53: What Are You Up To
Imogen
“Darling, you really should pester Jason for a private plane. Flying commercial is so…..cheap feeling.” Vivienne’s voice drags out with boredom as we wait for our flight. I accompanied her to LA for her film premiere. We were only supposed to be here for a week until it turned into ten days. I didn’t complain though. It was a welcome respite from being home with my husband. He’s not traveling again for a while and it’s stifling being around him.
“Imogen did you hear me?” Her sharp tone breaks through.
“Jason doesn’t want the liability and the cost right now. Says he’ll get one for the hockey team though.” I roll my eyes at that. My husband’s dream, his own NHL team was coming true and it only made me want to vomit. Once I would have cheered him on, helped him; but not now.
Not after he ruined everything we had.
“See. I told you he doesn’t value you enough. You should tell him he’d get one if he actually loved you. But we both know how he’d answer that.” She arches one perfect eyebrow. My best friend could still pass for a thirty five year old whereas I look closer to my age. Her strawberry
blonde hair is gleaming like silk in a blown out style. Perfectly understated makeup and blue eyes as sharp as ever. I should probably get on her skincare routine considering I have about five times more wrinkles than she does.
“He wants us to try marriage counseling. I don’t even know why,” I admit to her, staring out at the busy runways. He hit me with that the morning I left. He also asked me to cut Vivienne out of my life. Which was not happening. She’s been the only one I could count on for the last
decade.
“Appearances, Imogen. And he’s worried about the divorce settlement you could take him for.
Needs to make sure you stick around and don’t abscond with his money. Starting this team means his image needs to look very polished. Now have you convinced Easton to let us take Cole out for a day? Maybe half a day unless the little nanny comes along. I just wasn’t built for
young children. I am much more in tune with them once they reach the ages of independence.
She checks her manicure at that.
”
“No. He’s not budging on that Vivienne. It doesn’t help that he knows you didn’t want Lorelei to
have him.” I remind her as I think of my oldest son. He’s the most stubborn. After our fight
about Cole and Vivienne, he’s steered clear of me, speaking maybe fifteen words my direction. Which hurt. He doesn’t understand that I simply want him to not suffer like I have. And that I
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wanted to help my oldest, dearest friend. She won’t harm Cole. She simply felt Lorelei was too young to have a baby at that point.
“Then we need to take care of that. You have the power to make the choice for him.” She reminds me.
“I hesitate to use that Vivienne. Do you truly need Cole for the media boost?” I face her.
“Yes. I’m older and I’ve been in foreign films so much more in the last five years. And the sweet kid story is very popular right now. My agent says once we do that, it will open lots of doors from the studio. A private plane for the tour, a second film contract….so many things. And it will help our plans for the future.” Suddenly her eyes light up. “Maybe we could stop by the house for dinner and I meet him. I mean if he asks to spend a day with his Vivi, Easton will have no choice but to say yes. And I can convince him I do want a relationship with Cole. People grow and evolve.”
“I don’t know.” Easton was enraged at the idea of her around him in any way.
They call our flight for boarding.
“Trust me, this will work out perfectly. You know I never steer you wrong. If it wasn’t for me, you’d still be a blind, stay at home mom. Not the highly sought after in society, Imogen Reed.”
Luci
“Don’t forget, we already have one birthday present and one Christmas present for your daddy. And one for the uncles.” I remind Cole as we near the shops.
“I know. But Daddy needs another present. And Barrett. And Sydney?” He looks so thoughtful.
“Barrett for sure. You could just make Sydney a card.” I offer.
“No, I buy her a present. Luci what does she like?”
“She needs a new scarf. Barrett got her mittens and a hat.” In cashmere like mine since she
was constantly touching it. But they were out of scarves.
“Ok. Barrett wants a Star Wars lamp.”
“Yes he does. Look at you, Coco. You’ve been working on your shopping list. Now what do you want to get your daddy?” The gift from Cole for Christmas is purely sentimental, but what else could you want from your son?
“Daddy needs a new tie.” I suppress the laugh. The classic standby.
“Doesn’t Daddy have lots of ties? He wears suits to the hockey games.” I gently suggest.
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53: What Are You Up To
“Those are his hockey ties Luci. They all have hockey stuff. He needs a nice tie for a restaurant.” He’s so plaintively earnest in his explanation that I laugh a little.
“Ok. We can get him a tie. Anything else for him and the uncles?”
“We’ll look.” He holds my hand as we begin to shop. I put the tie off until last, but Coco is
persistent.
“Which one, Coco?” I point to an entire display.
“What’s your favorite, Luci?”
“I…don’t know. Maybe this one.” I point to a dark green one with small silver dots.
“That one then. And he needs that spray stuff. The ones that smell good.” He stares up at me,
lost for words.
“Cologne? I think he should buy that. Some of those smells can make people sneeze.” I’m not
even going to attempt to choose that.
He agrees disappointed, but then we find the perfect gift for all four Reed brothers that even
Cole is satisfied with. We get back home and decide to wrap all of his presents after dinner.
Baker made us hot chocolate to drink while we wrap.
Tittering laughter has me on edge as we are heading for the kitchen to get more tape and
return our mugs. I ran into Ambra the last time I heard this.
“Vivienne, wait…”
My hand darts out stopping Cole in his tracks.
“Coco, Jedi mind tricks. Fast.” He takes off instantly. We practiced for this very reason. I
continue walking after taking a deep breath and muttering words of encouragement to myself.
The sound of heels tapping the marble floors has my heart racing.
A woman rounds the corner, her mouth curving up as she looks me over. I don’t need an
introduction to know her identity. She’s an older carbon copy of the girl in the photos with Easton. Imogen walks in right behind her. Vivienne Winters glances over her shoulder. “Look
darling, it was meant to be. This is the little plain nanny I see.” She now turns my way, flashing
her megawatt star smile. “Where is Cole?” She says each word loudly and slowly as if I’m
unable to process normal speech.
I ignore her and focus on Imogen. “Where is Cole, Luci?” Imogen’s brow is furrowed as she
glances behind me.
“Asleep Mrs. Reed.” I address her.
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Vivienne scoffs. “It’s barely 6:30. Way too early for bedtime. Unless you can’t handle him.” Her
eyes narrow on me. “Tucked him in early to make your night easier and so you can be ready to
go after his father? Or one of the other three?”
I straighten my shoulders, bristling at that. She waves her hand in a downward motion. “Oh
darling, I don’t blame you at all. Children are sooo tedious. They’ll give you frown lines and wrinkles. Course that is your job.”
Again I don’t answer her. Imogen was very clear about not sharing information with anyone
she didn’t expressly ok. “Luci, Vivienne asked a valid question. Is Cole really in bed this early?”
“Sorry Mrs. Reed. I wasn’t aware of your guests identity and our contract states no sharing of
information. Yes he is. He missed his nap today and was worn out after we walked a lot.” I
omit our shopping trip.
“Isn’t she cute? Keeping to your contract.” Vivienne has moved on to the patronizing tone and
smile. Hate to tell her she doesn’t faze me.
“Surprisingly she is doing as she should.” Imogen suddenly becomes very brisk. “Time to go
Vivienne. You aren’t supposed to be near him. Sorry Luci. She was only coming in to see my
charity project mock up signs. Go back to whatever you were doing.”
I stare after them as she herds Vivienne out of the hallway. That was not how I expected that
to end. Like she was obeying Easton’s instructions about that woman. Baker isn’t in the
kitchen when I put our cocoa mugs in the dishwasher. I grab more tape and head back to
Cole’s room. He’s in his bed pretending to be asleep. “It’s ok Coco. Coast is clear.”
He frowns and I hurry to explain. “Mean people are gone?”
“Yes all gone. You did great. Want to help me finish wrapping these?”
“Yes and then we have to put them under the tree.” He scrambles off the bed and we wrap the
last few. “They’ll like their presents Luci.”
“I think so because you thought all about them hard and picked things you thought they would
enjoy. The love behind a wrapped present is the biggest, most real present. Did you know that?
”
“No. Luci, how do you know if two people really love each other?”
“Like
you and
your daddy?” I ask trying to see where he’s headed.
“No. Like married people, moms and dads.”
“All real love is very special, whether it’s kids and their parents or moms and dads. Even
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brothers or sisters have that. It means no matter what happens, you want them to be happy.
You would make yourself sad if it was the only way they could smile. Your heart feels warm
when they feel good. Like your heart is smiling. Like how you feel when Daddy wins his hockey games or he laughs with you. Can you think of other times when your heart is smiling?
”
“When he hugs me and says I’m something special.” He smiles sweetly.
“That’s real love, Coco. Sydney’s mom and dad have real love. You’ll see it when you go stay
there on Friday. They make each other laugh because hearing that laugh makes them happy.
They like to dance in their kitchen while they cook dinner because Mrs. Isabelle loves to dance
and Mr. Logan knows it makes her happy. And they do nice things all the time, not just for
Christmas. You can tell by how they look at each other. Like the other person is their star in
the sky that only they can see.”
“Like they are special for just them?”
“Yes.” I answer as he seems satisfied with that. He’s been asking things like that a lot making
me wonder what his little brain is up to.
Ivory Row
Did you think you could dislike someone more than Imogen? Well let me introduce you to Vivienne. Those two are definitely up to something.
Extra chapter for you guys.
