Tala

by Adelaide Schofield

  “This is amazing,” Kelsey said, swallowing a spoonful of the steaming hot soup.

  Tala sat across from her at the table and they ate in mutual silence. The warm soup soothed Kelsey’s nausea and when their tummies were full, she stood to clear the table.

  “No,” Tala asserted. “I will do this. You must bathe now.”

  Kelsey groaned. “Is it that bad?”

  Tala smirked. “I will not lie to you, Kelsey. It is not good. But also, the steam from the bath will help remove the toxins from your body.”

  Kelsey couldn’t remember the last time someone had taken care of her. “Okay,” she said. “Please make yourself at home. I won’t take long.”

  “Take as long as you like,” Tala said. “I will not leave.”

  True to her word, Tala was still in the house when Kelsey emerged from the bathroom thirty-five minutes later, feeling refreshed but still tired.

  “I have found a movie for us to watch,” Tala said, from where she sat on the couch wrapped in Kelsey’s abandoned blanket. “It is with Mr. DiCaprio. You like him?”

  “Mr. DiCaprio?” Kelsey laughed. “Sure.”

  She sat on the couch with Tala who immediately extended the blanket to include her. Kelsey wasn’t sure being cuddled up under a blanket with Tala was such a good idea, but Tala had been so kind, she didn’t want to offend her.

  “What about your husband?” She asked, feeling the warmth of Tala’s body beside her.

  Tala ignored the desire that turned up within her and simply said. “Stephen is working on a big case and will be home very late tonight. I’ve left his dinner in the fridge and a note on the counter. He will not mind. He knows I have made a new friend.”

  The movie started and within twenty minutes, both women had fallen into a sound sleep. It wasn’t until the closing credits were playing that Tala awoke to the feel of something warm in her lap. She opened her eyes to find Kelsey’s head on her legs, her beautiful face turned toward Tala’s stomach, and her warm breath sending tiny shock waves up the length of Tala’s body.

  Tala’s hand hesitated in the air above Kelsey’s head then gently reached down to stroke her hair. She marveled at the softness of it, and bent her head ever so slightly. Kelsey’s shampoo smelled like fresh spring rain. Tala touched the soft skin of Kelsey’s face and her eyes fluttered open.

  Startled, and realizing where her head was, Kelsey bolted upright. “I’m so sorry, Tala,” she began, but before she could utter another word Tala kissed her.

  Her mouth covered Kelsey’s with an eagerness that drew them both in deeper. Her tongue made a gentle exploration of Kelsey’s mouth and Kelsey moaned against her lips. Spurred on by this sign of encouragement, Tala’s hand slid down Kelsey’s body and hovered over the button of the jeans Kelsey had changed into. She reached to undo the button but Kelsey suddenly grabbed her wrist.

  “Tala, wait.”

  “You do not want me like this?” Tala asked, staying her hand and feeling embarrassed by Kelsey’s rejection of her.

  “It’s not that. You’re married.”

  Tala fell back against the couch with a sigh. “Okay,” she said, sadly. “You are right. I have made my own bed.”

  “Does it have to be so dire?” Kelsey asked.

  “What else could it be? I am shackled to a man I do not love. Of course it is dire, Kelsey.”

  “You could leave,” Kelsey suggested.

  “And then my family would starve.”

  “Would they?” Kelsey pressed. “You’ve been doing this since you were twenty-three, you said. You’re now twenty-eight. That’s five years. How long are you expected to stay in a loveless marriage for this?”

  Kelsey knew she’d gone too far when Tala’s soft brown eyes went cold on her face. “This is what I do not understand about Americans. You would leave your own family to die in the streets in order to protect your own comfort.”

  Kelsey leaned back and matched Tala’s arrogant pose. “That’s pretty presumptuous of you. I would never leave anyone to die in the streets. I’m just saying, at what point do your parents and siblings take responsibility for their own lives? You send money home every month. Have they used this money to try to better their situation, or do they just live well off of it while you continue to suffer?”

  “That is not fair.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you do not understand what it is like to be poor or to wonder where your next meal will come from, or if the landlord will come along and remove you from your home.”

  “Don’t I?” Kelsey countered. “You presume a lot, Tala. Don’t let your prejudice against my skin color fool you. I know exactly what it’s like to be poor.”

  “Ha,” Tala scoffed. She waved her arm around the living room as if to say Kelsey’s large home was indication enough that she didn’t know.

  “This?” Kelsey laughed. “This came from hard work. I grew up very poor, Tala. Maybe the difference between us is that I don’t wear the poverty I grew up in like a badge of honor or some kind of excuse to avoid going after what I want.”

  Tala threw the blanket off her legs and jumped to her feet. “I thought you were different, Kelsey, but you’re just the same as Stephen. You both think anything can be solved with a little bit of hard work.”

  “It can. Your family’s problems been solved through your hard work, have they not? You gave up everything for them Tala, when is it your turn?”

  “I will not take this conversation any further, Kelsey,” Tala said, heading for the door. “You do not understand my culture.”

  “Your culture, Tala?” Kelsey pressed. “Or your fear of taking responsibility for your own life?”

  Tala shook her head. “Goodbye Kelsey.” And with that she walked out the door.

  “Shit.”

  Chapter 7

  Two days passed and Tala was still upset about her conversation with Kelsey.

  “She said I should let my family fend for themselves now,” she told Stephen for the fourth time over breakfast, omitting everything else that had happened between them.

  Stephen folded closed the newspaper he was reading, took off his glasses, and gave his wife a sincere look. “She’s not wrong, Tala.”

  “I should have suspected you would agree.”

  Stephen sighed. The firm was running him ragged and for the last two days he’d also been dealing with the drama his wife was creating over something quite reasonable her new friend had suggested.

  “Your brother is twenty-four now. Your sisters are twenty and eighteen. I know in your heart you still see them as children Tala, but they aren’t. We are supporting a family of adults who could all quite easily find jobs for themselves.”

  “Easily?” Tala demanded. What did Stephen and Kelsey know about growing up in a third world country? “It is not easy to find a job on which to support an entire family in Manila, Stephen.”

  “Maybe not easy for one person,” Stephen countered. “But for five adults who all still live together, surely even four less-than-desirable salaries would be more than enough. They’d actually be making much more money than we send them now.”

  Tala knew Stephen was right but it was hard to admit her family was using her. How could they not care about her suffering when she cared so deeply about what she perceived to be theirs?

  “I will send them less next month,” she finally conceded. “I will tell them that things at work haven’t been great for you and we are sending all we can.”

  The phone rang and Stephen answered it. After a few brief words of greeting he handed it to Tala. “It’s your mother,” he said. “Right on schedule.”

  **********

  Kelsey stared at the stainless steel pot on the kitchen counter and wondered what to do. She had washed the pot and placed it on the counter three days earlier, hoping Tala would come back for it, but she hadn’t. Which meant Kelsey would not be given the opportunity to apologize.

  In a wave of inspiration, she went out to the
garden and picked a large basketful of tomatoes. She plucked parsley and basil leaves from the plants along the fence, carried the whole lot inside, and went to work. Julia DeSantis had left her with one good thing after all, Kelsey realized, her grandmother’s amazing recipe for sauce. It took hours to make, but it was worth it. There wasn’t an Italian restaurant in the city that made sauce quite like this.

  Tala panicked when she saw Kelsey walking up the driveway. Stephen was home early for once and Tala didn’t know what Kelsey meant to do. Would she tell Stephen about their kiss?

  “I brought back your pot,” Kelsey said when Tala swung open the door like she was ready to fight off a burglar.

  “Stephen is home,” Tala hissed.

  Tala’s accusing tone caught Kelsey off guard. She took a step back and nearly stumbled off the porch.

  “Who’s at the door?” Stephen asked, appearing in the doorway behind Tala. “Oh, hello. You must be Kelsey.” Stephen smiled so brightly it lit up his entire face. He was a handsome man, Kelsey noticed. There were small lines that etched from the corners of his light blue eyes, but they were not the kind of lines that came from age or from frowning, they were lines that came from smiling. Kelsey suspected Stephen had probably won many a court case just from his smile alone.

  “And you must be Stephen,” she finally said. “I’d shake your hand but—“ She nodded down at the pot of sauce she was carrying.

  “I will take that,” Tala said. She reached for the pot and realized it wasn’t empty. “What is inside?”

  Stephen lifted the lid on the pot and his grin widened when he saw the sauce inside. “This looks incredible.” He loved Italian food. He didn’t get to have it often because his wife mainly cooked Filipino dishes, but Italian really was his favorite.

  “I just wanted to thank Tala for bringing me soup when I was sick the other day. Your wife is very kind.”

  Tala said nothing but Stephen reached out to shake Kelsey’s hand and half-pulled her into the house as he did so. “Please, do come in.” He turned to his wife. “You haven’t started dinner yet have you, Tala?”

  “Not yet, Stephen.”

  “Then let’s have Kelsey’s sauce tonight. Kelsey, won’t you please join us for dinner?”

  Kelsey wanted to make up an excuse and run away but nothing came to mind quick enough. Taking Kelsey’s silence as a sign of encouragement, Stephen turned to his wife and said, “If you’d like to start warming that on the stove, I’ll run out and grab some pasta.”

  “I have homemade linguine in the car,” Kelsey said not wanting to stay, but not wanting to make Stephen run to the store either. “I was gonna go back for it after I gave Tala the pot.”

  “Perfect!” Stephen said. “This is wonderful.”

  Stephen was genuinely excited. Not only would he get a homemade Italian meal, he would also get to spend the evening in the company of two beautiful women, rather than in a boardroom with three of the firm’s aging partners. Stephen couldn’t be more tired of sitting around tables with a bunch of other gray-haired men in expensive suits.

  Always the gentleman, he followed Kelsey to the car to “help” carry the linguine, and Tala went to the kitchen to warm the sauce and boil water for the pasta.

  “This is delicious,” Stephen said over dinner in the couple’s formal dining room. “Where did you learn to make pasta like this? It’s possibly the best I’ve had.”

  Kelsey reached for her wine glass and smiled. “Italian ex,” she said. She glanced at Tala’s worried face and it seemed to be asking her not to explain any further. “Do you like it, Tala?” she asked. Tala had barely spoken a word since Kelsey’s arrival and it was making her uncomfortable.

  “It is very good, Kelsey,” Tala said.

  “So, what do you do, Kelsey?” Stephen asked, stealing a sideways glance at his quiet wife and wondering how she’d managed to make a friend at all with her awkward behavior. Tala had never been the best in social settings but this was her friend, and she was acting like Kelsey was a stranger Stephen had plucked off the street and forced her to interact with.

  “Property investment,” Kelsey said. “I own a few rental properties.” A “few” was more like twenty, but Kelsey didn’t think giving an exact number was necessary.

  Stephen knew modesty when he saw it and it only made him like Kelsey more. She was clearly a successful woman, but she didn’t make a big deal out of it.

  “Do you enjoy it?” he asked.

  “I enjoy everything but the bookkeeping. I should probably hire someone to do it, to be honest.”

  Stephen’s face lit up. “Tala could probably help you. She was just a few credits short of her BAC in Manila?”

  “Is that true, Tala?” Kelsey asked, surprised.

  Tala glared at her husband. For years he’d been discouraging her from working and now because of one pretty woman at his dinner table, he was suddenly all for it.

  “It is a different country,” Tala said. “Different laws.”

  “But numbers are numbers,” Kelsey said. “And you wouldn’t have to know tax laws or anything like that—I have an accountant who does my taxes. I really just need help with the day to day bookkeeping. Paying bills and things like that.”

  Tala nodded. “I could help you with this.”

  She couldn’t have sounded less enthused and Kelsey instantly backed down. “If you’d rather not, Tala, that’s okay. It was really just a thought. Please don’t feel like you have to because we’re friends.”

  “I do not feel this way,” Tala said, flatly.

  Christ, this is uncomfortable, Kelsey thought. While Stephen was open and engaging, Tala made Kelsey feel like she wasn’t welcome here at all. She prayed for a knock at the door, or a phone to ring—anything to free her from this awkward dinner.

  God must have been listening because just then her phone rang. She snatched it up quickly saying, “I’m so sorry. I have to take this.”

  “What are you up to?” Alison said, when Kelsey answered the phone.

  Kelsey pretended to be listening to a worrisome situation. “Can you see where the leak is coming from?” She asked.

  “Huh?”

  “Okay, keep the bucket under it. I’m on my way.”

  “Wait…what?”

  Kelsey hung up on Alison.

  A few brief apologies later, Kelsey was out the door and safely behind the wheel of her Jeep. She waited until she was several blocks away before calling Alison back.

  “You just got me out of one hell of an awkward dinner, Al,” she said. “I could kiss you!”

  “Oh, this should be good.” Alison chuckled. “Meet up for a drink?”

  “Definitely. Be there in ten.”

  **********

  “You were very rude to your friend,” Stephen said, helping his wife clear the table. He placed the dirty dishes in the sink and took a sip of his wine. “And I really don’t think she had an emergency either. I think she just used that call as an excuse to get the hell out of here.”

  “Well then she is a liar.”

  Stephen placed his wine glass on the counter. “I don’t think so. I think she is a very nice person who found herself in an awkward situation and was smart enough to remove herself from it.”

  Tala’s eyes narrowed on her husband’s face. “Do not think I am blind, Stephen. You find this woman attractive.”

  Stephen laughed. “Tala, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you jealous.”

  “I am not jealous.” That much was true. Tala couldn’t care less who Stephen found attractive. What she did care about was how attracted she was to Kelsey. She had remained quiet throughout dinner because she was terrified she’d say the wrong thing, or that Kelsey would.

  “If you’re not jealous, then why were you so rude to her?”

  “I did not expect guests tonight.”

  “Neither did I, but I invited her in because she’s your friend.”

  “And when you offered my services to her? Was that because she
is my friend too?” Tala’s eyes remained cold on Stephen’s face.

  “I really don’t understand, Tala,” Stephen said. “You’ve wanted to work for a while now and a job all but falls into your lap, and when I try to encourage you, you get angry. I don’t know what you want me to do.”

  “I want you to let me decide where I will work!”

  “So, you don’t want to work for Kelsey?”

  “I did not say that. I would have only liked the opportunity to decide it for myself.”

  “So, then you do want to work for her?” Stephen was very confused.

  “I think so. But I still must decide.”

  Stephen’s arms were like tentacles of approval as they wrapped around Tala’s waist. He got the feeling Tala wanted to fight and he was just too tired for it. “Okay,” he said. “I’m going to go up to bed. Let me know what you decide either way. Also, we should probably look into getting you a car but we can talk about that more tomorrow.”

  “Really, Stephen?” The excitement in Tala’s voice pleased him and he smiled.

  “Really, Tala.” He kissed her on the forehead. Good night.”

  **********

  “Oh, thank God,” Kelsey said when she stepped through the door of Underground to find Alison already sitting at the bar with a martini waiting for her. She brushed her fingers through her long auburn hair and plopped down on the stool beside her friend. “That was exhausting.”

  “What happened?” Alison asked. She was a smart-looking woman with alert hazel eyes and the love of a good button-down shirt.

  “I just had a very uncomfortable dinner with Tala and her husband.”

  Alison laughed. “Did they ask for a threesome?”

  Kelsey shook her head and gulped her martini. “Nothing like that. In fact, I got the feeling Tala was very worried I’d even hint at the fact that I like women.”

  “Closets are so fun,” Alison said, rolling her eyes.