The Proverbial Mr. Universe (33 page)

N
ick drove up the secluded gravel road that led to his grandmother’s home. This stone house was in the family for two generations, sat on three acres, and was surrounded by trees. Located in the Victorian village of Knowlton, it was an hour drive from the big city. The original part of the house dated back 1859, but an addition was added twenty years ago when his grandfather was alive. After his father had left, his family moved around often. There was no stability or place he felt any connection. This house was the only thing that was consistent, a sense of home. It was where he spent most of his childhood summers and where he took refuge during a time in his youth, when he couldn’t see past his reflection in the broken glass.

It was here that he unraveled himself, discovered his hidden talents, so this was where the artist in him was born and the self-destructive boy came to pass.

Nick shut the engine off and glanced at Olivia, who was checking herself in the mirror. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous.”

“Don’t be. Trust me, she’s going to adore you.” She rolled her eyes, not buying it.

“What if she doesn’t?”

“What if she does?” He smiled. “Stop worrying. She’s going to see how happy you make me, and with that alone she’ll love you.”

It was a confession to himself. This love could not be compared to anything from his existence, not even Chloe.

When her eyes met his, she smiled.

“Ready to go?”

He adjusted his olive-colored fedora hat. Olivia placed her hand on her forehead to block the sun from her eyes.

“I love these Victorian homes. They have so much character.” Olivia walked around the car to where Nick stood. He straitened her washed-out jean jacket and frowned. “Aren’t you going to be hot with this on today?”

“No, I’ll be fine.”

Nick looked down at her pink Converse sneakers and smiled. Nostalgia hit him, missing her crazy, stupid heels and sad eyes. That was where it all began. Now in front of him stands not a new Olivia, but a whole person. He took her by the hand and led her toward the walkway.

“Hey, isn’t that your brother’s car?” she asked.

He jerked his gaze further down the gravel road, tossing his head back and letting out an exasperated, long breath. His brother had told him he wasn’t able to come up this weekend and secretly he was relieved. He loved his brother, just sometimes he had no filter. Things with Olivia were fresh and delicate. He didn’t want to give her any reason to over think their relationship.

“So much for a quiet weekend,” Nick murmured to himself.

She laughed. “I like Dan. He’s fun to be around.”

“My brother, Dan?”

“Yeah, why is that so hard to believe?”

He smiled. “I’m happy you like him. Dan can be rough around the edges sometimes, but I know he means well.”

She started to walk in front of him, but Nick pulled her back by her hand just as she was about to go up the walkway. “Hold on. I want to show you something first before we go in.”

He guided her down a path that brought them to the lake, and they stopped once they came to a wooden deck. Nick took in the view of the calm lake before settling down on the wooden planks, tugging Olivia with him, folding her within his arms.

Nick came to live with his grandmother eleven years ago. Before that he had been a reckless teenager, fueling the weekends with hard drinking and drugs. It had led him to make horrible decisions, crazy, and dangerous choices. It was all self-indulgent. He never once thought of the consequences or how it would affect the people he loved. Any given moment, it could have easily had turn out to be the end of him. If it wasn’t for his family, which never gave up on him, he wouldn’t have found himself in the present. In his life there had been many dark moments of time.

But now he lived in the light.

He glanced down at Olivia, who was staring at out on the lake. If time should stop, this was where he wanted it to, with Olivia in his arms. At that moment he wanted to breathe her in, memorize everything about her. The shape of her nose, the way the strands of her hair always found their way in the front of her face. He adored her catlike eyes, the way they lit up every time she spoke about some piece of irrelevant information she had read somewhere on the internet, or the fire in her eyes when there was an injustice somewhere out there, and how she wished she could change it, change the world. She made him desire her in the most beautiful way. His life had been a brighter place since Olivia Montiano crossed his path. Because he had finally found someone who understood him and accepted him the way he was.

“My mom continued to bring us here every summer,” he said softly.

“Even after my dad left. I guess she wanted us to feel that things could still be normal, that we hadn’t lost everything completely.” He looked across the lake. “See that tree over there. My dad installed this big tractor tire that we used to swing from and fall into the water.”

“It’s so peaceful. I could stay here all day.” She leaned further into him. He watched the water floating by and it gave the sensation he was floating down with it too. That was what it was like to be loved by Olivia: a smooth current of serenity.

“Doesn’t sound like a bad idea?” He kissed the top of her head.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

“How much I miss my mom,” he said, staring at the lake. “After all this time, I keep thinking she’s going to come through those screen doors. I can still hear her voice calling out to us, like when Dan and I were boys.” Nick looked back at the stone house.

“What was she like?” Olivia asked.

“Strong, pretty, a lot like you.”

She removed herself from his arms to look up at him.

“It’s unreal to think she was once here, on this very deck and now she’s not. No longer existing. I can’t help but wonder how that’s possible. How someone you love so much can be taken away from you leaving you, to live with a big hole in your world,”

Nick looked down at his hands because if he looked at her, his eyes would fill with tears. He knew what was ahead for her, the pain she’d have to deal with. In her case it would be slow and heartbreaking. One day she will lose her father. It was a pain he wished he could bear for her, but Nick knew too well when it came to loss everyone had their own cross to bear.

“I wonder sometimes am I still considered a son of someone who’s no longer here. I don’t know, it’s fuckin’ hard to wrap your mind around it.”

“Nick, you have to remember her presence is still here, around you. She lives within your heart and your memories. You will always belong to her, and she still belongs to you. And that’s how you have to take it. Thinking otherwise would be too depressing. I never got the chance to know her, but I know what it’s like to love you, and I believe she loved you too much to see you live like that.”

She brushed his hair away from his eyes, under the brim of his hat.

“I wish you could have met her.”

“I did. I see her in your eyes.”

He gave her a quick smile. Just when he thought he had nothing left to give of himself, nothing left to offer, it was her heart that helped him grow and awaken his soul. And just like that there seemed to be enough in him, enough for the both of them.

All he could do was sit there in silence, keep breathing, keep staring, and loving. He reached over for her.

“Get a room, you lovebirds!” a deep voice yelled from behind them. Nick groaned. “So much for that,” he murmured between kisses.

Nick stood up and held out his hand to her. He looked up the hill to see his brother, Dan, making his way toward them.

“Remind me next time not to tell Dan where we go.”

“N
ana,” Nick said to a short woman with whitish-blond hair greeting them at the back porch. She was dressed in a nautical shift dress. It was hard to believe that someone who looked so prime and proper had often taken cocaine at parties in her early twenties. It was the late sixties and something she only disclosed to Nick. Perhaps he had gotten his wild streak from her. There was an old adage,
“You are who you are,”
but his grandmother was proof that some people do change. His nana once told him,
“For people like you and me, it seems empathy came later. When you finally realize that every decision you make has an impact on others around you, it is with empathy that you realize you can’t continue the way you’re living. In life there is nothing wrong with making things as fun as you can, but do it without hurting anyone else along the way.”

“I’m so happy to see you, love,” she said as she flung her arms around Nick and hugged him tightly.

“Nana, this is Olivia.”

She reached out for Olivia. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you finally! Nicky always talks about you.” His nana pulled Olivia into her arms for an embrace, then turned back at Nick. “Nicky, she’s lovelier than I imagined,” she said as if Olivia wasn’t in the room.

“You have a beautiful home, Mrs. Montgomery,” Olivia said.

“Please call me Nana. They all do around here.”

With a full heart, Nick wrapped his arm around Olivia’s shoulder and kissed her forehead.

“I’m going to go and help Dan outside with the barbecue, before he makes a mess of things.”

“Yes, love, please help your brother. It will give us a chance to get to know one another.”

“Hmmm, maybe I should stay …”

“Go!” She waved her hands at him.

He looked over at Olivia. Only when she smiled confidently did he go out the back door.

I
nside the interior décor was mix of country and retro, not Olivia’s taste but the place felt very much lived and loved. The kitchen was filled with all sorts of porcelain roosters, every shape and color. Calling Mrs. Montgomery a collector would be an understatement.

“So Nick tells me you’re a designer?” Mrs. Montgomery asked from across the kitchen table.

“Not yet. I’m an assistant to the owner of D.S. Designs.”

Olivia didn’t look straight at her, but she could feel Mrs. Montgomery’s eyes on her, studying her, making her feel like she was at an interview.

“Olivia, I can’t tell you how happy I am to know that Nick is painting again.” She put her hands together, showing the seriousness of her words. “It’s evident that my grandson is happy with you. You’ve brought him some stability in his life.” Her eyes sparkled, and Olivia now saw where Nick got his blue eyes from.

“Well, I’m glad we found each other.” Olivia took a sip of her iced tea before looking up to meet Mrs. Montgomery’s eyes. When she does, her smile slightly fades.

“I assume Nick told you about his health? You do understand the seriousness of his condition?”

Olivia sympathized with her concerns. After all, Chloe had left. Why wouldn’t Olivia do the same? But Olivia wasn’t Chloe. She grasped that Nick lived with uncertainty that things could go wrong at any time, but Olivia was in it for the long run. Whatever the universe brought them, she wasn’t going to walk away.

Not from the man she loved.

“Yes, I’m well aware,” Olivia replied.

“My poor boy has been through so much already. I just want to make sure that you understand.”