Dear Neighbor

by River Laurent

  Just to be safe, he loaded up the coffee table with water, iced tea, the TV remote, my iPad, my phone and a bag of cookies in case I wanted a snack.

  “Thank you for being so nice to me,” I murmured, a little overwhelmed. “You’re my knight all over again.”

  “Your knight?”

  I blushed again. “In shining armor. You know.” Just stop talking, Mimi. Just stop talking.

  He grinned. “My armor’s a little tarnished. But I appreciate that.”

  “I appreciate everything you’ve done.” Seriously, why are you still talking? Maybe you should’ve sprained your tongue.

  “We’ll see how you feel tomorrow.”

  Then he kissed the top of my head and left.

  43

  Mimi

  “You have everything you need?”

  “Mm-hmm. I dropped my bags off with Max last night. He’ll have them for me in the car when he picks me up.” I checked the time again. Nearly three o’clock. The day had crawled by like a tortoise stuck in drying cement. Or something similarly slow.

  “And you’ve packed for every possible turn of events?” Megan asked.

  “I’m not sure how many turns of event you expect. Max says they have a heated pool so I chucked in my best swimsuit. I packed good walking shoes in case that’s a thing. My running clothes. Outdoor stuff in the case there, I don’t know, sailing…and nice, sedate clothes for dinner.”

  “What about something for nighttime?”

  “I have pajamas.”

  “I don’t mean sleeping.”

  I was glad she couldn’t see my face. “Well, gee, Megan. In that case, I won’t need anything, will I?”

  “Atta girl!”

  “I was being sarcastic.”

  “What’s the point of saying no? You know that’s where this is going, so why not just relax and enjoy it?”

  I chewed my lip, knowing she was probably right. This was it. The weekend in which we would have sex. It seemed inevitable. The two of us, sharing a room. He would probably smell good like he always did, the jerk. Tempting me. Maybe I’d catch a glimpse of him changing, get a look at his muscular torso and shoulders as he took off his shirt. And my heart would beat faster and the blood would rush to my lady parts and that would be the end of that.

  “Hello? You still there?”

  “Oh, sure. I’m here.”

  “Like I said, just enjoy it. Relax and have fun this weekend. What can be more delicious than getting naked with cutie patootie? Oooo…imagine him grabbing you by the hips and slamming into you.”

  “Megan!” I giggled, my face burning.

  “Try getting that mental picture out of your head.”

  “Ugh, I’m gonna kill you.”

  “You’re welcome and have a great time, okay? Whatever you do don’t let the Beast and his Beastess get to you.”

  “That’s gonna be real hard.”

  “I mean it. Ignore them. Hang on to cutie patootie's arm the whole time. And most important: Keep me in the loop.”

  “Will do.” I was smiling as I hung up. Right, I needed to get the idea of Max’s naked body out of my head. He was picking me up in a few minutes, so blushing over the thought of him in all his glorious nakedness wouldn’t be helpful.

  “Hey.”

  I swung around in my chair to find Josh standing at the entrance to my cubicle. He was leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets, with a studied air of casualness on his face. I sighed internally. He was the absolute last person I felt like talking to just then.

  What did I ever see in him? The question kept perplexing me. Nothing about him seemed attractive to me. I used to think his puppy dog eyes were cute, sort of helpless and sweet. Now I just found them pathetic.

  A shame, since he was going all-out to look sheepish and cute. It was really making me want to punch him in the balls since they were at eye level.

  Luckily for him, I had to be friendly, or at least civil. We still had to work together, never mind the coming weekend. I guessed that was why he was there. “Ready for the weekend?” I asked brightly.

  “Yeah, I’m all packed up. Alexander said we should try to be there by six, right?”

  I nodded. Of course, I knew that as I had received the same email from Alexander telling us traffic going out on a Friday got crazy from five to seven o’clock. He suggested leaving early (“just this once, ha ha ha”) to get there before the roads jammed up.

  “Have you ever been there?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “I have no idea what to expect.”

  “I thought you ran in those circles all the time,” I said. It was easy to fall back into my old role of supporting him and making him feel better. When we were just talking like two normal people, I could pretend the humiliation he’d put me through hadn’t happened. I could pretend he hadn’t lied to me and made me look like a trollop. I could pretend he wasn’t a spineless liar.

  “My parents do. Sure, I’ve been out to the Hamptons before, but it’s not really my scene. It’s more Lill’s thing than mine.”

  I almost gagged at his use of her nickname. Lill. Why did he have to go and mention her name? Like I wouldn’t see enough of her over the weekend. Like her very presence wasn’t enough to make me wish I could sink into the floorboards and never come back. I’d already had nightmares about her cornering me at the house and tearing into me—literally, with claws and everything. I’d seen the blood and fire in her eyes as she accused me of everything from stealing her man to causing the housing crisis back in 2009. I mean everything.

  I faked a merry laugh. “Then I guess it’ll be your thing soon, huh?”

  His face changed when I joked like that, and I remembered him looking the same way when Max joked along similar lines at the party.

  “Lill will make a good wife,” he said defensively.

  I pitied him then. Max’s explanation at the party had cast the whole ugly thing in a different light. There was no excuse for cheating, ever, but when I saw it as evidence of his weakness it softened the blow. I couldn’t hate somebody I could identify with. I was not perfect.

  “I’m sure she will. Good luck to you.”

  He nodded and shifted his position.

  “What’s there to do out there?” I asked since he didn’t seem to be ready to leave my cubicle. I did make it a point to start wrapping it up, though, packing up my laptop and locking my drawers.

  “Oh, you know, the usual stuff.”

  I had to laugh. “No, I don’t know. Hello? Remember who you’re talking to here.”

  He chuckled. “Right. Sorry. Uh, I think Alexander has a sailboat. I know they have a heated saltwater pool and a hot tub. Tennis, but it’s probably too cool out for that. I think their property includes hiking trails, too.”

  “Sounds nice. I’m sure we’ll have a good time.” Oh, I was such a liar. Such a terrible, dreadful liar. If he knew, he didn’t seem to care. He was probably relieved I wasn’t crying and threatening grievous bodily harm after he crushed my hopes for our happy life together. Or something like that.

  Why wasn't he walking away?

  Why didn't he get the hint?

  In his next breath, he explained what he was really doing there. "I've been meaning to ask you something. I hope you don't take it the wrong way."

  “Ooh, mysterious,” I chuckled.

  “It’s just…I mean…” He looked around, making sure we weren’t overheard. Tracee was hard at work in her office, probably wondering why she didn’t get an invite to the Hamptons. “Well, I thought you and I were a thing.”

  I blinked once, twice. When I realized he wasn’t going to keep talking, I prompted him. “And?”

  “And I guess I was just wondering, well…”

  Suddenly, I knew exactly what he was going to ask.

  44

  Mimi

  “I was just wondering…when Max came into the picture?”

  I wanted to be the bigger person. I really, truly did. I even tried folding my
arms and sternly telling myself I had to control my temper. It wouldn’t do any good to claw his eyes out, especially not in the middle of the office where there were so many witnesses.

  But sadly, there was no holding back a hurricane. You just had to let it rip before it moved on.

  “You thought we were a thing? Is that what you thought?” I asked calmly. (Yes, that was the calm before the storm.)

  “Of course. We were great together, weren’t we?”

  “That’s good to know, since it looked to me you were just screwing me behind your girlfriend’s back,” I snarled.

  His eyes went wide, his mouth dropped open. “Don’t get mad,” he said and held up his hands, trying to shush me. I would not be shushed. The time for shushing was over. Unruly Mimi had come out, rearing her head, and I wasn’t about to make her shut up.

  “Don’t get mad?” I growled.

  “We agreed it’s all water under the bridge. I just wanted to know when you started seeing him, that’s all.”

  “It’s none of your business when he came into my life,” I spat, and my blood boiled at his audacity. “I can’t believe you, Josh. Where do you get off?”

  “Okay, okay. You’re right.” His head whipped from side to side so fast, I was sure he’d need a neck brace. “I shouldn’t have asked. Just drop it.”

  “Yeah, I’ll just drop it the way you just dropped me.” I gathered my things together, still beyond furious. As I put on my coat and slung my purse and laptop bag over my shoulder, I muttered, “Come into my cubicle and ask me questions about my private life when he’s the one who screwed me over. What the hell is wrong with him? I swear to God…”

  “I’m still standing right here, you know.”

  "Well, maybe you'd better do something about that."

  “Yeah. I’ll leave you alone now.” Just as I thought he was about to turn around and leave, he stopped. “I hope you’ll be able to forget about this by the time we get out there. We need to put up a united front.”

  My eyebrows flew upwards. Honestly, this man was incredible. “Why? Don’t you want him to know he’s invited a filthy cheater to his home for the weekend? What would his wife think?” I couldn’t believe I was being so nasty. I was never that nasty, but then I had never faced the sort of situation he’d put me in. I guess I was turning over a new leaf. A rather vicious, potentially violent leaf.

  “Please, Mims.”

  I wanted to kick him. “Don’t call me that.”

  His eyes widened, pleading with me. “Please, Mimi. Don’t make a thing out of this.”

  I drew a long, shaky breath. "Josh, if you'll remember, I was just fine before you raked the past up. I was actually stupid enough for a second there to believe we could be friendly without letting what happened get in between us. But you had to open your stupid mouth. Way to go. If things go sour this weekend, it won't be my fault."

  Since he stood there gaping like a fish and wouldn't get out of my way, I pushed past him with my shoulder. I could barely see thanks to the tears of rage welling up in my eyes, but I managed to make it down the hall to the elevators without stumbling into anybody or anything. Always a plus.

  I couldn’t go out to face Max feeling the way I was, though. He’d know right away there was something wrong with me. So I went to the ladies’ room in the lobby and texted Megan.

  Run-in with Josh. Finally asked when Max came into the picture. Completely unrelated: Do you think anybody would suspect me if he mysteriously disappears this weekend?

  It took her all of twenty seconds to reply.

  Be sure to fill his pockets with rocks. It’ll help weigh down the body.

  She could make me laugh even when I felt like a total wreck. Leave it to Josh to get inside my head just before I had to leave for a stressful weekend. I splashed my cheeks with cold water and fixed my makeup, taking deep breaths as I did. Josh was nothing. He couldn’t get to me. I just had to stop focusing on how much I couldn’t stand him and take our interaction back to the professional relationship we once had. I was not giving up my job because of him. Why should I?

  My phone buzzed again, only this time it wasn’t Megan.

  Your chariot awaits. Do I have to come up there and get you?

  Oh, Jesus, no. Not that.

  Waiting for the elevator. Be down in a sec.

  As much fun as it would be to watch him and Josh go head-to-head one more time before we had to be civilized in front of grownups, I didn’t want to press my luck. He didn’t need to know I was cowering in a bathroom, either. Which, in the end, was exactly what I was doing. I was cowering and telling myself I didn’t have it in me to hold my head up.

  And that just wasn’t true.

  “You can do this,” I whispered to myself in the mirror. “You can go out there and pretend that hot, sexy guy in the sports car—and I don’t know what he drives, but I bet it’s a sports car—is your boyfriend. Your hot, sexy boyfriend who adores you and would never use you while cheating on another woman. You can pretend you adore him because let’s face it, you’re already pretty close to doing that. There are much worse problems in life than pretending to have a sexy boyfriend while spending a weekend in the Hamptons.”

  “You’re right,” said a phantom voice in one of the stalls. I

  jumped a mile and fell against the paper towel dispenser.

  “Stop whining and get the hell out of here so I can use the bathroom in peace.”

  “Sorry, sorry.” I scrambled to get my things together and hurled myself through the door into the lobby, then out the main doors before I lost my momentum.

  Sure enough, he was waiting for me beside a shiny red sex machine, low slung and practically purring. It gleamed in the mid-afternoon sun, and even the fancy bigshots in their expensive suits paused to take a look as they walked by. If Max were a car, he would be that very car. I imagined draping myself across it the way they did in music videos.

  He looked pretty awesome too, but then he always did. He’d gone all-out with the ‘Weekend in the Hamptons’ look—khakis, a pale blue button-down, dark blue blazer, loafers. I made an ‘ok’ sign with my thumb and forefinger.

  “You approve?” he asked.

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you walked out of an ad in Town & Country.” I held my arms out to my sides. “What about me?”

  Dark sunglasses concealed his eyes, but his smile told me I passed muster. “You could wear a potato sack and you’d still get my pulses racing.”

  “Are you sure you should be driving when you’re clearly under the influence of a controlled substance?”

  He laughed. “And I thought you’d gotten better at taking a compliment.”

  “I must have regressed.”

  He stepped away from the car, taking my laptop bag and putting it in the trunk—my things were already inside, as promised. “Ready for some fun?” he asked, opening the passenger door with a wicked grin.

  I gulped, wondering exactly what he meant by “fun.” I guess I’d find out soon enough.

  45

  Mimi

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. Oh, my flipping God,” I exclaimed as we rolled up on the Fields estate around five-thirty, just as the light in the sky started to fade. The house was lit up, light gleaming from each and every window. And there were a lot of windows. It was a lot of house.

  “Do you think they have somebody on staff whose job it is to turn on all the lights at night?” I asked in wonder.

  Max chuckled as he put the car in park and turned off the engine. “They’re probably on a timer,” he offered. “Or they’re lit for guests, to wow them when they first pull up.”

  “It worked,” I breathed.

  “I see it did.”

  How could I help sitting there with my mouth hanging open? It was like something out of a movie. The driveway, if it could even be called that, was stone paved and ended in a circle in front of the massive three-story mansion. A fountain bubbled in the center of the circle, beyond whic
h sat the garage. I wondered how many cars it held.

  The house itself wasn’t imposing even with its size. Whoever had designed it kept comfort and hominess in mind, I thought. It was more like an oversized farmhouse than a chateau. I counted four chimneys extending up from the roof, and wraparound porches on all three levels. I wondered what it would be like to sit out there at night with a glass of wine or hot cocoa, breathing in the smell of money. Because oh, boy, did it smell like money around there. Money and cashmere and Egyptian cotton. And there I was, plain little old me, in the center of it.

  “You should see the back,” Max grinned as he got out of the car. I guessed that meant I had to get out, too.

  “Even better?” I asked, standing on cramped legs. The car was sexy but even with fine leather seats, it was uncomfortable going. Two hours left me stiff. Small price to pay, I decided.

  “Just wait and see.”

  “Okay.”

  “It’s a shame we’re not out here in the summer.”

  I wondered just how much time he’d spent out there if Fields was only his parents’ friend and advisor. Then again, that was what people in his circle did. That was the whole reason I was out here because Alexander had a habit of randomly inviting people out for the weekend. If I ever got rich, like really rich, I would do the same thing.

  The house gleamed like a jewel against the darkening sky, and inside I could see high ceilings and large, airy rooms. A wide, short staircase led up to the front door. Max took my hand to lead the way.

  “What about our things?”

  “Somebody will be out to get them,” he promised. “Just relax and enjoy.”

  I decided to keep my mouth shut and stop giving away the fact that I was a total newbie to the Hamptons experience as Max rang the bell.

  A maid answered, smiling warmly as she greeted us. “Mr. and Mrs. Fields are in the great room,” she said, gesturing to her left.