Chapter Text
“What do you think we should do?” Nina asked, as she held the man’s wallet in her hands.
They sat on the worn floral loveseat in the living room as their new guest slept upstairs in Nina’s bed.
“Easy. Marry him,” Dina responded flatly.
“Dina!”
Her sister gave an indifferent shrug, yet her cat’s grin implied she meant her words. “Hey, you asked for my opinion.”
Nina rolled her eyes. “And yet I forget that’s your answer to everything.”
“No, not everything,” Dina countered, her finger in the air ready to dispel any further argument. “Only when the universe decides to land a rich older man in your lap. It’s serendipity, Neen. And you’re about to squander a stellar opportunity. You do know his name carries weight in the world, don’t you?”
With the man’s wallet in her hands, Nina began carefully sifting through to find what information she hoped could help them. Platinum credit cards, thick business cards printed with his name etched in filigree, and some stray Simoleons in the money fold. She sighed, finding the search fruitless, until she located a small slip of paper inside with a set of cell phone numbers. “Aha!” She set the wallet aside and reached for the phone.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” Dina asked as she watched her dial.
“Yes,” Nina replied over her shoulder as she prayed that the name scribbled on the slip of paper would answer. The phone kept ringing. Each unanswered beat of the ringtone rattled against Nina’s hopes. This person had to be important to him. Why else was their name and number tucked into that corner of his wallet?
He didn’t seem like the type to randomly get ladies’ numbers. At the same time, when the guy followed her home, he didn’t seem like he was wound too tight, either. Maybe it was some stranger, like her, where he pocketed her number and went about his day.
Just as Nina was about to hang up, the line clicked on the pickup and a young woman’s voice answered. “Hello?”
Nina paused. The voice sounded much younger than she expected. Like a teenage girl. “Uh, hi? Is this—” she glanced at the name on the paper again, “Juliette?”
“...It depends. Who’s calling?”
“I’m Nina Caliente, I’m a friend of…” She wasn’t quite sure who this girl was to the man. Daughter? Uncle? Sister? Wife? (Oh, no, she hoped not that one.) “I found your…relative,” Nina worried her lip as she landed on the safest word possible, “He’s here. He was in my neighborhood last night, and he’s staying with me.”
“Okay…?”
“Well, your, uh, he…Uh, Consort seemed a bit lost and out of it. Do you want the address?”
Only silence answered. For a moment Nina wondered if the girl hung up thinking this was a prank call.
“Hello?” Nina ventured again. “Are you still there?”
“...Yeah.”
“So…do you want to come pick up your patriarch or not?”
~•~•~•~
The Summerdreams were hosting another masquerade. While he despised the free-spirited nature and unnaturalness of their family, Consort had to admit they knew how to throw a good party.
It would have been easy to decline for a multitude of reasons, except the theme of this particular party felt too foreboding to skip. The eclipse was forecasted to occur this Saturday afternoon. To Consort, avoiding such an event would be bad luck. So, through gritted teeth, he informed Oberon and Titania that he and his grandchildren would be in attendance.
As usual, the Summerdream estate was decked out from every petal in the garden to the trim of the house. Titania wore a white mask with various eclipsing suns and Oberon matched hers with black mask of eclipsing moons. He sneered in disgust at their ostentatious revelry and made a beeline for the drinks on the bar. Checking his watch, they had an hour until the event.
“Nice ambrosia, right?” asked Puck. The appearance of Titania’s teenage adopted son never quite sat right with Consort. The boy’s darkened lips and elvish ears with those eyes that constantly looked to dazzle always gave him an otherworldly look. The boy pointed to the cup in his hand. “Just be careful, sir. They hit you real fast before you know it!”
Consort peered at the cup suspiciously. “Is this what was offered that time—?”
“Oh, no.” Puck giggled and waved his hand dismissively. “That was nectar from Cupid’s flower. Crazy dreams at that party, right?”
“If I recall, your sister turned into a donkey,” Consort replied. He shook his head. Such an unnatural family.
The teen never responded. Instead he made eyes at Consort’s youngest granddaughter, Hermia, and bounded away to go talk to her. Consort scowled as he sipped at the drink before checking his watch. Fifty-five more minutes.
He didn’t have time to bemoan the fact that time was immovable this afternoon when his cell phone rang. Normally, he wouldn’t answer at a party, but when the caller ID flashed the name of Edward Mellon, a board member, he took the call. “Yes? I’m at a prior engagement.”
“Consort.” The voice of the board member was clipped, detached. “I apologize for interrupting your celebration, but this couldn’t wait.”
“Not until Monday? It’s a weekend. You know we don’t work on weekends. The overhead.”
“That’s precisely what the board wanted to talk to you about, Con.”
“We can review the profits on Monday, Ed.”
“No, we can’t.”
The line went silent. Behind him, the party started to come to life. Consort could hear the various hooting and hollering from the guests in the Summerdream’s hot tub. He rolled his eyes at them. “No?”
“Consort, the board has decided things aren’t working out. We can’t take another loss. Either you can retire and receive a pension, or your resignation is due on the Board President’s desk by Monday.”
The line went dead. Consort stared at the phone in his hand. Fired? Impossible. He built that damn company and some shareholders couldn’t handle a rough patch! His grip tightened on the phone, his rage welling up until the world tinged red at the corners. How dare they!
Without a second thought, his quaking fingers grasped the phone one last time and flung it into the hot tub.
“Hey! Watch it, old man!” Mercutio Monty’s irritated splash punctuated his holler at the phone launched like a missile. “You could’ve hurt someone.”
Consort’s fists balled at his sides at the sight of the irksome teen. His jaw clenched too hard, biting on the words he wanted to spit back. How that little creep got invited too was beyond him. And to talk to an adult like that! He set out to give that ornery little jerk a piece of his mind.
He stopped dead in his tracks. His other granddaughter, Miranda, was in the hot tub next to the boy—and sitting far too close for his liking. Goneril would give him a tongue lashing if he embarrassed her publicly like this. He stored it away for a future conversation with his daughter about instilling better values in her eldest child—particularly not to socialize with their sworn enemy!
He stalked off, back toward the bar, making his way through the garden. He checked his watch. Thirty-five minutes until the eclipse. A hand wiped over his brow in irritation. His eyes drifted to the side; some rustling beyond the trees caught his attention. A flash of yellow fur and large long ears.
Consort blinked. That Puck boy did warn him about the ambrosia. As he looked back toward the bar, his gaze landed on a horrifying sight. Had every child under his house lost their mind?! Behind the bar, thinking they had stolen a private moment, were Romeo Monty and his most prominent granddaughter—the most promising of his heirs, his beloved daughter Cordelia’s child—locking lips with that knave of a boy!
His stomach flipped and lurched. He clutched at it while stumbling to lean against a tree. He was going to be sick. His precious Juliette was going to obliterate this family…all for a few stolen kisses with that wretch of a boy.
“Juliette! Hey! Hey! Off of my sister, creep!” Tybalt came bounding from across the yard, a condemning finger pointed at the clandestine pair.
The sight of his grandson avenging his sister’s honor brought a slight glimmer of hope, albeit briefly. Once the fists started flying, Consort realized Tybalt may have been outmatched with his opponent. He knew he taught that boy to fight better. All of those random sparrings in the manor, various practice punches, and the child gets himself into a headlock by the Monty boy.
Consort couldn’t watch. He turned his head toward the woods, welcoming any distraction possible. The yellow fur, long ears, and black beady-eyed creature stared back at him. Its large paw beckoned for him to follow. As it rose from the bushes, he swore the creature was the shape of a giant rabbit.
Consort glanced back at the losing battle. That Mercutio was now joining in to battle Tybalt. He shook his head and willed his feet toward the woods. He checked his watch one last time. Fifteen minutes until the eclipse. The rabbit enthusiastically hopped into the woods, turning back briefly to call him with a crinkled nose and waving paw.
His head was spinning. The ambrosia must be in full force now. His shaky limbs managed to stumble and follow his new yellow companion for a few steps.
Perhaps a little quiet time in the woods would be a balm for his nerves.