The Girl and the Genie (16 page)

“What’s the matter, Emily?” Alice Mignon asked, a trace of alarm in her voice, possibly thinking that things hadn’t worked out that day between her daughter and Ethan.

“Only a private joke. Nothing to worry about.”

Emily had planned to keep things close to her vest when it came to telling her mother anything about Ethan. Not because she wanted to keep any secrets from her mother, but things were so early between her and Ethan, and she didn’t want to get her mother’s hopes up. After two glasses of wine while they waited for their dinner to be brought over she let it slip how attractive she found Ethan. She couldn’t help herself with how eagerly her mother was looking at her.

“Now mom, please don’t start thinking about engagements or weddings or anything like that. First off, we haven’t even had a date yet. I’m only telling you that I like him, but please, don’t make more of this than there is.”

“I bet he’d like to take you out on a date!”

Emily hesitated briefly. That was all Alice Mignon needed to know that Ethan had tried asking her out. “He wanted to take you out tonight, didn’t he? And you couldn’t go because we had plans.”

“Mom, he was only being polite. And besides, if he really wants to take me out he’ll have other opportunities.”

The waiter came with their food then, and Emily waited until their plates were placed in front of them and the waiter walked away before she continued. “And even if we do go on a date and it’s a wonderful date, it still wouldn’t matter. Not with me living in New York and Ethan living here in Minnesota.”

Alice Mignon’s eyelids lowered slightly, a knowing look forming over her mouth. “He would love to move to New York,” she said, nodding. “He told me so earlier this morning.”

For the next ten seconds Alice Mignon’s brow furrowed worriedly and her eyes had a distant, faraway look to them as if she were concentrating deeply on a matter. Then just as quickly she appeared relaxed and in good spirits again, and for the rest of the dinner they talked about other topics. Alice Mignon told Emily about the places she visited in Minneapolis, and wanted to know more about Emily’s life in New York. Emily ended up ordering another bottle of wine, and they both got somewhat sloshed. But it was a fun dinner, relaxing, and Emily felt closer to her mom than she had felt in years. They lingered over coffee, but even after three cups each, neither felt sober enough to drive, so they took a cab back to the motel.

##

The next morning Emily woke up feeling groggy and with this thumping in her head and an awful taste in her mouth as if she’d been chewing on a wool sock all night. For a brief moment she wasn’t quite sure where she was. Then she remembered the two bottles of wine that she drank with her mother.

She groaned softly and miserably. At first it hurt to even think about opening her eyes. When she did open them a crack she saw Winston lying on the bed next to her, his face less than a foot from hers, his eyes wide open as he stared intently at her. From her other side someone shook her shoulder, telling her softly that she needed to wake up. Emily had the sense that this had been going on for a while. Her head felt too fuzzy to make out the voice. Winston yawned, giving her a full blast of dog breath. She groaned again and carefully maneuvered onto her other side, moving as slowly as she could to keep that pulsating beat in her temples from getting any worse. She didn’t think she could take it if that happened. As she squinted badly against the early morning light she saw that it was her mother sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. That she was the one who had shaken her awake.

“Finally! Here’s some fresh brewed coffee. You still take your coffee black, right dear?”

Emily nodded ever so slowly and carefully, and gratefully accepted the cup that her mother was offering. After several long sips she could open her eyes more against the light, and the feeling that her head was being squeezed by a vise lessened.

“I guess we drank a little too much wine last night, dear,” Alice Mignon said. She had already dressed and was smiling weakly at her daughter, her skin pale and blotchy. Emily started to nod, but her head hurt too much, and she squeezed her eyes shut and had another long sip of the coffee. It tasted so good right then. Her mother must’ve gone to a nearby shop to pick it up. In a voice that was little more than a croak, she thanked her mother for going out for the coffee. “I never drink like I did last night,” she murmured out in a hoarse whisper. She handed the cup back to her mother so she could hold her head in her hands. “A full bottle of wine. What was I thinking?”

“It was a special evening,” Alice Mignon said. “We don’t get to spend too many nights talking the way we did. But you need to get up now. It’s nine o’clock and you told me last night Ethan is meeting you here at ten. I’ve already taken Winston for his morning walk, but you need to shower and make yourself presentable. And I need to drive you back to that restaurant so you can retrieve your rental car.”

Emily nodded slowly and carefully enough to keep her head from feeling like it would split apart. Gingerly, she lifted herself from the bed. Her mother had put down the coffee and held out a quart-sized bottle of water to her.

“You need to drink this, Emily. The coffee was to help you wake up and feel better for a few minutes, but you need to drink this water so you don’t get dehydrated.”

Emily took the bottle, hugged her mother, and thanked her for coming to her rescue that morning. After that, she gathered up the clothes she’d be wearing later and stumbled off to the bathroom.

She felt better after showering and brushing her teeth, and after blow-drying her hair, she stood squinting at herself in the bathroom mirror. Like her mother her skin was pale and there was also some puffiness around her eyes. She was tempted to use the makeup that she had brought with her on the trip, but in the end she decided not to—if there was a real connection with Ethan, as she believed there was, then a little bit of puffiness and paleness shouldn’t matter to him.

When she left the bathroom she noticed that her mother’s suitcase was gone. Before she could ask her mother about it, Alice Mignon volunteered that she had packed her suitcase and it was now in her car. “I decided to cut my trip short and head back to Des Moines this morning,” she said. “I want you to be able to spend as much time with that young man as you want, and not have to worry about keeping me entertained.”

“Mom, this isn’t necessary. Why don’t you stay the full time that you planned!”

Alice Mignon shook her head. “It’s better that I go back home today.”

“Well, I’ll come back home this weekend then.”

“No, dear. I want you to give this every chance to see if a romance blossoms. I badly want you to have what I had with your dad.” Alice Mignon’s smile turned into something sad and fragile as she wiped a tear from her eye. “Of course, I want you to have it for many more years than I had with your dad.”

Emily nodded as her own eyes were misting up also. She bit her lip to keep from crying. She didn’t want to cry and get her eyes even puffier and redder than they already were. Besides, she knew she wouldn’t be able to change her mother’s mind, and she also knew her mother was right. There was something between her and Ethan, and she needed to give it every chance possible before she headed back to New York.

It was a short drive back to the restaurant, and her rental car was still there and in one piece. Emily had told herself that she wasn’t going to have a tearful goodbye, but she couldn’t help herself. Once they started hugging, first her mom broke down crying, and then Emily did.

“I know you only just met him,” Alice Mignon said in a hushed whisper after her sobbing subsided. “But I wish things work out between the two of you. I wish so much that they do.”

Emily almost said the same, but fortunately stopped herself. She knew that if Jack heard her wish for something like that, he’d find a way to mess it up for her.

Chapter 16

Emily and Ethan both surprised each other that morning. In Ethan’s case it was by bringing Emily a dozen white roses, and admitting that his mom had sent the earlier roses to her motel suite.

“I didn’t even know she had done it,” Ethan said with a lopsided sheepish grin. “You know that I’m living at home now, and well, my mom went through my papers and found out that you were going to be staying here. She took it upon herself to send them to you without ever telling me. I should’ve come clean when you mentioned the roses yesterday, and told you that I didn’t know anything about them instead of playing along like I did.” He shrugged helplessly. “I guess I was too startled and embarrassed. But now I’m here to rectify the situation. Here are a dozen white roses, which I believe you’ll agree are far classier. And which I picked out and bought myself.”

“These are beautiful,” Emily said, and they were. She wanted to kiss him for his gesture, and even more so for proving how wrong Jack was about him. Ethan was even thoughtful enough to bring an empty vase for the roses, knowing that unless she threw out the other roses she wouldn’t have one in the motel suite to use.

Emily arranged the roses in the vase, added the proper amount of water, and placed the vase on the table next to the sofa so she’d be able to look at them all day. After that it was her turn to surprise Ethan. Actually, she was able to surprise him twice. First by telling him that her mother was heading back to Des Moines that morning, which caused him to raise an eyebrow, and second by showing him that she had bought a complete set for making loose tea: a tea pot, two tea cups, and two bins of loose tea. After lunch the other day, Emily had found a tea shop in downtown Eden Prairie before heading back to the motel, and the store’s salesperson had recommended a Darjeeling and a Gunpowder green tea. Ethan opened both tins, examined and smelled the tea, and told Emily that she had made excellent choices.

“Really superior teas,” he said.

“Okay, we’ve got everything we need now to make some kick-ass tea,” Emily said with a big grin breaking over her face.

“Almost. It’s too bad you didn’t pick up a digital tea scale so we can measure out the precise amount of tea leaves and brew the tea properly.”

For a ten count all Emily could do was stare at Ethan as if he were either joking or crazy while he looked back at her maintaining a straight face. Then he broke out laughing and held his palms up facing her in a sign of surrender.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” he said.

“Do those actually exist?” Emily asked.

“Believe it or not, they do.”

“Do you have one?”

His smile turned guilty. “Well, yes, but that’s only because I’m a bit of a fanatic. Let me get some tea brewing. I think at this point I’m able to judge the exact amount to use by sight. How about the Darjeeling?”

Emily had also taken the salesperson’s advice and had picked up a gallon of filtered spring water from a grocery store, and Ethan used that to fill the coffee pot that the motel provided so he could boil the water, then he proceeded to measure out the amount of tea to use with the same precision as if he were a jeweler preparing to cut a diamond. It took some doing, but soon the tea was ready and Ethan watched eagerly as Emily sampled hers. She had to admit it was much better than what she’d get from using teabags, and she told Ethan that he might’ve made a convert out of her. After they finished their tea they went to work. It was the same as the other day with Ethan leaning back in the armchair as if he were asleep while Emily went page by page through her notes. Whenever Emily prompted him concerning the changes she was recommending, Ethan insisted that he was mulling it over. Occasionally he’d crack a joke to make sure that Emily knew he was listening and that he hadn’t fallen asleep. At twelve, Emily asked if he wanted to break for lunch. Ethan showed a secretive smile and suggested they push on.

“Any particular reason?” Emily asked.

“An excellent one. But I’ll tell you later.”

After waking up hung over, Emily was running mostly on adrenaline, and after another two hours she was wiped out. Ethan seemed to sense that and he told her his idea then. That they should go on a picnic.

“We’re in the land of ten thousand lakes, and I know this one spot not too far from here that’s stunning. Let me go get everything we need, and I’ll be back in two hours.” He winked at her. “You can take a nap in the meantime.”

##

The area Ethan took Emily to was every bit as stunning as he had promised—a heavily wooded and isolated lake area that was about a half hour drive from the motel. Ethan set up a blanket so they could sit by the shore and look out over the water. He pointed out a small island across the lake and told her the name of it was Spirit Island. For a good half hour they just sat and enjoyed the sights and sounds of nature. When they started to get hungry Ethan unpacked a picnic basket he had brought that was filled with an assortment of cheeses, gluten-free crackers, grapes and dried meats, as well as a bottle of Chardonnay and sparkling water. Emily’s stomach did a small somersault at the idea of drinking more wine, so she stuck with the sparkling water while Ethan drank the Chardonnay. She felt relaxed and contented sitting on the blanket with Ethan and nibbling on the food he brought. When he moved in for a light kiss on her lips, she didn’t resist it. Soon the kissing got heavier, and then his hand was pushing against her breast. Emily was trying to think of a gentle and diplomatic way to slow things down when he started guiding her face to his lap. It was then that she realized that he had unzipped his pants and had taken his penis out and that it was fully aroused. She broke free of his grip and gaped at him, absolutely stunned that he would do that.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

He looked equally stunned, then got flustered and angry, his face turning beet red. He turned from her so he could get himself back into his pants and zip himself up.

“Well, that was humiliating,” he said.

“Why would you think that was an okay thing to do?”

“Why would I?” he said, his voice surly and whiny. “What was this supposed to be, a date? What, with us living over a thousand miles apart? Any sane, normal person would’ve assumed this was nothing more than a hookup, especially with the signals you were sending me. But, never mind.”