The next morning, Carla woke Gennie up.
“Your friend called. She wants to speak to you.”
Gennie turned around in bed and looked at the alarm clock.
“It’s eight in the morning!” she grumbled.
“I know, but she said it was important.”
“All right,” Gennie replied, forcing herself to get up. Her head felt like it had a thousand bricks on it.
It seemed to take forever to reach the only telephone in the house, which was in the kitchen.
“Why can’t you just talk to my mother-in-law?” Gennie asked Page, her irritation rising.
“I’m sorry to wake you up so early, but I had no time to call you at my office and sometimes I don’t get home until ten at night.”
“It’s time for you to get a life then.”
Surprisingly, Page laughed. “Well, you haven’t changed much. What I wanted to ask you is…would you like to go out to dinner sometime? Maybe this weekend?”
“I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“Is it possible for you to delay that by a couple of days? I’d really like to see you.”
Gennie sighed. She didn’t have a job yet and Michele would only be missing one more day of school, so she supposed it wouldn’t make much of a difference. “All right.”
“How about I make reservations for seven o’clock Saturday night at Michele’s?”
“That’s my brother’s restaurant, you know.”
“That’s why I chose it. I wanted you to be someplace familiar.”
“Okay. I’ll see you then.” Gennie hung up the phone.
“What was that about?” Carla asked.
“Page invited me to dinner. She wants to catch up on old times. Obviously, she did recognize me. Michele and I are going to be staying a few extra days because of that. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not.”
“I’m going back to bed,” Gennie said. “It’s too damn early.”
“Do you want me to wake you up in an hour?” Carla asked. “I’m making French toast.”
“All right,” Gennie replied. “I should be conscious by then.”
Gennie didn’t quite know how to dress to have dinner with Page. In the old days, she would have just thrown on a clean t-shirt and jeans. Now, Page was a professional woman and she had undergone a dramatic makeover in the wardrobe department. She decided to go shopping and picked out a black and white tunic with a cowl collar and black pants. As much as she hated wearing heels, she picked out a pair of two-inch black pumps with little bows on them.
At the restaurant, she was treated like a V.I.P. The host seated her right away. About five minutes later, Page showed up.
She was dressed more casually than she was when Gennie last saw her. Still, it was a vast improvement over what she used to look like. She wore blue polyester bellbottoms and a very fitted blue and white striped dress shirt.
“Hello stranger,” she said, holding out her arms.
“Hi Page,” Gennie replied, standing up. She was a little reluctant to embrace her, but she decided to give her a quick hug.
Page sat down and opened the drink menu. “How are you doing?”
“I’m doing…okay, I guess,” Gennie replied. “How about you?”
“I’m so busy my head’s spinning,” Page said. “I even went into work today. I feel like a slave to the law.”
Gennie couldn’t help but smile.
“So, what are you doing with yourself?” Page asked.
“I mostly stay at home,” Gennie said.
“You? Mrs. Happy Homemaker? No way!”
“Well, I also refurbish old cars, mostly as a hobby.”
“I didn’t think you could avoid being a total grease monkey.”
“No, the grease monkey in me is alive and well.”
A waiter approached them. “Would you ladies like anything to drink?”
“I’ll have a martini on the rocks,” Page replied.
Gennie perused the drink menu quickly. “I’ll have a coke and rum.”
There was an awkward silence between them for a few moments after the waiter left.
“You know…” Page finally said, “when I heard what happened, I was totally devastated. I’ve been thinking about you all the time since then.”
“Thanks.”
“I can’t imagine what you must be going through. When I lost my cat Jay-Jay last year, I was a complete basket case for a month. It must be so much worse for you.”
“Yeah, it is,” Gennie said tiredly.
“I know we didn’t part on the best of terms…”
“No, we didn’t.”
“Well, I thought you would like to know that what I did back then was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I wanted to get in touch with you for the longest time, but I didn’t know where in the heck you were.”
“You could have asked my brother.”
“I was afraid he would spit in my face and tell me to go screw myself.”
“He wouldn’t have done that.”
“Anyway, I was an A-1 asshole ten years ago and I’m sorry.”
“I forgave you a long time ago.”
“Would you like to be friends again?”
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
“Great. I’m so glad that’s settled.”
The waiter appeared with their drinks and asked them what they wanted to eat.
“I heard the filet mignon is excellent here,” Page said. “So, I’ll have that, medium well, please.”
Gennie ordered the same thing.
“I’m curious,” Gennie said after the waiter left. “How did you end up becoming a lawyer? I thought you were supposed to be some kind of activist.”
“There really isn’t much to activate against anymore,” Page replied. “The war’s over. Nixon’s out. And I had sex with everyone in that crowd. I decided years ago that my energies would be put to better use going after big business…sticking their nose in the mess they made and having them pay up for the damage they’ve caused the little guy. I seem to be pretty good at it too. I haven’t lost a single case so far.”
“My father-in-law told me that.”
“Yeah, that’s why I have enough work to last me until 2013. Word of mouth spreads really quick.”
“Are you married?”
“No,” Page replied. “I used to date a ton of guys, but none were really marriage material, you know. And now, I don’t have time. I barely have enough minutes in the day to water my houseplants never mind cater to some guy.”
“Well, at least you have a booming career. Mine ended before it even began.”
“You were fired?”
“No…I quit. Not officially though.”
“You went AWOL?”
“Yeah, I had to. I walked out and never went back.”
“Big problems there?”
“Yeah, you could say that.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “I was…attacked.”
“As in raped?”
Gennie nodded.
Page grabbed her hand. “Some guys are assholes. They take what they want even though it isn’t theirs. There’s nothing you could have done to change that.”
“I know,” Gennie said quietly. She wiped her eyes with a linen napkin.
“But guess what? What comes around goes around. The prick that did that to you is probably in jail by now.”
“I didn’t even know who he was. I didn’t see his face.”
“Well, there’s only so long he can get away with doing that. He’s going to mess with the wrong person someday and he’ll be sorry.”
“I hope so,” Gennie said. “I didn’t even have a chance to make something of myself before he took it all away.”
“You can start over. Why don’t you move back here and get another job?”
“I’ll have to think about that when I’m not on tranquilizers.”
“You probably should get off o
f those soon.”
“I should…but they’re the only thing right now that’s keeping me from going to the loony bin.”
“By the way, how is your daughter doing?”
“A lot better than I am. I’ve been so worried about her. She saw the accident too. She seems to be coping really well, though. Rory’s parents have been taking care of her for the most part and I think that’s helped her a lot.”
“How old is she?”
“Eight.”
“Very impressionable age. You’ll have to keep an eye on her, watch out for nightmares, things like that.”
“She hasn’t had any that I know of, but I’ve been in a semi-comatose state for the past month.”
The waiter arrived with their filet mignons in hand. When Gennie cut a piece and tasted it, she found it to be tender and seasoned to perfection. Not that she was surprised, since Master Chef Ben probably cooked it.
When the bill arrived, Page pulled out a Master Charge card out of her wallet and handed it to the waiter.
“How much was my part of the meal?” Gennie asked.
“They comped it,” Page said.
“I could have paid for your half though.”
“Don’t worry about it. I make forty thousand dollars a year. I can afford to pay for dinner.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Page replied. The waiter handed her the credit receipt and Page signed it. He looked very happy when she handed it back to him.
“I gave him a forty percent tip,” Page explained, as the waiter strode away. “The meal came up to twelve dollars so that would make it…”
“Four dollars and eighty cents.”
“You’re right, Einstein. Geez, why don’t you get yourself another job? We need more people like you.”
“Well, I probably will eventually, but it’s been years and I’m worried about Michele.”
“She’s in school, right?”
“Yes.”
“No problem, then. Work during school hours.”
“But what about the summer?”
“Get a babysitter or better yet, move back up here. That way, you have family to help you and besides, that’ll mean we can hang out more often.”
“I’ll have to think about that.”
“Don’t think about it…do it!”
“Wow, you really haven’t changed much, have you?”
“They don’t call me a shark for nothing, you know?”
“You’re a shark with a soft side though.”
“Ohhh…that’s so sweet I think I’m going to puke.”
They both chuckled. For one moment, Gennie felt like they were back in college again.
Chapter 58: February 1, 1979
What They Left Behind Page 57