“Don’t talk to me! Don’t you dare touch me! Don’t even look at me!” Ava’s shrieking was followed by a loud crash.
∞∞∞
Caleb came home to a sobbing Arianna, who was so upset about Ava that she forgot to make dinner. She told him everything that happened, and he reassured her everything would work out. On the way to the deli, he stopped at Aryl’s to give a word of warning.
“Ava found out about Elyse,” he said gravely. “She backed Ahna into a corner and got the whole story out of her.”
“What all did she tell her?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. Arianna was hysterical. But I thought you would want to know in case you wanted to do some damage control of your own.”
“Okay. Thanks,” Aryl said.
All through dinner, Aryl wrestled with himself and finally decided that telling Claire the truth now would ultimately be the best thing to do. She would, he hoped, forgive him eventually.
“Claire,” he called from the couch, and motioned for her to sit. “I need to talk to you.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I need to tell you something. And I know it’s not going to go well, but I’d rather you hear it from me than hear it from anyone else. Some things have come to light,” Aryl started. “Things that happened a long time ago. For the most part, it involves Jon and Ava. I’m sure you’re going to hear about it, so I’ll just give you a quick rundown.” She sat down beside him. “Before I even came to join him in New York, Jon had a relationship with someone in Paris. She was one of the women that Jon’s wealthier clients provided for entertainment at their parties.” By his raised eyebrows and tone, Claire assumed easily enough what kind of entertainment he was referring to. “Well, it turned into a long-term relationship, and the circumstances of that relationship are what he and Ava are downstairs, no doubt, hashing out right now.”
“What does all this have to do with you?” she asked. He hesitated, fidgeted with his cup, adjusted in his seat, and then continued.
“This trip in particular was the time when Jon brought Ruth with us. Elyse saw the two of them together and was very upset. She hadn’t known about Ruth, and had become very attached to Jon after a couple of years, so it was hard for her. Of course, Jon had to act as if he didn’t know her in public, but he made the excuse of meetings to Ruth, and he would go see her in the evening. I guess the reunion with Elyse didn’t go well that trip. They argued a lot. Jon told me later that Elyse suddenly started pressuring him to marry her and bring her back to America. There is no way that Jon could have done that, and they both knew it. But she was insistent. He ended up walking out during an intense argument with her one night.
“Later, she showed up at the door of my hotel room. She was crying and looked a wreck. I had had too much to drink with Caleb and Arianna and was on the verge of passing out, but I let her in and tried explaining to her that Jon couldn’t marry her even if he wanted to. It was socially unacceptable and would have ruined his career. She had enough money to go to a women’s college by then, so I told her she should leave the business she was in behind. I think she really loved Jon and was completely devastated. I talked to her for a long time.” He paused to take a deep breath before passing the point of no return. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just spit it out. I made a mistake,” he said simply.
“What do you mean, you made a mistake?”
“I needed for you to hear this firsthand. Not in a roundabout way, like with Ava. Jon was afraid he would lose her if he told her the truth back then. And I’m afraid I’ll lose you if I don’t now.” He finally looked over at her and she was staring at him, not fully comprehending.
“What are you saying, Aryl? Exactly?”
“You’re really going to make me say it,” he said agonizingly. He didn’t dare look up to see her face frozen, staring at him in shock. “I was drunk and I missed you so much," he said with a heavy sigh. "I spent the night with her, Claire . . . I know what you’re thinking. But it was the only time, I swear. I only went on a few trips that year we were apart. And although it was difficult with Caleb and Arianna, Jon and Elyse, and then me, the odd man out, I behaved like an already married man. Every night I went to my hotel room alone and stayed there, thinking about you. I swear. All those letters I wrote you, I wrote those late at night in my room. Alone. That night, though, I just wasn’t thinking. I let my guard down, and I didn’t realize what happened until after . . .” She hadn’t moved her statuesque expression. “Claire, I know you–”
She interrupted him, holding up her hand. “I need a minute, Aryl.”
He sat quietly, unconsciously wringing his hands while his stomach twisted. The burden that he was partially relieved to be rid of was a thousand times heavier now, as he waited for the fallout.
Almost an hour passed, and the ticking of the clock echoing in the living room seemed to grow louder and louder. The fire had died out, and the room was only dimly lit from the kitchen light. He wondered where the screaming, the crying, the harsh words and even a cup or plate thrown his way were? He would have deserved it. But she was so deep in thought that he grew more afraid that this was the calm before the storm. And he had no idea what that storm would look like. Even her yelling, he thought desperately, would be better than this. When he couldn’t stand the silence any longer, he turned to her on the couch.
“Can you ever forgive me?” he asked quietly, assuming that was what she was debating. She looked at him for a long time and then held out her hand. He took it readily and wondered if it would actually be this easy. Could she love him enough to forgive this indiscretion that, after all, happened before they were married?
“Only if you can forgive me. I have something to tell you, too,” she said, preparing to unload a burden of her own.
∞∞∞
“Ava, what in hell?” Jonathan stood by the door, taken aback by Ava’s ranting. She glared at him with detestation, went into the bedroom and slammed the door.
Awhile later, she came out when she was sure she could do something other than scream. She was instantly irritated to see him on the couch. Jonathan bent to unlace his boots and asked, without looking at her, “Do you mind telling me what’s going on with you?”
“I found out about Elyse. That’s what,” she snapped at him. He rolled his eyes impatiently.
“You’re still mad about that? It was long before you, so I don’t see why you’re making this such an issue, Ava. Was I not allowed to have a life or a girlfriend before you? I guess I should have acted like a monk until the magical day when you showed up,” he mocked.
“No. I found out more about her today. From Arianna.”
Jonathan stopped unlacing his boots and sat up straight.
“Well, if you know everything, then you know that I ended it with her when I met you,” he said, wondering how much she really did know and not willing to divulge any more than he already had. Arianna would never do that to me. Tell her everything, he thought.
“You ended it with her over there and with Ruth here. Any other women on any other continents I should be aware of? Exactly how many of them did you have going at a time, Jonathan?” He sighed and rubbed his forehead.
“Again, Ava, it was before you. You can’t hold anything against me that happened before I ever knew you existed,” he said, exasperated.
“You should have told me about all of it,” she insisted.
“Now, there’s some great first date conversation. Listing off all the women of my past,” he said sarcastically. It became obvious to her that he didn’t realize that she did, indeed, know the whole story.
“You must have really cared about her to pay so much money to keep her just for yourself,” she said with a dark tone. He stared at her.
“How did you find out about that?” he asked, already knowing what her answer would be.
“Arianna.”
“She had no right–”
“She had every right. And more over,
she didn’t have a choice. If I had to beat it out of her, I was going to find out who Elyse was,” she said.
“I was trying to help her out,” he started to explain. “That’s all. She shouldn’t have been forced into that life. I set it up so that she could continue to make the same amount of money without having to–”
“Act like a whore?” Ava finished for him. She could see a flash of anger in his eyes when she referred to Elyse as what she truly was, and that infuriated her to no end. “Did you feel sorry for her?” she asked through her teeth.
“Yes.”
“Like you felt sorry for me,” she assumed.
“No, that was completely different. I was trying to help her get out of that work for good.”
“But you didn’t just set it up as a kind gesture. You got your money’s worth, didn’t you?” He didn’t answer, but stared at the fire. “How long did this go on?” She felt compelled to ask, even though she really didn’t want to know.
“Three years,” he said flatly.
“When did you end your arrangement with her?”
“The very next time I went to Paris after I met you. But it started falling apart before that.” His tone was softer now, as he attempted to be reassuring.
“And what about the very last time you went? After we were married. You were alone. I’m supposed to believe that after a long relationship with what must have been a very exciting companion, you actually managed the whole trip without seeing her?” If he lied now, he knew that it would come back to haunt him like everything else had. As much as he hated the backlash it would bring, he was honest.
“I did my best to steer clear of her. But the concierge didn’t know that our arrangement had ended, and he let her into my room. She was waiting for me the last night of my stay. She didn’t want the arrangement to end. I told her that I was married. I made her leave. Nothing happened.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“What can I say to make you believe me?” he said hopelessly.
“There’s nothing you can say, Jon . . . I’ve written Maura to ask her if I can live with her for a while after Christmas until I can figure something else out.” She turned and slammed the bedroom door again. He stared at the fire for a moment before he got up and stormed out angrily.
∞∞∞
Jonathan pounded on Caleb’s door steadily until he opened it. “Your wife has a real big mouth, you know that? She promised me she would never speak of Elyse to Ava,” Jonathan yelled.
“She didn’t speak of her first, Jon, you did,” Caleb reminded him. Jon stepped around Caleb and pointed a finger at Arianna.
“You had no right!” he shouted. “Thanks to you, she’s leaving me!” Caleb stepped in front of Jon and backed him up a few inches.
“Don’t yell at my wife, Jon. This is ultimately your doing. You chose to have an unconventional relationship with Elyse, and then chose not to tell Ava about it. It would have come out eventually, somehow. Now you go home and do what you can to fix things with Ava. And don’t you ever show up at my door to yell at my wife again,” Caleb ordered and closed the door in his face. Jon turned and headed upstairs to talk to Aryl, who might see a way to get this straightened out.
∞∞∞
Aryl answered the door on the third knock, and Jonathan saw it was dark inside his apartment.
“It’s really not a good time, Jon,” Aryl said somberly.
“What’s going on?” Jonathan pried. Aryl stepped out into the hall and spoke in a low voice so neighbors wouldn’t hear.
“I came clean about Elyse.”
“You what?” Jonathan cried.
“I heard that Arianna spilled it all, so instead of Claire finding out later, I told her myself.”
“Ava’s leaving,” Jonathan said pitifully, unable to focus on Aryl’s crisis.
“I can’t do anything about that right now, Jon. I’m in the middle of this with Claire. Look, I’m sure she’s just mad. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he said, leaving Jonathan standing in the hallway.
∞∞∞
He sat down beside Claire and took her hand again. “Now go on and tell me what it is you need to tell me,” he said. Secretly he was relieved. Claire had had many admirers in both Boston and Rockport, so he waited patiently for her to tell him of some incident of hand-holding or a stolen kiss. He would act very troubled and then forgive her. She would forgive him and it would all be over.
“I was miserable, Aryl, the whole time we were apart. My mother did her best to keep me busy with charity work and parties and introduced me to everyone she could think of. She insisted I go out with my friends and didn’t even mind when we went to the dance halls. My mother introduced me to her friend’s daughter. We spent a lot of time together before she left to do some charity work overseas. My group of friends accepted her fiancée, Steven, and tried to help him along the same way they tried to help me. It didn’t take long for him to fit right in with us, and we were all having a grand time. Most importantly, time was flying by and before I knew it, it was almost time for you to come back. My mother thought Steven was the perfect escort for me since both of us were spoken for. She considered it a safe alternative to going unattended.” She hesitated and Aryl mentally steeled himself, waiting for the confession of a rogue kiss between them. It wasn’t going to be quite as easy to hear as he previously thought. He remained focused on having this whole thing behind him by morning.
“We went to a winter party at the Governor’s Mansion,” she continued. “It was an enormous gathering, and I lost track of Steven toward the end of the night. I wanted to go home and went to the coatroom only to find the attendant wasn’t there. I went in to gather my things, and Steven was there looking for his coat as well. Aryl, I should have stopped with one glass of champagne. I wasn’t thinking. One thing led to another and . . . .”
“What do you mean, one thing led to another?”
“I mean that I’m guilty of the same transgression as you. For the same reason.” He stared at her baffled while her words sunk in, and dropped her hand, rising to his feet, jealous and angry.
“Tell me you’re not saying what I think you're saying,” he demanded, and now she was the one not willing to look at him and remained silent.
“You mean to say that you . . . and Steven . . . in a coatroom? While I was working night and day to make a life for us here!”
“Well, if your definition of working includes spending the night with Jon’s high-priced whore, then yes!”
“How could you do this, Claire?” His eyes and voice were heavy with betrayal.
“I could ask you the same thing!”
“That’s different,” he said, shaking his head.
“And just how is it different?” she yelled, pushing off the couch in shock at his double standard. “We both had the same reasons, not that they were right, but we both missed each other terribly and both had too much to drink. We both weren’t thinking and–”
“And you never told me all this time.”
“You never told me either!”
Fuming, he turned and left, slamming the door behind him. He paced the length of the hall several times, trying to decide where to go.
∞∞∞
Aryl banged on Caleb’s door with his fist.
“Doesn’t anyone knock anymore?” Caleb griped as he opened the door.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Look, I know a lot of stuff is going on right now, but if you’re here to yell at Arianna, you can just go the hell home now.”
“I’m not here to yell at Arianna. I confessed on my own,” Aryl admitted. Caleb did a double take.
“You what? Are you talking about–?”
“Yes,” Aryl said with residual dread. “I told her. And then she told me a little something of her own. I guess she figures we’re even now.”
“Uh-oh. Come on in,” he sighed. Caleb went to the bedroom, brought out a bottle of brandy, and poured Aryl a glass at the table. “A
ll right, what happened?” Caleb asked.
“Well, I decided to come clean altogether. I was almost relieved to be rid of this guilt. So, I confessed, and then she told me about something that happened at a party with some guy named Steven. And when I find that bastard . . . .” He gulped his drink and slammed his glass down.
“You’re not going to want to hear this.”
“I know what you’re going to say, Caleb, so don’t bother. You’re going to say that we’re even, and we need to just forgive each other because it was before we were married.”
“You said it, not me.”
“Well, I can’t, Caleb. This is unforgivable.” He sat back in his chair, shaking his head.
“And spending the night with Elyse is?”
“It’s different. You know it’s different, Caleb.”
“No. It’s not,” he insisted. “Listen. You both really messed up. But it was a long time ago before you were married, and a lot has happened since then that means a hell of a lot more than two serious lapses in judgment. Now, you can either keep that in mind, forgive each other and forget about it, or you can let it eat you alive, stay angry and end up like Jon and Ava. She’s leaving Jon over this, by the way.”
“She’s just angry. She’ll come to her senses when she realizes that Jon actually remained faithful.”
“Go home, Aryl. Forgive each other and let it go. It’s not worth it to let it destroy your marriage.”
“That’s so much easier said than done,” Aryl said, reaching for the brandy, but Caleb snatched it out of the way.
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