by Abby Weeks
The Arrangement
Abby Weeks
Copyright © 2013 Abby Weeks
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This work is presented by the author.
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ISBN 978‐0‐9917634‐8‐1
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Quote
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Back Matter
*
“ALL ART IS EROTIC.”
Gustav Klimt, 1862‐1918
*
“EROTICISM HAS ITS OWN MORAL JUSTIFICATION BECAUSE IT SAYS THAT PLEASURE IS ENOUGH FOR ME; IT IS A STATEMENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL’S SOVEREIGNTY.”
Mario Vargas Llosa, 1936‐
*
I
APRIL HURRIED TO THE OVEN and checked on her roast. It had to be perfect. She’d carefully selected the best tenderloin she could find at the A&P, just the right amount of marbling, not too much fat. Walter would be upset if he’d seen what she paid for it but he’d be upset if she served him a dry cut too. She prayed he was in a good mood.
She went into the dining room and opened the doors of the Juliet balcony overlooking the driveway. The oven was making the kitchen too warm and she wanted to let in some of the cool, evening air. It made the drapes flow like waves. She’d always loved that. It was one of the things that had made her fall in love with the house. She’d spent weeks pleading with Walter to buy it. He’d wanted a place in Great Falls or Potomac, somewhere he could meet prospective clients and powerful politicians and move up in the world, but she’d argued that this was a better fit for their family. The neighborhood was modest but they had more space for the children. They wouldn’t have been able to get anything nearly as suitable in those other neighborhoods and the mortgage payments would have crippled them. In the end it was the den that sold him. He practically lived down there.
She took out the roast and set it to stand on the counter. Then she went and touched up her makeup and straightened her hair. Walter used to insist she change for dinner but since the children were born he had dispensed with that formality. Still, she always felt the need to freshen up before dinner for him. She reapplied her lipstick and tried to decide whether or not to wear her mother’s earrings. They were the only thing she still owned from her family but she worried that Walter didn’t like them. He’d said before that they weren’t his style.
She hadn’t made up her mind when she heard his car coming up the driveway. She got up and went to the children’s room. The two girls were playing nicely with some dolls on the floor and she told them daddy was home.
They got up and followed her down the stairs, the three of them in a neat row on the steps when Walter came in the front door.
—Good evening, family, he said.
—Good evening, the girls said.
April smiled and took his coat.
—Have I got some news for you tonight, he said as he kissed her cheek.
—I can’t wait to hear it, honey.
—It’s big, he said and she could see he was genuinely excited.
—Well take the girls to the table and you can tell me over dinner.
Walter bent down and hugged his two daughters and they giggled. He led them off to the dining room and April went to the closet with his hat and coat. She resisted an impulse to smell his coat collar. She’d smelled perfume on so many of his shirts by now that it was hardly a discovery, but still she tried to train herself not to suspect him, not to think at all about what he did when she was not around. It was difficult but she had great willpower.
II
SHE HAD SET THE TABLE earlier and the only thing left to do was light the candles. Walter was doing so now with a gold-plated lighter his father had given him when he got out of the army. The girls were sitting quietly in their places and she loved them for it. They were such good children. They were four and six and she was sure when she was their age she hadn’t been so obedient.
But then, her childhood had been quite different. It was nothing like this. There were no china plates and silver candlesticks, no after school tennis and horse riding lessons, no new dresses and shoes from the mall every weekend. She’d grown up moving from place to place, her mother always worrying about where they would spend the night or where their next meal would come from. Often they would end up in a boarding house or on the doors of some charitable institution. April could hardly bear to think of some of the men her mother had taken up with just so that they could all live together under his roof.
She went to the record player and put on the Christmas with Patti Page album Walter had given her. Then she poured him a glass of wine and went into the kitchen. She quickly made gravy from the juices in the roasting dish and put a thick wad of butter on the potatoes and some freshly cut parsley. She brought in the roast and a carving knife for Walter and set out the food. He stood over the table with the knife in his hand and looked pleased with himself. Everything was just as he wanted, and that’s what April always strove for. As long as he was happy, she believed, her life was secure.
She waited to see if he would offer her some wine but he did not. She served the children and herself. Walter began eating. She let him enjoy the food before breaking the silence.
—Your news, honey? she said.
He raised his fork while he finished chewing. She thought he looked like the president during a press conference, choosing his words.
—I made it, he said after swallowing a mouthful of beef.
He looked at her expectantly while she tried to guess what he was referring to.
—Partner, honey. I made partner.
—Oh my God, she said. Walt, that’s wonderful. This was big news indeed.
She got up from her seat and went around the table and kissed him on the cheek. He’d been aiming for partner since his first day at the firm. She didn’t know much about the firm but she knew this would mean big changes for them all. The firm was one of those places with powerful clients who had terrible secrets. The more years she spent in DC, the more she learned about that. While she knew next to nothing about what the firm exactly did for these people, she understood that they paid highly to have their affairs taken care of discreetly, and it was the partners who were let in on the information and trusted to deal with it.
—Just got the news today. Herb called me into the boardroom and I thought maybe I was in trouble. Things haven’t been easy with one of our accounts and I could see Frank and Pete were already in there.
—Oh my gosh, Walt.
—I know. So in I go, practically trembling, and they tell me to have a seat.
—What did you do?
—I sat. What else could I do?
April watched him eat. He’d drag this story out as far as he could. She waited. The girls were eating quietly and watching the conversation.
—Your daddy’s a very successful man, she said to them and they smiled.
—So there I was, facing the three of them, and none of them said anything. I was absolutely dying. I thought, this is the end for sure.
April nodded, the smile on her face could have been painted, she knew to always smile at the table, but it was times like this when she almost felt like it was real.
—And then they shook my hand. Told me, congratulations.
—Oh, honey.
—This is big, April. This will mean a whole new life for u
s. No more salary. I’m to be cut in on a percentage of the fees I take in. They’ve even picked us out a new house.
April’s smile faltered. She almost dropped her fork before she regained some of her composure.
—What? she said. There was a strain in her voice and she knew it.
—You didn’t think we’d be in this dump forever did you?
The smile was back in its place but it took all her effort to keep it there.
—Of course not, honey, but I thought—
—None of that sentimentality from you. Stop worrying about things. This is great news.
—Oh honey, I know it is.
—The best news.
—You’re right of course.
—Every time I come to you with something good in my life you try to sour it.
—Oh, Walter. Please don’t be angry.
She looked around the room. She felt like it was spinning. Things always changed so suddenly. She was never ready for them. It wasn’t his fault, it was hers. She knew it was.
—You’ll have to start packing immediately. The firm will send movers of course, but you’ll have to orchestrate everything.
She looked at the drapes by the balcony, flowing elegantly in the breeze. She looked through to the kitchen and the Formica counter tops she had chosen herself from the Westing catalogue. Silently, she began to say goodbye to her little home, the only place she had ever truly felt safe in the world.
Then she looked at Walter and the girls and reminded herself that none of the important things were changing. She would be just as happy in the new home once her family was safe inside it.
III
THE FOLLOWING WEEK WAS A BLUR. She found out she was moving on Monday and by Wednesday morning a team of packers was already at the house helping her box up their belongings. Each box was carefully labeled and loaded onto a white truck.
She also received a package from the office manager at the firm containing pictures of the new house, a schedule and floor-plan. She learned that the house was in an exclusive gated community outside of town called The Oaks. She’d heard of the place before and as far as she could remember it was where the other partners at the firm lived with their wives.
She had misgivings about living so close to the other partners, and their beautiful wives, but she was afraid to voice them to Walter. He always said she had a built in resistance to happiness and most of the time she thought he was probably right. Often she would find herself lying awake at night worrying that she would lose everything and everyone she held dear. She felt insecure in the life she had built, like it was all too good to be true and might be taken away from her at any moment. Over the years that fear had never really faded and she knew it would probably haunt her all her life. She had seen her mother lose too much, too often, to ever forget how easily it could all come crashing down. That was what was bothering her now and preventing her from enjoying this new stage in her life and she made up her mind not to sabotage her own happiness any longer.
On Thursday morning after she dropped the girls at school she returned home to find a realtor parked in the driveway. She appreciated all that the firm was doing for them but she wished they would let her be part of the decision making process, or at the very least, notify her when important decisions were being made that affected her. The blonde woman in the car was pleasant enough, in her mid-forties, and introduced herself as Betty Miller. She said she was going to show April the new house.
Despite her misgivings, April had to admit that she was impressed on the drive out along the GW Parkway towards The Oaks. She had never been out that way before and hadn’t realized how picturesque the countryside was. As soon as they were out of the city they entered beautiful dense woodland and Betty Miller explained how desirable the new neighborhood was. She said The Oaks was one of the most well situated developments in the metro area and that they’d be sharing a postal code with some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the country.
When they pulled off the main road, April was surprised to see that there was a security gate at the entrance.
—Is that really necessary? she said to Betty.
Betty told her she didn’t strictly think so but it was an increasingly common sight in neighborhoods like this one. There was a lot April didn’t know. They pulled up to the gate and a guard in a gray uniform waved them through.
—We’re expected, Betty said.
The development was cut into the forest and formed an enclave among the trees. They must have been climbing while they were on the highway because there was an opening in the trees onto a wide vista and April saw that they were looking down on the valley below. The view of the Potomac and the skyline of the capital in the distance was breathtaking.
—That’s something, she said.
Betty took in the view with a quick scan and nodded. —I know, she said. You should see it at night. The lights are stunning.
—I’m really going to live here? April said.
Betty just smiled. They got to the end of the road and there was a small circle for cars to turn around. Off of the circle were four driveways, each marked with two pillars and a row of lights leading into the trees.
—Wait a minute, April said.
—Yes?
—There are just four houses here?
—That’s right, Betty said.
April felt a creeping sensation running down her back. If there were only four houses, that meant the only other residents were the other partners. She’d imagined more houses, more of a community.
—Who else lives here? she said.
—The other members of the firm, Betty said. Herb Kingsley, Frank Prentiss and Pete Wellington. With their wives, of course.
Suddenly the place began to feel very claustrophobic. April was already struggling with the move, and the fact that the firm seemed to be controlling everything so tightly gave her a strange sense of foreboding. Now it was getting to be too much. She knew she would have to talk to Walter about it and she dreaded that prospect almost as much as she did living here in this secluded forest with only his business partners as neighbors.
She was ashamed of herself for thinking it, but what might happen if she had a fight with her husband? Walter was not a violent man but he could be controlling, and at times manipulating. If her only neighbors were the people he did business with she doubted whether she’d be able to turn to them in times of need.
—Are you ready to go up to the house? Betty said.
April was not ready at all but she nodded. If it were not for the strange circumstances, she would have actually been amazed by the house. It was truly fabulous. She tried to enjoy the viewing, a task that became easier the more she saw.
Betty pulled her car up to a covered porch in front of the house. It was wide enough for two cars and lit by ornate iron lamps. There were stone steps leading to the main entrance.
Betty was smiling. —You think this is grand, you should see the other houses.
They climbed the steps and Betty pushed open the wide double doors. April found herself standing before what had to be the grandest entrance hall she had ever seen in her life. It was two stories high with a staircase curling around to the second level. The floor was of white marble polished to a sheen and above her was a chandelier that seemed to be made entirely of diamonds.
When Betty saw her staring at it she said, —The chandelier was custom made by the Gemini Glass Company in Englewood. They made the chandeliers for the Plaza Hotel in New York.
—I can’t believe it, April said, struggling to take it all in. Before her was a large archway leading to the main living area of the house and she could already see across it to the wide windows overlooking the view she had seen of the valley earlier. Up on the second level she could see the solid doors that led to the various sleeping quarters. Each door led to a separate suite with its own bedroom, bathroom and sitting area. April had never seen anything like it in her entire life. What she didn’t see however, w
ere any of her belongings.
—Where are our things? she said.
—Oh they’ll be here before you move in. I think the moving company still has them at the depot. Betty looked over the stack of papers she had with her. —They’re unloading tomorrow. You and your husband are moving in on Saturday.
—It’s all news to me, April said. They hardly tell me a thing.
Betty gave her a slightly questioning look. —Everything’s taken care of, Mrs. Masterson. One thing you can say about the firm, they sure do know how to take care of their own.
—I guess they do, April said.
IV
THAT NIGHT APRIL FOUND HERSELF driving alone into the city. Luckily the babysitter had been available. The girls were crying when she left the house and she felt guilty for doing it but she had no choice.
Walter had called from the office to say the partners wanted to meet her. It was another idea she had only been made privy to at the final minute but as was usual, she rushed to accommodate it. She just wished she’d had more time to get ready. The restaurant was an intimidating place where they served hundred dollar bottles of wine and the waitresses all wore the skimpiest little dresses they could get away with. She rubbed her hand over her own little black dress as if doing so would make it blacker, tighter, sexier. She was an attractive woman at thirty-four, in great shape, well taken care of. Walter was forty and not nearly as trim, but she knew him well enough to know he liked them young and the fact that she was younger and fitter than him didn’t stop his eye from wandering.
She had hardly seen Walter since Monday when he’d told her of the promotion. Now her house was on the market, her belongings boxed up and shipped off to a depot somewhere, and she’d be in a new house by Saturday. She thought, if things would just slow down for a second her mind would have a chance to catch up and get to grips with all the changes that were occurring. Then again, she might break down and have a panic attack if she thought about all that was going on. She’d never found change easy and this was more than she was used to by far. Luckily she didn’t have time to think. She was being kept too busy with surprises.