Chapter 5
THEO
Theo couldn’t stop smiling. Finally, finally things were going his way. With the help of Nina and her son, he’d be able to land Charles Ackley’s business — and probably other high-profile clients, too. He wouldn’t be excluded from the wealthiest circles anymore.
That night, he drew up a contract with one of his company’s lawyers before heading home.
He lived in Beacon Hill, a wealthy neighborhood in Boston, in a large freestanding house.
It was one of the first things he’d purchased when his company had taken off.
After a childhood spent in small, dingy apartments, this mansion was his dream.
He’d bought a similar house for his mother on the coast.
Everything in his house fit his taste. The walls were a pale cream and uncluttered.
All his furniture was modern, with clean lines and bright white upholstery.
The kitchen, hardly ever used, gleamed with the latest appliances, and his hardwood floors were always shining and polished.
Stepping into his house meant an escape from the pressures of his work.
Theo went upstairs to the floor with his bedroom.
He had four spare bedrooms, one of which he used as an office.
Another he kept aside for his mother to use when she visited.
The other two rooms would be for Jack and Nina.
He made a note to tell his housekeeper to put sheets on the beds, though he didn’t know what else they would need.
It would certainly be an adjustment living with people for the next few months, but it would be worth it.
Anyway, how much trouble could it be living with a woman and child?
Next, Theo wrote to Holyoke Academy to begin the admissions process for Jack. The first step was a simple form and scheduling an interview, which he did.
Humming to himself, he ate a simple dinner of salmon, rice, and broccoli prepared by his chef and went to bed. He couldn’t wait for Nina and Jack to arrive the next day so that they could finally get started. In just a few weeks, he was sure, he’d be sitting across from Ackley at last.
The next day, Theo left work early and got home just before five o’clock. He was hanging up his jacket when the doorbell rang. He opened the door. On the other side stood Nina and Jack, Jack bouncing up and down.
“Hi!” he said, waving to Theo. “We came here in a big supervillain car!”
“He means the limo,” Nina clarified. Her expression was drawn, and she looked worried. She held Jack’s hand with one of hers and a large suitcase with the other. Behind them, the limo was just pulling away.
“It was so cool!” Jack practically shouted. “Mister Theo, Mom says we’re going to come live here. In this house!”
“That’s right,” Theo agreed.
“It’s totally a superhero house!” Jack wiggled excitedly. “Or maybe a villain’s house!” Then he let go of Nina’s hand and brushed past Theo into the entryway. Theo turned his attention to Nina.
“Please, come in. Let me take your bag.”
“Thank you.” Nina glanced at him, then looked away. “You really didn’t need to send a limo. Although Jack loved it.”
“I’m glad he did, and it was no trouble.” Theo helped Nina carry the suitcase over the threshold into the entryway. “Is this all you brought?”
“Our apartment is nearby, so I can go back anytime and get more things,” Nina said. Just then, there was a faint crashing sound from somewhere deep in the house. Theo winced as he imagined one of his expensive pieces of artwork crashing to the floor. Nina winced, too.
“Let me go check on him,” she said, hurrying down the hall. Theo hurried after her. Jack was kneeling in the hallway, surrounded by shards of one of Theo’s vases.
“Don’t move!” Nina said. “Careful. There’s broken glass.” She lifted her son out from the middle of the shards and set him on safe ground. Then she turned to Theo. “I’m so sorry about this. Let me help you clean up.”
“It’s fine.” Theo managed a smile. “Things break sometimes.” Inwardly, though, he was starting to worry.
He’d thought Jack breaking his phone was a fluke, but maybe the little boy was prone to breaking things.
That vase had cost an exorbitant amount of money and had been shipped from Europe at great expense.
It was unique, and practically irreplaceable.
“Still, let me help clean up.” Nina looked down at her son. “Jack, you need to be more careful, okay? No running in the house. Please apologize to Theo.”
“Sorry, Theo,” Jack said. His blue eyes pinched, and his face scrunched with regret.
“It’s okay,” Theo repeated. He grabbed a dustpan from the nearby hall closet, which Nina took from him to sweep up the shards. Once the hallway was clear, he cleared his throat. “How about I give you both the tour?”
“Sounds great,” Nina said, taking Jack’s hand. “Stay with us, okay? No running off.”
“Okay, Mom,” Jack said. He sounded a little grumpy, but he didn’t run off again.
“Here’s the kitchen,” Theo explained, leading them to the end of the hallway. “And here’s the dining room. Of course, feel free to use the kitchen anytime.”
“Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream!” Jack sang under his breath. Theo glanced at him. The little boy was bouncing with barely contained energy.
“He’s just excited,” Nina said quickly. “The limo ride was a big deal for him, and he’s looking forward to starting a new school.”
“Row, row, row your boat!” Jack repeated.
“Let’s sing later, buddy,” Nina said gently. “We should pay attention to the tour so that we know where everything is in the superhero house.”
“Okay.” Jack stopped singing, though he still bounced with excitement.
Theo showed them the sitting room, the living room, his home office, and the bedrooms upstairs.
They circled around to the garden and the patio, then went back inside for a look at the home gym and study.
Jack seemed to be trying hard to contain himself.
When they finished, Theo helped Nina carry her suitcase upstairs.
“How about you take some time to settle in?” he suggested. Jack had already pounced on his new bed and was bouncing on his bottom. “I’ll get some work done.”
“That sounds good,” Nina agreed. Theo left, leaving the door open behind him, and headed to his office. He started working, but about a minute later, there was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” he called. The door swung open, and Jack entered. His head was barely visible over the edge of Theo’s desk.
“Is this your secret lair?” the boy asked in wonder.
“No.” Theo was starting to get annoyed. He understood that kids had a lot of energy and asked a lot of questions, but he hadn’t anticipated just how much that would require of him. He’d assumed Nina would keep a closer eye on Jack.
Jack edged further into the room. “Your desk looks like a panther.”
“Okay.” Theo looked back at his computer, “I have some work to do, okay?”
“Okay.” Jack made no indication of leaving.
He examined every inch of the office with the focus of a young Sherlock Holmes, offering his commentary on everything from Theo’s pens (“They look like rockets!”) to the remote that opened and closed the blinds (“Just like a supervillain!”) After about five minutes — though it felt like five hours — Nina appeared.
“Jack, come on. Theo’s trying to work.” She took Jack by the hand and led him out of the office. Theo tried to focus on his work, but even through the closed door, he could hear Jack singing and occasionally shouting things like “Oh, no! They’re coming! Pow, pow, pow!”
After a while, he gave up on work and left the office.
During the thirty minutes Theo had been trying to focus, Jack had somehow spread toys all around the house.
How had all this stuff even fit in the suitcase?
He went from room to room, picking up little action figures.
The pillows on his couch had been placed on the floor, and Jack was jumping from pillow to pillow. He saw Theo and his eyes widened.
“Careful! The floor is lava, and the evil robots are coming!” he shouted.
“Where’s your mother?” Theo asked. Shouldn’t Nina be stopping her son from trashing his house like this?
“She’s unpacking.” Jack jumped to the next pillow, then thrust one arm out. “Pow!”
Theo shook his head. “How about you go find her? You’re making a mess.”
“Why didn’t you fall over?” Jack asked, sounding annoyed. “I said pow.”
Theo sighed. “I don’t have time to play, okay? Go find your mom.”
“I’m here.” Theo turned to see Nina in the doorway. She’d put her hair up in a bun, and her hands were on her hips. “What’s up?”
“Your son is making a mess,” Theo pointed out.
“He’s playing,” Nina corrected. “Kids do that. But Jack, how about we clean this up and go play outside for a bit?”
“Fine,” Jack said, sounding annoyed again. He threw the pillows haphazardly onto the couch and ran to get his shoes.
“Please keep an eye on him,” Theo said. “I don’t want my house to be torn apart.”
“I do keep an eye on him,” Nina said, her tone level. “But he’s also a kid. He’ll be loud or messy sometimes, and you have to be okay with that. You’re the one who wanted to live with him.”
Theo sighed. “Just… please try to not let him break anything else.”
He went back into the hallway, where Jack was sitting on the floor putting his shoes on. For some reason, he was sitting on one of Theo’s jackets. Theo rubbed his brow and, as soon as the boy stood up, he hung the jacket back on the peg.
After that, Nina and Jack went outside, and Theo finally got some work done, though he was constantly distracted.
What was the little boy tearing apart now?
It was one thing to break Theo’s phone, which had clearly been an accident, and another to make a mess of the house Theo had worked hard on.
A mental image floated into his mind of Jack ripping out the grass in the backyard or throwing the rocks around in his Zen garden.
Finally, dinnertime rolled around. Theo’s chef had made a delicious dinner of truffle risotto and filet mignon, thankfully with enough to share.
Theo called Nina and Jack in to join him.
They sat at the large table in the dining room, where Jack left smudgy fingerprints all over the surface.
Trying to ignore that, Theo turned to Nina.
“We don’t always have to eat together, but I thought it’d be nice to get to know each other a little. Pretty soon, we’ll be appearing in public as a couple, so we should know a few facts. We can also discuss the plan for the next few days.”
“That makes sense,” Nina agreed.
“What is this?” Jack poked at his risotto with his fork. “It looks like snot.”
“That’s not very nice,” Nina said gently. “Remember the rule. You have to try at least three bites, but if you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat any more after that. And this is called risotto.”
Jack let out a loud sigh but obediently tried a bite of the risotto. He made a face as he chewed.
“Yuck.”
“That’s okay,” Nina said gently. “Try two more bites, okay? And remember, we try not to say yuck about food other people like.”
“Sorry,” Jack poked the rice again. “Can I have fish sticks?”
Nina glanced at Theo. “Do you have more-kid-friendly options? I can shop tomorrow, but for tonight, it would be great to have something.”
Theo rubbed his brow. “Not really.”
He’d made a huge mistake. That was increasingly clear.
Giving Nina a large sum of money for her time had been a no-brainer, but having to share his space with a loud and messy kid for the foreseeable future might not be worth it.
He liked Jack. He did. The little boy seemed like a good kid with a great personality.
But he was also destroying Theo’s space and ruining the peace he’d worked hard to build. And Nina didn’t seem to care.
Jack let out a loud sigh and poked at his risotto. Nina encouraged him to try a few more bites, but it was quickly clear that Jack wasn’t going to eat it.
“We’ll go out and get something else,” Nina said. She’d eaten her dinner, and she put her plate and Jack’s in the dishwasher before bidding Theo goodnight. They went out the front door, with Jack singing about fish sticks and supervillains.
Theo stayed alone at the table and rested his head in his hands.
It was going to be a very long few months.
How was he supposed to interact with a little boy like Jack?
Was Nina ever going to put some boundaries in place to stop the kid from ruining his house?
And would anyone, including Charles Ackley, ever believe that they were a real family?
Theo had planned to discuss the interview and his plans with Nina over dinner, but that hadn’t worked out. He’d have to try again tomorrow. And he’d have to try to find a way to make life with Jack and Nina possible for all of them.
An hour or so later, when Jack and Nina returned and retreated to their rooms for bathtime and stories, Theo was already in his home office with the door closed, working.