Wish in the well

[Zoe Deschanel]

“Yes Lucia , there will be a wishing well, it will look exactly like the fairytale, minus the evil queen of course,” Zoe spoke to the soon to be bride who had called for the third time that day, and it was only noon. “If you want to go over it again you can come in tomorrow around 10:30 in the morning, how does that sound?” she reassured the blushing bride who’s wedding was the following weekend, and who had already approved of every design and decoration imaginable, not to mention all the catering.

“No, I have two fittings later today, I am sorry, but tomorrow-” she was cut off by Lucia, “Alright 3:30pm it is, that could work, yes, lovely, see you tomorrow dear.” She smiled over the phone, “Yes, it will be perfect I can assure you,” she laughed at the woman’s response, for being a nervous bride she really was a sweetheart, “Have a wonderful day Lucia.”

Zoe hung up the phone and set it on her desk again, before she began leafing through a few more pictures from another wedding. The couple were absolutely adorable. Her dress was exquisite. She stared at the posh couple, the slim blonde beside her dark haired prince. Zoe wondered if that was what Alistair had really wanted and her returning into his life had confused all of that, she was the exact opposite in every way imaginable to Amy Armitage. Zoe sighed choosing three out of the five pictures as she heard the little bell over the door jingle. “Can I help you?” Zoe asked still staring down at the third photo for a moment longer before glancing up at the potential customer.

((ooc: Anyone want to join Zoe?))

[Alistair Armitage]

((ooc: Well, seeing Zoe logged in, I decided to update Alistair's profile, sig lyrics etc. and that just made me want to bring him up to the present, so to speak, and write as him. So... here he is, sorry, lol. Sorry it's long, I felt he needed some semblance of an excuse to be there so I thought the having-estranged-himself-slightly from her/Veronica and wanting to reconcile would be an interesting way into it?))

Alistair did not strictly need to see Zoe in person - he could have managed perfectly well if he had phoned her or sent her an owl. He told himself that the reason he was choosing to pop in on her at work instead was because he had a free day for the first time in months and he might aswell take advantage of this and speak to her properly. The real reason, that he kept denying, was that though he'd tried to suppress it, he'd longed to see her for many months. Something of his own personality stopped him from allowing this thought to enter the front of his mind or to dwell on what else he would truly like concerning Miss Zoe Deschanel. He forced all this firmly to the back of his head as he pushed open the door to her business, a hint of a smile twitching at the corners of his lips as he saw her at work looking at some photographs.

As she finally glanced up at who she presumably thought was a customer, he commented, "Perhaps you can. I am not a blushing bride here for a fitting, however," he suggested in the manner of a joking apology. "I was hoping to talk to you about Veronica, rather I wanted to run something past you, ask your advice on whether she would like to do something since, for all my efforts, a couple of years of trying to be a half-decent father still doesn't outweight years of mothering experience."

"I'm going to meet a client in Bordeaux next month and I thought I'd make a small trip of it and, well, I think I remember Veronica saying about wanting to see France and... I love the city and I'd like to show it to her. Do you think she'd like that?" he asked, waiting tentatively. He really was trying with Veronica, as well as Rhys and Natasha, to try to repair some of the damage that had been done through him not being particularly receptive - forcing himself instead to focus solely on his work, to keep his mind off other matters - after the discovery of Amy's affair, their marital problems and, finally, their divorce last year. He knew he ought to try to salvage something of his personal, family life.

[Zoe Deschanel]

Zoe smiled immediately at seeing him. It was a habit when it came to Alistair. “Are you sure?” she asked, “You look quite pretty enough for a fitting,” she joked then sobering slightly she smiled easily, “You look dapper as ever Alistair, but aside from that is there something you were looking for?” she asked awaiting his answer with baited breath. She hadn’t realised in that moment that she was actually holding her breath. A part of her wondered whether Amy and Alistair were getting back together and this was him coming to tell her in person, as Alistair would politely feel the need to do anything so great in person, that he truly loved Amy and for his family’s sake, the one he had made without her, they were getting remarried, again. This was of course only one nightmare that regularly went through her head. Though was it really any worse than the dreams that had filtered in equal force through her mind in those months they were apart? This crossed her mind in the first five seconds of seeing him of course. But as soon as the word Veronica escaped his lips her body tensed on the defensive.

Before their absence for the past few months Veronica was spending an awful lot of time with her father and their family and family friends. Zoe, the protective single mother, it had been Veronica and Zoe against the world for so long she had trouble adjusting to this new arrangement. She worried that Alistair, though she loved him, might see fit to take Veronica away from her. What was more worrisome was that should it ever occur Veronica might choose that life over her mother. They had lived through enough hardship. Zoe wouldn’t blame her for choosing a life of ease over the constant struggle Zoe had provided over the years.

Listening to him finish his sentence however she relaxed slightly and exhaled in relief. “Of course, she would love it,” she smiled, knowing her daughter like the man she once loved more than life itself adored cultural stimulation, literature and the arts.

((ooc: I know it's super late... or early depending on how you look at it, lol, but thought I should post, sorry if it's a bit bleh. And I love the new quote/lyrics under the sig.))

[Alistair Armitage]

Alistair smiled in bemusement at her far too kind words, “Well, how nice of you to say, I do believe you are the kindest woman ever for thinking so highly of me,” he commented, only half-jokingly as he crossed from the entrance of her shop to where she was working. Waiting as she considered his proposal he couldn’t help but notice she seemed to tense ever so slightly when he mentioned Veronica, only to relax after he’d finished speaking, and found it most odd. “Do you really think so? I’m so relieved to hear you say that because I’ve had quite a few ideas of so many places that I love that I thought she might like to see… uh Musée des Beaux-Arts for one, Jardin botanique, Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux…” he counted off on his fingers, then trailing off as he worried he was probably boring her with the minute details.

Looking to the papers on her desk as he carefully chose his next words, he stayed silent for a moment while he did so. “I just wanted to… make quite sure that you are okay with Veronica coming with me,” he added haltingly, his gaze flickering back up to meet her eyes as he tried to judge her expression as he spoke, “Because I realise I haven’t been the easiest person to contact in the last several months, I feel… terrible about not seeing Veronica, or yourself, as much as I would like to, I just felt that I needed to distract myself with work so I wouldn’t think about… my, well frankly shambles of a, marriage,” he attempted to make light of it by joking, somewhat hyperbolically, with a slight shake of his head. The anniversary of their divorce, as it happened, had passed the previous month and Alistair had now well and truly decided enough was enough in torturing himself internally by asking ‘what if’ and dwelling on the past and mistakes he may have made to make Amy fall into the arms of someone else. In short, he wanted to move on and concentrate on what was important to him – his children – even if he was a little stilted when it came to expressing such affection openly.

“Would… would it be utterly ridiculous if I invited you too? Of course if it’s not convenient with work I completely understand, your business seems to be booming which is… wonderful, I’m so pleased to see that, but… I just thought I would offer since I imagine Veronica would probably like it if her mum came too which I can fully understand,” he finished with a tight smile, not sure what she would make of his additional proposal which, to be honest, he’d only just thought of.

[Zoe Deschanel]

“Thank you,” replied Zoe, shuffling a few photos gently into a file so as not to scratch them. Listening to him talk of the Musée des Beaux-Arts for one, Jardin botanique, and Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux she smiled. “Of course she would, Veronica is your daughter in more ways than one. There is truly no mistaking it,” she laughed.

Zoe kept quite still and did not move from her desk. A part of her hated that he was standing there so close to her, across from her desk. Images of them flashed before their eyes, in the desert, on a beach, they were together and happier than she had ever been in her life. Bringing herself swiftly back to reality as he spoke once more Zoe’s fingers coiled around the seat of her chair. She feared that if she got up, she would launch herself at him from across the desk, and pull him down and kiss him like she had been dying to do ever since she stepped through that door. Well technically ever since she saw that it was him who had stepped through that door. Once she knew he didn’t mean to take Veronica away from her, at least not permanently, she hoped. Or did he? Zoe released the chair and fiddled with a few more things on her desk. Why did he have to be so lovely? She thought to herself, keeping her eyes squarely on her work as she listened to him speak. “I am sorry about your marriage,” she added, still gazing at another file of photos. Then when she thought he wasn’t looking snuck a peek at him. She was sorry, sorry that she might have been somewhat of a cause for their divorce. Yet she didn’t really see how that was possible. Alistair never truly loved her, had he? That is what she still thought anyway.

“Oh, me? I-I, well… I am not sure that I can, I mean next month is quite a busy one with summer wedding and all, but um,” she paused taking a breath to think about what she might say, whether or not she wanted reveal the true reason she should decline his offer, “The true is Alistair my daughter, our daughter, has some rather idealistic notions about us, about how we were once madly in love and how she wants us to be together again,” she gazed up at him, a small slightly weary smile crossing her features, “I don’t want to her the wrong impression. I think it would be best if you and Veronica go alone, besides she deserves to spend a bit of time with her father.”

[Alistair Armitage]

Alistair smiled warmly, the expression filtering right into his eyes which shined as he considered his and Veronica's similarities, "Thank goodness she inherited that appreciation for culture rather than the Armitage nose," he joked easily then.

"Please don't be sorry about my marriage, I think it was... it was over when it began, Amy and I had no illusions about it... we married for... affection, not love, we always said that we would split if we both agreed that we ought to," Alistair told her, sighing slightly at this as he looked away, out of the window for a few moments as he thought on this. "It's an amicable separation as far as that phrase is possible, to be honest I'm just... concerned at how Amy has taken it, she's been... unwell... I'm just relieved that she had Rhys with her."

Then, looking at her as she began explaining why she couldn't go he smiled, "It's fine, I understand, it's only natural you're busy, I thought I would at least ask," he explained quickly but then hesitated as he sensed this wasn't the real reason why she was declining the offer. When she heard her primary reason for declining his mouth silently made an 'oh' of understanding and he leaned against her desk momentarily, biting his lip as he processed this. It took many moments of internal delliberation before he finally said, "Veronica isn't exactly wrong, Zoe, 'we were once madly in love'," Alistair noted simply, meeting her gaze steadily, "At least I know that was felt on my end, you were always the one I loved, even if I was rather the inept, overwhelmingly British chap when it came to feelings like that."

"I don't think she would get the wrong impression, I hope not, if my intentions have seemed anything... improper then I apologise," he murmured quietly, "I just thought that she might have more of a fun time if you were to accompany us because I'm not stupid, I know I'm not exactly the most fun person for a young woman to be with," he tried to backtrack, explaining his offer in full so there weren't any misunderstandings about why he'd suggested Zoe accompany them on the trip. Truth is, he longed to show Zoe Bordeaux too, he thought she would love the city - it was one of the places he wished he'd shown her when they were together.

[Zoe Deschanel]

Zoe was confused by the explanation Alistair gave about Amy and his marriage. Perhaps that was just how he explained it, devoid of any real feelings because that would bring back all the memories, and if anyone knew of how to avoid that it was Zoe.

“Did we?” she asked as he claimed that they were once madly in love with one another. One thing was for sure Zoe knew she had been madly in love with him. She was the great big mystical love. Then she opened her eyes and found out that he was mere myth, and she had still been waiting for him to become something real. “From what your parents said, and from what you in fact said it didn’t really seem like I was the love of your life, or anything for that matter, just a phase you would as soon readily get over,” she tried to keep her composure as she said it, but a hint of defiance entered her voice. Noticing his expression she added, as if helping him to recall what he obviously couldn’t remember, she really hadn’t been anything to him had she, “Your letter,” there was a distinct biting tone in those two words, “The one your parents gave to me, the one you wrote,” she sighed and rolled her eyes, “Anyways, the past is past, I wrote my goodbyes and left, little did I know I had a bun in the oven,” she smirked at the phrase, it was always amusing to her. “Veronica and I faired pretty well considering.”

“Yes, well, kids have a funny way of taking nothing and making it something. She’s always had a flair for fairytale endings even if she is overly analytical and rational.” She spoke of Veronica and then nodded, “Well thank you for the offer, but I think it would be best if the two of you go alone. She needs a little father-daughter time, no matter how boring you assume yourself to be.” As much as she had tried to make herself believe he was a myth and not an actual truth, she still, after all these years loved him, truth or not.

[Alistair Armitage]

Looking at her, taken aback at her doubting of the fact they were in love, he nodded, once and firmly, as though there were no argument about it, “Yes, we were.”

Staying silent as she seemed quite defiant about the matter, quite sure he had never loved her, he merely let her vent, looking down at his hands instead. Then, when she moved on the conversation, he countered as levelly and matter-of-factly as he could, “Zoe, I did not write the letter. My parents did not exactly… approve of you, they knew I would never be persuaded to break things off with you, they knew we were in love, they knew you cared for me so much that if they said that I actually did not love you, that you would have to leave and never see me again,” he explained patiently, shaking his head as he considered his parents’ actions which he’d only learned of very recently. “I never said anything of the sort. It didn’t help that Harry had a hand in it all, he didn’t give me the letter you wrote afterwards, informing me of Veronica’s conception. I can never truly apologise enough for how my parents treated you, or how much of a fool I was to believe their lies that you had said you never loved me and just ran off without so much as a goodbye. But yes, you did fare very well, Veronica is an amazing young woman.”

He smiled wryly, “Every child’s dream is to see their parents reunited, I think,” he suggested and then found himself snorting lightly in amusement, shaking his head as Zoe explained about Veronica’s ‘flair for fairy-tale endings’. “Well now, another thing my daughter and I share… a fervent hope that fairy-tale endings exist and yet a strange sense of rationality which means we over-analyse such matters and, unfortunately, often let our heads rule our hearts, when it comes down to it in the moment,” he concluded solemnly as he looked down at her. “You’re welcome… I thought I would ask all the same, I must admit it was not only Veronica that I thought might enjoy Bordeaux. Oh, I am under no allusions about myself, I am quite aware that I am not the most thrilling individual, I’m a lawyer, we tend to be fairly dry and emotionally stilted,” he admitted easily in a rather self-deprecating way but something about the way Zoe had described their past had affected him in that moment.

[Zoe Deschanel]

((ooc: Alright I am way too lazy to edit posts prior to this one right now, but pretend that Zoe mused on how Amy is a much younger version of herself (blonde and blue eyed) rather than being completely different from her, though admitted she is not the lanky legged model-like swan Amy is and therefore feels a bit inferior to Alistair’s ex-wife, but might not admit this… ever. Also I forget if Zoe figured out, or if Alistair ever told her that he never wrote the letter so I am going to say pretend that this is news to her.))

Zoe merely shrugged. ‘Fine, be matter of fact. I really don’t think we were, at least I don’t think you were,’ she thought snarkily.

She looked up at him then, her cornflower blue eyes like two big pools of worry and shock, her mouth half open but no words, nothing came out of it which was really a first for her considering. “He did what?” Zoe finally spoke up, back on the defensive. She rose from her seat as she said it her tiny hands clenched by her sides. They were going to have words. Her big eyes narrowed and her mouth drew into a hard line. Oh how she despised Harry Armitage in that single moment. Hatred and despise were two very harsh words, ones Zoe rarely ever used but she thought they were appropriate at this point. Then looking at him suddenly she marched around her desk and looked at him squarely, “You have nothing to apologise for. What do you have to apologise for? They are the ones who should apologise!” she pointed at the door, indicating his parents. Though the couple who walked through the door gave a rather sheepish exchange and shuffled out the door almost as quickly as they came in. Looking on after them she gave a sigh of chagrin her mouth quirking to once side.

Turning her attention back on him she nodded and gazed at the floor for a moment, “Yes we did,” she agreed. Going round to her desk again she continued to shuffle a few more papers. This new information made her more confused than ever, especially seeing as Alistair and Amy were now, apparently, officially divorced. Though to be honest Zoe had always thought that Amy would go running back to Alistair and they would embrace and make up like in one of those romantic comedies, it would also be raining and playing soft pleasant music while Amy ran into his arms.

“This is true,” she agreed, “You know Veronica likes that bloke from her work, the smart, a bit socially awkward one. She always likes the smart ones,” she said with a smile looking up at him, “Remind you of anyone,” she said implying herself. Alistair was one of the smartest and more importantly most intelligent and interesting man she had ever met. He was the perfect English gentleman.

[Alistair Armitage]

Alistair’s brow furrowed deeply at Zoe’s reaction, his gaze dropping to the floor in shame, “I am terribly sorry, I thought you knew, I thought Harry might have deigned to mention it, to apologise and such, at some point,” he admitted, hesitantly meeting her gaze once more with a repentant expression. As she marched around her desk and stood in front of him, looking him squarely in the eye, he shook his head, “I apologise for my family; most of them will never actually admit they were in the wrong so it tends to fall to me to be apologetic for them-” he trailed off as the couple who’d just entered left very quickly seeing Zoe’s expression.

He absently watched her as she retreated once more behind her desk, not even entirely aware he was staring slightly, before he finally spoke once more, his voice soft and curious. “Did you really think then that I did not love you?” he asked quietly, then shook his head, “No, what I mean to say is… do you really believe, now when you know the truth of how it ended through my parents’ hands, that my feelings were not for you? I was yours Zoe, completely,” Alistair concluded simply, honestly, with a slight sigh of exasperation.

“Oh… Martin… yes I know,” he replied, adding, “I’m not as clueless as people probably assume when it comes to things such as that, I do have two other children who’ve had their fair share of crushes,” he noted with a knowing smile. Then, looking to her he couldn’t help but chuckle good naturedly, shaking his head a bit, “Like mother like daughter… that much is true. But ‘socially awkward’ you say? Hmmm should I be offended by that or merely gloss over it and be flattered by the ‘smart’ label?” he teased lightly.