Da Vinci Code
chapter 6
The next morning you woke up on your own for the first time. You sat up and looked around at your unusually empty room. There was no George there to open the curtains and ask what you wanted for breakfast.
Before you could melt into your bed and cry all day, you got up and dressed, heading down the staircase to the kitchen as shouts reached you. Puzzled, you hurried down the stairs and followed where they were coming from.
“What in the world…” you asked as you walked into the kitchen and saw Joshua sitting at the table with a hand over his mouth, barely concealing his delighted smile, and your friend in front of the stove with a pot that was bubbling over, and a dozen eggs smashed on the floor.
“Don’t worry! I can clean this!” she said grabbing paper towels and cleaning the eggs as you walked to the stove and turned it off.
“I thought George taught you how to cook” you said as you looked at her. She was wearing George’s favorite apron, which suited her, despite her current blunders in the kitchen.
“He did, kind of, but I am still learning a few things” she said as she deposited the smashed eggs in the trash receptacle.
“Why were you letting this happen?” you asked Joshua who was openly laughing from his spot at the table. You walked over and sat down across from Joshua and started looking out the window at the yard.
“How are you today?” he asked catching you lost in thought.
“Alright, I guess. I think yesterday, when I asked you to marry me, my emotions were going crazy, if you don’t-” you were cut off when the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it” your friend said and exited. She seemed to have taken to the role of George’s replacement, and you didn’t mind one bit. She was always infectiously happy to be around, and you felt like you needed someone like that in your life at the moment.
“I know what you are going to say” he said getting up and making himself and you a bowl of cereal.
“It was wrong of me to spring a marriage proposal on you at a time like that so I take it back!” you said standing and grabbing spoons for the two of you. He turned to you and looked like he was about to say something when the door opened and your friend returned accompanied by a stodgy member of the Council. It happened to be one of the old ladies who gave you such a hard time at the banquet.
“There you are, Ms. y/l/n. perhaps we should conduct this meeting in a more proper place, rather than just standing around the kitchen gawking at each other”
“Oh um…” you said taken aback.
“Yes ma'am. I am about to serve lunch on the veranda, so please head that way” your friend said mimicking George. You and Joshua looked at each other and tried to hold back a laugh.
“Thank you dear, but- who are you?” you heard the old lady ask as she followed your friend out.
“She has never called anyone ‘ma'am’ in her life.” you shook your head at her as she escorted the old woman out onto the veranda.
“Lunch on the veranda, then?” you asked Joshua as he held his arm out to escort you. You two joined the council member at the table and waited for her to speak and tell you why she was here.
“Terrible news to hear about poor George. He has been in your family for decades. Awful thing.” she said. You swallowed hard and wanted the conversation to move on.
“Don’t worry yourself, though. The council will begin the process of appointing a new butler in no time”
“Oh, I don’t need one. I am a grown woman, I hardly think it is necessary for me to have a butler anymore” you told her.
“When the children arrive, I no doubt see you changing your mind. Any help is good help where rowdy children are concerned. Speaking of being a grown woman, have you found a husband yet? The clock is ticking and the Council, me included, feel we have given you adequate time to find-”
“She has” Joshua spoke up. You looked at him wide eyed. You felt you and him hadn’t properly talked about this.
“I hope you do mean yourself? Terrible thing to find a young man at a young woman’s house with no supervision, if you know what I mean” she said dropping her voice so you had to strain to hear. You opened your mouth to speak up, but Joshua beat you to it.
“It is me” he said. You looked at him in shock with your mouth still hanging open.
“I heard you are moving. Are you sure this is a wise choice?” she continued.
“He is still moving.” you made sure everyone at the table was aware of this fact.
“I don’t think I quite understand. He cannot move and be your husband, and give us children”
“We will worry about that bridge when we get there- wait, children already? But you wanted me to choose a husband, and so I have”
“Of course children! Why do you think we were pushing you to get married so soon?” she said and chuckled to herself at your silly misunderstanding.
“I’m sure we will be glad to see to any requests that the Council has” Joshua said. You glared at him and opened your mouth to say something but he looked at you sideways and put pressure on the top of one of your feet with his own. You got the hint and put a smile on your face and clammed up.
“I am glad to hear it. We weren’t sure, dear girl, that you were ever going to find a husband if I can be blunt. We felt you were too wild and undomesticated, like your mother, to find a decent suitor” you quickly grew offended at her words, but luckily Joshua was there to stop you as he escorted the Council member off the veranda before you could say anything.
“May I walk you to the door?” he asked and she was immediately delighted.
“Such manners. You will have your hands full with that one” you over heard her say about you as Joshua walked her to the back door and out of your sight.
“Aw, I just made sandwiches” your friend said walking out to the veranda and placing them in front of you on the table. You grabbed one and angrily bit into it. Joshua soon returned and sat down next to you and he too grabbed a sandwich.
“What are you doing?” you turned and asked Joshua.
“Telling her you made your choice” he said, politely covering his mouth as he chewed.
“But we haven’t even talked about this” you said sounding worried.
“It isn’t like you had a choice. I am almost certain she was here to pick one for you if Joshua hadn’t been here to save the day” your friend said.
“Maybe, but they are expecting children. We can’t do that. That means we would… you know” you said blushing. You had only ever kissed a boy, and this was a whole new step entirely.
“Relax. They won’t know every detail of our lives. We will be living by college anyways.” Joshua said, taking another sandwich and complimenting your friend on her successful sandwich making.
“What?” you asked.
“You hate living here, right? I just figured you could give college a try with me and move there? I’m sorry, maybe I jumped to a conclusion…” Joshua began back tracking.
“I would love to, but I wasn’t sure if that was something you wanted. I don’t want to be a burden and intrude on you. You know I have always wanted to travel.”
“Wait!” your friend shouted. You and Joshua looked at her in shock at her raising her voice.
“I want to come too” she said quietly. You looked at Joshua for an answer.
“Why not. The company will be good for you until you get settled.” without holding back you reached over and hugged Joshua really tight. He laughed and rubbed your back.
A few days later you and your friend were sitting in the kitchen. You were reading out ingredients for her as she did her best to make dinner. She had moved in with you at your request, not wanting to be alone in the big house. She agreed in a heartbeat.
The phone rang and she went to answer it as you mixed the pot she had been putting ingredients in. You tasted it and had to admit, it wasn’t bad at all.
“That was a lawyer. He says he has George’s will and wants to meet with you. I told him to come by tomorrow” she said. Without telling you, she had appointed herself as the new butler, seeming to want to earn her keep. You were just happy to have her company here, which you made sure to tell her as often as possible.
“Who is coming tomorrow?” Joshua said walking into the kitchen. He hadn’t moved in, but was coming over a lot more than he had in the past and just let himself in the front door.
“A lawyer, apparently. How are your parents doing with the news?” you said returning to your seat and reading out the next ingredient. Joshua had been at his parents’ house filling them in on what had happened in the past few days.
“Honestly, they are thrilled. Apparently my mom and your mom had always hoped this would happen. Hence the matching jewelry” he said pointing to his ear.
“Sneaky of them” you said and smiled at him.
“They want to have lunch here this week. They also send their condolences about George.” he said as just then the stove bubbled over again.
“Much later this week” he said looking at the over flowing pot.
“Sounds good” you said and looked at your friend fumbling with her cooking and expressing apologies.
The next morning you were woken up by Joshua surprisingly.
“What are you doing in my room at 9 in the morning?” you asked.
“The lawyer is going to be here at 10. Up you get!” he said snatching the covers from you before you could hide under them and go back to sleep.
“No hiding!” he said.
“How did you know?”
“George told me you always try to mope under the covers if you don’t want to do something early in the morning.”
“Dammit, George.” you said sitting up and being forced out of bed.
You were eating cereal at 945 with your friend and Joshua. You hadn’t said much not really wanting to hear from the lawyer. Deep down you were curious as to what a lawyer even needed to talk to you about, but you hated thinking about George being gone, rather than all the fun times and fond memories you and him had together. For the most part, Joshua and your friend knew to leave you with your thoughts and didn’t pry.
The lawyer arrived promptly at 1005, and you opened the door for him. He introduced himself and held his hand out for you to shake as you invited him into the foyer.
“Y/n, and this is-” you pointed to Joshua who had entered the room and shook the man’s hand as well.
“Joshua. Her fiancé” he said shooting you a cheeky smile.
“Shall we get right to business then?” he said walking over to the couches that resided in the foyer and placed his briefcase down on a small table and opened it, taking out a stack of papers.
“George had no children or living family, I presume?” he asked you.
“Not that I am aware of.” you answered taking a spot on the couch across from the lawyer. Joshua came and sat next to you, knowing things had the potential get a bit tough.
“It states here in his will that everything he owned now belongs to you then, investments, properties; everything. Here is a letter from him as well he had written and sealed at the lawyers office when he was diagnosed initially” he handed you a sealed envelope and you took it gingerly.
“If you can sign here please” he said handing you a stack of papers.
“That is all? I mean, I don’t know what I am inheriting exactly” you glanced at the papers but didn’t have time to read them all.
“It appears as though George has been investing his money wisely, and in the event of his death he wanted it all liquidated and put in an account for you. Lucky for you it amounts to a small fortune. He included some real estate properties he owns as well. They expand across the country for some reason.”
“That was sneaky. Dammit, George” you shook your head as you realized what he had done and what he knew you would do. You looked at Joshua as tears filled your eyes. He rubbed your back realizing too that George knew a lot more about you than he had let on.
When the lawyer left you looked over the copy of the papers he had left you. George had indeed left you a small fortune that made you feel slightly dizzy when you looked at the numbers. This meant not having to rely on the Council for everything, and it meant more freedom for you.
“Guess we should get packing” you said handing the papers to Joshua to look over. He whistled when he read the number to himself, and then looked back at you.
“We have three months until we leave, and we need to get married before then to please the Council. Plus we don’t want them knowing where you live when we do move” he began. You held up a hand letting him know you had something important to say. He fell silent and waited as you took a deep breath.
“Good point. I still need to talk to you though” you told him as you took his hand and lead him out to the bench outside that you and him enjoyed sitting on.
“This is a lot of change happening at once. I know you have dreams that you are going to fulfill so don’t worry about me being around all the time. I know you are just doing this to please the Council for me and I appreciate it but I also want you to know I won’t stand in your way for anything. I know when you get busy with school and friends and just college in general…”
”y/n, you are rambling”
“Right, sorry. I just want you to know I don’t plan on being all up in your business” concluding, you word vomited out everything that had been on your mind.
“I know. You forget we were friends before any of this. I wouldn’t have agreed if I saw any of that happening” he admitted smiling. You nodded and felt slightly better.
“And no kids for a while” you told him.
“Please” he agreed and you both laughed as you sat on the bench and watched the sun go down.
“You still have that letter from George to read.” Joshua reminded you.
“I don’t think I am ready” you admitted in a small voice.
“Will you ever be?” he asked you.
“Probably not” you realized and stood up heading inside to grab the letter off the table where you had left it earlier. You took it upstairs to read by yourself.
“I’ll call for you if I need you” you told Joshua and your friend who were sitting in the kitchen. It was Joshua’s turn to read off ingredients this time as she cooked.
“No, mince the onion it says” you heard Joshua’s voice as you walked up the stairs.
“I am mincing!” you heard your friend say loudly in frustration, giving you a small laugh as you headed to your room.
You sat on your bed and gently tore open the envelope. Just looking at Georges neat script handwriting had your eyes filling with tears.
Dear Ms. y/l/n,
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my sickness. Poor thing, you had been through so much already and I wouldn’t want to worry you about something else. You had enough on your plate to deal with at your age.
You and your mother, when she was growing up, were more like children to me than anything else. I love how I see her in you each and every day. Don’t ever lose that. As for the Council, I hope I helped a bit in my passing. For starters, allow me to leave you with my last words: For heaven’s sake if you haven’t wised up and picked Joshua already than it is about time you did.
You paused here and laughed, wiping away the tears that had begun pouring down your face as you read each word, and continued.
Consider that my dying wish, if you must. A few more things before I leave you completely. Don’t stay in that god forsaken house. I have never seen a building make someone so resentful towards it. I hope my purchases can help. Study languages and travel. It will be good for you to see the world and make your mark on it. And lastly, hand over my old apron to your friend, (whatever her name is), if she hasn’t stolen it already.
Know that I loved you like my own. Watching you grow up has been one of the greatest blessings this old man has ever experienced. Don’t worry, I will tell mom and dad you say hello. I have no doubt your mother will give me an earful about how I let the Council take over when she sees me. I do look forward to seeing them again.
With love always, -George.
You were a blubbering mess of tears and laughter by the time you had finished. You folded it back up and placed the letter back in the envelope to save forever. You heard a soft knock at the door, and took a deep breath before you spoke up.
“Come in” there was no hiding the fact that you had been crying, as was expected. Joshua opened the door slowly and walked over to you sitting down on the bed as you held him close and cried on his shoulder as he rubbed your back comfortingly.
“When can we go wedding dress shopping?” your friend asked you the next morning over breakfast. You had decided to make omelets and give her the morning off to watch you make something for a change.
“They would have to make an appointment to come here, but I’m sure we can arrange that sometime this week” you agreed, sensing her excitement.
“Ok- because I may or may not have started a Pinterest board dedicated to wedding dress styles that I think will look really great on you.” she admitted pulling out her phone and showing you. You flipped through all of them and admitted she had done a good job.
“I’m sure there is a way we can have a few dresses delivered, especially with the Council paying for it”
“What are you two doing?” Joshua said as he walked in and began getting out a bowl and milk for some cereal.
“Wedding dress ideas! Don’t look!” your friend shouted and stuck her tongue out at him.
“I won’t, I promise. You will look great in anything, but try to pick out a more modest dress this time?” he asked, remembering what the Council had said about you showing a little skin at the banquet.
“Oh yeah. Old people are offended by seeing skin. Like your arms, or neck, or ankles.” As you said this, you watched as your friend began deleting a few dresses from her board. You took a sip of coffee as your friend spoke up once more.
“what about lingerie for the wedding night?” she asked causing you to spit out your coffee and Joshua to turn red and pretend he hadn’t heard even though the milk he had been pouring into a cereal bowl over flowed.
