A week after the sentencing, Vivienne started her new school in New York, at Dalton. It was co-ed, a great school, and they had accepted her with special circumstances. She had been in New York for three weeks and was loving it this time, and enjoyed being with her mother. She was happy to get away from Kimberly and her father.
She had finally FaceTimed with Lana and Zoe when she got back to New York, told them that boarding school wasn’t for her and she had transferred to a day school in New York and was excited about it. She promised to see them in the summer, and never told them she’d been in L.A. for two months. She hadn’t been ready to see them, but she would be by summer. They knew her so well, they would have sensed something wrong and she didn’t want to talk about it.
Vivienne loved her classes at Dalton. She had some work to catch up on, but she did so quickly, and she had sent her college applications out on time. They would hear back from them in March. And she’d had letters from the five Saint Ambrose boys, thanking her for her letter to the judge. She had grown up a lot in the last three months, they all had. It was a hard way to get there.
When the college acceptances came in, Vivienne got into UCLA and USC, her two top choices before everything had happened. She got into NYU and Boston University too. She picked NYU in the end because she liked the idea of being in New York, and close to her mother so they could see each other whenever they wanted to. They were closer than they’d ever been, and she liked the man her mother was dating, the doctor she had met in Vermont. His daughters were fun when she saw them.
Her father had broken up with Kimberly, and she felt sorry for him, but she was glad too. He said he was playing the field for now, and had come to New York to visit her, and was impressed by her new school when she gave him a tour. The students were bright and lively and enthusiastic. She had made new friends and loved it. She wasn’t dating. It was still too soon, but she was happy.
Chris and her mother came to graduation in June and sat together. Her mother was still tense around him, but they were proud of their daughter.
Vivienne had heard that the boys were out of county jail by then, they got out in April. She didn’t hear from them and didn’t want to, but Gwen Martin had told her. She had a boyfriend in New York now and called from time to time to see how Vivienne was.
Vivienne had heard from Nicole Smith too. She said that everything had gotten back to normal at Saint Ambrose. The graduation ceremony had gone smoothly, and Nicole told her that everyone still missed her.
Nicole didn’t tell Vivienne that the school’s enrollment had suffered slightly from all the media attention, which a lot of parents didn’t want for their children, and the rape had been national news. But they weren’t the first school that had survived a scandal and gone on to continued success. It had been profoundly upsetting but they had come through it. Taylor Houghton was still staunchly in place. Larry Gray had retired after graduation and Nicole still loved her job, her colleagues, and the school. They were all desperately sorry about what had happened to Vivienne.
It was quiet when everyone left the campus after graduation. It took another week to wrap things up, and slow down for the summer. The Houghtons were going to their house in Maine, and the students would be with their families until September. The third female dorm would be ready by August, since they were adding another eighty girls to their enrollment, according to plan. In the end, Saint Ambrose had survived the storm and was better and stronger for it. They had all learned valuable lessons. It had shaken them to their foundations, but they were back on course now.
Merritt Jones arrived in New York to see Chase. He was living with his father at the apartment, and had been accepted at the New School on probation for September. It was a respectable college, and he had a job at Starbucks for the summer. County jail in Boston, where they were sent for a change of venue, had been awful but had gone quickly. He never complained about it and was grateful not to be in prison. Merritt had visited him once a month in jail, and Matthew had gone up weekly. Some of the other parents had too, but not all. She was about to start post-production on a film in L.A., so she had come to see Chase before she got too busy. She was considering another new script at the moment, but hadn’t decided about it yet.
Matthew had invited her to lunch when she got to New York, and she had agreed to see him. She was staying at their apartment and kept to herself. These days, it was rare that she and Matthew were in the same city at the same time. She was spending more time in L.A. and he in New York. She tried to visit Chase when she knew Matthew wouldn’t be around. They were on decent terms, but their divorce would be final soon.
He suggested they meet at a diner they both liked, where people didn’t bother them even if they recognized them. Going there brought back memories, which she forced from her mind. He was sitting in a back booth, waiting, when she got there, and smiled as she slid onto the banquette across from him. “How’re you doing?” she asked him. It was nice to see him, he looked well and was as handsome as always. She’d never gotten used to his looks, they struck her every time, even now, when it was over between them.
“Pretty good.” He smiled at her. “Not as well as our son. He’s lifting weights, looking healthy, he has a great tan, he likes working at Starbucks and he’s excited about starting the New School in September. Considering what we were facing six months ago, I think he’s in good shape now. County jail was an eye-opener. I don’t think he’s had a drink in eight months.”
“He seems happy to me too.” She smiled at Matthew. “What about you? New projects?”
“Some. I’m enjoying hanging around with Chase for the moment. I want to slow down on the location shoots,” he shared with her. She smiled at the man she’d been married to for twenty years and who was about to become her ex-husband. At least they were still friends. He was staying at a friend’s while she was at the apartment with Chase while she was in town, as a courtesy to her.
“How’d the movie wind up?” Matthew asked her.
“We’re going into post-production.” It had always been nice sharing the same business. There was something he wanted to say to her, but he didn’t know how. “Something on your mind?” She knew him well.
“Chase isn’t the only one who had some serious cleaning up to do, after the mess he got himself into. I’ve been an ass, Merrie. I know it. We both know it. I don’t know what happened. You were away a lot, with three pictures back-to-back. I got lonely. I told myself you didn’t love me anymore, or some equally stupid bullshit to justify my screwing up. And I got involved with Kristin. I’m sorry. I’m desperately sorry. I still love you, I always will. I’d give my right arm and leg to put us back together again. I don’t suppose there’s any chance you’ll ever forgive me?” He was abjectly contrite as he looked at her and she smiled at him.
“Oh I don’t know, maybe a year in county jail would do it for you too. Or hard labor splitting rocks in Siberia somewhere.” She laughed. She’d been thinking about it too, but she didn’t think he was interested and was afraid to ask him and get rejected. “What about your little friend? What are you going to do about her?” She was referring to his affair with Kristin Harte, a very beautiful twenty-four-year-old actress who had torpedoed their marriage with his help.
“I told her two months ago that I’m still in love with you. She moved out that night, which was my intention when I told her. And if the tabloids are to be trusted, she just got engaged to a billionaire Texan.”
“I’ll have to remember to send her an engagement gift,” Merritt said as he came around the table and slid into the booth next to her and kissed her. “Will you take me back, Merrie?” he asked humbly. She nodded, and kissed him.
“It’s not every day I get proposed to by a famous movie star,” she said and he laughed.
“Oh shut up. I’ve never won an Oscar, you have two.”
“I’d trade them both to be back with you,” she said softly. “I’ve missed you. What woke you up?” She had thought he never would and had given up on him, and had accepted that it was over for good.
“Chase. I told him how much I missed you, and didn’t know what to do about it. He said to tell you. I guess he was right. He told me to ‘clean it up and do it right,’ which is what I told him when he got into his mess. We all make mistakes, terrible ones sometimes, like Chase, but good men correct them.”
“You’re a good man, Matthew Morgan. I always knew that about you.” She smiled at him.
“I love you,” he said softly.
“Yeah, me too. I’ll have to thank Chase when I see him tonight.” She was smiling broadly and Matthew kissed her again. They had gotten lucky. Terrible things had happened, his affair, their separation, Chase’s conviction and time in jail, and through it all they still loved each other.
They walked out of the diner together after lunch holding hands. A fan ran up and took their picture. The sun was shining, Matthew was back, Chase was okay. It was a beautiful day.