Drowning Utopia

Chapter 10: Past Proposals

"Final call from Miss Copperfield?" The announcer asked from the stage, looking puzzled.

"Here! I'm here!" Tessa waved as she rushed past, grabbing her case and lugging it backstage to get her invention out.

"You're late," the stagehand chided.

"I'm sorry, but something came up with," Tessa hesitated, "a friend. But I'm here now."

"Hurry up then." He said as he stepped back out onto the stage to stall.

In moments, Tessa had opened up the case, assembled the grappling hook gun, and proceeded to charge it. While she did so, she glanced around the backstage. A wave of nostalgia and memories came rushing back. One, in particular, rose to the surface of the last time she had presented one of her inventions. It was a week after Tessa's 16th birthday.

Tessa had paced back and forth behind the velvety red stage curtain of the school's main auditorium, clutching her gloved hands firmly together. She was trying to control herself, explicitly avoiding the loose collection of tools haphazardly sitting on a workbench nearby.

But what if something goes wrong? I might need that, she had thought, noticing a type of wrench that she did not already have on her person. Caving to her anxieties, Tessa reached for the tool.

A stern voice scolded her from behind, "Miss Copperfield."

"Yes?" She spun around, facing the handsome—albeit short—Gary Meriwether. Still a dashing figure with slick black hair and sporting a thin mustache that matched his thick orderly brows, her mentor had aged well in the years since they had first met. However, he did not get much taller since then. She, finally hitting maturity, had sprung up past him by a head's worth of height. He now looked the part of a nobleman's son, dashing and well-versed, while in comparison, Tessa had gained the makings of an attractive figure.

Tessa eyed Gray with a guilty look, her hands tucked behind her back.

His brow furrowed. "Tell me, are you sure all of the difficulties have been thoroughly worked out?" he asked as he unceremoniously turned Tessa around, retrieving the wrench and returning it to its place amongst the others. (By now, Gray was keenly aware of Tessa's tendencies, having little patience for them outside of keeping her in line.)

Embarrassed, Tessa flexed her hands nervously. "Considering the trial runs, I must admit that my initial assessment of its readiness may have been...overstated."

Meriwether straightened his coat as he cleared his throat. "May I remind you, Tess, how much I had to stick my neck out for you the last time one of your inventions found its way onto the stage? I had to convince the board and my father not to throw you out." Meriwether said sternly.

"Yes, and I am eternally grateful. But I think I really have something this time!" Tessa emphasized slapping the back of her gloved hand into the other, shaking them back and forth.

"I know," he reassured her with a small smile, briefly clasping her shoulder, "I think so, too." Just make sure that we do not have a repeat of the whale oil incident."

Noting her uncertainty, Gray leaned in, "Are you all right?" he asked apologetically, "I didn't mean to offend you."

"No, you didn't offend me," Tessa whispered, biting her lower lip as she thought about the other night when she had seen him shirtless for the first time, and it made her blush.

One of the assistant stagehands stepped around the corner and asked with annoyance, "Are you two ready to go or not?"

"Are we?" Meriwether asked, taking an involuntary half-step back away from Tessa.