“Woooo!” screamed the crowd. “All right, Cameron!”
“All right?” Cameron shouted. “I’ll show you all right!” She slipped off her halter, dropped her sarong, and stepped completely naked, except for her Manolo Blahnik shoes, into the swimming pool.
Everybody went wild.
Adrienne looked around. It was suddenly out of control. Bandar and the other guys were ripping off their clothes to get into the pool with Cameron. Adrienne had lost Parker. She searched the crowd for him. Suddenly, she saw him.
He was in the hot tub.
With Princess Mimi von Fallschirm.
Naked.
What the hell is going on? One minute he’s telling me he likes Liz, and the next he’s in the hot tub with Mimi? This is totally not cool at all, Adrienne thought. This was unlike any party she had ever been to. Everything was moving way too fast, spinning out of control. She felt lost. I’m getting out of here, Adrienne decided.
Sneaking away, she headed toward the Lake House and ran into Hector.
“Good party,” he said. “Don’t worry, I’ll clean up.”
“Uh, thanks,” Adrienne said.
“Want to come to my room?” Hector said. “I have some pot there.”
“Thanks, but no thanks. I…uh…need to be up early,” she lied, scooting around him, her heart pounding.
“Suit yourself!” he called after her, laughing.
Turning the corner, Adrienne ran smack into Graydon, who was on his way down to the pool, carrying a bottle of champagne and wearing a robe. “Looking for me?” he asked with a naughty smile.
“Um, just heading back,” she said, trying to escape.
“Are you sure you’re not looking for me? I have a treat for you…,” he said, slowly opening his robe.
Without looking down—there was no way she was going to check if he had a suit on!—Adrienne summoned every last bit of cool she had left. “No, Graydon. I’m not looking for you or for any ‘treat’ you might have to offer me.” She pulled herself up to her full height and walked into the house like a queen.
Once inside, she slammed the door behind her and put her back up against it.
Palm Beach is a nightmare! she thought as she climbed the stairs to her room. I can’t wait to tell Liz. She suddenly came to a complete halt, mid-stair, with a horrible thought.
But how can I tell Liz about Parker and Mimi?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
on the cover of a magazine
Liz pushed back her bedroom shade and gazed out her rain-splattered window. She could see a sliver of the early morning gray sky between the two brick buildings across the way. The day looked to be rainy, cold, and horrible. She slipped back into bed and pulled her comforter up, over her shoulders. Maybe I’ll just stay here all day, she thought. It’s Saturday.
“Oh no!” Liz groaned. Today was the day of Dr. M-C’s interview with New York magazine. Liz had to be at her apartment at noon to watch the kids. She glanced at the clock on her night table. Three more hours of freedom, she thought, sinking her head back onto her pillow.
She closed her eyes and thought of Parker. Yesterday at the museum had been so perfect. He was great with the kids, he knew so much about art and culture, and he was the most amazing kisser ever. Liz was really hot for him, and he was obviously into her, too. Hadn’t he said as much to Dr. M-C? “Liz, who I’m dating…” Liz sighed, and burrowed deeper into the comforter.
She wondered where their next date would be. Maybe we’ll go someplace really romantic for dinner…. She could still feel the way his lips pressed against hers—almost as if he were kissing her now. Who knows what I’ll do if we’re really alone and not on a street corner or in some public place? Liz smiled to herself. She had dated a couple of guys, but going to an all-girls school like P-B had made meeting boys hard. You really had to be a girl like Cam or Mimi to get invited to the interschool parties, where you could find guys.
The phone rang, interrupting her daydreams. She looked at the caller ID. LEWIS, ADRIEN, it said, with a number she knew really well. She grabbed the receiver. “Hey, Adrienne! What’s up? Isn’t the weather gross?”
“Not exactly,” Adrienne said.
“What do you mean? It’s raining outside!”
“Not where I am. In Florida, it’s ninety-one degrees and sunny.”
Liz bolted upright in bed. “What are you doing in Florida?”
“Well, it’s a long story,” Adrienne said. “Yesterday, the Warners just announced they needed me to come to Palm Beach with them—right then. It’s actually like they took me hostage. Mrs. Warner called my mom and got her to agree to let me come to watch Emma. I had ten minutes to race home to pack my things. Let me tell you, the place is nothing like I expected. Last night, Cameron had a pool party, and all those people from Khmer were there. There’s this totally creepy pool guy named Hector, who’s, like, out of Scarface, and Graydon is lurking around.”
“Did you see Parker?” Liz asked.
“Um, yeah, I did,” Adrienne said. Liz could hear the tightness in her friend’s voice. “He was at the pool party….” Adrienne’s voice trailed off.
“Spill it, Adrienne. I can tell something happened. What was it?” Liz cringed, her mind filling with images of Cameron and Parker naked in a huge pool together. Suddenly, all the tender images of Parker were gone. She was torn with jealousy, and her stomach was killing her. “Did he mess around with someone?”
“Well, not exactly,” Adrienne said carefully. “He wasn’t doing anything more than anyone else at the party—”
“Well, what was he doing?” Liz asked. “Adrienne, I want to know!”
“He was in the hot tub…and, uh, there were other guys and girls in it with him. I wouldn’t worry about it. I mean, everyone here behaved like it was totally normal. Cameron was in the pool naked with a bunch of guys, and that was out of control—”
“Was Cameron in the hot tub with Parker?”
“No,” Adrienne said firmly. “She was not.”
“Okay.” Liz was silent for a moment. Suddenly, she didn’t want to know every gruesome detail. She had the sinking feeling that Parker wasn’t everything she was hoping he would be.
“Liz? Are you still there? Are you okay?” Adrienne asked.
“Yeah, sure, fine, great. Listen, Adrienne, I have to go. It’s Dr. M-C’s New York magazine interview today. Call me when you’re back.” Liz hung up the phone, her weekend ruined.
Liz entered the Markham-Collins apartment only five minutes late.
She looked around. The kitchen was still “photo-ready,” and the maid was putting away the breakfast dishes.
The house was unnervingly quiet. Liz stepped into the dining room. It’s actually pretty! she thought with pleasure. It turned out much better than Darby DuPlane had described it.
“Hello?” Liz called out into the hall. “Anyone home? Is there anyone here?”
Heather came out in a blue pinafore and a white shirt, her hair held back with a blue velvet headband. “Mommy’s not ready. She’s getting dressed.”
“Where’s David?”
“Watching TV.”
“Did you guys eat?”
Heather nodded yes.
“Okay. Where’s your mom?”
“Her new bedroom.”
“Okay, why don’t you join David? I’ll be right with you.” Heather nodded and skipped off.
Liz knocked on the door. “Dr. Markham-Collins?” she called. “I’m here.”
“Well, it’s about time,” Dr. M-C said, her voice muffled behind the door. “The reporter will be here any minute. I’m beside myself. I had to get the kids dressed. Where were you?”
“I’m on time, Dr Markham-Collins, I was just…”
“Oh, never mind, Elizabeth. I just would have thought you would have known I needed you earlier. I mean, honestly, how can I be the best mother in New York City if you’re not here to help?”
I would love to know that myself, Liz thought.
Liz rounded up Heather and David and brought them to the cheerfully designed new room.
“Okay,” Dr. M-C said as she entered the room. “First, no interrupting me and no talking. You,” she said, turning to Heather, “will keep your smart mouth shut. No questions, okay?”
“Okay,” Heather said, her lip quivering.
“And you, no complaining about the food,” she said to David, who nodded, silent.
“And Elizabeth, make sure if she asks you any questions, you throw the questions back to me. I don’t want the interview to be about the nanny, after all.”
Dr. M-C bustled around the room. She was wearing a new outfit and glasses without the heavy, dark frames. She looked friendly, but after that performance, Liz realized that the best clothes or interior designer would never successfully disguise her true personality.
The buzzer rang, and soon they could hear the elevator door opening slowly.
“Ah, welcome, welcome!” Dr. M-C said to the two young women who entered the huge hall. The shorter of the two women dragged in a heavy wheeled case and a large tripod light. “I am Doctor Mayra Markham-Collins! Please come in and meet my beautiful children, Heather and David.” She gestured for the women to enter. “Now, Elizabeth will take your coats….”
Heather and David clung tightly to Liz, sensing that they were about to be left alone with their mother.
“And can we get you something to drink?” Liz asked as she draped their heavy, wet overcoats over her arm.
“Water will be fine,” the taller woman said, taking a tape recorder out of her bag. “I’m Ruth Badis. I’m going to be writing the article.”
“And I’m Cheryl Martino, photographer,” said the other woman. She held up a camera.
“How nice to meet you. Come in! Kids, let Elizabeth take the coats away, and get some water, and we can sit down in the living room and talk.”
Liz hurried into the kitchen, threw the coats on the counter, and grabbed some glasses and a bottle of Italian water. There was no way she was going to leave the kids alone with Dr. M-C. The interview would be a disaster.
“Tell me, Dr. Markham-Collins,” Ruth Badis was saying, turning on her machine. “Our readers would love to know how a busy woman like you entertains her children. Where do you take them for fun?”
“For fun?” Dr. M-C asked, noticeably perplexed by the question.
Ruth turned to Heather and David and bent down so she was nose to nose with them. “Where does your mommy take you?” Heather and David stared blankly at her, as if she were speaking another language.
Liz watched the awkward silence grow longer and longer.
“David,” Liz prompted, “tell them about what happens every day when your mom picks you up from school.” She looked at the little boy closely and nodded vigorously. He grinned. He understood she wanted him to talk about what they did together. “Tell them about the hamburgers,” Liz said.
“After school every day,” David said, “my mother takes me for a hamburger.”
“Every day?” Dr. Markham-Collins said. “Oh, yes. Every day!” Dr. M-C suddenly caught on. “It’s so important to carve out private time with each child to establish an individual relationship with them.”
“What else do you do together?” Ruth asked Heather.
“She takes me to Loehmann’s when we look for party dresses,” Heather said. “She taught me to look for discounts and to be a smart shopper.”
“But we get your clothes at Ralph Lauren—” Dr. M-C said, and then stopped herself. “For school, but it is so important to help children establish their individuality by letting them choose and buy their own clothes. Just because I’m well-off doesn’t mean that everyone these children meet will be. It is so important to raise them outside of a bubble of privilege. Don’t you think so?”
“Sure,” Ruth said. She began to scribble furiously in her notebook.
Liz winced. This was going to end badly, she could tell.
“What else does she do?” Ruth asked the children.
“We go to the museum!” Heather said cheerfully.
I hope she doesn’t mention Parker, Liz thought.
“We saw the Pimpled Fender!” David said. Ruth stopped writing and stared.
“The what?” Dr. M-C asked, looking directly at Liz.
“The Metropolitan Museum,” Liz said. “He means the Temple of Dendur.”
“That is so cute!” Ruth said, taking a sip of her water.
Ruth directed the next several questions at Dr. M-C, and Dr. M-C gave Ruth a litany of her child-rearing ideas. Liz was surprised. A lot of them are great ideas. Too bad she doesn’t do any of them with her own kids.
Finally, the photographer began snapping pictures of the happy Markham-Collins family. Ten minutes into the photo session, she looked up from behind her camera. “I have an idea! What about one of all of you together—Mom, kids, and the nanny!”
“Of course, of course! Elizabeth, you come over here and stand by me,” Dr. M-C said through gritted teeth.
Oh dear, Liz thought. I’m in trouble. She moved over to stand next to Dr. M-C. She could feel the doctor’s arm tensing slightly. The flash went off, and just as it did, Dr. M-C pushed Liz away, causing her to stumble.
“Oh, Elizabeth!” Dr. M-C cried. “Are you okay? I’m so clumsy.”
“I can take another,” the photographer said.
“We’re fine,” Dr. M-C said flatly.
The interview was over.
So much for my picture in New York magazine, Liz thought.
Afterward, the Markham-Collins family went to the park with the reporter and the photographer, and Liz was left cleaning up the water and glasses from the living room.
I did it, she thought as she wiped the counters. I did a really good job. I handled the whole thing. I made this crazy family look normal!
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
queen of france
Adrienne squinted into the blazing sunshine on the Warner’s private beach. She and Cameron lay side-by-side, stretched out like cats in the sun, carefully covered with heavy sunblock. Adrienne wore a white tankini, while Cameron wore the briefest of scarlet bikinis.
Just behind them, to the left, an enormous cabana contained a bar and a buffet, tended by servants from the house. Hector was there, staring at her. She could feel his beady eyes traveling every inch of her body. How gross!
Graydon lay on a chaise nearby, snoring. Mrs. Warner didn’t like to lie out, and she was having lunch at the exclusive Everglades Club with Princess von Fallschirm. Mr. Warner was tucked away in his home office. Emma sat next to Adrienne, underneath a UV-protectant tent, wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a towel over her shoulders. For light beach reading, she had a copy of Theories of Social Behavior.
Adrienne looked out at the turquoise water. She could get used to it here.
From her bag, her phone rang. Maybe Brian? “Hello?” she said cheerfully.
“Adrienne! Have you decided what you are going to wear tonight? My party is going to be tight! Choice crowd, serious music!”
Oh no, thought Adrienne, putting her hand to her suddenly perspiring forehead. I totally forgot about her party! “Oh, hey!” she said, as calmly as she could. “Listen, Tamara—”
“No way. You are not telling me that you’re canceling on me,” she said, a hint of anger creeping into her usually warm and friendly voice.
“I’m not canceling,” Adrienne said, “but I have a really good excuse.”
“And I would love to hear it,” Tamara said tonelessly.
“Well, I had to go down to Florida. It was an emergency,” she said.
“You serious?” Tamara said. “What’s the matter? Your Grandma sick or something? Are you okay?”
“The Warners had to open their house this weekend in Palm Beach, and they needed me there,” Adrienne explained.
“So you’re telling me that you’re in Florida on the
beach and not coming to my birthday,” Tamara said.
“It’s not like that—” Adrienne began.
“It’s just like that, Adrienne. That’s just what it’s like, you know? All right. I get it. You have fun. Just hang out with your new friends. If you keep treating me like this, they’re going to be the only friends you’ve got. Later.” She hung up.
Adrienne debated calling Tamara back. Just then, a servant came over and handed her, Emma, and Cameron ice-cold bottles of Evian.
“Something wrong, Adrienne?” Cameron asked, concerned.
“No. I’m okay. Thanks.” Adrienne sighed, closed her phone, turned it off, and tossed it back into her bag. She would deal with Tamara when she got back to school. She didn’t want to call with Cameron listening.
I’ll make everything right with Tamara, she told herself. Adrienne shut her eyes and soaked in the rays. Lying there, she could hear Cameron dialing her own phone.
“Hey there, baby. How are you?” Cameron said into the phone softly. “I know! I don’t feel so hot, either. It was crazy, huh? You sure had those girls going! Seriously, I thought that Chloe was going to have an orgasm right there in the pool. You’re twisted.” She giggled. “Excellent. I’ll supply the food and the booze, you bring the rest. You’re trouble, you know that? Bye, baby. See you tonight.” She hung up the phone.
Adrienne rolled over. “Was that Bandar?” she asked.
“No,” Cameron said, putting on her sunglasses. “It was Parker.”
Adrienne didn’t know what to say. What was Cameron up to? What was Parker up to?
I’d better keep my eyes on Parker tonight, Adrienne thought. And I’d better think of a way to make this up to Tamara when I get back home.
Emma and Adrienne watched the last half hour of a History Channel special on the Vikings.
“Don’t you want to go out, Emma?”
“No,” Emma said, riveted to the Viking burial process. A flaming arrow arched in the air and lit a Viking ship with a dead body on it.
Confessions of a Teen Nanny Page 11