Arm Candy (32 page)

“Chase,” Eden started carefully.

“Wait. There’s something else,” Chase said. “I want to tell you something.”

“What’s that?” she wondered.

“Before we go away together, before we see the whole world that’s out there, I want you to remember that this room, this apartment, is the only place I ever need to be.”

“I know,” Eden said, touching his chin as if he were a beloved nephew rather than her boyfriend. “That’s so sweet.”

“This is the place where I fell madly in love with you. And while I could do this on a mountaintop or in the clouds with sky-writing or even on our trip, with a thousand orchids . . .”

“Do what?” Eden said, stepping back.

“This.”

Chase knelt down before her. Like a little kid with a trick up his custom-tailored sleeve, he reached mischievously into his inside jacket pocket. He pulled out a small red leather box, unmistakably Cartier. With a huge beaming smile, he handed it to her.

“Oh my God.”

“Open it.”

Slowly Eden opened the red box, revealing a beautiful square solitaire diamond ring. But before she could even look up into Chase’s pleading eyes, one crystal thought appeared in her head, as clear as the flawless D stone that shone before her. A thought that brought her back to Wes. And made her heart shatter the way she had broken his so long ago.

—Dorothy Canfield Fisher

 

 

 

E
den took a deep breath. She had no idea this was coming. She reflected on how this man kneeling before her had given her affection, confidence, and, most of all, strength to put herself back together after Otto. She adored him, yes, but her answer . . . was no. He simply wasn’t the right match for her, despite all her affection for him and the great times they’d shared.

Like Robert Smith from The Cure once sang, Chase never set her soul on fire the way that Wes had. Even though she knew Wes was lost to her, along with her youth, seeing him ignited in her a quest for something inside herself, a longing for true love that needed to be fulfilled. She didn’t decline Chase because of Wes, but because deep down she knew Chase would never finish her thoughts, read her mind, be in sync with her. Wes had set the bar so high, so long ago, that Eden knew in that moment that no one could ever vault it.

“I can’t,” she said, wiping the tears gushing down her face. “You have given me so much, Chase. You went against your family’s wishes, the world’s expectations, only to give me love and I’m truly so, so grateful. It takes such guts to do that, real courage to be with me when you deserve so much, but I can’t give it to you.”

“Eden, don’t cry,” he said, rubbing her back. His reaction was surprisingly calm and sober. It was almost as if he knew she was like a comet or shooting star, brightening his galaxy for only a short while. “I understand.”

“You do?” She loved him even more for allowing her to set him free.

“Yes. I just want you to be happy. To have everything you want. Even if it’s not me.” He smiled.

“Chase, I don’t even know what I want. I’m just a confused mess,” she said, smiling as she wiped her tears.

“You’re a beautiful mess,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I must admit, while I kept hoping we would end up together, I saw this coming. I knew you would slip away. Can’t blame a guy for trying, though.”

His words made her cry even harder, since she saw their demise in the distance as well. Chase hugged her, then looked at her face. Her vulnerability made her even more beautiful.

“I only want your happiness, Eden. I’ll never forget you. You made me a new person, a better person, more adventurous—”

“Less anal.”

“Less anal, yes,” he said with a smile. Chase realized this would be the last time they would be together, and he felt suddenly heavyhearted. Chase knew deep down that they needed to release each other, but he ached for her so much he felt like even his blood hurt. The tides were rising to a boil inside him, his normally fortified levee about to burst.

“I’m going to miss you so much,” he said, his voice almost cracking.

“Listen, Chase: I have one final request.”

“Anything,” he replied sadly, spent but ready to give her the world.

“I want you to take that trip,” she insisted. “It’s time you break away, too. Go for it. You need more adventure in your life. Dating me has been the craziest thing you’ve ever done, which is not that exciting.”

“Yes, it was,” he said soberly.

“I’m serious,” Eden said, in an almost maternal tone she would use when instructing Cole. “I want you to go to India, okay? Promise?”

“All right.”

“Have some tikka masala for me. Promise?”

“I promise.”

The unlikely pair hugged, both on the emotional Jetways of two different but life-changing journeys.

“It’s funny, I helped you be young, but you helped me finally grow up,” Eden said, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek, holding his two hands in hers. “Thanks to you, I’m now ready to take charge of my future. I now know what I have to do.”

—Anonymous

 

 

 

T
he next morning before heading to the office, Chase walked forlornly to the travel agency, hoping to get a refund for Eden’s part of his exorbitantly priced trip.

“Oh my gosh, what happened?” asked the pretty redhead. “I’m so sorry!”

“Yeah, well, it was great while it lasted but it wasn’t meant to be, I’m afraid.” He shrugged and sat down in the chair facing the girl. He noticed her shiny red hair flowing past her shoulder and her stylish shift dress. “I’m sorry, but I, uh, I apologize, remind me of your name again?”

“It’s Piper,” she replied, smiling. “Nice to officially meet you.”

“That’s a great name,” he remarked sadly, remembering Eden loved it.

“Thanks,” she said, noticing his downward glance. “Listen, I know this is none of my business, but I’m really glad you’re doing this trip, anyway. I’ve seen so many people who just cancel altogether when there’s a breakup. Good for you.”

He smiled. “Thanks, Piper.”

“You know,” she said. “Sometimes it’s good to take a chance. You never know what you’ll come across, who you’ll meet.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Chase said.

“I had a friend who was all signed up for a bike trip through Italy with her ex-primate and he totally assholed out and dumped her the night before and she went anyway and met her now-husband.”

“Really?” Chase brightened. Not that he was on wife-safari or anything, but he felt comforted by Piper’s optimism.

“Totally. That’s what I’m saying, you just never know! Life’s so crazy, you know?”

“I do.” Chase nodded. “Thanks so much. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Please do! I really love hearing about people’s trips. I’m always bound to the desk here, so I sometimes look at my clients’ itineraries and wonder what they’re up to that day. It’s silly, really. But I just love sending people on these adventures. Hopefully one day I’ll get to go on one.”

“I’m sure you will.” Chase smiled. “Thanks again for dealing with the cancellations for the other ticket. I really appreciate it.”

“It’s my pleasure. Don’t worry. You’re going to have a blast.”

Chase walked down the hall and pressed the elevator button. He entered the packed car and rode down with the hordes of businessmen and women who were sprinting for their twenty-minute lunch hour to one of the myriad take-out joints in the two-block radius. When the steel doors opened in the grand lobby, bodies flooded in and out of the vast hall, lined with large-scale sculptures. He headed for the middle of five revolving doors, turning and turning, new suits coming in with lunch bags, others headed out. Everyone was running, cycling, buzzing, talking, charging. Chase’s metered steps got slower and slower and slower. Until he stopped right in front of the revolving door.

“Hey, buddy, you going or what?” a harried executive asked behind him.

“Oh, yeah, sorry,” he replied distractedly. He pushed through the revolving door to the outside and then . . . he revolved back in. He ignored a raised eyebrow of the person waiting for his side of the door and walked back in, through the bustling lobby, to the elevator.

For the second time in his life, Chase was taking a plunge. The first had been standing outside Eden’s apartment that cold rainy night, defying his parents and charging to the side of the first woman who had truly changed him. The second was even more bizarre and risky because his bold gesture was based on little but gut instinct, something that Eden had taught him, for the first time in his life, to trust.

He pressed the button to go back to up to Piper’s office.

For some reason, while his heart missed and longed for Eden, he had heard her parting words loud and clear. They had helped each other but perhaps were not meant to stay together always. And so, released by her command, his thoughts meandered, or skipped in fact, to the girl whose wide eyes drank in the world only though the golds and cyans of beautifully printed brochures.

Eden had traveled the whole entire world and was weary, wanting a rock, a touchstone to return home to be whole. And conversely, here was Piper, beginning her journey, bursting to get out from behind her desk, away from the fluorescent lights of Midtown to the moonlight in the tropics. But finances and responsibilities had prevented that. Chase thought back to how Piper’s quick e-mails were loaded with exclamations (“Chase! Found this new boutique resort that has outdoor sunset massages and LITERALLY ninety-two species of orchids! Who knew?”)

He had sworn to Eden he would go on his trip. But did he really want to go all alone? He had his bag packed. The CDLMONOGRAMMED T. Anthony navy suitcase sat by his door.

“Hi,” he said, standing in Piper’s doorway.

“You’re back!” She smiled.

“I know this is going to sound strange. This is really not like me and don’t worry, I’m not some deranged lunatic or anything,” he stammered.

“Yeah, I’m not worried.” Piper winked, looking at his gentlemanly apparel. “You don’t seem like the menacing type.”

“You planned this whole dream trip and . . . I was wondering if you would want to join me?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, brow raised.

“I mean . . . come with me. I’m serious.”

“Like, now?” Piper beamed in shock.

“Like, now.”

Chase smiled.

Without a nanosecond’s pause, she stood up, picked up a cherry-hued stapler from her desk and followed him out, like Renée Zellweger’s character caught in Jerry Maguire’s charismatic tractor beam. He looked at her, curious as to why she had chosen that particular office accessory. “I like red things,” she said casually. “It’s my favorite color.”

“Okay, then,” said Chase. “We’ll be sure to get you something red on our trip.”

The two were off and running. His parents would be aghast. Could anything be so insane? To jet off at a moment’s notice with a complete stranger?

So there they were: going to her apartment as he waited for her to chuck clothes into a bag, heading to the airport, going through security, having passports stamped together, getting seated side by side. If there is anything that presses the fast-forward button on a relationship, it’s travel. Not for a moment was there an awkward pause or a nervous stammer. They didn’t kiss until the third day, when Chase marveled at the way Piper seemed to have already been to Indonesia not only through her extensive research but also through her vivid imagination. Her gratified sighs at each marvel they beheld made him beam with pride, and it was refreshing to be with someone who relished every sight, bite, and breeze. They swam under the moon, they hiked under the sun, they danced by torchlight and kissed as the Balinese waves lapped their toes. In that moment, with Piper in his arms, their four feet wet with faraway waters, Chase smiled to himself: Eden would have been proud of him.

—Robertson Davies

 

 

 

O
n the night Chase was boarding the plane with Piper, Eden was home alone. She sipped a glass of wine as she looked out her window at the wet streets. She hoped Chase’s flight wouldn’t be forever delayed. She meandered to her computer, where she clicked on Wes’s Web site, looking at the various buildings he had designed and restored. Should she call him again? E-mail? She was so confused. She got in bed and watched TV until before she knew it, she had dozed off in front of some gossip show—or as they called it—“entertainment news.”

She was startled awake by one of those ominously loud commercials. She got her bearings as she saw it was eight o’clock. Shit, now what? She flopped back down in bed and thought she would choke on self-pity. But then she stopped. How could she dole out advice to Chase and not practice what she preached? She could never be at peace with moving forward in her life until she fought for what she really wanted. Who she really wanted. She threw on jeans and a black blouse with a bow, wrapped a scarf around her, and put on a gray coat and headed out. She walked all the way to Wes’s Park Avenue South office building and buzzed from the lobby.

“A Miss Eden Clyde is here,” security told reception. “Okay, he says go up.”

Eden rode up in the elevator, shaking. Holy shit. No going back now.

Wes stood in his glass entrance doorway.

Mother Love Bone played in the background as young people carrying rolled-up blueprints walked around in jeans.