Chapter 7 - The Family Sophia Chose
Six months later, there was another meeting in my study.
It was supposed to begin at nine.
At nine-oh-five, nobody had discussed business.
Because Sophia had taken my chair.
“This is my office,” I reminded her.
She spun slowly in the oversized leather chair.
“I’m helping.”
“You're eating crackers.”
“Helping crackers.”
Marco stood near the window.
Maria entered carrying coffee.
She no longer wore a housekeeping uniform.
After Carlo was removed, I had offered her enough money to never work again.
She refused.
Instead, she became the estate manager.
Apparently, she enjoyed telling powerful men where they were allowed to park.
She was exceptionally good at it.
“Your nine o'clock is waiting,” Maria told me.
“They've been waiting.”
“They're scared to interrupt Sophia.”
“Reasonable.”
Sophia pointed at Marco.
“Marco says we're going to the zoo Saturday.”
Maria looked at him.
“Marco says many things.”
Marco smiled.
“I'm taking both of you.”
Sophia gasped.
“Mr. Moretti too?”
“No,” I said.
“Yes,” Sophia said.
Marco immediately looked away.
Coward.
Maria laughed.
“You don't have to come.”
Sophia climbed down from my chair.
She walked toward me carrying a sheet of paper.
“I made this.”
It showed four stick figures.
One was small and yellow.
One had long brown hair.
One was labeled MARCO.
And the tallest figure was dressed entirely in black.
I pointed.
“Why am I so big?”
“Because you're the boss.”
“Why does Marco have no hair?”
Marco looked offended.
“I have excellent hair.”
Sophia ignored him.
I noticed something written above the picture.
FAMILY.
I looked at Maria.
She had seen it too.
Her eyes softened.
Sophia tugged my sleeve.
“Mr. Moretti?”
“Yes?”
“Can I borrow you again?”
“For how long?”
She thought carefully.
“Maybe forever.”
Nobody laughed.
I crouched.
“What would forever involve?”
“School sometimes.”
“Fine.”
“Park.”
“Fine.”
“Zoo.”
I glanced at Marco.
He grinned.
“Apparently.”
“And ice cream.”
“Strawberry?”
“Always.”
I nodded.
“We can negotiate.”
Sophia threw her arms around my neck.
Behind her, Maria laughed through tears.
Marco slipped an arm around Maria’s waist.
She let him.
Their relationship had moved slowly.
Coffee became dinner.
Dinner became Sundays together.
Marco never tried to replace Miguel.
That was probably why Maria eventually allowed him to become something new.
Miguel's photograph still sat in Sophia’s bedroom.
Nobody removed it.
Nobody needed to.
Sophia had learned something adults often forgot.
Loving someone new didn't erase someone who came before.
I carried her toward the study doors.
Marco looked at the black velvet table.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“You ever replacing that?”
I looked at Sophia's purple drawing.
The smiling face was still there.
Absolutely ridiculous.
Completely permanent.
“No.”
Maria smiled.
“Sentimental?”
“Evidence.”
“Of what?”
I looked around.
At Maria.
At Marco.
At Sophia.
At a house that had once been filled with guards, locked doors, whispered meetings, and men who never laughed loudly.
“Of the day security failed.”
Marco grinned.
“That usually gets people fired.”
“Usually.”
Sophia touched the tattoo on my neck.
“Did I break the rules?”
“Yes.”
“Am I in trouble?”
“No.”
“Why?”
I looked at her.
Because the truth was absurd.
For years, I'd built walls to keep dangerous people out.
Then a three-year-old girl slipped through one of those walls carrying a purple crayon.
She uncovered a betrayal.
Finished the work her father had died trying to complete.
Gave Maria her freedom from fear.
Gave Marco the courage to finally admit what he wanted.
And somehow turned me into a man who spent Saturdays negotiating ice-cream flavors.
“Because,” I told her, “sometimes breaking the wrong rule fixes the right thing.”
She frowned.
“I don't understand.”
“You will.”
“Can we get ice cream now?”
“That you understand.”
“Two scoops?”
“One.”
“Three?”
“One.”
“Two?”
I sighed.
“Two.”
Sophia raised both arms triumphantly.
“I WIN!”
Marco laughed.
Maria shook her head.
“She negotiates better than your captains.”
I opened the door.
“She terrifies me more than my captains.”
Sophia leaned close to my ear.
“Mr. Moretti?”
“What now?”
She whispered as though sharing the most important secret in New York.
“You still look better in the gray sweater.”
I stared at her.
Behind me, Marco started laughing again.
This time, I let him.
Then the four of us walked out together.
The meeting could wait.
The maps could wait.
New York could wait.
May you like
Because Sophia Alvarez had borrowed me for one day.
She simply never gave me back.
