“No.”
“It’s quiet here. A dull, deadening kind of place. I’m sure it hasn’t changed in a million years.” She pointed to the houses scattered on the hills overlooking the cove. “The fishermen who live here have never and will never amount to anything. They are insignificant. No one cares whether they live or die. Even when they’re alive, they might as well be dead. Not one of them is capable of making a mark on the world. They, like this place, are dull and boring and useless.”
“I think it’s pretty here, and the people are very nice. It would be a wonderful place to raise children and live out your life.”
“As I was saying,” Cassandra said, angrily raising her voice, “this cove is dull and unimportant.”
At the top of the hill, to the right, partially protected by a guardrail, was a rocky cliff that descended steeply downward into the ocean. The sea, whipped by high winds, surged against the sheer granite wall with thundering claps and smashed into sheets of white foam and spray.
“Has anyone ever died here?” Cassandra asked as she reached the very summit.
“Yes,” Ebony murmured, terrified that the wind might literally pick up the car and toss it over the edge of the cliff. “People have been washed into the ocean.”
Cassandra positioned the car on the edge of the road and turned off the ignition. They were within five feet of the edge. Looking out her window, Ebony could see the Atlantic churning madly, as if it was reaching for them, intent on claiming more victims in its frigid depths. It really did seem to be a living force. One moment it would press forward in a potent mass, ripping on the sharp points of granite outcroppings. Then it would subside and drain away in a powerful undertow.
“Beautiful and deadly,” Cassandra said, staring at the scene below. “The attraction is almost irresistible.”
Cassandra touched the clutch of her car. Being on a slight incline, the car inched forward toward the cliff.
“My God!” Ebony screamed. “What are you doing?”
Cassandra took her foot off the clutch, and the car came to a stop about four feet from the edge of the cliff. “Remember the boring cove we visited?” Cassandra said in the distracted voice of someone slipping in and out of reality. “That cove was dull and lifeless. As soon as you look at it, you feel a deadening pall come over you.” She turned and looked Ebony in the eyes. “That cove is you. But me”—she looked out over the dark ocean—“I’m the beautiful and wild sea. I can be sullen or dangerous, even fatal. One adventure with me can linger in your mind for a lifetime.”
Ebony stared at her in disbelief.
Cassandra rolled down her window. The wind gushed in and whipped her hair about in all directions. The sounds of the turbulent Atlantic, loud a moment ago, now echoed with frightening closeness. The rain pelted against Cassandra, smudging her makeup and turning her face into a horrible mask. She suddenly turned to Ebony again, her eyes gleaming like embers, and the green light from the nearby lighthouse glowed on her face, making her look like a witch.
“Has anyone ever driven their car over the edge of this cliff?”
“What are you saying?” Ebony asked, her heart pounding madly and her mind numb with fear. She tried the door again, but it would not open. “Let me out!”
“I love this.”
“Love what?”
“This feeling of power.” She laughed. “Have you ever held a moth in your hand? You know what I mean. You’ve got this creature in your grasp, and it’s perfectly helpless. You control it. If you want, you can torture it by pulling off one wing at a time. Or you can clap your hands together and squash the life out of it. You see, its very existence depends upon you and your fickle mood. Life or death, it’s your choice.”
“That’s why people have a conscience, to prevent such cruelty.”
“Cruelty? How can it be cruel to squash a moth? The bug might be alive, but its life is totally insignificant. Therefore, I have the power. If I so choose, I may let it live another day. If it bothers me, or hinders me in any way, or if I simply feel like it, I will squash the creature without the least regret.”
“Are you talking about an insect, or are you talking about me?”
“Power,” said Cassandra, her eyes flashing. “To hold someone else’s life in your hand, to determine, on the most trivial whim, whether that person shall live or die, that’s power.” She paused for almost a minute. “Imagine, for instance, if I were to put this car in neutral and then jump out. It would roll over the edge, plummet into the sea, and smash into the rocks.”
“You would never do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because you would be caught and charged with murder.”
“Murder is such an inappropriate word,” Cassandra objected, screwing up her face as if she tasted something sour. “If you kill a moth, is that murder?” She checked her makeup in the rearview mirror. “But, my, haven’t we gotten awfully philosophical? And all the result of a hypothetical situation. Perhaps not even that, really. I was just talking off the top of my head, trying to entertain you.”
“You’re not entertaining me. You’re scaring me.”
“Good,” said Cassandra as she started the car and backed up. “You see, I can be a nasty piece of goods, but if you do as I say, if you stop chasing my man, I’ll leave you alone.”
“Take me home.”
“Of course. I’ll be very pleased to do just that.” She lit a cigarette. “Ebony, I’ve had such a wonderful time tonight. It’s hard to make friends when you come to a new country, yet I get this feeling that we’ve really gotten to know each other and we’ve come to an understanding.”
Both women remained silent for the drive back to Shad Bay. When the car stopped in her yard and Cassandra released the lock, Ebony got out as quickly as she could and ran into the house. Cassandra followed closely behind. Ebony tried to prevent her from entering, but was unsuccessful.
“Get out of my house!” Ebony hollered, her chest heaving. “Get out of my fucking house!”
“Oh my,” Cassandra returned, looking surprised. “You really are a plebian. What kind of hospitality is that? Here I am, a visitor, and you curse at me like some kind of ghetto tramp. I’m disgusted.”
“Get out!” Ebony screamed.
Cassandra fixed her hair in the mirror. “I will leave, but first tell me if we have reached an agreement?”
Ebony glared at her. “You’re insane.”
“Have we reached an agreement?”
“An agreement on what?”
“Weren’t you listening?” Cassandra said impatiently, glancing at Ebony with obvious frustration. “I want you out of the way. Surely you can understand me wanting to protect my fiancé from your shameless ambitions.”
“If Ethan wants you, he’ll come for you. But what I want is for you to get out of my house this minute.”
“What are you going to do? Call one of your pimps to throw me out? No, you whore, I’m not taking any chances. Right now Ethan’s wondering about his life. He’s confused, lost. I can offer him what he’s always wanted—power, excitement, challenges. I can give him all those things. What can you offer? Nothing but a life of imprisonment in a common and meaningless existence. Don’t even think of it. You would destroy him.”
“It is you who would destroy him.”
Cassandra laughed cynically. “Oh, get real. Look around you, Aunt Jemima. Look at all the oppressive boredom and poverty. Look at the worthless people. They are without talent, without a single quality to recommend them. I’m sure that not one of them has ever had an original thought in his life. They are a herd of dumb beasts. Do you really want to pull Ethan down to their level? He is as different from them as I am from you. He belongs with me in a society of equals. Don’t suffocate him.”
“If Ethan was a boat,” Ebony said, suddenly thinking of something, “he would moor in a sheltered cove. He would never steer toward a dangerous reef. In the cove, he would be safe and secure. He could live out his days there
in peace and tranquility. In dangerous waters, he could be battered and smashed against the rocks. That’s why he would choose me. You said it yourself. I am the cove, and you are the cliff. You are death.”
“Not death,” Cassandra said, staring intently into Ebony’s eyes. “I am the edge of death. I live for the moment, day to day, hour to hour. I dread boredom and comfort and security. Give me passion and fire. That’s what makes life bearable.”
“You’re nuts.” Ebony stared at her as if trying to see into the depths of her soul. “You are absolutely mad.”
Cassandra laughed. “Tell me what you’re thinking about right now.”
“You.”
“Me? What about me?”
“I feel sorry for you.”
Cassandra seemed mildly intrigued. “You feel sorry for me? Now, why would you feel sorry for me?”
“Because you’re obsessed with this world. You drive a fast car, mask yourself under jewels and fine clothes, and class people in terms of wealth and power. But what good are all those things? If you die tomorrow, all your possessions and success would be meaningless. Those things eventually become so much dust, an empire of dirt. All of them combined aren’t worth one moment of human intimacy and love.”
Cassandra gazed at Ebony with renewed interest. “What else do you notice about me?”
“Your beauty.”
“What about it?”
“I think you’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen,” Ebony responded, “but there’s something missing.”
“What’s missing?”
“Your beauty is sterile, flat. There’s no life force glowing from within you. Take away your possessions, and there’s nothing left.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing but chaos.”
“You’re wrong about that, my friend, because even if you take away everything I own, I still have my fiancé.”
“He’s my fiancé, too,” Ebony unexpectedly said, jealousy in her voice. “I was engaged to him long before you two ever met. And even if I wasn’t, I still couldn’t let you take him. You would destroy him. He needs peace, not the hell on Earth you’re offering.”
“What if I promise to torture you and never give you a moment of peace until you step aside?”
“Go to hell!”
“I will have him,” Cassandra snapped, leveling a malevolent glare.
“Leave!” Ebony insisted, her patience at the breaking point.
“Excuse me,” Cassandra said, pretending to take offense. “I was just trying to be friendly.” “Get out!” Ebony hollered. “Get the hell out of my house or so help me God I’m going to throw you out!”
Cassandra was about to say something else, but being thoroughly pleased with herself, she turned to leave with a self-satisfied smirk. Suddenly she stopped cold and stepped back with a look of shock and apprehension.
“Ethan!” Cassandra exclaimed with a nervous edge in her voice. “I was just talking about you, darling.”
Ebony immediately jerked up her head and looked at Ethan with mixed feelings of intense anger and incredible relief. Ethan glared at Cassandra, brushed past her, and knelt in front of Ebony.
“What do you want?” Ebony snapped at Ethan, glancing at him as if it were painful to look upon his face.
He reached out to stroke her hair.
Ebony pushed away his hand. “Leave me alone. Go back to your fiancée.”
“Fiancée?” Ethan mumbled in obvious confusion. He quickly turned to Cassandra, his eyes burning. “What did you tell her?”
Cassandra’s body stiffened. She tried to smile, but she soon took a deep breath and stood with a blank face. “I don’t know what she’s talking about.”
Ebony looked up at her in shock.
“What did you tell her?” Ethan demanded so authoritatively that it shook Cassandra.
She shuffled to the couch with the air of a reprimanded child and reluctantly admitted, “Ethan is not my fiancé.”
Ebony snapped to attention, and her expression changed dramatically. Until that point, it had not once crossed her mind that Cassandra had been lying. At first she wondered how she could have been so trusting of the madwoman, but by degrees she soon realized that trust was not the issue. She had not trusted Cassandra at all. The real problem was that she had mistrusted Ethan. It wasn’t about Cassandra, and it wasn’t even about Ethan, it was all about her.
“We aren’t engaged,” Cassandra repeated as she turned to Ethan, “not yet anyway.”
“Not ever!” he shot back. Ethan glared at her, then turned to Ebony. “I don’t know what she told you, but don’t believe anything she says. I’m certainly not her fiancé, never have been, never will be.”
“Don’t be so sure about that,” Cassandra objected, pouting like a spoiled child who has been denied a toy. “No one knows what will happen in the future.”
“Cassandra,” Ethan articulated slowly and irritably, “go home, and leave us alone. I’ve got nothing to offer you, and you’ve got nothing to offer me. You live your life, and I’ll live mine. Go home.”
“Come back with me, Ethan. Imagine it, the two of us running Daddy’s firm. You would be making important decisions. You would have the power and position without going through the drudgery of having to acquire it yourself. You want to be a somebody, don’t you? You want to leave your mark on the world. Come back with me. Marry me.”
Ethan lightly touched Ebony’s quivering hand.
“Oh, such a noble sentiment,” Cassandra quipped. “The proud and ambitious Ethan Harrington forgoes his own needs to come to the rescue of a poor little lamb. Are you happy with yourself, Ethan? Yes, I can see you are. But for how long? A day, a week, a year? Sooner or later, darling, you will drown in the tedium of this life. The unremarkable people, the lack of challenge, the nun you’ve returned to out of guilt. Soon enough they will all start closing in on you. You’ll feel like you’re being buried alive. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Come with me, and let me save you from all this.”
“Who would rescue him from you?” Ebony said, shaking her head.
“Ethan, please.”
“Go home, Cassandra.”
“All this time,” she stammered, smiling unnaturally, “I thought you would be mine. I cherished that dream. It’s all that kept me going. But now”—she touched her temples—“I feel faint.”
Her eyelids drooped, and she collapsed. Ethan instinctively jumped up and caught her, then lifted her curvaceous body in his powerful arms. He carried her toward the couch, and Ebony moved out of the way when, suddenly and without warning, Cassandra sprang awake and pressed her lips to Ethan’s mouth. He instantly dropped her, but like a cat, she landed on her feet without removing her lips from his. Ethan had to use a good deal of force to free himself from her grip.
“How was that?” she asked, panting wildly and staring at him with inflamed eyes. “Did you feel the fire and the passion? I ignited your blood, didn’t I? Admit it, Ethan.”
“Stop it!” he commanded, angrily wiping his lips.
“Don’t let this country bumpkin extinguish the flame within you, the flame between us.”
“Cassandra, you want only what you can’t have. And unless you change, you’ll always want me because you’ll never have me. I love only one woman. I’ve never loved any other. I can’t change that, and even if I could, I wouldn’t.”
Cassandra stared defiantly at him for several seconds. Her chest heaved, and her eyes smoldered. It seemed that rather than being perturbed by Ethan’s stern rejection, she was challenged by it. The look of determination in her eyes was unmistakable.
“Please show me to the door,” she said to Ebony, her nose thrust into the air.
“With pleasure,” Ebony returned.
At the door, out of Ethan’s view, Cassandra turned on Ebony with gritted teeth. “You little bitch,” she said with a snarl.
“Good night,” Ebony said, holding the door and gesturing for her to leave. “Don�
�t you ever dare set foot on my property again.”
Cassandra scowled. “I leave tomorrow,” she whispered in a harsh tone, “and Ethan will be with me.”
Ebony firmly shut the door behind her unwelcome visitor. When she returned to Ethan, she hugged him. Though Ebony felt as happy as a child, Ethan was staring into space, frowning.
“She has upset you as much as me,” Ebony said. “Where did you meet that woman?”
“In Italy. She’s the only child of my mentor, Anthony Vaccaro.”
“What is your connection to her?”
“When I met Anthony, you possessed my mind and spirit, but I was wandering aimlessly. Nothing interested me. Especially not other women. But Cassandra refused to accept that. She was accustomed to getting everything she wanted. With me it was different. I ignored her. The more I ignored her, the more exasperated she became. For her, controlling me became a mission, an obsession. She’s done everything in her power to own me.”
“What happened when you left?”
“I had to come home to you, come what may. When I left, Anthony’s health was failing, and he was angry I was going. He told me not to call him or ever speak to him again.”
“Could you live the rest of your life in Shad Bay with me? Or is she right? Would you be bored?”
“Living here with you is exactly what I want.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s after midnight. I have to go.”
“Stay,” Ebony pleaded. “You can sleep on the couch.”
He turned away from her.
“What’s wrong?”
“I love you so much,” he said strangely.
“There’s something else,” Ebony persisted, a frantic note in her voice. “You’re thinking about her offer, aren’t you? Admit it. I can see it in your eyes.”
He walked toward the door.
“You always wanted to win at everything and be successful,” Ebony taunted, grabbing him by the arm. “You haven’t changed. When you could have had me five years ago, you no longer wanted me, and you left. Then you wanted me again. Now that you’ve accomplished your goal, you’re tired of me. That’s it, isn’t it, Ethan? You only like the challenge. Once you reach the goal, you’re bored and you feel the need to try something else. Now you want to go back to Europe to regain the position you lost. It’s your character. Admit it.”
The Reunion Page 14