back at the doorstep

chapter 8

 

 

"When are you expecting Elijah and Mira?" Nick inquired as he helped his guests to take their things to the door. CJ was getting the final draft of her script reviewed by Ian.

"Now-ish to later-ish," replied CJ. "I think Lij mentioned getting some take-out if they got held late at Billy’s."

"Mira's gotten him addicted to naan and butter chicken, extra spicy." Orlando chuckled lightly, sliding his hand from his wife's shoulder to cup her hand. "Those two have gotten so tight you'd think they were school chums."

Ian's brow lifted slightly. "Like you've said before, Mira has more in common with adults than young people. I believe their tastes in music are similar as well, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they were giggling like monkeys yesterday about finding a CD by some obscure Peruvian band that did folk-techno fusion."

"They're almost finishing each other's sentences," CJ added. "It's kind of freaky actually. It's how Jill and I were after meeting each other in high school. We scared people away in a couple of weeks."

"That is satisfying to hear." The tilt in Ian's eyes softened. "I must admit, even after all these years, I've never stopped worrying about him and that bit of nastinesss he stumbled into."

Orlando looked down as he rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. "Yeah... yeah, I guess I have, too. Not really the actual incident but the fact that he..." He exhaled to gather his control. "Well... he never asked for help, you know? If that one thing I hate and love about the guy, it's that he's so damned bull-headed about being independent you want to carve him a new bloody arsehole. Not unlike some people I could name." He gave CJ's hand a squeeze.

"Watch it, buddy." Her tone was harsh but her thumb caressed the back of his hand.

"This reunion was one of your better ideas, Ian." Orlando patted him lightly on the shoulder.

"I was divinely inspired," he replied. "You get like that when you're my age, you know, on account of being that much closer to the great beyond."

Orlando's nose wrinkled. "I really wish you'd stop saying things like that."

Ian only widened his smile. His rejoinder was interrupted by the rumble of Mira’s VW going up the cobbly street. Cobblestones were all well and good visually but they were hellish on suspension. Even Ian’s old eyes could see Elijah’s twisted expression as he hung on for dear life.

“You’ve got to drop me off at the theatre, Papa,” said Mira after she transferred to the backseat. “The rehearsal’s lasting longer than we all expected.”

So off Mira went again and CJ holed up in Mini-Moria again leaving the boys to sit around and contemplate their navel lint.

"I'm bored," said Orlando, kicking a bright blue football from his end of the couch to Elijah's.

"Of course you're bored. You haven't been able to get into CJ's pants for two days straight." Elijah kicked it back.

"Git. Don't remind me." The blue ball rolled to the left again. "Let's visit Viggo."

"He flew home, remember? His granddaughter's violin recital. Whoops, sorry." Elijah had inadvertently pitched the ball too far down the couch.

Orlando stretched his long legs and snagged it back without having his lift his bum from the seat. "I'm bored."

"I know you are. Believe me."

"Want to hop over to a pub?"

"Why, so you can complain about your boredom in a public forum?"

"Well... yeah." He grinned. That grin hadn't changed since they first met.

Elijah rolled his eyes at the sight. "I still have no idea how you managed to get married, man. And to freakin' CJ MacCormac, too. Talk about your daredevil stunts."

"She said it was the British accent." Flicking his ankle up at a certain angle, Orlando managed to pop the ball onto his lap and began dribbling it between his hands.

"Huh. A lot of couples marry for a lot less, I guess.”

There was something in his tone that made Orlando pause to look sideways. Elijah was looking ponderously at the carpet, as if the meaning of life could be gained by the repetitive diamond pattern. He wasn't quite frowning, at least not in sadness.

"What's up, mate?"

It took a while for him to answer. "How many times did you get seriously involved? Three? Four?"

"Three before CJ," said Orlando.

"And who broke it off?"

Where the hell was the man going with this? "You know the answer to the first one," he said. "The other two, I ended. I got one of the rings back at least."

Elijah worried at his thumb, a remnant of his nail-biting days. "So what made CJ different? Why did you marry her and not the other three? I mean," he shrugged, looking up at Orlando briefly with a wry expression, "we've known her since Billy and Jill got married. Bean dated her, for frick's sake! If I had to choose the person least likely to fit your type, it'd be CJ."

"My type?" Orlando's brows shot up to his hairline.

"You know." Elijah drew small, lazy circles with his hand. "Blonde, tall, lithe, perky, nice to the point of blandness."

"And CJ's an opinionated, black-humoured, indie bitch from the Seventh Circle of Hell," ended Orlando. "And three years older to boot."

His friend smiled at that. "You've got to admit, I thought it was tabloid trash until I got the invitation to the wedding."

"It is a pretty entertaining thought, isn't it?" Orlando had to grin, too. "Me marrying the Queen of Darkness."

"Do you think it's going to last?"

His expression quickly snapped downward. "What do you mean by that?"

Elijah leaned back, his hands out. "I'm sorry. That came out wrong." He lowered his arms, rubbing his fingers on his jeans. "What I meant was, how did you know that she was the one? I know you, man; you don't make a promise that you can't keep and I really don't think CJ would either."

"Never."

"So..."

Orlando tilted his head sideways, studying Elijah's face. Like a lot of former child-stars, he never seemed to age much; except for a darkening of his skin, his features now were very similar to those back in the day even before they met. It was only in the eyes that the age showed.

Focussing on the faint crack at the bottom of the coffee table, Orlando rolled the football around in his palms. "The night of the cast party for In the End, I was standing around the bar with her talking like we always do, like we were in the kitchen of her apartment and Mira was just in the other room carving bars of soap, and any time, Jill was going to call and go off on some illogical tangent. And I just..." Orlando squeezed the ball between his hands.

"It wasn't that I couldn't imagine my life without her. Quite the opposite, actually. I'd begun to give up on marriage. I had my life planned out--"

"Plans A through H, if I know you."

"Yeah, and none of them involved a wife anymore. But that night..." He stuck the tip of his tongue out as he tried to find the proper words. "It dawned on me that I was happier, more relaxed, and more content with everything when I was around her. I just... It wasn't that I couldn't imagine my life without her; it was that I didn't want to.”

He rubbed his hands roughly over his face. “Christ, that didn’t sound too maudlin, did it?”

“It was classic Hallmark.” Elijah gave him a few good bashes on the shoulder although his own smile couldn’t be described as anything but mawkish.

Orlando flushed and looked away. His eyes caught a picture of Mira on a side table. It was probably a few years old-- her hair was shorter and lighter with a bit of babyfat still left in her cheeks. He took it, traced that soft jawline with his thumb.

“She’s grown up, huh?” Elijah peered over his arm.

“Yeah.” He let out a soft chuckle. “When I first got the adoption papers, I remember wanting to break down and cry. It was such a bloody relief to know that no-one was going to take Mira away. She was mine and I was going to do my damned best to let her know that I would never abandon her like her biological parents did. I was going to be the best damned dad in the whole world.

“I fought off the plonkers who said that a single father, never mind a young one who acted for a living, would never be able to raise a girl correctly. I threw myself in those first few movies so that everyone after that would want me so badly they'd allow all my provisions for Mira-- the trailer, the nanny, the bodyguards, the food. I guarded her from all the rags, kept my love-life clean as a whistle, cut my social drinking by two-thirds-- the whole bloody mile.”

“You’re a great dad, Orli.” Elijah gave his friend’s forearm a quick squeeze. He took a deep breath, seemingly steeling himself to say something but in the end he just got up and mumbled, “I’ll get us some drinks.”


In the middle of restoring the green room into some sort of order, Mira stopped before the full-length mirror.

“Papa.” she told her reflection solemnly. “I have to tell you something. Agh, no, no... he’ll think someone died and have a massive coronary. Keep it light.”

She pasted a brilliant smile on her lips. “Great news, Papa, I’m in love!” The smile wilted. “Now, he’ll think I’m joking.”

“Papa, I believe I’ve reached the age when I know my own feelings and judging by the physical and emotional reactions I experience when I’m around him, I believe that I’m in love with-- dammit that sounds so dumb!” Mira stuck her tongue out at her reflection.

“Papa, I’m in love with Elijah,” she said firmly.

“Papa, I’m so in love with Elijah!” she said with giggle.

She made complete eye contact with her reflection. “Papa, I love Elijah.” God, it felt so good to just say it! “I love you, Elijah.” Her false giggle turned into a full-on grin. “I love you, Elijah. I love you, love you, love you! I love your eyes and your hair and your weird cackling laugh. I love listening to music with you and talking with you and just being around you. I love you more than chocolate and butter chicken and raspberry sorbet. I love you so much that... that I don’t have any words left to tell you how much.”

“Then ye’ve got a problem, lass.”

Eep!” went Mira. The dusting cloth went somewhere overhead. “Billy! Erm, I was just... uh... being...”

“In love?” Billy uncrossed his arms. “I’m sorry. I was walking by and overheard. Not that it was a surprise.”

Mira rubbed her arm. “Are we that obvious?”

“Tae someone who’s been there, aye. Sit down.” He nodded to a dressing chair and took one of his own right up beside her. “I knew I was going tae marry Jillian as soon as I clapped eyes on her. She knew the same about me. The only reason it took us six months tae get married was because both of us were too proud tae admit it. Doesn’t happen for everyone though. As Jill would say, we’re a different sort of nut.”

“It wasn’t that whole love-at-first sight shit for me.” Mira chewed on her lower lip. “You know I don’t believe in that.”

“I know. Or else I’d be at yuir house right now giving Lij Sam Laldy for actin’ on a crush.” He took her hands between his. They were cold and clammy, trembling just the slightest bit. “Mira, love, I’ve watched ye grow up all these years an’ I know what kind of person ye are. I also know what kind of person Elijah is.”

“And?” Mira asked a bit fearfully.

“An’ I think that had he been born five years later an’ ye five years earlier, I wouldnae even blink if ye told me ye wanted tae get married tomorrow.”

“But I don’t see the age difference.” Mira sighed, frustrated. She brushed a few strands of hair from her face then returned her hand to Billy’s grasp. “I like him just they way he is. Who knows? If I were five years older and he five younger, maybe we wouldn’t feel this way.”

“I don’t know about that,” admitted Billy. “But I do know that it’ll be a lot harder. Ye know we’d all support ye, even yuir da as soon as he stops seeing red, but Lij is still a damned famous actor. Ye’ll be in the spotlight an’ they’ll say nasty things, go through yuir garbage an’ hide in yuir hedges an’ hack intae yuir computer...”

Mira dropped her head on his shoulder. Billy let go to brush her hair as though she was still the little girl he had to kiss boo-boos from.

“Would ye accept advice from a foolish old hobbit?”

“Of course.”

“Take it slowly. Be absolutely certain that ye want this for the rest of yuir life. I’m askin’ for ye an’ Lij. He cannae go through another divorce an’ I cannae bear thinkin’ that ye’ll have tae experience one either.”

Mira rubbed her forehead on his shoulder. Billy took that as a yes.

“Has he even taken ye out on a date yet?”

She looked up. “Well. Sort of. We’ve eaten at restaurants together but it’s never been the whole dining-cinema-disco circuit. I don’t really want one actually.”

“Hrmph.” Billy’s forehead furrowed slightly. “Ye deserve a date from a man who can afford tae give ye a good one. Demand a date, love.”

“I can’t believe you’re saying that!” Mira laughingly said.

“Well, it’s true. Isn’t it?”

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