Opportunities/One door closes...and a window opens (17/22)

[madbottoms]

Title: Opportunities/One door closes...and a window opens (17/22)

Rating: PG – I think. There is talk of sex and some ‘adult’ moments but nothing explicit.

Genre: AU! No aliens but some familiar names may still be used

Characters: Jack, Ianto, Estelle

Summary: The holiday season is coming up and Ianto Jones is stuck without a job, with very little money and not too many prospects. So when he is offered a job for two weeks, he readily accepts. But this new job may become complicated when he realises that the man who broke his heart years before is the grandson of his new employer.

A/N: A treat because I left such a cliffie last chapter. The gifting of the house is discussed further and Estelle and Ianto are invited to a Hub Christmas party.

*~*

Chapter Seventeen

 

Ianto’s foot slid off the chair cushion, and this time he wasn’t as quick to steady himself.

 

Jack stepped over swiftly and slid an arm around his waist and lifted him down.

 

‘Thanks.’ He was feeling shaky. ‘You know, maybe I should have something to eat. I’m so out if it that I could have sworn you said—’

 

‘I did say it. She’s planning to give you the house. This house.’

 

Blood was pounding in Ianto’s ears. ‘That’s impossible. She hasn’t said a word about it to me.’

 

‘Since when did Gran consult anybody—unless it was convenient for her to blame somebody else for the idea?’

 

Jack had a point there. As Ianto’s breathing steadied, his mind finally started to work again. ‘Oh, now I understand. Of course she wouldn’t tell me about it. She told you she was going to give me the house because she has no intention of actually doing it.’

 

Jack shook his head as if it hurt. ‘Run that by me again.’

 

‘It was a shock tactic. She tells you that you’re not getting the house, the shock makes you realise that you’d be heartbroken to lose it, so you argue with her about how she shouldn’t give it to me, and voilá! She allows herself to be persuaded that it should stay in the family and then everybody’s happy—including me, who never knew what he missed out on.’

 

‘That’s not what happened.’

 

‘You didn’t have a sudden revelation that you want it?’

 

‘Nope. I don’t want it. The way is clear for you.’

 

‘But I don’t want it, either! I don’t know what on earth made her think I might.’

 

‘You haven’t dropped any little hints about how wonderful the place is.’

 

‘Of course, I have. But only to make sure she really wants to leave it.’

 

‘No chats about how if I would only stop to think I’d change my mind, because it’s such a wonderful house and a family treasure? No discussions how good this would be for me and for my business?’

 

‘Not to her. I swear, Jack, I only told you that on the spur of the moment last night. What would I do with this house, anyway? It’s way too big for her and Emma, so why she’d even consider giving it to me...I could live in the linen closet and never even touch any of the other rooms.’

 

‘Well, there you have it.’ Jack’s voice was dry. ‘You have plenty of room, now that the sheets and towels are all gone, and she could leave all her stuff and come visit whenever she liked.’

 

‘You think I conned her,’ Ianto said quietly. ‘Don’t you?’

 

‘’No,’ Jack said finally. He stared at Ianto for a moment, opened his mouth as if to say something, closed it again and then left the room.

 

A couple of minutes later Estelle came back, with two big mugs of coffee. ‘Here you go, Ianto. Maybe we should talk to the people in the drama department before we drag all this stuff out of the closets.’

 

Ianto’s jaw dropped. Now that he’d started the job, Estelle was suddenly ready to quit? What could have changed the woman’s mind? Had Jack run into her on the stairs and said something?

 

‘Okay then. But we should look at everything and make a list anyway. I think they’d be more interested if there was some sort of inventory they could look at before deciding,’ Ianto said and then took a long drink of his coffee, feeling the warmth creep through his veins.

 

He still couldn’t believe what Jack had told him. He must have been mistaken. Ianto would have to think of a way to approach Estelle about it. He could hardly just say, Is it true you want to give me your house? Because it that wasn’t what Estelle had said...well, the uproar would be incredible.

 

‘I’ll get started on the inventory,’ Ianto went on, ‘as long as you’ll pop in once in a while to identify things that I can’t identify myself.’

 

‘That’s okay. I’ll sit here and write while you sort. Are you sure you don’t want a break yet, or something to eat?’

 

Ianto shook his head, finished clearing the shelf, and looked with interest at a set of cabinets which had been built in above the closet doors to take advantage of the enormous height of the ceilings. He’d have to get a ladder to get that space cleaned out. No doubt, it was full of even older and more interesting things than what was in the closet.

 

He decided that was a project for a little later and climbed down from the chair.

 

‘Did you have a nice time on your date last night?’ Estelle asked. She had dug a box of stationary out of a desk drawer and was trying pens, tossing one after the other aside before finding one that worked. ‘Goodness, I didn’t realise it had been so long since this room was used.’

 

Jack pushed the door wide open and brought in a shiny new ladder. ‘Stop climbing on chairs, both of you. You can’t come to the party at the store on Friday if you’re in the hospital with a broken hip, Gran.’

 

‘A Christmas party?’ Estelle asked brightly.

 

‘As soon as the door closes on Christmas Eve.’

 

‘I love Christmas parties,’ Estelle said and smiled fondly. ‘And I bet Ianto does, too. As long as you promise to get us home in time to be tucked into bed before Santa Claus comes.’

 

*~*

 

Jack left for the Hub before Ianto could catch him alone, and a couple of hours later the closet was empty. The bed was piled high with dresses and suits, shoes and handbags, and Ianto was tugging the ladder into a position for an assault on the top cabinets.

 

Estelle sighed. It was a long, heavy, tired sigh, and to Ianto it seemed to echo through the room.

 

‘Jack thinks the same you do.’ Estelle didn’t look up from her list. ‘That I should just walk away from this all and have a sale.’

 

‘He doesn’t want to see you exhaust yourself.’

 

Estelle didn’t answer.

 

Ianto sat down on the edge of the bed, where he could watch Estelle’s profile as she wrote. ‘Actually, that’s where Jack and I disagree,’ Ianto said. ‘I don’t think you should hire an auctioneer.’

 

Estelle raised her eyebrows. ‘Indeed?’

 

‘Maybe the university would like the house. Perhaps they could turn it into a museum of costume and design.’

 

Estelle turned the sheet of stationary over and began a new column. ‘I’m sure Jack told you my plans for the house, Ianto. I’m giving it to you.’

 

Until that moment Ianto had kept telling himself that Jack had been mistaken, that he must have heard it wrong.

 

‘But why?’ He couldn’t help the high-pitched tone that came out. ‘Estelle, what are you thinking?’

 

Estelle sounded perfectly calm. ‘I want you to have it because I like you, and you like my house.’

 

‘Oh, Estelle. What on earth would I do with it?’

 

‘Live in it, I hope.’

 

‘I couldn’t possibly afford...’ Ianto’s voice failed, and he had to start over. ‘I couldn’t manage the upkeep, along with going to school. And how I’d even get to school—’

 

‘Because the house it too far from campus for easy commuting?’ Estelle asked calmly. ‘I know that. It’s exactly why the university wouldn’t possibly want to make it into a museum, either. It was a good try though, Ianto. Was that Jack’s idea or yours?’

 

‘Mine,’ Ianto muttered. He eyed Estelle suspiciously. ‘You’re not serious, of course. You only told me you want to give me the house so I’d have to admit the museum idea wasn’t a good one, right?’

 

‘Oh, no. I’m quite serious. I figure you can rent the house out until you finish with school, and that will help with your tuition and living expenses. Then, when you have a job and an adequate income, you’ll be able to afford to live here yourself.’

 

Ianto put his head in his hands. ‘That’s the most—’

 

‘Careful, my dear. I’m only an old lady, and everyone keeps insisting that I’m in fragile health. I’m sure you don’t want to upset me.’

 

Upset her? At the moment the woman bore an uncanny resemblance to an army tank, Ianto thought—capable of running straight over any opposition.

 

‘And then you can remodel it however you like,’ Estelle said.

 

Ianto grabbed for the straw. ‘You wouldn’t mind if I changed things?’

 

‘Oh, I’m not silly enough to think the house is perfect just as it is. It could be made much more comfortable.’

 

‘But that’s the answer, then. You stay right here. Instead of investing in a retirement community, put the money into making the house more comfortable and easier to handle for you and Emma. And leave everything else alone. You don’t need the room, so you can stop cleaning closets and dragging boxes out from under beds—’

 

‘I’d still have all the headaches of owning a house. And someday when I’m gone, Jack would still hire an auctioneer to come in and sell everything.’

 

Ianto bit his lip. He didn’t think it would be much comfort to remind the woman that after she was dead she wouldn’t much care what happened to her hats, her china, her Christmas ornaments...

 

‘He means well,’ Ianto said finally. ‘He just doesn’t realise that things can be so important. But that doesn’t mean that he will never appreciate sentiment.’

 

Estelle smiled then. ‘If I live to be two hundred I might yet see it. Do you want to call the drama department about these clothes, or shall I?’