Page 19 of Waves of Time
“Oh, nothing. I went dancing with her and her friends for a little while, but I left early.”
“Why did you leave early?” Hilary pushed it.
Aria shrugged. “Because…”How could she say it?“I don’t know. She said some stuff about how I left school so early, without telling anyone. How I was weak.” Aria left out the drug use stuff because she didn’t want her mother to think she surrounded herself with such reckless people.
Hilary cocked her eyebrow, incredulous. “I can’t believe someone would say something like that. She must have very low self-esteem.”
This hadn’t occurred to Aria, who’d thought Callie seemed to have very high self-esteem. She’d fit in so well in the exclusive, clubbing San Francisco crowd.
“The only people in the world who try to make you feel very small are the ones who feel very small themselves,” Hilary said with a nod.
The plane landed five hours after it took off, and Hilary and Aria walked the now-familiar route to Baggage Claim to grab their suitcases. Because Marc had meetings that afternoon, they took a cab to the hotel, where they freshened up and then headed off for Rodrick’s place. Aria fell into the fast pace of the day, speaking quickly with her mother about the deliveries they were waiting for, the couch that needed to be upholstered, and the paintings they needed to secure for the space. Sometimes, she didn’t recognize herself, which felt like a blessing. She wasn’t Aria, the college drop-out and restaurant waitress. She was important.
Rodrick had moved into a hotel for the duration of the interior redesign, but he met them at his apartment with his little white dog to welcome them back to San Francisco. As they entered, the people they’d hired to do the “deconstruction” were already hard at work, ripping wallpaper from the walls and tearing up the bad carpeting. Everything smelled like wood and plaster.
“This is one of my favorite parts of the process,” Hilary said, clasping her hands together. “I just love to watch everything fall apart so that we can put it back together again.”
“I wanted to ask your advice about the study,” Rodrick said, waving them into the room in the corner of the building, where Aria and Hilary planned to make built-in shelves along two of the walls. “Is it possible to build a fireplace here? I’m just imagining cozy afternoons in front of the fire with a book and a mug of tea.”
Hilary and Aria eyed one another. Aria could just imagine what her mother was thinking: that building a fireplace was no easy feat, but that the client, ordinarily, was always right.
“I’ll have to talk to the people in charge of the building,” Hilary said sweetly, then frowned with such severity that both Rodrick and Aria turned around to see what had made her so upset.
“What is it? Oh gosh. Did you see a mouse or something?” Rodrick asked.
Hilary took a step toward the corner, clearly at a loss. Aria’s heart flipped over. “Mom, what’s wrong?”
Hilary shook her head violently, then righted her smile. “I’m so sorry. I thought I saw something on that wall over there.”
“Like what?” Rodrick asked.
“Maybe some mold or something?” Hilary suggested. “Although I’m really not sure. I’m probably just tired from the flight.” She managed a smile, and Rodrick laughed.
“You should have seen me after my flight up from the Bahamas,” Rodrick said. “I thought I saw the craziest things. My ex-wife called me insane.”
Suddenly, Rodrick’s phone buzzed with a phone call from none other than Frank Wilmington, the man Aria had watched her mother ogle the last time they’d been there.
“I told him I was meeting with you,” Rodrick said mischievously before he answered it. “Frank? You’ll never guess who I’m standing here with. What’s that? You want to talk to her?”
Rodrick passed the phone to Hilary, whose cheeks burned with embarrassment. As she answered it, she turned away from Aria and said, “This is Hilary Coleman speaking. Well, hello, Frank.” She then stepped toward the doorway, which she leaned against, as she added, “We’re hard at work here. That’s right.” She paused again, then said, “I don’t see why I couldn’t come out to see your place when we’re back on the island. Oh, you don’t have to do that. I mean, as a rule, I never say no to a good dinner, but…”
Aria’s eyes widened with surprise. Clearly, Frank Wilmington was asking her mother for more than her professional opinions regarding his new home. He felt the attraction just as much as she did.
“I’ll call you when I’m back,” Hilary said, her cheeks crimson as she said goodbye. “Thank you, Frank. Goodbye.”
As she stepped back into the study, Rodrick whistled. “The man is such a charmer, isn’t he? I think he just tried to sweep you off your feet. Is it working?”
Hilary waved her hand. “I’m going to work with him. That’s all.”
Aria perked up. “Can I help you with this one?”
Hilary pressed her lips together. “Maybe. Let me check the place out myself first, okay?”
Aria’s lips twisted as she tried to suppress her laughter. Clearly, her mother wanted one-on-one time with Frank, otherwise, she would have taken Aria, her “apprentice,” along with her. Aria couldn’t blame her mother.
“Let Mom do her job,” Rodrick joked to Aria, giving her a knowing smile. “She is the best in the business, after all. Even Frank has the eye for that.”
Aria and Hilary operated the rest of the afternoon with the utmost professionalism and bid goodbye to Rodrick at five, at which time they returned to their hotel to prepare for dinner. Marc had suggested they grab “the best pizza in San Francisco,” and neither Hilary nor Aria had never turned down pizza.