Fairytales

by Cynthia Freeman

  “Because you have a life, and I need a life. I’m not so crazy about the one I got—”

  “Okay … okay … open your damned store … and thanks a lot … you timed it perfectly.” He went out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

  Once Catherine had thought nothing ever changes … but was she ever wrong … and Mama ever right. Her shop was exactly the answer to an absentee husband. Seeing her name written boldly above the tall, slender, chic black shining double entrance doors with the heavy brass knobs, never ceased to make her pulse race just a little faster. Her name … CATHERINE POSATA … Yes, sir, that’s the one she was born with, the one on her birth certificate. It would have made Daddy proud … Proud to see the Posata name perpetuated, especially since there were no sons. There would be little Dominic Rossis running around for generations. But not one boy Posata. Yes, sir, it was the least she could do as a livin’ memorial to her darlin’ Daddy’s name.

  Being a merchant was the beginning of a dream … the excitement, the challenges, left her excited, happy, anxious to reach the next day. Always something new, always something to anticipate. It meant short trips to Paris … Rome … New York, Los Angeles, taking along one daughter-in-law or the other for companionship depending on who wasn’t pregnant or expecting momentarily. But she was never able to take Gina Maria … because Sergio was strictly against wives leaving their husbands for any reason … it was simply not the thing to do … “Go argue with a count!” But in spite of the joy it would have been taking Gina Maria, still she adored Sergio’s jealousy (although he knew it was unnecessary). But that was marriage the real Italian style. He wanted Gina Maria with him. If only Dominic wanted her as much, there’d be no need for Catherine Posata to … oh, well, what the hell, she loved what she was doing. A career provided an exhilarated excitement she had not experienced till now. Catherine wheeled and dealed, speaking on the phone not only consumed her days completely, but the sense of importance it gave her was immeasurable as she pushed one button after the other … “On Hold’ was her favorite … “I’ll call you back.” As she released the hold button, “Sorry I couldn’t get back to you sooner … now, I want to order four dozen more silk scarves.”

  “But Mrs. Rossi, that seems to be quite a large order. The point is I don’t want you to overstock. I’m not that kind of salesman and …”

  “Look, I’m payin’ the bill… send the order.”

  She ordered to her heart’s content. To hell with it … what if they never sold… it was such fun to be useful, happy and fulfilled. The only problem she had was the turnover in help. If her stock turnover was as constant as her employees, she’d be making a great deal more money than she was. But for some reason, the help just didn’t stay. It wasn’t because she was suspicious about them stealing, it was simply one had to watch carefully and the clerks seemed to resent that … She kept the store open in spite of that, but stayed home and conducted her business in the comfort of her boudoir. Naturally, she called the store frequently throughout the day to see if everyone was on their toes. One could not be too careful. She wondered how Dominic controlled such a large staff … well, that was his problem. The only problem she had to worry about was her little empire.

  The only thing wrong with Catherine’s little empire was her accountant, who constantly kept badgering her. “Look, Mrs. Rossi, figures don’t lie … last year we were in the red and this year …” “Don’t keep confusin’ me with a lot of small talk,” Catherine interrupted. “Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of what’s wrong.” The silence during the conversation was misconstrued by Catherine as sullenness on the accountant’s part, as he sighed (with his hand over the receiver), shook his head then wiped the perspiration from his brow. He had explained it a dozen times before but somehow it just didn’t seem to impress Catherine. “Now, Mrs. Rossi, we have to view this thing logically … it’s as simple as this … You cannot continue to run your business like …” “Like what … ?” “Like … like … like it was all fun and games.” “Okay … you’re so smart, what’s the solution?” “For one thing, you employ too many people for such a small establishment … with a volume of sales such as Posata’s you are overstocked … even if …” “Hold on a minute … we showed a profit last year.” “True … but only on paper. The thing that clobbered us was the floor tax …” Interrupting, she jumped in, “I don’t want to hear about the negative, let’s deal with the positive.” “Alright, Mrs. Rossi … get rid of some of your help and have a storewide sale. You’ve got to turn your merchandise over.” The word SALE was like waving a red flag. Sale … she’d let the stuff rot before she’d allow Posata’s to become a schlock store, with sales and reductions like a Market Street operation … never … but the help was one thing she understood. The accountant was right about that … okay, she’d listen to reason. The next day without notice three of her five employees, as of that moment, were out of a job. She had a time clock installed. It was expensive but it would be worth it … time was money, and money was time, so Posata’s was going to be run as all efficient businesses … on time, with her only two remaining employees checking in and out. In that way she’d know exactly what was going on.

  As the election grew near, her appearances from time to time were necessary, and she attended as few functions as possible, but in some cases, at the last minute she simply refused to go … who missed her smiling face … and besides, she’d given a hell of a lot to her children, now let them return a little. Gina Maria proxied in her behalf as hostess, as well as Tish who had become more than a daughter to Catherine. Tish was her confidante, her friend and the only one she trusted. And for that loyalty, Catherine filled Tish’s home with magnificent antiques she never failed to buy when in Europe. The other daughters-in-law she bought for but with a reluctant charity … anything to keep the family together and happy. In fact, everyone seemed to be thriving and forging ahead.

  Hardly a surprise, Dominic was elected to a second term. And those brief times they had together, all she heard was money for education … housing for the poor … that’s what the mayor kept begging Sacramento for, and if the mayor was beggin’ for something, Dominic fought for it in the Senate. If she heard all that once more, she’d scream, and if she saw him on the television a few more times, she’d break it. But aside from those difficult moments, she was quite content. She was doing her thing … and he was doing his thing. However, of late, it seemed to Catherine that Dominic was beginning to show the effects of his pressures … he was less composed at times and a little more explosive … giving vent to his frustrations with the boys. Dom, Tory and the twins understood and did not take him seriously, but Catherine began to think, happily, maybe he was beginning to see the light. Who needed it? So one day Catherine pressed down the hold button, while a salesman waited, and said to Mama, “Dominic’s got two years left on his prison term and then I think he’s through with politics. I got that feelin’.”

  “What gives you that feelin’?”

  “Well, a man can take just so much, Mama. I just know Dominic’s simply got to get his belly full… he’s havin’ so much trouble with this union and that union and this ethnic group and all the loonies that constantly hound him. One of these days he’s gonna say … look, I’ve had it and then just maybe we’ll be able to settle down and live like human bein’s do.”

  Knowing Catherine was deluding herself, Mama asked, “What about the boutique? You poured your heart and soul into it.”

  “To hell with it. When it outgrows its usefulness, I’ll chuck it.”

  “Why not give it up now? Why don’t you spend some time with Dominic—”

  “In Sacramento! That hick town. Never.”

  “All right, Catherine, but you’re losing lots of money and—”

  “To hell with it… it’s worth the loss for my peace of mind.”

  But Catherine’s peace of mind was to be invaded.

  “Catherine, they want me to run for senator,” Dominic said to her bef
ore going to bed.

  She looked at him. “You don’t say … so what else is new?”

  “I’m talking about a United States senator.”

  Having just bathed, she stood stark naked with her nightgown in her hand … and thought she’d go out of her mind. “When you gonna get over this drug you’ve been on, Dominic … this craziness? Haven’t you had enough? Taken enough punishment? When in the hell are we gonna live … find time for livin’ … don’t you think by now I’ve earned the right to—”

  “Let’s not get started on that again … how many men get a chance to be a U.S. senator?”

  “Not too many. Most of ’em are too smart and realize they need a home life—”

  “Catherine, for God’s sake, I’m asking … begging for you to understand. Won’t you please understand how much I want this?”

  “And then after senator, there’s only one other job you just might like … president… right?”

  He smiled. “Well, what the hell … you’d be the first lady.”

  “It sure as hell would be the only time I was ever first.

  “Okay … okay, I guess there’s no way to fight you on this. In fact, Dominic, I’m too tired to give a damn. If you want to run, run … but I’m not gonna live in Washington. No, thank you … but keep runnin’ till you run out of steam.”

  16

  IT WAS WITH THESE blessings Dominic declared his intentions to enter the senatorial race. The competition was no pushover. Dominic’s opponent had the most important piece of real estate pretty well tied up and that’s where the votes counted … Los Angeles, Orange County, was where Dominic needed to make his greatest thrust. In fact, it was the whole southern half of the state where he needed all the help he could get, and Dominic got help from those whose voices meant something … the important members of the movie industry who pitched for him loud and clear were no small contribution. But there was a lot of territory to cover, so for six grueling months he stumped the state, concentrating his total energies in the southern cities. There was no hamlet too small … not a nook or cranny that was not familiar with the name Dominic Rossi. And this time, Catherine agreed to make as many junkets as possible. Dominic had pleaded with her (among a few other pressures brought to bear by her family and key members of the committee) that this race was not San Francisco, where their faces and names were household words … this was the big time … the whole state was involved and the more well-known they became as a couple, as a family, the better his chances. She was an integral cog in the machinery … more essential than she could ever imagine. One of Catherine’s special and natural assets was she looked good in photographs. Her smile was enchanting and warm and that appealed to the ladies who read the morning paper over a cup of coffee. As long as it was not her wish to address the ladies in her husband’s behalf, they were in good shape. Her appearances sufficed.

  Eager to get on with the ordeal and the damned thing over with, an exhausted, apathetic Catherine flew to Santa Barbara, arriving there just in time to bathe and change into her fabulous gown and jewels. Where was Dominic, she wondered angrily … probably downstairs in his usual conference … God, how he loved those conferences—better than her, that was for sure. He didn’t even respond to her page when she arrived.

  Suddenly, he rushed into the room, pecked her on the cheek, mumbled … glad you’re here as he rushed into the bathroom, showered, shaved and put on his tuxedo. Then like a hurricane, she was whisked out of the room with Dominic holding onto her elbow, walked rapidly down the hall and waited for the elevator.

  The evening was a huge success. Even the mayor had flown down to lend a hand. Everyone had done their homework and it was apparent from the responsive applause. The crowd loved him … hung onto his every word … he captivated them with his sense of humor, his ability to reach the rich as well as the poor, and while he was speaking, the committee in San Diego was pushing like a panzer division. When the evening’s festivities were over, as always before retiring he spoke to Dom who had his pulse on every statistic. Yes, it looked like they were leading… “Out in front, Papa, but we’ve got to keep working, pushing.”

  The next morning, a confident and happy Dominic and his entourage flew to San Diego, with Catherine saying, “I’m gonna rest and meet you later.”

  But later never came … she was now missing for two weeks.

  The anxiety of Catherine’s whereabouts during the interim of those days was only to be compared with the sinking of the Titanic. When Catherine did not put in her appearance … nor show up prior to the banquet at the San Diego Hilton that evening, Dominic walked into the overcrowded ballroom with a feeling of foreboding, although he conducted himself with the same sure composure and knew exactly what he was saying. Still, he kept glancing around the room from table to table to catch a glimpse of Catherine sitting with members of the family, a portion of which was always present at all dinners, rallies or whatever the occasion demanded … but as he continued speaking … something kept whispering in his ear … “We’re in big trouble … can’t put my finger on it, but? Where the hell is she?” His stomach turned and churned nervously. When the family retired to Dominic’s suite, speculations began. First Tory called the hotel in Santa Barbara only to be told that Mrs. Rossi had checked out that morning soon after the senator’s departure. What did she do, take a taxi? No, it seemed the dear lady had rented a car. What kind and from where? The manager regretted to say he could be of no help since he had no idea. The bellboy that assisted Mrs. Rossi, was he on duty? Again, the manager regretted the man was off duty until tomorrow. Tory hung up the receiver with his palm sweating. Next step … call the airlines … No leads there.

  “Christ, nobody disappears in thin air …” a very apprehensive Dominic said.

  “Now, wait a minute, Papa,” Tory answered, trying to calm his father’s fears. “Let’s face it … if anything had happened, wouldn’t we have heard?”

  “I don’t know, Tory. I have a terrible fear somehow that I’ve never had. I can’t explain it.”

  “What, Papa? Say it.”

  “… That something’s happened to her.”

  “Come on, Papa,” Angie answered. “You’re overreacting.”

  Dominic became angry. “How come you’re so calm … all of you? This is your mother … she’s missing. We called home—”

  “We don’t really know she’s missing—”

  “Then why didn’t she show up tonight?”

  Finally Tory spoke up. “Look, Papa, isn’t it possible she just decided to drive home?”

  “Without telling me? No … besides, why would she drive? Look, she’s a public figure. Anything could have happened to her … especially with all that damned jewelry she wears …”

  “Papa, just a minute,” Dom said evenly, “let’s back up for just a minute. Did you and Mama have words … an argument?”

  “When? I haven’t seen her all day.”

  “I mean yesterday.”

  “Yesterday? You mean in Santa Barbara?”

  “Yes.”

  “No … she didn’t arrive until late, then we went to the banquet …”

  “Think, Papa, think … were her feelings hurt?”

  “Hurt? Why … why should her feelings have been hurt. We hardly saw each other.”

  “Papa, Tish and I sat next to Mama last night and both of us got the feeling she was upset about something.”

  Bewildered, Dominic asked slowly, trying to sort out the events of last night, “Upset? It’s no secret she’s not exactly choked up over campaigning … but she’s been more cooperative in this one than at any other time.”

  “Okay, granted … but something bothered her.”

  “What….?” Dominic asked, raising his shoulders and turning his palms up, “what …?”

  “I don’t know,” Dom answered.

  “But you said she was bothered … what gave you that impression?”

  “She got up from the table without a word as you were just
finishing your speech and left.”

  “She did …?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, what else?”

  “Well, this morning before we left, Tish said she’d stay on and take the plane with Mama later …”

  “And?”

  “And Mama said she wanted to be alone to rest and think out a few things and then come down later.”

  “And?”

  “Well, Tish got the distinct impression she was very disturbed.”

  “Funny, I didn’t get that impression when I left. In fact, she seemed … happy.”

  “Well, apparently she wasn’t.”

  “Then how come neither of you said anything about it till now?”

  “Because with all you’ve got on your mind, we didn’t want to add to your …”

  “You didn’t want to upset me? If Mama was that upset why didn’t you come to me … what am I, a cream puff? I wouldn’t be able to take it?”

  “The point is, Papa, Tish guessed Mama was upset … but that she wouldn’t show up didn’t even cross her mind.”

  Dominic was now silent, trying to sort out the pieces, then answered, “No, she wouldn’t do that to me. Granted, she wasn’t overcome with joy, but she promised to go along with me and she has.” He paused, then asked, still disbelieving, “But … if she did, where would she go?”

  “To the Farm. Where else?” Tory answered.

  “Okay, but we called the airlines and no Mrs. Rossi took a flight out,” Dominic insisted.

  “She could have driven,” Dom suggested.

  “All the way to Arizona? Don’t be foolish. She’d be afraid to drive that distance alone.”

  “Don’t underestimate Mama … she’s got more guts when she wants to do something than anyone I know.”

  “Alright then … call.”

  Dom picked up the phone, asked the hotel operator to place the call to the Farm, then hung up. They all waited. When the phone rang, Dom picked it up quickly as the silent family sat waiting and listening.

  “Mrs. Rossi?” asked the night switchboard operator. “Why, no, she didn’t check in today.”