The Schuyler House

by Cade Haddock Strong

  I take a seat on the couch in the living room while Alex expertly starts a fire in the fireplace. Once the fire is roaring, she joins me on the couch we chat about DC politics, the weather and a new exhibit at the Phillips Collection that we both want to see. The oven timer interrupts us thirty minutes later, and we head back into the kitchen. Alex pulls the casserole from the oven and puts the final touches on dinner while I set the table and light some candles.

  She carries the baking dish over to the table andscoops a big heap of the black casserole onto each of our plates before setting the baking dish on the counter and joining me at the table. We both stare at our plates hesitantly.

  “All right, I’m going in!” I pick up my fork and shovel some of the black mixture into my mouth. Alex looks at me expectantly as I finish chewing. I laugh because she looks so damn earnest. “It’s really, really good,” I finally assure her.

  She gives me a skeptical look and cautiously picks up her fork to taste the meal she’s created. “Wow, you’re right, that is pretty damn good!” she says proudly after she’s swallowed her first bite.

  After dinner, I help Alex with the dishes. When we’re done, she wanders into the living room to add a log to the waning fire and then gestures me toward the couch. She sits down close to me and pulls a wool blanket up over us. We curl up together and watch the flames of the fire in silence.

  Eventually, Alex slips her arm around my shoulder and pulls me even closer. She leans in and starts placing soft kisses on my lips. I greet them eagerly, and it doesn’t take long for the heat to build between us. Alex slips her tongue into my mouth, and I groan with pleasure. We kiss slowly but passionately, and when Alex pulls back, her gaze is full of desire. She reaches down and pulls my sweater up over my head before attacking my mouth with renewed hunger. As we kiss, she runs her fingers over the silk of my bra. My nipples come to immediate attention, and I feel a strong pull in my groin.

  Alex pauses to reach back and unhook my bra. I take this opportunity to push her down gently on the couch and shift my position so that I’m straddling her waist. I look down into her eyes and slowly start to unbutton her blouse. While I work on her buttons, she reaches up to tease my nipples with her fingers. I am humming, and I feel like my body might explode.

  I finally get her blouse undone and push it back so that I can smooth my hands over her toned stomach and up over the black lace bra that barely covers her ample breasts. Her nipples harden under my touch, and she moans contentedly before pulling me down into yet another mind-blowing kiss. Our tongues lash together, and I reach back to release her bra. Her breasts spill out, and I bring my mouth down to taste them…but then reality sets in. I release her nipple from my mouth and sit up abruptly.

  “Don’t stop,” Alex moans.

  “I can’t do this, Alex.”

  Her mouth opens, but nothing comes out.

  “I haven’t been honest with you,” I say as I blow out a deep breath.

  Alex shifts beneath me and stares up at me with those amazing green eyes, but she remains silent, waiting to hear what I have to say.

  “I’m in DC because I am on the run. I mean, I’m not a full-fledged outlaw or anything,” I say quickly.

  “I don’t understand.” She reaches for the wool blanket on the back of the couch and tugs it around her exposed torso.

  I pick my sweater up off the floor and pull it back over my head before sitting back down to tell Alex about my past. I take a deep breath before I begin. I’ve never told anyone about what I did. I’ve never cared enough about someone to risk telling them the truth. With Alex, it’s different. It’s worth the risk.

  I give her all the highlights. I tell her I used to be an art thief and I tell her that I’ve been on the run since December when a burglary went particularly bad. “I lost two of my best friends,” I explain. “They died during the course of the burglary.”

  She seems taken aback when I tell her about Kat and Sarah, but for the most part, she just stares at me with utter disbelief as I explain how I came to be in DC.

  “Wow,” is all she says when I’m done.

  I try to explain that I’ve hung up my thief hat for good, but it seems to fall on deaf ears. I’m completely crestfallen and instinctively wrap my arms around myself.

  Alex stands and walks toward the windows. “I’m not sure what to say.”

  “You don’t need to say anything. I am so sorry, I should have told you sooner,” I say as I stand and walk toward her front door. “I should go.”

  Alex walks over toward the front door as I’m grabbing my coat out of the closet. I slip on my coat and turn to face her. “I’m sorry,” I say again in a whisper as I fight back tears.

  “I need some time to absorb all this,” she says finally.

  “I understand. It’s a lot to absorb.”

  I head out the door, and tears well up in my eyes.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The next morning, I take the Acela train back up to New York to have dinner with Todd and Ellen. I’ve talked to Todd on the phone once or twice over the last few months, but this is the first time Ellen and I have seen him since the Schuyler House.

  Todd is already at Ellen’s when I arrive and I break down the second I see him. He pulls me into a hug and starts crying too. Eventually, I step back. “I’m the one that should be hugging you, you big dummy. How are you holding up?”

  “Ah, okay. It sucks though. I miss her so damn much.”

  This time, I pull him into my arms and Ellen comes over and wraps her arms around both of us. “Group hug,” she says.

  “I miss her too,” I say when we pull apart.

  The three of us sit around Ellen’s apartment for the next hour and talk about the “good ole days.” I’ve spent so much time being angry and sad about what happened. So much time missing Sarah and Kat and feeling guilty that they died. It feels good to talk and laugh about them, to remember some of the good times we had.

  “Well, we should probably head to dinner. Our reservation is in fifteen minutes and it will take us about ten minutes to walk there,” Ellen says eventually.

  Once we place our order, we get down to business. We begin to discuss what to do with the cash that remains in the safe deposit box and with the money still in the Hatshepsut Consulting checking account.

  “I checked the balance of the Hatshepsut checking account online a few days ago and it still has something like $450,000 in it,” Ellen says. “And even after Mattie and I raided the safe deposit box, I think there is still at least $250,000 left in that,” she adds.

  “Shit, that is a lot of money,” Todd remarks.

  We talk over a bunch of options but eventually agree to split the remaining money into three piles. First, we will set aside $250,000 as a college fund for Sarah’s kids. Second, we will donate $250,000 to an environmental conservation fund in Vermont about which Kat was extremely passionate. Lastly, we decide to leave the last $200,000 in the Hatshepsut account for future emergencies. None of us says it, but we all know that “future emergencies” is code for “if we get caught and need to hire a lawyer.”

  After dinner, we make plans to meet up the next morning for a run. Todd heads back to his hotel, and Ellen and I walk back to her apartment.

  “Up for a little after dinner drink?” Ellen asks once we get back to her place.

  “Sure, why not?”

  “I’ve got some whiskey that will put some serious hair on your chest,” she says with a laugh as she pulls two glasses out from a cabinet in the kitchen. She pours a little bit of brown liquid in each glass and hands me one.

  I sit down on one of the stools at her kitchen island and take a tentative sip of the whiskey. “Wow, shit, you weren’t kidding about the hair on the chest stuff!”

  She laughs and then gets a serious look on her face. “How do you feel about the way we decided to split up the money?”

  “I think I feel pretty good about it, all things considered. What about you?”

&n
bsp; “I feel pretty good about it too. I know Jake doesn’t make much money, and I want to make sure Sarah’s kids can go to college without having to rack up mounds of debt since I know that was something Sarah was always concerned about…and I think, if she were alive, Kat would approve of the donation to the conservation fund.”

  I nod, and we sit quietly for a while and sip our whiskey. I let out a big yawn, and Ellen looks at me understandingly. “Yeah, I’m beat too. What do you say we hit the hay?”

  Ellen helps me make up the pull-out couch in her living room and wishes me goodnight before disappearing into her room. I get ready for bed, turn out the lights and climb into bed. I am exhausted but can’t seem to fall asleep. All I can do is think about Alex. I know I’m falling in love with her and I’m petrified she will decide she never wants to see me again. I flip about under the covers and try to resist the urge to call her, finally succumbing to sleep.

  Ellen and I both sleep in the next morning. We finally make our way over to Central Park around ten o’clock to meet Todd for a run. There is something special about running in Central Park. The city closes off all the roads inside the park to cars on the weekends, and they fill with runners, bikers, Rollerbladers, and people just out for a stroll. The people watching is amazing, and it’s wonderful to be in such a lush, green space in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world. After we run, Ellen and I bid Todd farewell. He’s taking the train back to Vermont that afternoon. Ellen and I grab a late breakfast before heading back to her apartment to shower.

  Ellen jumps in the shower first, and I pick up my phone while I wait my turn. My heart skips a beat when I see that I have a missed call and a voice mail from Alex. Her message doesn’t say much except that she will try and call again later. I call her back right away, but it goes straight to voice mail so I leave a message, “Hey, it’s Mattie. I got your message. Sorry I missed you. I was out running. I’m in New York visiting friends, but I will be back in DC soon…I can’t stop thinking about you, Alex.”

  Ellen and I are supposed to meet Andy and Sandy at six o’clock for dinner and drinks, and we decide to just lounge around her apartment and read the Sunday New York Times until we have to get ready. Not long after we’ve settled into the couch with the paper, my phone chirps. I grab it right away and look at the caller ID. It’s Alex. I turn to Ellen. “I need to take this. I’m going to step out on the balcony.”

  Once I’m outside, I accept the call and say “Hi” softly.

  “Hi. I’ve been trying to reach you…to tell you…that I can’t see you anymore, Mattie,” Alex says. “I’m sorry.”

  “But…I…” I stutter.

  “I’m sorry,” Alex says again. “I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I keep coming up with the same answer. I’ve been through so much the last couple of years, and this is just more than I can swallow right now. And I think it’s best that you stop working at Hemlock…I hope you understand.”

  I try to speak, but nothing comes out.

  “Good-bye, Mattie,” Alex says quietly.

  “Alex, please…” But it’s too late. She’s ended the call.

  I stuff the phone in my pocket and just stare at the street below. A tear trickles down my cheek. I’m cold, but I don’t care. After a few minutes, I pull my phone back out and tap Alex’s number. It rings once, but I quickly end the call before she picks up. I tell myself I’ve got to respect her decision. I knew that there were consequences to being a thief, and this is certainly one of them. I jam the phone back in my pocket and turn to open the balcony door.

  Ellen looks up from her paper when I step back inside. A look of concern crosses her face. “What’s wrong Mattie?” she asks.

  “Nothing,” I say.

  Ellen just looks at me. She knows something’s up, and she’s not going to let me off that easy.

  “All right. Well, there’s this…um, woman in DC. Her name is Alex and she…” I only get that far before I begin sobbing.

  Ellen gets up off the couch. She wraps her arms around me, and I sob into her shoulder. Eventually, Ellen leads me to the couch. I slump into it while she runs to grab a box of tissue from the bathroom. “Tell me what happened,” Ellen says when she returns and joins me on the couch.

  I tell her the whole story about Alex and the accounting work I’ve been doing for Hemlock. Then I tell her what happened the night before I left for New York. “I knew it was a risk to tell her the truth, but I didn’t feel like I had a choice,” I say before pausing to catch my breath. “Anyway, that was her on the phone. She called to tell me that she doesn’t want to see me anymore. Can’t say I blame her.”

  “Oh, sweetie. I’m sorry,” Ellen says. She’s silent for a minute before adding, “Do you trust her?”

  It takes me a minute to digest her question. “Yeah, I do,” I say finally, and I mean it. I haven’t known Alex all that long, but somehow, I just don’t see her running to the police. “And don’t worry, I didn’t give her any names or anything,” I add.

  Ellen pats my leg. “How about a little ice cream to cheer you up?”

  I saddle up to her kitchen island and Ellen pulls a container of ice cream out of the freezer and hands me a spoon. “No bowls?” I ask.

  “I hate doing dishes,” she says with a laugh as she jabs her spoon into the container of mint chip. We polish off about half the container in no time. “Feel any better?” Ellen asks as she puts what’s left of the ice cream back in the freezer.

  “No, not really,” I confess. “God, El, I really like her. It just sucks.”

  “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want,” Ellen offers.

  “Thanks.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I spend nearly a week moping around Ellen’s apartment. She’s gone most of the day, and I mostly just sit around and channel surf. I try to drag myself out for a walk around the neighborhood every day, but my energy level is so low that I find the walks almost painful, which is so incredibly strange for me. I’ve always been Ms. High Energy. Normally, I’m bouncing off the walls if I go even one day without exercise.

  Finally, I decide it’s time to head back to DC. I’ve probably already overstayed my welcome at Ellen’s, and I know I need to stop hiding out in her apartment and figure out what’s next for me.

  Ellen takes me out to a wine bar in her neighborhood my last night in New York, and I have about three too many glasses of sauvignon blanc. I’m totally hung over the next morning and have to drag myself out of bed to catch my train. The noise and whirlwind of activity in Penn Station causes my head to throb. I make a beeline for the “quiet car” when it’s time to board the train and sleep almost the entire three-hour ride back to DC.

  I climb the stairs up to my apartment and set my bag down outside my door while I fish for my keys. Just then, Stella’s door opens and she pops her head out into the hallway. It’s like she was sitting by the door listening for me. She probably was.

  “Hi Mattie,” she says cheerfully. “You’ve been away for an awfully long time.”

  “Hi Stella,” I say somewhat wearily, although the nap on the train did wonders for my hangover. “Yeah, I was away a lot longer than I expected.”

  “Well, it’s nice to have you back home,” she says with a sweet smile.

  “Thanks,” I say as I finally locate my keys and stand to put them in the door. I turn back to Stella before opening my door. “I’ve got to run to the grocery store this afternoon. Can I get you anything?”

  “No, dear, but thank you.”

  “Okay, well, let me know if you need anything.”

  “Well, now that you mention it, I am having a bit of an issue with my computer. Would you mind stopping by tomorrow to take a look at it?”

  “Not at all. I’ll stop by in the morning,” I say.

  “Oh, Mattie, you’re such a dear.”

  “My pleasure. See you tomorrow Stella,” I say as I step inside my apartment and close the door.

  Suddenly, I feel extremely
lonely. I’ve always liked my apartment but now it just feels claustrophobic and depressing. I plop on the sofa and look around the space. It is totally devoid of anything personal. Even the refrigerator magnets look lonely because they’ve nothing to hold. I put my hands over my face and start to cry.

  * * *

  I spend much of the next few days helping Stella with her computer and a few light handyman projects around her house. It’s funny. I know she’s lonely, and I think she sometimes makes up things for me to do just so she’ll have my company. But, right now, I think I need her company even more than she needs mine. She invites me to another concert at the Kennedy Center. The concert is not until the following week, but I still practically jump at the chance to join her.

  Although I’m managing to keep myself fairly busy during the day, my evenings are quiet and feel painfully long. I kill time watching TV and surfing the Internet. Anything to avoid thinking about Alex and about my future. Finally, one night I crack. I can’t take it anymore. I’ve got to get out of the house. I take a quick shower and head to Tina’s, the most popular lesbian bar in DC.

  The bar is totally packed when I arrive. I order a beer at the bar and take a few healthy swigs of it while I scan the crowd. Most of the patrons are younger than me, and it seems like everyone is coupled up. I polish off the rest of my beer, order a second one and wander over toward a group of women playing pool.

  “Up for a game?” a woman asks. She’s fairly attractive and nearly my age.

  “Sure, why not? But I have to warn you, I pretty much suck at pool,” I reply.

  “Don’t worry. None of us are very good.” She hands me a cue stick. “By the way, my name’s Chloe,” she says, and extends a hand.

  “Mattie,” I reply. “Nice to meet you.”

  One game turns into four or five games with a few trips to the bar in between. I’ve got a serious buzz by the time Chloe and I set down our pool sticks and head for the dance floor. The music is thumping. At first, Chloe and I dance loosely with a group of women, but by the second or third song, Chloe’s got her arms around me and we’re bumping and grinding.