The War of the Roses: The Children

by Warren Adler

  “Mr. Bocci is here.” It was the familiar voice of the receptionist.

  “Who?”

  For a moment, he felt disoriented.

  “Angela’s husband,” the receptionist said.

  “What does he want?” Josh asked, barely managing to get the words out.

  “He wants to see you.”

  “I’m really very busy, Miriam, tell him no.” He quickly reconsidered. “Wait.” He sucked in a deep breath. “Does he look angry?”

  “Not at all. Very pleasant.”

  Always thinking the worst, he told himself.

  “I hope it’s not anything serious about Angela,” he mused aloud, feeling a brief twinge of panic. “Give me a couple of minutes, then send him in.”

  Despite the receptionist’s assessment of Dominic Bocci’s demeanor, he needed to calm himself. What could he possibly want?

  Dominic Bocci came in bearing a broad smile and appearing benign in demeanor. Josh could detect no sign of hostility, which relieved him considerably. He was a good-looking compact man with black curly hair, a dark complexion, and a large curved nose. He was dressed in a blue blazer with gold buttons, a white shirt, red tie, grey flannel pants with razor-sharp creases, and spit-shined black shoes.

  Josh got up from behind his desk and ushered his guest to a seat in the conversational grouping that he used for visitors and casual meetings. It crossed his mind briefly that he had fucked this man’s wife on or near every piece of furniture in his office. A sourness invaded his chest. As he sat down on one of the upholstered chairs, Dominic Bocci shot his cuffs, carefully crossed his legs, and seemed to study Josh with more than passing interest.

  “I hope Angela’s okay,” Josh said clearing his throat. “We depend on her a great deal here.”

  “She’s pretty upset,” Dominic said, striking a sudden ominous note that belied his expression. “But that’s understandable, considering….”

  “Considering?”

  “Come now Mr. Rose, we both know what’s going down here.”

  Josh’s first thought was that this man was an actor playing a role in some bad movie. But that thought quickly disintegrated under the excruciating burden of another, more poisonous, idea. The reality hit him with the force of a spear through his body.

  “What does that mean?” Josh asked, but his tongue could not move the words.

  “I’m hoping we can settle this quick time,” Bocci said. He was cool, which was doubly disturbing since Josh felt his entire body break out in an icy sweat. “Look,” Dominic said. “I don’t want any trouble, either. I’m here to avoid trouble. Hell, I got a family, too. I ain’t gonna begin to break up mine.”

  He squinted and contemplated Josh’s face, his lips curling in a smile that did not show his teeth.

  “Frankly, I don’t give a shit what happens to yours,” Dominic said.

  The sudden burst of hostility was a clear indication that the man’s conservative Ivy League clothes and general attitude and movie gangster pose betrayed street smarts that put Josh at an immediate disadvantage.

  “I… I really am at a loss…,” Josh began, realizing suddenly that any pose of innocence or denial would fall on deaf ears.

  “Look, I know about Angela and you. Don’t think I feel good about it, but I have no intention of being physical. So rest easy on that score. I made my peace. I’m not some crazy guy with a sliced-up ego comin’ here to tear your balls off.”

  “Just what do you think you know?” Josh said, attempting without success to find his own brave facade. Dominic gurgled a kind of chuckle, shook his head, and continued to gaze at Josh with his odd squint.

  “Hey, Rose. You think you can fool this Guinea? No way. Fact is, I knew for a while. You’ve been boffing my wife and now it’s over, right?” He chuckled. “I know you’re sweatin’ bullets tryin’ to figure out what I have in mind. When I found out, I hung back. I figure you got to be a nut case putting yourself in such a spot. Not in today’s world, buddy. No way. Them days are over. You want strange, you got to go to strangers. Am I making myself clear?”

  “Explicit,” Josh groaned. “I don’t know about clear.”

  The man leaned forward on the couch and looked from side to side as if to make certain he would not be overheard. It was more of a gesture of extreme confidence than a necessary caution.

  “Rose, I want you to know that this isn’t personal. I’m a man of the world myself. Sure I was pissed off. Angela’s a hot little number and maybe I wasn’t doin’ my homework. She’s also ambitious and talented and a helluva good mother. You gotta weigh these things. We went to the priest and got everything straightened out between us.”

  That priest, Josh thought, offering silent condemnation. Defrock the bastard, he cried to himself.

  “Forgive and forget, right? I ain’t no angel myself.” He smiled without warmth and continued to squint at Josh. “You neither.”

  For the first time since he had walked into his office, Josh saw a flash of anger and determination in the man’s eyes that belied his attempt to maintain a calm exterior. He means business, Josh thought, his heart thumping against his chest.

  “So you’re asking what I’m doin’ here?” Dominic said, tapping his knee. A gold bracelet slipped down his wrist and settled near the base of the thumb of his right hand. Josh kept his silence waiting with trepidation for the other shoe to drop.

  “I thought about this ever since, you know, ever since I found out. Here you are, Angela’s boss. Means you got power over the people who work for you, like Angela. Let’s face it, you can bestow favors. You can make or break a career, kick someone up, kick someone down. Give raises. Make recommendations. To the people under you, you’re one important dude. Right?”

  “I think your perspective is a bit off center,” Josh said.

  “It ain’t my perspective, I’m speaking for Angela.”

  Josh resisted the urge to make any further comment. He felt a giant hole being dug in front of him with Dominic about to push him into it.

  “So I figure that if we file a harassment suit against you, we got you dead to rights.”

  “Angela couldn’t contend that.”

  “Why not? As I said before, you’re the power, man.”

  “But she was already on the fast track on her own. Everybody around here knew it. She’s a first-class designer. She could go anywhere. No one held her back. Besides, she’s a valuable colleague. I needed her. She made me look good.”

  “You betcha. She’s one talented lady.”

  “And definitely not an innocent victim of harassment.”

  “Look, man. Would she want to file a suit? No way.”

  Josh was dumbfounded. A lawsuit? Not Angela. Hadn’t she been the aggressor? Had he failed to see the dark underside of Angela’s character? Had he bothered to see her as anything but a sexual pleasure machine? Nothing in their relationship, whether as working colleagues or frenzied sexual partners, suggested such a cruel destructive motive. She had said only yesterday that she had loved him. And he, Josh, had once believed that he might be in love with her. Good God! Was this the retaliatory action of a scorned woman or had he been set up by Angela from the beginning?

  “It’s hard for me to believe Angela could be part of this,” Josh said with faltering conviction.

  Dominic shrugged and unconsciously picked imaginary lint from the sleeve of his blazer.

  “I guess you just don’t get it. Believe me when I say that no one, especially Angela, wants trouble. So here’s what she’s willing to do. I’m just the messenger here. For a couple a hundred grand we’re outta here….”

  Without waiting for him to continue, Josh stood up. He felt a sudden hammer blow to his head, his skin became hot with anger, and sweat broke out on his body.

  “You slimy blackmailing bastard. Get the fuck out of my office or I’ll have
you thrown out.”

  Dominic shook his head, chuckled and smiled, and lifted both hands, palms up.

  “Hey man, cool down. You don’t want this. Next thing you know, this whole thing will be out in the open and the shit will hit the fan. Do you really want that, kiddo?”

  In the pause that followed, Josh fought his anger. A sudden nausea seized him and he had to swallow hard to keep from vomiting. He felt trapped in a maze, unable to find the right path to the exit. He sucked in a couple of hard breaths, forcing his calm while his mind raced to assess his position.

  Suddenly he felt the full impact of his victimization, reviewing events that led to this moment. It was Angela who had pursued him, who had seduced him with her overpowering sexuality. Hell, he wasn’t made of stone. And she had shown such enthusiasm and lack of inhibition. Had he unwittingly fallen into a trap? Whatever the motive, he was in deep shit. Let’s see you wiggle out of this one, Mr. Creative Director. Finally, he managed to get himself under control and sit down.

  He had no illusions about the impact of a sexual harassment challenge. The company had run numerous sensitivity seminars as a cautionary measure. Nevertheless, people took chances. The agency, with many young men and women employees, was a hotbed of consensual sex. He was certain, too, that there were the usual trade-offs, sexual favors for material enhancement. It had never entered his mind that his affair with Angela was in this latter category. She was already teacher’s pet.

  “That’s better,” Dominic said when Josh had settled down again. “This is deal time, man. I know what you make. I know where you live and how. I seen your house. What’s two hundred grand to you? You get to keep your job and your good lifestyle. The wife’s no wiser. The boss don’t know. Pay up. Walk away. It’s a one-shot deal.”

  “What about Angela’s career? She’d be finished here. How can we possibly work together after that?”

  Dominic nodded his head.

  “Now we’re making headway, man. I don’t want no sleazy under-the-table deal here. What do you think we are? What I’m lookin’ for here is a private settlement. A legal piece of paper that goes right into the vault. And a check. The real thing. The paper says you sexually harassed her and the two hundred thou is your settlement chip. It also says that you can’t bad-mouth Angela ever. You’re right, man. She can’t work here. You said yourself she’s good. I want that paper to say that if anyone asks about her you tell the truth about her work. No paybacks. What do you think, because I’m Italian, I’m some Mafia hood? I’m talkin’ legal here.”

  “Legal?” Josh snapped. “Besides, you’d be asking me to put my signature on a lie. I did not sexually harass her.”

  “Hey man, don’t talk to me about lies. Here you are porkin’ my wife and lying to yours. Come on now. Get real,” Dominic said, still picking at the imaginary lint. “Think a minute and take a look at the other side. We could just as easy go to your bosses. You think they want the stink of a harassment lawsuit? We go to them for the settlement. What would you do if you were them?”

  “Fight it. You think they’re that stupid? Word gets out that they’re a patsy for this kind of payoff and there’ll be others standing in line. You can’t keep these things hidden. They’ve got lawyers on the payroll for just such contingencies. It will cost you a fortune to fight them and you might just lose. And no one in the field will touch Angela with a ten-foot pole.”

  He was beginning to find his courage now. I will not let this happen, he told himself. He’d show this son of a bitch what he was made of. “Listen, you low-life little crud. I don’t know how you got Angela to go along with this, but I got a pretty good idea. You might as well get the whole story. You should know that we fucked our brains out, every chance we got, anywhere, like rabbits in heat. Best blowjob ever. Swallows, too. Loves to take it up the ass.”

  Josh felt a nerve palpitate in his jaw. His breath came in gasps. Was this Josh Rose talking? His mind raced with images of their sexual frenzy. The irony was that he was spouting the truth. He watched Dominic fight to retain his cool, but the sudden flush attested to how deeply Josh’s words had struck. He wasn’t finished. “Poor deprived Dom. She told me she doesn’t play those games with you. Says you pop too soon.” He paused and watched him squirm.

  Dominic rose like a shot from the couch, the veins in his temples engorged. His eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets. Josh stood his ground. Suddenly one arm stiffened in Josh’s direction, forefinger poised like the barrel of a pistol. He waved the finger in Josh’s face, bending his arm, so that he was eyeball to eyeball. He began to speak and Josh felt a shower of saliva on his face.

  “You fuck. I tried to be nice. So here’s the deal. I want a certified check for two hundred thousand bucks made out to Angela Bocci, and I want your signature on this piece of paper. He pulled out an envelope from his inside jacket packet. “Read it. Get your own lawyer if you want to.” He took the paper out of the envelope and pushed it in Josh’s face. “See that signature on the bottom. Angela Bocci, notarized and all legal. You sign it and get it notarized. Hell, they do it at the bank where you’re gonna get the bread. Two hundred thousand. Not a penny less. All wrapped nice and legal. We’ll even give you a copy for your records. I figure a guy like you could get a check cut… say, by eleven tomorrow. I’m gonna make it easy. I’ll stop by to pick up the paper and the dough. You don’t even have to see me.”

  Dominic straightened his blazer, which had ridden up on his shoulders, shot his cuffs, and did a little neck dance as if to ease the tension.

  “Don’t even think about it. Just do it.”

  Josh finally found his voice. When he spoke it sounded reedy and uncertain.

  “What you’re asking is impossible.”

  “Hell, you’re the creative man here. Come up with a way. If you don’t have it, borrow it. Call it a bridge loan. Who the fuck cares? We’re not playing games here.”

  “Even if I found a way…,” Josh began, then paused to catch his breath. “I couldn’t do it that fast.” He was about to tell him that his wife handles the finances, but held back.

  “Don’t be dumb, Rose. Do it. And read the paper. Lets you off the hook, too. It’s a settlement, man. Make the deal. We’re outta here.”

  Dominic straightened his blazer, shot his cuffs yet again, offered a version of a military salute as a good-bye gesture and left the office. Josh stood rooted to the floor, too stunned to move.

  His telephone rang. He could not summon the energy to answer it. After a while the ringing stopped, and he could hear his voice mail kick in. He managed to reach the couch and lay down. More calls came in. He didn’t answer them. The calls continued. Still he did not answer them. Then, from out of the depths of his consciousness, he began to realize that the amount of calls he was getting seemed inordinate. He picked up the phone and tapped into his voice mail. There were more than six urgent messages from Angela. He saw it as a grain of hope and called her home.

  “How could you?” he began when he heard her voice. She cut him off.

  “Forgive me, Josh. Please forgive me. I had no choice.”

  She sounded on the verge of hysteria.

  “No choice?”

  “He knew. The priest told him. You know, hinted. They were buddies. But I didn’t think… I swear. Dominic knew about us for weeks. Then last night I went to confession and told him it was all over. After, they made me come to this meeting and then forced me to tell them everything. I can’t believe a priest would do this, even if he claimed it was only a hint to keep my marriage together for the sake of my children. Oh God, I don’t want to lose my children.”

  “Why have you done this to me, Angela? He wants two hundred thousand dollars. And you signed that paper.”

  “They made me.”

  “You’re trying to destroy my life.”

  “They made me, Josh. I’m so sorry.”

  “You’re
sorry?”

  He felt as if he were talking into a tunnel, making sounds that she could not hear.

  “Pay him, Josh. Pay him. I beg you.”

  “I don’t understand, Angela,” he cried, raising his voice.

  “He’ll take my children. You don’t know him. He will.”

  Josh was dumbfounded. He searched his mind for some appropriate answer.

  “We seem to have competing agendas, Angela,” he whispered, hanging up. It seemed a stern and officious statement. He felt trapped, unable to think straight. Again he lay down on his couch. The hours slid by. He felt enervated. There were fewer telephone calls. Still he could not find the energy to answer them.

  After agonizing away most of the day, he called the one person in the world that would never be judgmental, the one person who loved him without reservation.

  “I’m in trouble, baby,” he said.

  There was a sudden gasp.

  “An accident, Josh? Are the kids okay? Victoria?”

  “Nothing like that, Evie. It’s me.”

  “I’m here, darling.”

  “I need you, Evie.”

  “Come to supper. I’ll make you a wonderful meal.”

  “Don’t bother, Evie. Please.”

  “For my dearest most wonderful brother, why not?”

  Then he called Victoria’s cell phone. It didn’t answer, which was strange. He called the house and left a message on the answering machine that he was having dinner at his sister’s home.

  Chapter 5

  Mr. Tatum called and informed Victoria that the dispute was over, that the Crespos had surrendered their position. The news should have been received with joy and relief. Instead, she felt uncomfortable, the perpetrator of a deception.

  The call roused her to action. She knew what she had to do. Most people would think it foolhardy. And if it resulted in bad consequences for Michael, Josh would be furious. But her instincts told her that Mr. Tatum would welcome honesty and understand her motives. He might be a bit stiff and priggish about some things, but she felt certain that he knew the psychology of students of that age and would be fully aware of the principles she was trying to instill in the rearing of her son.