handful of his wild black hair in each fist, pulling him closer, inhaling from above his pointed ear down to his shoulder. Her nose ran along his cheekbone until it was touching his, but when she went to kiss him, he didn’t return it passionately like she was expecting. Instead, his response was benign and disengaged. His hands let go of her hips and he leaned back, resting on his hands. He tilted his head to one side, then the other, looking at her with a quizzical frown.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Something is throwing me off…it feels so different with you now,” he said in a serious tone. “I’m trying my damnedest not to let it affect me, but I’m not certain I can cope with how badly behaved you really were in Paris.”

Annika’s stomach turned as she snuck a glimpse into his blue-green eyes, trying to scan his thoughts for any trace of what his suspicions were. She had tried to follow Finn’s advice to the letter, pushing all inappropriate memories into a corner of her mind and keeping them there. Then she saw him indulging in his pear and ginger sorbet, and the blissful expression on his face. She heard Finn’s deep voice give a happy hum and her heart thumped a few times. Maybe she hadn’t done as well as she’d hoped.

“What do you mean?” she asked nervously. Talvi reached out and ran his fingers through her hair once more, letting his gaze rest on the strands that fell slowly from of his hand. He looked absolutely heartbroken.

“I think you know very well what I mean…” he answered, shaking his head in disapproval while he reached for his smartphone on the nightstand beside the wine. “It’s messing with my mind every time I look at you, not to mention the rest of my body. I don’t believe we’ll be able to reconcile properly until you’re a redhead again. I say it’s high time to allow a rooster other than James into the henhouse. Now tell me the telephone number to your mother’s salon, so I can get this matter resolved as quickly as possible. I really, really would like to reconcile with you.”

“I hope James doesn’t rip my head off when we get inside,” said Annika as their taxi pulled into the driveway of their house. “I was supposed to call him back over a week ago. He said it was important.”

“What was important?” Talvi asked, unbuckling his seatbelt.

“I don’t know,” said Annika, grabbing her purse and a couple smaller bags as she opened the door. “All he told me was that shit was blowing up.”

“Why didn’t you tell me it was an emergency?” Talvi cried, looking worried. He paid the driver quickly and peered at the house while he walked to the trunk and took out their luggage. In that last half-hour before sunset, he could see the beautiful flowers were still blooming and the trees were full and happy. The lawn was freshly mowed, and it appeared that a fresh coat of paint had been applied to the wood trim. The once-dilapidated house was now one of the prettiest on the block, if not in the neighborhood.

“Sweetie, nothing’s literally blowing up,” she assured him as he followed her up the steps to the side door. “It’s more slang. It means something’s happening.”

“Such as…?”

“I don’t know, let’s find out.”

She opened the door and as soon as she shouted her hello into the kitchen, James went off on her.

“Oh my god, where the hell have you been?” he demanded as he stormed in from the living room, with Chivanni zipping in front of him. The fairy barely gave Annika and Talvi time to drop their bags before enveloping them in tight hugs, sending his wings aflutter while James ranted on.

“I’ve been leaving a shit-ton of messages at your hotel and then they told me that you checked out days ago and I’m totally trying not to freak the fuck out, but you really need to be better about getting back to me! And why the hell didn’t you just get a fucking international calling plan and take your phone with—”

“James, do I need to put you in a time out?” Chivanni interrupted in a calm voice. James tossed his tousled brown hair and rolled his eyes before admitting that no, in fact, he did not need a time out at all. The shift in his attitude was drastic, and didn’t go unnoticed.

“Where’s Charlie?” Annika asked. “And Patti?”

“At the farm,” James answered. “One of the cheese makers is leaving, so Charlie’s teaching her how to make mozzarella by hand. I had no idea how much that girl likes cheese, but it’s pretty much the perfect job for her.”

“And they can ride to work together, since Patti still hasn’t found a car she likes,” Chivanni added.

James spied a garment bag marked Chanel and snatched it the way a child snatches candy at a parade.

“Um, let’s take that upstairs,” Annika said. She had no desire to look at her formerly white dress. James and Chivanni followed her and Talvi up to their room, where they set their bags on the bed and began to unpack.

“You said things were blowing up, but everything looks just fine to me,” said Talvi, looking around their room. “What exactly were you referring to, James?”

“Do you remember your wife’s photo shoot with Jerry O. and the rest of the boys?” he asked, getting excited.

“Ah yes, I’ll not forget that day very easily,” he said, smirking at Annika. “We were supposed to have a romantic picnic, but I got the brush off for some other blokes instead. Are you bored with my repertoire already, love?”

“No,” she said, blushing as she gave him a playful shove.

“Well Jerry O. called me and we went out to dinner, and he pulled some strings last minute, and the band got a blurb in the magazine!” James informed her.

“I can’t believe it,” Annika said, staring at him. “You went out to dinner with Jerry?”

“Annika, did you even hear what I said about the band?”

“Yeah, and that’s super cool, but I’m really surprised that you went out with him again, after what he did to you.”

“Oh, who gives a shit?” came James’s irritated reply. “Let me go get the damn magazine so you can see for yourself what I did for the greater good.”

He traipsed out of the room and went downstairs while Annika tossed dirty laundry into the hamper.

“I don’t think I care for ‘Oh Jerry’,” Chivanni said with a sigh. “James said he only met with him for professional reasons, but I worry that he’s playing with fire.”

“He probably is,” Annika said, giving Chivanni a sympathetic look. “He got burned pretty bad last time, but there’s nothing anyone can do to…” she trailed off as James climbed up the steps and joined them in the room again. He plopped the magazine down on top of the luggage on the bed, and opened it to a two page spread marked with a green sticky note. There was Annika, surrounded by four handsome fellows in colorful suits, perched on a desk in a little black dress with her red-feathered shoes. She aggressively held Jerry’s silk tie in her fist while he flashed a dazzling smile at her. She was astounded at how glamorous the photo looked, how perfect the lighting was, and how sexy and rock-and-roll she came across. In the bottom right corner of the page was a summary of what their band sounded like, along with her name and a link to their official website, and instructions on where to download the songs that they had available online.

“People have been downloading our stuff like crazy ever since this came out last week,” James said, gloating at her with pride. “Especially the song that Talvi helped us with. People are going nuts over it! We might actually get a decent paycheck for once!”

“Wow…” Annika said, picking the magazine up and looking closer while Talvi looked over her shoulder. “This is just, this is really amazing. Jerry said he could pull strings better than you can push buttons, but I guess I didn’t have a clue how connected he is.”

“Yeah, well, you’re
welcome
,” James snapped, and grabbed the Chanel garment bag from the bed. As he unzipped it, he gasped in delight, then gasped in horror.

“Annika, what the hell did you
do
?” he demanded, holding the dress in front of him as he looked at the red, yellow and blue paint smeared all over it in disbelief. “You’ve got to be shitting me! You ruined a Chanel? Oh my god, you ruined a fucking Chanel!”

“Um, I was, um, supporting a local artist,” she stammered as her face grew warm. “It’s an abstract painting now.”

“I think it’s pretty,” said Chivanni, gathering a section of blue hemline in his narrow hands. “All white might be a bit boring.”

“No, it’s supposed to be pure white,” James insisted, shaking his head in grief at the once perfect dress. “What’s wrong with you? You do not finger paint a Chanel! Thank god you weren’t wearing this the day we ran into Jerry and his stylist, or you would’ve gotten both of us banned from the photo shoot!”

“If the dress is truly ruined, then why bother keep it?” Talvi asked, taking the last of his things from his bag.

“Because it’s still a Chanel,” James said crisply. He gave the dress one last look and zipped the garment bag to hang it in the closet. “You’re not supposed to defile such a sacred thing, but you also don’t just kick it to the curb, either.”