Chapter Eleven

 

"So Yuri, what do you think?" They were in the boardroom. Their boardroom. The four of them: Clarke, Grange, Watson and Scarlett, the new owners and managing partners of SofServ. They all had their roles. His was head of the software division. Technically he was the boss of the guy who had the position that he had before.

Watson was talking about Christmas bonuses and incentivizing the sales division. And Grange had asked him what he thought about it.

He nodded. "I think that's a great idea."

Today was six months since Pops' funeral and the reading of his will. His mind was not on this particular meeting. It seemed to him that all executives did was meet. They have so many meetings that he was now wishing that he had insisted on being a silent partner.

He allowed his mind to wander instead to his housewarming party tonight. His parents were coming up; as a matter of fact, they should be at the house with Amoy now. Amoy was getting to be really indispensable in his life. She had helped him decorate the place. They had had several fun nights and weekends getting the correct pieces of furniture to suit his taste. He had enjoyed that and getting to know her better.

So what if a part of him wished that he was doing all of those things with Marla? It was stupid to think that one could have it all. He had most things now. He should be satisfied.

But he wasn’t. This housewarming party that Amoy had insisted that he throw was going to be excruciating.

His mother was going to point out that a five-bedroom house was too large for one man, that he needed a family, and his father was going to make broad hints about him and Amoy getting married and starting that family.

He was just happy that Troy and Terri couldn't make it. Terri was in some country in Europe and Troy was hiding out from his life in Canada and finishing a Master’s that he had started years before but couldn't complete because of a lack of funds. Troy didn't want to take that DNA test and he was determined not to be around when social services knocked on his door.

Poor Troy...one mistake and it could change his world forever.

Yuri swung in his chair, turning it slightly away from the shiny boardroom table and looked outside at the view.

Their office building was located on the waterfront in downtown Kingston. The boardroom had an unfettered view of Kingston Harbor. He watched a particular sea gull and longingly thought about Treasure Beach and the view there—inevitably his thoughts turned to Marla.

It was November, around the same time as now. He was twenty-one. Marla was eighteen. He had just returned from college for a weekend, and as usual the first thing he did after throwing his bag in the house and chatting with his parents for a reasonable time was to head to the Roundtrees.

He had missed her unbearably that semester at school. The summer before they had been practically inseparable. They had both been counselors at a summer camp and they had crazy fun. He lived for the weekends when he could go back home and see Marla.

The Roundtrees lived in a neat cottage at the end of Great Bay Road; it was a picturesque cottage painted in candy pink and white and surrounded by flowers. John Roundtree had a greenhouse at the back where he would nurse sick plants back to life or sell to the villas around. The man was not sober for most of the time but he knew his flowers and he took great pride in them and the cottage as well.

Marla was at the back of the house when he walked into the neat little yard. She had been washing. She only had white clothes on the line—they flapped in the breeze from the sea.

She was in a ratty pair of jeans shorts and she tied her t-shirt up to her breasts. She looked adorable and his heart swelled with warmth. She had looked so pretty to him standing there barefoot over a pan of soap bubbles, singing and scrubbing.

"Hey." He had leaned at the side of the house with a grin on his face.

And she had looked up, her face lighting up. "Yuri!"

She didn't stop to dry her hands; she just threw herself at him with unfettered joy. "I missed you like crazy. I didn't know you were coming home."

That's the kind of memory that gave him a bittersweet spasm in his chest. That's the kind of memory that almost destroyed him when she married Ricky...

"Yuri!"

"Huh?" Yuri looked around; Watson was the only one sitting around the table. "Meeting’s done."

"Yeah, right." Yuri nodded. "My mind was somewhere else."

"See you at your housewarming tonight." Watson grinned. "How are things going with the delectable Amoy?"

"Fine." Yuri got up. "Just fine."

"The two of you look good together," Watson said. "You should do something about that."

Yuri nodded. "Maybe I will."

He didn't like mixing business with his personal life but unfortunately the Watsons and the Lee Changs moved in the same circles.

Watson smiled at him. "You know that Amoy is baby mad, don't you?"

"No," Yuri shook his head, "we haven't discussed children. We have only gone out on a few dates actually. That topic would be premature."

"Oh," Watson shook his head, "don't let her slip through your fingers. We all thought that Shawn was stupid for letting her slip through his fingers. He hated children. Can you imagine not wanting to procreate with such a dreamboat of a woman? Shawn's loss, your gain."

"Sounds like you have a crush on her." Yuri raised his eyebrows at Watson. "Do you?"

"Yup, ever since grade school," Watson laughed, "but Cindy put a stop to it. By the way, she is the one who bought you the really ugly vase as a gift. I tried to talk her out of it. My apologies in advance."

Yuri chuckled. "Apology accepted."

"See you tonight." Watson hurried out of the boardroom, leaving Yuri staring through the window.

 

*****

 

Yuri drove up to the house and sat in the car looking at it, barely believing that it was his. His new life so far was like a dream. He didn't quite feel like a present participant yet.

He felt empty, as if he was on the outside looking in, which was ridiculous. His current life was the stuff of dreams: inheritance, house, car, girlfriend who was beautiful and smart, profitable business, and all of that accomplished in six months. Still, he was unhappy, moping around, forcing himself to laugh, not finding joy in anything.

He closed his eyes. He was acting ungrateful. He should throw himself into this life. He was just twenty-eight years old. He was too young to feel this burdened. He got out of the car and then walked up the cobblestone steps. The front door opened before he reached it and Amoy stood there in a short green dress, with a glass of juice in her hand. Her long hair was piled up on her head in a sophisticated intricate style that he had never seen before.

"Welcome home, Monsieur Scarlett."

Yuri grinned. "Why, thank you, Mademoiselle Gardener."

Amoy kissed him at the door, winding her hands around his neck and pressing her body close to him.

He kissed her back, his enthusiasm not where it should be. He was not unhappy when she stepped back and smiled at him.

"Your parents are in the lounge. Your mother brought you a gorgeous picture. I took down the abstract that we had in the lounge and put it up instead. I hope it meets your approval."

Yuri raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Thank you so much for arranging this whole thing, Amoy."

"No problemo." Amoy squeezed his hands. "What are girlfriends for?"

He headed to the lounge area, which opened up to a spectacular view of Kingston City. Even in the day the view was good; it was even better at night.

His parents greeted him enthusiastically. His mother was in a new dress that flattered her round figure. His father was looking less careworn. The telling effects of having more money.

The picture in question was just as large as the abstract that was there before and it was a beautiful artist’s rendition of Sherman's Cove. Yuri glanced at it and then swallowed.

"It’s gorgeous, isn't it?" Amoy asked him, quite unaware of the effect it was having on him.

"Yes." Yuri swallowed. "Yes it is. It is very true to life."

So now he had a daily physical reminder of the one place on earth that was haunting him in his dreams, and the picture was authentic down to the last leaf of on the rocky overhang and the powdery white sand of the inlet.

"I wouldn't mind going to that place," Amoy said wistfully.

"You can come along anytime you want to," Lloyd said helpfully. "That is Sherman's Cove down in Treasure Beach."

"You mean here in Jamaica? Where you live?"

"Yes." Daisy smiled. "Yuri and his friends loved that place so we thought we would carry a piece of Treasure Beach here to him in Kingston."

"Thanks, Mom and Dad," Yuri said dragging his eyes from the picture and to his parents.

"Okay then," Amoy said, excitement in her voice, "I want to go to Treasure Beach next time you are going, Yuri."

Before Yuri could answer, his mother was nodding, "You are most welcome. You should come for more than a weekend, Yuri. Spend a week. Show Amoy around our side of the island. She'll love it."

Yuri shook his head. "I don't know about a week."

"You haven't been back since Pops' funeral," Lloyd said, "six months. I can't recall you ever staying away so long."

After Marla and Ricky's marriage, Yuri wanted to point out, but he didn't.

"Okay." Amoy got up. "The party is in an hour. I have to take a little visit to my place which is just up the road from here. I'll be back soon. Oh Yuri, the caterer is setting up in your kitchen and the deejay is on his way to get some music going."

"See you soon." She smiled at Yuri's parents and gave Yuri a long lingering kiss that had his face flaming when she eased up from him.

That was a statement for his parents, no doubt. A statement that Yuri was not even ready to make. She had taken it out of his hands, though.

His parents were looking at him knowingly. His mother was obviously delighted; his father looked disappointed.

When the front door closed behind Amoy, his mother was the first to speak. "She is wonderful and so pretty."

"Isn't she too old for him?" Lloyd asked, unimpressed. "She's thirty-five."

"That means she will be more keen to have children now and won’t be waiting on her career or any such thing," Daisy said excitedly. "I like that. Since when have you cared about how old women are, Lloyd?"

Lloyd looked boxed in. "I am just saying, she's nice and yes, as you said, pretty but..."

"You are looking for some reason to doubt that she would be a good daughter-in-law because in your head you have always wanted Yuri and Marla to be together. Get over it, Lloyd. Marla is married to Ricky."

Yuri stood up abruptly. "Would you guys like to see the place?"

"We were already shown around by Amoy. I love the size of the bedrooms," Daisy said. Then she eyed her husband. "You are going to behave."

"Okay." Lloyd looked at Yuri sheepishly. "She is right, you know. I...it's just that...I thought that Ricky couldn't function with his paralysis. You know, I thought down there was off limits. I always found it strange that she would marry him when he had that issue."

Yuri swallowed. "Dad. Please..."

"Marla is pregnant," Lloyd said quickly. "She's pretty much been keeping to herself but we saw her yesterday when we went to look for John at a hospice in Black River. He had a stroke and he is not doing too well. But let me tell you it was a shock to see her so big; she is significantly pregnant. Our visit coincided with hers and she looked guilty, at least to me."

Yuri felt a buzzer go off in his head, like a little low, humming ding. He sat down in the seat that he had recently vacated and looked at his father, stunned. He saw that his father’s mouth was moving but he couldn't process what he was saying. He didn't hear anything past the three words—Marla is pregnant.

"Yuri?" his father looked at him, concerned. "What's wrong?"

"You just said Marla is pregnant." Yuri got up and headed for the bar area. He grabbed a bottle of orange juice and then put it on the side of his head to calm the throbbing, and then chugged it down.

His father was looking at him with suspicion.

"You didn't have anything to do with that did you, Yuri?" Lloyd asked finally, after the words kept churning in Yuri's head.

He avoided his father's stare.

"Lloyd!" Daisy stood up and shook her head at her husband. "Why on earth are you asking Yuri that?"

"Because he's Ricky's friend; he would know if Ricky and Marla were planning something."

Yuri turned his back on his bickering parents and looked out at the view. The shock was not as bad as he had thought it would be, because now he wasn't just feeling shocked; he was feeling a tiny niggling feeling of elation.

He spun around to look at them. "The baby is mine."

His mother slumped dramatically where she was standing and crumpled on the floor.

 

****

 

Yuri had avoided his parents for much of the housewarming party. They hadn't gotten the chance to talk after his mother's dramatic faint. The deejay had arrived and the caterer had come into the living room to set up. He had been grateful for the distraction. He was still coming to terms with the news; he didn't know if he was ready for a lecture from his uber-conservative religious parents.

He tried his best to act normal throughout the party but how was a man supposed to act when he had gotten the best and the worst news of his life?

He wasn't surprised that Marla hadn't called him. He long suspected that she was told by Ricky not to get in touch with him.

And he had respected that distance. Obviously he had made the right decision, because one night nearly six months ago they had not had any intervention and look where they were now.

Somehow he didn't think that when Ricky had suggested that they have a baby he was thinking that he would get together with his wife in the traditional way. Now the very situation he had thought would be too complicated and crazy had happened.

Marla Roundtree Mills was pregnant with his child. And the longer the thought lingered, the more he liked it. She would be around six months pregnant now. That meant she would have his baby by February.

His baby. A boy or girl. Growing up with Ricky. No way that was going to happen. He didn't know what he was going to do next, but he would do something. He didn't want any child of his growing up with Ricky's influence.

"That's a fierce frown." Amoy tapped him on his shoulder. Yuri turned to her fully and tried for a smile.

Amoy frowned at him. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. I...this is not the place where I want to talk about it."

Amoy widened her eyes fearfully. "You are scaring me."

"I didn't mean to." Yuri cleared his throat. "Tomorrow after my parents leave probably." He sighed. "What is the deejay playing?"

"Old school songs, baby," Amoy said, perking up again. "I told him to play songs from the sixties to present day. That's the song To Sir With Love. Are you honestly saying you don't love that song, Yuri Scarlett?" Amoy looked at him in disbelief. "Who in this world can hate that song?"

"No, I don't." Yuri grinned. "As a matter of fact, it brings back memories. Back in the early nineties we got a VCR and Pops got the videotape of the movie. Every Thursday night he would have us watch it until we could recite the lines word for word. Marla and I would even role play to the point where Pops got fed up of us."

"Marla," Amoy said, "that's a nice name. Who was she?"

"A family friend," Yuri said quickly and then frowned. Marla was much more than that. Had always been. To explain their relationship in such terms could prove problematic for future conversations.

"I loved her," he added.

Amoy nodded. "Childhood sweetheart huh?"

"Not exactly." Yuri’s smile had a tinge of sadness. "Long story."

"Ah." Amoy tapped her glass. "My lawyer instincts are telling me I am not going to like this."

"Hey Yuri." Wilson interrupted the conversation before it could get even more uncomfortable. "You should put in an infinity pool. That would be cool."

Yuri turned to Wilson gratefully. He had his hand thrown across a heavily pregnant lady, his wife Cindy.

"He is obsessed with pools now," Cindy said, smiling. "But he can't have one because of the baby."

"She's paranoid." Wilson shook his head. "We grew up with a pool, didn't we Amoy?"

Amoy had gone silent and was looking contemplative. "Yes, we did. Remember when Zack almost drowned in your grandparents’ pool?

"Now I rest my case," Cindy said. "Thank you, Amoy."

Amoy smiled. "No problem."

Yuri kept glancing at Cindy's belly; he couldn't resist staring.

"I am five and a half months along," Cindy said, rubbing her tummy, "and I want it to just be over already. I want to meet my little girl."

The conversation continued and Yuri nodded in the right places but he couldn't help wondering about Marla. Was that how she felt? Were they having a boy or a girl?

Why didn't he just go to Treasure Beach tomorrow and find out?

Because she was married to Ricky and refused to leave him for reasons that he wasn't clear about. Because Ricky wouldn't allow him to just snatch Marla without a fight. He had to make a plan.