CARTER'S SHADOW
Chapter 39 - By Christopher Patrick Lydon
"I feel like a dork," Peter complained, as he stood
with his arms outstretched in the middle of the tuxedo store, Will and Lisa
standing off to one side giving their opinions of the selection the clerk
brought out.
"But it's a classic," Will said, coming forward to
push Peter's arms down and set the tuxedo properly and adjusting the black
bow tie. "Wow..." he murmured, realizing how incredible Peter looked
in the tuxedo, his white-blond hair hanging perfectly straight framing his
sapphire eyes. The black bow tie and the crisp Armani tuxedo...
"He doesn't like it," Lisa said, jolting Will back
to the moment, and Will shook his head and stepped back.
"What's wrong with it?" he asked, glancing at her.
"He doesn't like it," Lisa prompted. "It's not
exactly his style, now is it?"
Will again blinked and looked at the perfect jacket, and the
neatly tied tie, and then back at Lisa, "But what's wrong with it?"
Peter was feeling like an oversized Ken doll, standing in front
of the mirrors, and he coughed slightly. "Can I take this off?"
he pleaded, looking to Lisa for help.
"We could always try the white dinner jacket," the
clerk suggested to Will. "It's less popular, but no less impressive."
"That's an idea," Will said with a nod. "I wore
one to Andrew's prom..."
"I thought you don't remember that prom?" Lisa chimed
up. "You were so drunk, you walked up to Mister Greenwood and wished
him luck at university."
"It wasn't my fault," Will protested. "Jared
saw I was nervous and put a call in to Doctor Jack."
"Huh?" Peter looked confused.
Will rolled his eyes and pitched his voice to a falsetto, "Paging
Doctor Daniels, Doctor Jack Daniels to the O.R..."
Lisa laughed as she nudged Peter, "Andrew was so mad with
them both, he wouldn't speak to either of them for a week."
"I told him I was sorry," Will stated. "And to
this day I have no idea why I woke up the next morning wearing someone else's
shoes and a ten-pound salmon in the fridge..."
Peter stared incredulously, and looked at Lisa; she chuckled
and shook her head, her long auburn hair bouncing on her shoulders, "See,
there's a reason Will doesn't drink--he can't hold his alcohol at all."
"Okay, let's stop talking about me being a lightweight
and get back to the tuxedo?" Will suggested as the clerk brought out
a beautiful cream-coloured tuxedo jacket.
Peter screwed up his nose, "Eew!"
Lisa looked sceptical, but kept quiet as Will made his sprog
put on the jacket, smoothing down the lines and turning Peter to see himself
in the mirror.
Peter stared, barely recognizing himself, he looked so... so...
He glanced at Will standing beside him; having taken an afternoon off work
he was still in his shirt, sleeves rolled up and tie hanging loose. And Peter
stared at the two of them in the mirror. He looked so grown up, and felt it.
It didn't feel right, he didn't...
"His hair's too light," Lisa observed, looking about
her at the store. "It's almost the same colour as that jacket, and his
skin is too pale to pull off that kind of jacket."
"Well, what do we do?" Will asked thoughtfully.
"I have a nice powder blue..."
"No!" the three friends echoed in unison, laughing
at the fact they had all said it at the same time, with the same tone of utter
disgust.
Will shook his head and sat down on one of the seats looking
up at Peter, still looking out of place standing before the mirror, Lisa studying
him. She was right, and Will knew it; he was making suggestions based off
of his own tastes, and while Peter looked amazing, he also looked out of place
wearing the traditional tuxedos. There were other styles: mandarin collars
that would make Sprog resemble a bad James bond villain, and a kilt--well
Will objected to kilts on ethical reasons.
"Lose the jacket," Will suggested, standing up.
Peter obliged, and Will gestured to Lisa, "Go out into
the store and find me five ties you would buy Peter."
She looked confused a moment and dashed off, returning a few
minutes later with the most garish, technicolour ties she could find. She
handed them to Will, still looking confused.
Will looked at them and up at Peter, draping one over Peter's
shoulder and gesturing for the clerk to hand him the plain black jacket. Will
fiddled a moment, buttoning up the jacket and setting the tie so only a bit
of it poked up under the lapel.
"See?" Will nodded to Lisa.
She frowned a moment at the splash of bright colour, "It's..."
"A vest." Will replied.
"I have a selection of vests..." the clerk offered.
"They won't be bright enough," Will surmised. "We'll
take the tuxedo, but without the tie or a cummerbund." He handed across
his visa and smiled, "Trust me."
Peter looked down at the bright colours and smiled a bit, wondering
what Will had planned.
Will slipped the tie off and added that to the counter, indicating
he wanted to buy it as well. While Sprog changed back into his regular clothes
Will pulled out his cell phone.
It rang once, before the distinctive "Yo, 'sup?"
"Hey Brody," Will smiled, "how's California?"
"The girls here, dude," Will could almost picture
Brody's smile, "they're unbelievable. I was at that all-night party up
in the hills, and this beautiful honey..."
"I need a favour," Will said quickly, interrupting
the story, knowing full well how much the rates were to the Pacific coast
and how long one of Brody's stories could last.
"What's up?" Will heard Brody moving around, and Will
heard a distinctive sound of a woman's voice asking him to come back to bed.
He covered the mouthpiece and Will heard a murmured, "Just a minute,
it's my roommate. No, not the lace, go for the silk..." He uncovered
the phone, "Ok, what's up?"
Will frowned and shook his head, "Is this a bad time? I
could call back."
"No, no, what do you need?" Brody asked with his typical
chuckle.
"I need a tailor that can make a waistcoat and a bow tie
before this weekend," Will shrugged. "Peter's prom and, well, you
know his tastes..."
"Who can forget," Brody said down the phone. "Well,
do you have his measurements?"
"I do," Will said, pulling the clerk's pad across
the counter towards him and reading them off. "He wants something that
would make Daffy Duck go blind."
'K," Brody said, "One Daffy-Duck vomit special coming
up, I'll fed ex it to you tonight."
"Do I want to know how you can get this done so fast?"
Will asked.
"I have a date with a member of the costume department..."
The mouthpiece was covered again and Will caught snippets of the conversation,
"Honey... there's only you...honest..." He uncovered the phone,
"Easy come, easy go... So I'll get that to you overnight."
"You're a god," Will intoned reverently.
"I know," Brody replied again. "How is it, I'm
always the one to save your ass when you get into trouble?"
"Someone has to." Will smiled hanging up the phone
and looking over at Lisa, "Well that's one problem solved, Brody's having
something shipped in Sprog's size."
"That's nice of him," Lisa said, picking up the garish
tie and holding it up against Will's shirt. "I dare you to wear this
the rest of the day."
"And what--get arrested by the fashion police?" Will
asked, shaking his head.
"If you wear this a full twenty-four hours, I'll clean
your kitchen," Lisa offered.
Will looked at the brightly coloured tie, hand-painted with
swirls and stars, a rainbow up the middle of it, "If I wear it a full
twenty-four hours straight, you have to clean my kitchen in a French maid's
outfit."
"Do I want to know?" Andrew asked, clanging into the
shop, carrying a bag with a jeweller's logo on it.
"Just a friendly bet," Lisa said innocently. "Will
has to wear that tie for twenty-four hours."
Will hefted it, shrugged and switched it for the one he was
wearing; surprisingly it matched the light blue shirt he was wearing nicely.
He loosened it a bit, and smiled rakishly, "You're on." He glanced
at the bag in Andrew's hands, "Did you get them?"
"It was a bit expensive," Andrew admitted, glancing
about to make sure Peter was nowhere in sight.
"I'll pay you back for it when we hit a bank machine,"
Will replied as Andrew drew out the watch case, opening it on the beautifully
crafted timepiece, and Will smiled to himself. "That's perfect,"
he murmured.
"That's beautiful," Lisa finished, glancing up at
Andrew. "I didn't think you had it in you. Who's it for?"
"Sprog," Will explained, checking again to make sure
he wasn't coming, "His graduation present. My gran gave me mine, and
since Sprog is probably as close to a kid as I'm going to get... It's a way
in my family of saying you're master of your own time now."
Lisa shook her head at him, "He's going to love it."
"I hope so," Will said, as Andrew handed him the receipt,
and the eccentric Brit winced. He shook his head, "Where's the Jeep?"
"I parked it up the street," Andrew said, waving in
the direction and fishing out the keys.
"Right," Will said, smiling as the clerk began to
bag a few things for him. "I'll go get it so we can load some of this
stuff into it." And he set off leaving Andrew alone a moment with Lisa.
The former hockey jock glanced at the former cheerleader, "Is
it just me or is he getting stranger as he gets older?"
Lisa laughed, "A bit, but that's why we love him."
She tapped the watch case in its bag on the counter, "That's a really
sweet thing he's doing."
Andrew nodded, "He cares about Peter a great deal; I wonder
what he's going to do once Peter goes off to university?"
"The same thing he did when you went--mope about a lot,"
Lisa grinned. "You should have seen his face each time the phone rang
and it was you... totally adorable."
"Adorable is not a word I'd use to describe Will,"
Andrew remarked with a smile. "Stuffy, arrogant and pompous at times,
and won't let you win an argument if he thinks he's wrong... remember that
argument you two got into about the Monarchy?"
Lisa shuddered, "I'll never make that mistake again; I
thought I'd never hear the end of 'colonials' and 'ingrates for tradition'..."
"It was still funny to watch him rant for eight hours,"
Andrew agreed. "He was so mad..."
"Is everything okay between you two?" Lisa asked suddenly,
concern lining her face. Something about Andrew's tone and his body language
tipped her off.
Andrew took a long breath and glanced at her thoughtfully, "It's
nothing, just the usual, Will overworking and getting stressed. This past
week, it's the first time he's relaxed since he got promoted."
Lisa eyed Andrew, and nodded worriedly, "I don't like him
working there, he's changed he's... different..."
"He's worn down," Andrew said thoughtfully. "I
can't really blame him--the hours they have him working, it's enough to make
anyone stressed out. Just, I don't know what I can do to make him feel better,
you know?"
Lisa nodded, "Yeah, I get you. Do you want me to see if
there is anything going at my company? Avery-Woods is a pretty large company,
I am sure there has to be something."
"Maybe if he's somewhere more stable," Andrew said
with a grateful nod. "Thanks, Lisa."
"I can't promise anything, but I'll try." She fiddled
with something about her neck that caught the light, and Andrew turned, pushing
his hair out of his eyes and adjusting his glasses.
"What's that?" he asked, nodding to it as Peter came
bounding out of the changing room, glad to be back into his baggy khakis and
Hawaiian shirt.
"This?" Lisa turned pink as she closed her hand on
the necklace. "It's nothing..."
"That was a nice ring," Andrew said, cocking his head
to the other side. "Did Jeff..."
Lisa turned a bright shade of red, "He... it..."
"What?" Peter asked, trying to get a good look at
what they were talking about.
"Wait," Andrew said, giving her a sideways look, "is
that just a ring, or is it 'the' ring?"
"Huh?" Peter bounced again, continuing to be ignored
by the other two.
"Yeah," Lisa admitted, "he asked me the other
day."
"And?" Andrew asked, raising his eyebrows.
"I said yes!" She beamed, with a shy grin; it was
the girliest Andrew had ever seen her look.
"Yes to what?" Peter bounced again.
"Jeff asked her to marry him," Andrew explained, as
Peter froze mid-bounce to gape at her.
"I..." Lisa swallowed, "you can't tell Will...
not yet, I'm not sure I'm going to... and Will would just say I told you so
and..."
"You have my word," Andrew said soberly.
Peter bobbed his head, his eyes wide, "When is the wedding?"
"Two weeks," Lisa said.
"That soon?" Andrew gasped. "When you decide
something, you two don't mess around."
"Well, we've been dating how long now?" Lisa said.
"And it's not the first time he's asked me. I think he just wants to
make sure I go through with it this time."
"Right," Andrew nodded. "Well, congratulations."
He gave her a hug, "How's Jeff taking it?"
"He's happy," Lisa said with a soft grin.
Will returned a few moments later, coming through the door and
he blinked at his three friends grinning at him like cats that had swallowed
the canary.
"What's wrong with you three?" he asked, taking the
carefully wrapped tuxedo and carrying it towards the doors.
"Can we stop at MacDonald's?" Peter chimed up, his
grin broadening.
"It's warm enough for ice cream," Andrew agreed.
"Or lowfat yoghurt," Lisa added.
Will shook his head. "Ok, ganging up on me isn't fair,"
he said as he led them out to the Jeep and hung the tux up in the back. "Well,
if I'm taking you lot out for ice cream can we at least go somewhere good?"
Andrew nudged Peter as Will walked round to get into the front
of the Jeep. "Nice cover," he whispered.
Peter grinned. "I know how to deal with Will," he
bragged.
Andrew chuckled, "He's smarter than he looks."
Will stood on the running board of the Jeep and looked over
the roof and down at them, "Who's smarter than he looks?"
"Nothing," Andrew replied as they piled into the Jeep,
Andrew settling into his seat and buckling his belt, "just talking."
"Right," Will responded suspiciously, as he started
the Jeep and drove it out onto the street, heading away from downtown Ottawa.
Occasionally as he drove he caught sight of one of his three
passengers smirking. And Will knew they were up to something.
