It wasn't the first time Charlie had left the apartment in a wig, but it was their first lesson outside of the multi-tenant.
It felt momentous. Like Theo was acknowledging she'd made progress.
And also… strangely charged. For all Theo's optimism the night before, he kept opening and closing his mouth, like instructions were on the very brink of being said, then called back.
A woman pushing a pram greeted them during the final block and finally unstuck his words. He gently tugged Charlie to the side and doffed his hat. "Morning! Think polite and unimportant," he murmured as they continued on. "Courteous enough to make something easier, not so much as to be remembered."
He pulled the door open at the grocery and held it for her. Charlie frowned as she moved past toward the vegetables. "Not so much as to be remembered?"
"We don't want them to remember you." At her blank face, he sighed. "Work is going to be hard enough."
"I'll need them to remember me at work," she said quietly, beginning a quest for a promising cabbage.
"But it's the devil you know." She glanced up; the basket rose with the ratcheting tension in his shoulders. "What I told you last night is - it's true. It's perfect - for work. I'm hoping that people will see what they expect to see, and when you act like you usually act… Charlotte…" The basket dropped as Charlotte dropped in a promising head, then went right back up. "It's the real world I'm nervous about." He gave a jerking shrug; the cabbage bounced around. "You've already presented your… version… of me, to Lednov and company. But no one out here has that bias. So…" He swallowed and they meandered toward the butcher. "So if you bring too much attention to yourself, people will look. Really look. And unless you're very, very good at this, I'm afraid that they'll see… you."
All of Charlie's questions felt undeniably stupid to ask in public. She directed a request for beef roast to the butcher in their stead.
"The best disguise is - is something that isn't a disguise at all," Theo continued, once the man turned to his work. "Is something that's true. Which is why I think work will be… fine. But the less you need to be me, outside of work, the better. That's not the point. You're - you're doing this for the Orchestra only. I don't want anyone we interact with in public, outside of the hall, to double take when they see me. You." He rolled his eyes, even as he kept his head on swivel. "Us."
"That's fair," she said slowly. The butcher kept his back to them and made her bolder. "Have you… we need to decide how that's going to work, don't we?"
"What's going to work?"
"Our schedules. We need to decide -"
"Miller?"
Theo blanched and the basket dropped. Charlie grabbed it before it hit the floor - then watched as her brother was literally scooped into the air.
"Miller!" A tall, strapping man with tousled blond hair, a fitted blue suit, and absolutely no ability to read the room enveloped Theo up in a tornado of a hug as Charlie gaped. "I knew that was you!"
"Haskins," Theo gasped into the man's shoulder. "Yes, it's me. Put me down."
"I will not," the man grinned, but soon enough he set Theo, ricocheting from shocked pale to fire-engine red, back on his feet. "Ryan Haskins!" He turned and stuck out his hand to Charlie. To her immense surprise, he shook like he meant it. "Lovely to meet you. You're -"
"Charlotte," she managed, and made to set the basket down. Haskins grabbed it instead, his smile widening.
"The sister! I saw that straight off. Far too similar to be a Mrs." He shifted the basket to his left hand, where a fat, golden wedding ring glinted. "Theo is the reason I got home to mine."
His smile softened as he indicated his right leg - but it was only when he stepped once more into Theo's personal space, pulling him into a one-armed hug, that the slight buckle in his knee was evident.
"We became the best of friends in a Brittany ambulance," he continued. If he saw how Theo's eyes hit the floor, he refused to acknowledge it. "Already got on like a house on fire, but never thought I'd have to suffer his driving. Drove like a bat out of hell. I kept telling him to slow down before he killed us both, he kept screaming about me not losing my leg. Well."
He released Theo to lightly smack the side of his thigh - and grimaced, but the tone was all flesh and blood. "Can't do much with it yet beyond walk around, but that's more than I thought I'd have." The smile he aimed at Theo lit the whole room.
Theo looked like he wished the earth would swallow him whole. Charlie reached for the basket and Haskins' grin hitched back up as he handed it over. "Sorry - old habits dying hard and all that nonsense."
"Of course." Theo drove an ambulance over there? It stayed in her throat. "How… what do you do now, Mr. Haskins?"
"Haskins, please." He waved the Mr. away and Charlie couldn't help but smile back. "I'm with an architecture firm. Used to be the devil to sit all day, now I'm not complaining as much." Theo's eyes dropped to his leg again, and Haskins' smile tightened. "We were lucky, weren't we? No, Charlotte - wait. I thought everyone called you Charlie?"
"They did. Do," she corrected quickly. Theo talked to people about me?
"Charlie," Haskins said, relishing it, "These days, I sit at a lovely drafting table, twiddle with my pencils, and it's wonderful."
"Haskins is helping with the new PIM location," Theo finally managed. It sounded like it took real effort.
"Our office is just a few blocks away from the downtown location," Haskins added. "We're using it as a reference. Still can't believe we worked so close together, and yet never met. Not until we reached the front. A musician at the front, Charlie! Here's your brother, all five-foot-eight of him -"
"They sent a lot of people to the front, Haskins." For all that the words were mild, Theo's misery vanished. His shoulders set like steel. "Don't think any of us had any say in it."
"Some of us minded more than others." Haskins blatantly ignored Theo's emerging sharpness, lowering his voice. He looked straight at Theo, even while his words were still directed to Charlie. "I admire that." Theo winced. The intensity of Haskins' simple praise was amplified by his refusal to look away. "Did then, still do. That your brother clearly hated every second and yet didn't shrink from it. Volunteered for duty, volunteered to drive the ambulance… We needed courage like that over there, what with -"
"As I said." Steel was becoming progressively more brittle. Charlie had a feeling that, if she touched Theo now, he'd break. "No choice."
"Of course." Haskins paused and finally seemed to understand he was hurting more than helping. He rotated his hat within his hands. "Hey now," he said gently. "Here's something. We might end up looking over Symphony Hall before the end of the year."
"What's wrong with the Hall?"
Haskins' mouth ticked up as Charlie set the basket down with a huff. "It's over forty years old, Charlie - where would you like to start?"
"It's perfect as it is," she shot back. "The stage is gorgeous, the acoustics are perfect -"
"The lobby's outdated, the wiring is probably ancient, the bones are creaking…" His smile kept getting wider.
"It has history. It has character."
"Character is just a different way of saying 'old'," he laughed, but it wasn't unkind - and Theo's relieved exhale kept her blood pressure in check. "I promise, it's just a look. And only if we do good work at the Institute. You know that the new location needs a recital hall?"
"Of course it does."
Theo choked on his own spit; Haskins just grinned. "Well, if we can manage a three hundred seat concert hall for the kiddos, Charlie, maybe they'll trust us not to mess up a jewel of Pittsburgh. Fair?"
"How does that even begin to compare-"
Haskins' laughter rang out so loud, Charlie barely heard the butcher calling her, holding out their beef roast.
"Just like your brother." He clapped Theo on the back as Charlie grabbed their order. "Could always count on Theo to get fiery when we needed him. Thank God. Look, I'm glad I found you. Julia and I want to have you over. You both over, mind. And she's got a friend you have to meet, Miller. The nicest girl."
Theo nodded with all the enthusiasm of a wilting flower.
"Do you two have a number?"
"Not ours," Charlie stepped in, when it became clear that Theo's words had left him. "But the building. Twelve Humboldt Place. Just ask Jeremy to pass the message along."
"Splendid." He held out his hand once more and clasped Charlie's tight. "It's wonderful to meet you. It's wonderful to have had the chance to meet you," he said pointedly, elbowing Theo fondly as he drew his arm back. "And I have your brother to thank for that. I'll be calling. You won't let him wriggle out of it?"
"I'll do my best."
"Cheers." He pulled Theo in one last time, then smiled and strode off toward the front. His limp was pronounced - perhaps he was too stubborn for a cane - but he seemed determined to keep pace with the other busy shoppers.
When he disappeared around a shelf and Charlie turned around, Theo had vanished with the basket.
Charlie found him two aisles down, staring at the oatmeal. He was clutching the handles so hard, his knuckles were edged with white.
"Um," Charlie said, watching her brother's eyes track nothing. "So beyond being the… nicest blond nuisance I've ever met, Haskins didn't do any of the things we talked about."
A breath huffed out of Theo's nose. He blinked several times, then cleared his throat and tried a smile. "Haskins," he rasped, "is absolutely a blond nuisance. Of course he would mess up my lesson."
She snorted and nudged him - then was astonished as he reached up with a shaky hand and wiped at his cheek. "Theo?"
He fished his handkerchief out of his pocket. "Ravel drove an ambulance," he told the oatmeal. The words barely came out. "I thought…"
She waited several seconds, but he couldn't finish the sentence. He finally shook his head and pulled in a shuddering breath.
"He seems lovely." Theo nodded. "Really lovely." Theo let out a splutter and Charlie wanted to curl up into a ball, or tuck Theo into her pocket, whisking them away back home. "Think we… think we have enough minced pork for stuffed cabbage, or should we get more?"
It took several tries for Theo to get his words out. "We need more." He cleared his throat and blinked several times, turning toward some shredded wheat. "Just - need one more minute."
"Of course." She uselessly patted her brother's shoulder twice, then examined the nearby polenta for herself until his handkerchief returned to his pocket.
_ _ _ _ _
"Who the hell ran you over, Theodore Miller?!"
For the second time in one morning, Theo was swept off of his feet. This time, though, he returned the bone-crushing hug rather than cave to the impulse to wipe at his eyes again.
"They let you back already?" he managed as their upstairs neighbor, Anthony Campagna, set him down and twirled Charlotte in turn. "Thought we had the multi-tenant to ourselves for a while longer."
"What did you do to your brother?" Anthony put Charlotte on her feet and held her out at arm's length. "He looks miserable. Have you missed me that much?"
It was teasing and perfect, and Theo no longer needed his handkerchief. He picked up one of Anthony's bags from the porch and held the door. "Missed you?" he scoffed. "What was there to miss? The way you drink all of our coffee? Your incessant stomping upstairs?"
The man flicked a dark lock of hair back, grinned, and nicked their groceries from Charlotte before grabbing his additional bags with his left hand.
Theo's breath temporarily failed.
"Tony! I could have gotten those. And you know we did," Charlotte laughed. "Theo mopes when you're not here."
"Mopes?" The delighted look Theo received over Anthony's shoulder was dazzling. His own smile trembled back to life. "You mope without me, Theodore?"
"Not for a single second," he rasped back. Anthony's laugh said he didn't believe him. Why would he, when the three of them naturally went to the twins' apartment, rather than let the danseur get resettled in his own. Charlotte unlocked the door, Anthony swept in behind her -
And for a horrible second, Theo worried that they'd left something out. The spare wig, maybe. Or, God forbid, the binder. Some sort of… glaring admission of guilt.
But no. Charlotte had tidied before they left for the store. Not a spare stocking out of place. The Emerson was even gleaming.
"Coffee, Theodore?"
Anthony's voice floated out from the kitchen, and the jarring, sharp edges Haskins had knocked loose realigned. The danseur had taken over, simultaneously tucking their groceries away and egging Charlotte on to make the coffee stronger. Charlotte, in turn, was peppering Anthony with questions.
"Was it perfect? Was it amazing? Was it everything you ever dreamed it would be?"
"Was it exhausting? Do my feet hurt? Am I tired of Hoe-Down?" Anthony quipped back. "Yes, Charlie, all of the above. It was a dream. If I never hear Copland again, it'll be too soon; I'll be roping cattle in my sleep. But." He pulled out a chair for Theo, gestured for him to sit with one elegant eyebrow raise, and sat down next to him with a sigh that would fill a theater. "But, it was tremendous and I loved every minute of it. I, um…" He nudged Theo ever so slightly with his shoulder. "I filled in as principal not a few times." Anthony's brown eyes were bright: warm chestnut and filled with a lot of something that scared Theo half to death. When he bit his lip and released; cherry red rushed back in. "More than a few times, actually. I think things are looking good."
"Yeah?" Theo was drowning. His response felt wholly inadequate.
And yet Anthony looked like he'd been dying to get that reaction for days. "Yeah," he said softly - then groaned when Charlotte yanked him into a hug from above.
"Anthony! You're going to be a principal!"
"Shhh!" But he laughed as he untangled himself. "Don't jinx it, you fiend. If I'm very, very lucky… no. No, we won't talk about it." He rapped his knuckles twice on their table. "What's new with the two of you?"
He turned back to Theo, and frowned.
Probably because the blood had drained out of Theo's head. Charlotte was quickly adjusting the wig back over the band; it had gotten tugged out of place when she hugged Anthony.
And… the blood rushed back and he nearly swayed in his seat. It was time. The ultimate lesson: laying the groundwork for their ruse.
"Well," Theo croaked. Charlotte flapped a hand at her head - sorry - and, blushing furiously, turned to futz with the kettle. He sucked in a breath and tried for nonchalant. "I… I joined the Orchestra."
"Theodore!"
He was being swept again. He could stand to be less swept, except this was Anthony. He could probably stand to enjoy it less, to be honest, except that the relief - being able to start this insanity, at last - meant he was laughing as he was allowed to sit properly once more.
If his chuckles were a little hysterical, only Charlotte would pick up on it.
"Theodore, you brilliant, perfect - but Charlie." Anthony's grin faded as he twisted in his seat. "Oh, please tell me…"
She shook her head slowly. Her blush was gone, even as her mouth curved down. "Unfortunately not." Her eyes flicked to Theo, then back to their friend. "But I'm - I'm sure I'll be on the sub list."
"You damned well better be on that sub list!" Anthony rose to his feet, stalked to the counter, and began to take over the coffee. His hands needed something to do besides rant in the air; Theo was unable to suppress his smile, despite the mood's nosedive. "I can't believe it. Well, they don't deserve you, Charlie. Though -"
"They most certainly deserve Theo," she managed, and Anthony sighed, let his head drop, and directed earnest, rueful eyes back to Theo.
"Sorry, Theodore. That's going to take some getting used to." He cocked a hip against the counter. "Just how righteously angry would you like me to be?"
"This is more than enough." Over Anthony's shoulder, Charlotte shrugged, and Theo let his smile grow. "This is wonderful."
"Having me home? Or having me angry?" Anthony teased. He took a few mugs down from their shelf, raided the fridge for cream, and slid a perfectly doctored cup across the table to Theo.
It took Theo far too long to dislodge the words from his throat. "Both, I think."
Anthony beamed.
_ _ _ _ _