Disclaimer: I don't own Orlando Bloom or any living person depicted in the story. They deserve my utmost respect.
A/N: A/N: After a long drought of muse, my dear friend Aerin has awakened Lessons back. So, without further ado except the usual thanks to Viv (the best beta ever) and Aerin for inspiring me, this chapter is all yours:
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Orlando was practicing the complex choreography of the sword duel once again, as Johnny Depp, leading star of the movie and already his friend, peeked into the room where the fighting scenes were practiced.
"Hey, Orlando! How long are you going to stay here planning how to skewer me more elegantly?" he asked, laughing. "I thought you had family duty."
"Family duty?" Orlando returned, frowning. No one on the set knew about his relationship with V, except for Spence. But he had confided in Johnny after the third day of filming together. The guy was great and Orlando didn't doubt for a second that Johnny was trustworthy. Besides, it cost him immensely having to mask the way he felt about Zoë and V, when all he wanted was to shout to the world how happy he was.
"What time is it? I promised Zoë to be there in time for dinner and absolutely forgot that I can't wear a watch here …"
"Well then, unless you plan to take the little lady out to dinner, you should be going. It is after six," said Johnny, after a quick glance at his watch.
"Fuck! She'll be waiting already … Are the costuming guys still there?" Orlando asked, while he hurriedly put the sword away.
"They are there, just waiting for you. By the way, Orli, remember Jerry's offer about the park? Since it is the middle of the week, he arranged for us go there tomorrow morning, and I asked Gore to move our scenes to the afternoon. I am taking Lilly Rose there, and I thought you may bring the little one along … I took the liberty of telling all of the cast and crew that are off tomorrow to come too. It wouldn't be right to have the park open privately just for two kids, don't you think?" added Johnny still leaning at the doorframe.
"The park? Oh yes, I remember! V may have my head if I have Zoë skipping school, but I am sure it'll be worth it. Thank you, mate, I have to run now!" he said quickly as he passed his colleague at the door. Then Orlando returned and gave Johnny a quick and affectionate hug. "Thanks," he said again, before sprinting towards the trailers. He had to get home soon to tell Zoë about the following day.
***
"… and then Sister Inmmolata said that I will have caught up with everything they learned while we were in London in no time, Mama. And I learned to write my name! I can sign my drawings now, though the "O" is a bit crooked … but I promised to practice a lot. I will learn to write Orli's name and yours too," Zoë chattered on the phone to Verena. The girl was still a talking machine, but Verena could tell that her daughter had matured in the past months. The tone, the way she spoke, still at an unbelievable speed but now Zoë was certainly much more aware of the fact that she was no longer a baby.
"That is marvelous, munchkin. Soon I will ask you to read and write for me," Verena answered, feeling the need to tease the girl even a little bit.
"Aww Mama, don't make fun of me! But when you are a granny and can't read, I will certainly read for you, I promise. Will you come back soon?" replied Zoë.
There was a fuzzy feeling in Verena as she heard her child. So, in spite of Orlando being with her, Zoë missed her. 'Of course she misses you, don't be dumb,' she told herself and then, smiling, answered Zoë: "I have still a couple of meetings ahead and a business dinner, but I hope I will be able to come back tomorrow night. Is Orlando there?"
"No, he isn't here yet. But he promised he would be here for dinner. He will be here soon. He is looking very piraty now, and he told me he would take me to the set sometime and show me the big ships and the skulls and all the pirate things, if you give me your permission … you will, will you not, Mama?" continued Zoë.
The image of "piraty" Orlando was now in Verena's mind eye. Too distracting. She focused on her little girl. "We will talk about it when I get home, okay munchkin? Tell Orlando that I called to check on you guys and I will be in a business dinner tonight, but I'll call tomorrow. Or even better, I'll try to get home tomorrow. I love you, Chip."
"Love you too, Mama. I'll tell Orlando you sent him an "I love you" too, else he might be sad. Bye, Mama!" Zoë chirped into the phone, sending a kiss and then hanging up.
Verena sat back on the couch of her suite. Geo hadn't spared any expenses to woo her for the job. The Mayflower Hotel was expensive, exclusive, and amazingly comfortable. The salary they offered, all the usual perks included, was generous too, but Verena knew she and her work were worth every penny they offered. It was the dream-job she had always wanted.
She gazed out the window, letting the view of the Central Park soothe her. The reddish copper and gold shades of the leaves caught the light of the setting autumn sun, trapping her photographer's eye with their beauty. The thought of wanting Orlando and Zoë right there with her to share the sight flashed into her mind.
It wasn't the first time since her arrival in New York the previous evening that she had caught herself longing to have them both there, as if the small "family" they had formed in the past weeks had always been a part of her life. And it was a strange sensation.
Previously to the Orlando contract, her life had consisted of two parts: before and after Zoë. Her daughter marked the point were she had found a real reason for her existence beyond her beloved work. Zoë was not only her motive to move on after Chechnya, she was the only family Verena had, the home she could always return to.
Before Chechnya, Verena had thought of herself as a modern gypsy who had her temporary base in LA for purely practical business reasons. Once her daughter had arrived, the baby had become the center of her universe, but still V had managed to make the small person into an extension of herself until Zoë was old enough for school.
Now Verena had to face a new turn in her life. Zoë needed to have a permanent residence and her mother by her side, even more than before. Of course, the turn had acquired even a stranger twist with Orlando's appearance in their lives.
As Verena thought back to the moment she had accepted the assignment of taking over the management of Orlando's public image and taken him into their home, she smiled. She realized that she should have known the trouble she was getting into.
When she thought of him, the mixed sensations of tenderness, longing, passion, and gratitude almost overwhelmed her. And the next thought terrified her, as she pondered about what lay ahead. Did she dare trust her life, her love, and her child to any one, even someone as wonderful as Orlando Bloom?
As fast as their relationship had evolved in the past months, and especially in London, they had fallen into an easy routine of daily life in common, but neither had ever approached the subject of the close end of the contract or of a future together.
It was not until the shrill of the telephone startled her out of her musings, that she noticed the room had grown dark and the hour late. On the phone, the hotel's receptionist told her that she was already awaited downstairs.
With a loud sigh, Verena hung up the phone and walked to the bathroom to run a brush through her hair and check her make up.
For now she would stall her decisions for as long as she could, certain of the knowledge that the stakes were almost too high.
***
"They are small bundles of energy, aren't they?" Johnny said to Orlando as they leisurely watched Zoë and Lilly Rose during their fifth ride in the carrousel. Vanessa was on the carrousel with them, keeping a vigilant eye on the active girls.
Johnny cradled the toddler Jack, who was still too young to keep up with the girls and had fallen asleep.
"Actually, I imagine that having to keep up with two kids could drive any man to exhaustion, both mental and physical," replied Orlando, sipping at his orange juice.
After three hours of visiting the different attractions of the park, he still couldn't believe that Zoë and younger Lilly Rose were as excited and elated as when they had entered Disneyland, and they didn't seem likely to tire anytime soon. Johnny, Vanessa, and Orlando had been taking turns watching the girls, who had decided upon first meeting that they liked another and must become inseparable.
"Oh yes, you can say that having the little ones makes you sometimes feel like boot camp," commented Johnny, laughing. "You count yourself lucky if you manage to sleep more than five hours, they take over every single minute of your life, and there is no space of your house they leave untouched." He paused, favoring Orlando with a thoughtful glance. "You are quite attached to little Zoë."
Orlando's face lit up with a warm smile. "Oh, yes. I still can't believe she got me wrapped around her finger in no time. There isn't a thing I can deny her. She is just like a grown up in a small package sometimes, and then she is … magical. The way she sees things, the wonder, the way she admires me and makes me feel like …" he explained, searching for words.
"She makes you feel like there is nothing in the world impossible for you, that you're the next best thing to Superman and Prince Charming. I know the feeling," Johnny said, finishing Orlando's thought. "And then you feel that you would rather sell your soul to the devil than be the one to disappoint them. And then, for reasons beyond your control, you do let them down."
Orlando listened in silence. There he was, chatting with Johnny about kids and parenthood. It was strange. He was not Zoë's father and until that very moment, he realized, he hadn't seen himself as a parent. But that was exactly the role he had instinctively taken over in Zoë's life.
What had begun as a game to drive V crazy had instead turned into a steadfast friendship with a lovable child who had crawled under his skin almost without him realizing it. She had made herself a place in his heart, and now, he was unwilling to think of life without Zoë in it.
"Johnny … what is being a parent to you?" he asked.
Johnny Depp went silent for a minute. Carefully, he tried to explain. "When you are a parent, you have to accept that you are responsible for your kids forever. They will never stop being yours, just as you will never stop being their father. You can't ever let your guard down because every step you take you have to think not only of yourself or your mate, but what is best for your children. It is a commitment for life. On the other hand, once you are a parent, every moment of every day, good and bad, is a miracle."
"Do you have any regrets?" asked Orlando.
"I do regret every precious moment in my kids' life that I am not around to share with them. This business, though it isn't working from 9 to 5 in an office, takes away from your loved ones for much too long, and you miss a lot. I regret having to protect them not only from the usual things in the world, but also from people harassing us and trying to turn my family's life into a media circus. When it is just me, I know it is a part of the craft. But they deserve to be left alone, to have a normal kid's life, you know?" replied Johnny. There was a wistful look in his eyes as he caressed the head of the boy in his arms and then waved at the girl in the carrousel.
Comfortable silence settled between them. Orlando was lost in his own thoughts of his fatherless childhood mingled with what Johnny had just said, until Johnny interrupted his musings. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I think. I mean I had never thought about this before," admitted the younger man.
"I don't mean to pry, but have Verena and you discussed the future?" Johnny asked.
"No. I think we are both avoiding the subject. But I don't know what I could tell her. I love her and Zoë to distraction, but I am not sure if I can be what they need. Zoë needs a father, and I don't know if I can give her all the time I wish I had for her. Verena and I are an even more complex matter. And my time is running out."
"There is always time. But you have to figure out what you want and you need first, Orli. No one is going to do that for you," said Johnny.
"When I came to the US, I knew exactly what I wanted. I got my big break through 'Ringsm' and then came 'Black Hawk Down' and so many opportunities. I had to grab them all, at once. I could not let them pass … this is my chance to earn a space in the profession I love and then be able to chose what to do. My future is in my hands; all I have to do is play it out, play it right," Orlando swept his hands through is hair. "I have still so much to do, and I can see Verena standing by me all the way. But Zoë needs her mother and a father as well. V has a life and work of her own. Right now we are living the moment, but I don't know how long the moment will last."
Johnny patted his friend's shoulder. "I wish I could help you out, man, but this is one you'll have to figure out on your own. Just don't break too many hearts in the process, especially the little ones."
Vanessa approached them. "The girls are ready to move on to the next attraction. Are you ready?"
"As much as we'll ever be," said Johnny, pulling her close for a quick kiss. Orlando wore an unreadable expression as he followed the pair towards the Spinning Tea Cups.
***
It was very late, close to 2 a.m., when the Verena caught a cab at LA Airport to take her home.
The coast-to-coast flight had drained her to exhaustion, especially considering the busy schedule she had had in New York and the heavy thinking about her options.
Verena's beloved profession, adjusted in terms of travel to accommodate having a child, added stability and a fixed operation base, and voilá: Verena's dream job. And that was exactly what Geo was offering.
As she had parted from Dirk Arndt and Bernd Goldschmidt from GEO, she had promised to give them an answer to their generous proposal in the coming days. She was sure she was not the only candidate, but they wanted her badly. Apparently it was a good thing to have a reputation preceding you that put you in the league of the Pulitzer winners.
Still, she had her mind made up after the 6 hour-flight.
Verena Devereaux loved her work and had lived for it from the minute she began her career in professional photography. But war correspondence exacted a high price: A home and a family hadn't been a part from her own picture of the future. Neither had having kids of her own.
She had preferred to be one of the guys of the guild, and brief affairs with one or another of her colleagues had become all the love life she wanted or needed.
But fate had shuffled the cards differently for her. Zoë happened, and then, to make things even more complicated, Orlando had come into her life.
V snapped her pictures on instinct, but she made her life's decisions based on careful logic. And since she had taken the contract to be in charge of Orlando's PR and had accepted him moving into her house, things hade turned upside down. He brought out her deepest feelings and greatest fears, and an ability to love someone other than Zoë.
She hadn't even known that she possessed those fears, or that capability.
The cab arrived at the drive of her house, and the sight of the darkened windows mirrored her thoughts. She entered the house and deactivated the alarm. Shrouded in the silence and darkness of her own home, she decided to walk up the stairs without any light.
She crept up and went to Zoë's bedroom, peeking through the door at her little girl, so grown up, yet so angelic in her sleep.
Unable to resist the temptation, Verena walked softly to the sleeping child and carefully kissed her cheek. She then arranged the covers over Zoë's shoulders, tucking her in. With one long look, Verena silently left the room.
Making her way to her own room, she opened the door and for a moment looked at the sight of a man, Orlando, in her bed. He lay on his side, one arm under his pillow and the other spread across the mattress as if searching for someone.
Orlando looked nearly as angelic as the little one next door, and what he represented was even more difficult to resist. Did she have to resist it, though?
Slipping out of her slacks and blouse, she moved to his side of the bed and touched his curly hair, letting it run through her fingers like silk. He rolled towards her but did not wake up. Smiling, she caressed his cheek carefully with the back of a finger. He turned his face towards her and his eyes, like black gems, sparkled in the moonlit room.
"Verena, you're back! I missed you," he mumbled softly and reached up to pull her towards him on the bed.
"Hello, Orlando," she managed to say as she rolled over him and both lay facing each other.He kissed her hungrily.
"Welcome home," he whispered when they parted.
She snuggled her chin into the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent, kissing the skin where the texture changed from smooth cheek to the growing beard. He moaned softly nesting his fingers into her hair at the back of her head, then letting his hands roam down to her shoulders, nudging the straps of her bra down in the caress. Her hands flexed on his chest as he expertly flicked the clasp of her bra. "How did that happen?" he whispered innocently.
"Incorrigible!" Verena chuckled and sighed as he continued caressing the treasure he had uncovered."I missed you too," she admitted.
They kissed deeply, without hurry, their hands exploring the well-known expanse of skin, luxuriating in the high of being together. Their passion for each other awoke, slow and constant. Fingers and lips teased and touched until they finally joined, satisfying their desire for one another.
In the aftermath of love-making they lay quietly in the tranquil darkness, holding each other tightly, wrapped in tangled sheets. They slept peacefully for the first time since Verena had left, each lulled by the other's heartbeat.
***
And thanks to everyone who reads the story and comments. You make the muse happen!
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