by Lauren Clark
I poured myself a glass of ginger ale and watched the bubbles as they rose to the surface and popped. “All right.”
Relief flooded Chris’s face. “Thank you,” he breathed. “Remember when I said something wasn’t right about Tyler’s promotion?”
I hugged my arms to my chest, listening.
“After that, I started doing some checking. I looked at business plans and proposals, went over my notes from meetings. Even talked to some clients about any recent adjustments to how the company’s been handling their financial goals. And specifically, any major changes that Tyler initiated.” Chris frowned and crossed his arms. “You’ve heard about some of the controversial issues with hedge funds?”
I nodded. “Sure. The Madoff Ponzi scheme.” I looked up at Chris. “But I’m sure some hedge funds are legit.”
“Sure. But they’re very volatile. You have to assume a ton of risk.” Chris ran a hand through his hair. “Here’s what I found out: Tyler gathered up a bunch of clients, told them she’d invest in this very conservative fund that promised great returns. The idea was to get great returns with little chance of losing their investment.”
“Too good to be true?”
“Yeah, you could say that. The bottom line is that she lied and put all of the money into a hedge fund.” Chris paused and heaved a sigh. “If this comes out, Tyler could be looking at mail fraud and securities violations. Not to mention that if the hedge fund tanks, everyone loses their money, the company gets a huge black eye, we lose clients, and maybe our jobs.”
I let this digest. Oh, wow. I tried to comprehend what it all meant. “You have proof, right? What did everyone say?”
Chris shook his head. “They don’t know. Not yet anyway.”
“Go and tell them!” I urged. “You’ve got to!”
Silence hung in the air after my outburst. I watched Chris’s face flush and turn pale.
“What is it?” I asked quietly. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“There’s more,” he started, then hung his head. “Tyler, she wanted to…she tried to seduce me.”
Oh. The wind had been knocked out of me. I bit my lip to keep from crying.
Chris covered his face with his hands. “Nothing happened, Melissa. You’ve got to believe me. She tried to coerce me. Threatened to have my position eliminated if I told anyone what she’d done.”
I couldn’t stop the swirl of confusion in my head, like I was being sucked into a whirlpool. Divorce. Move away. California. Kelly. New job.
Chris struggled to tell me the rest. “About a week ago, I confronted Tyler about the hedge fund and she twisted everything. She told me not to worry about it. Then, she started coming on to me.”
I pushed myself back and leaned on the counter, not sure if I wanted to hear the rest. It was as if I were hearing a story about some other couple. Friends, a neighbor, or a co-worker. Not us.
“Since then, she’s been touching me, suggesting we meet up after work, trying to get me to stay late. I avoided her until one of the other partners asked for help finishing a project. He wanted it done that night because he and Tyler needed to present it the next morning.”
Chris frowned. “Tyler knew all about it. She stayed late, too. She walked by my office ten times an hour. Right then, I knew she’d requested that I make the changes. They could have had any of the other associates finish up the presentation.”
I couldn’t say a word. I wanted to cover my ears and go back to bed, not listen to this. And it was only going to get worse.
“So, there’s a DVD camcorder in the boardroom. It’s used to tape and critique presentations.” Chris looked into my eyes. “I set it up to record, right before I went into the room to run through the changes.”
My hand flew to my lips.
Chris continued, “She didn’t have any idea, of course. Then, when everyone left the office and she came in, I recorded it all.”
“All…of what?” I was afraid to ask, but had to know.
“The whole thing.” Chris’ eyes narrowed. “She asked me to keep quiet about the hedge fund. When I said no, she started taking off her clothes.”
His words spilled out, quickly now. “I asked her to leave. She wouldn’t. She tried to kiss me. She told me she wanted to have sex in the boardroom. Right then and there. When I said no again, she lost it.”
“That…was all…recorded?” I felt sick. I could barely get the words out.
Chris nodded emphatically. “I’m positive. I checked, after Tyler finally left the room. She was in a rage. She threatened to have me fired if I didn’t do what she wanted.”
I closed my eyes to shut out the image. Thank God I walked away from Rick. Thank God I didn’t let it go that far.
Chris sat silent, his eyes focused on the glow of the lamp.
“So what now?” I asked quietly. I wanted to believe that it happened the way he said.
Chris looked at me, then at the floor. “Melissa, I quit. The DVD will be delivered to the president of the company tomorrow—at his house—with my resignation letter. I explained about Tyler and the hedge fund. I made it clear that I couldn’t work for a manager who uses those sort of tactics.”
My head ached. Is he telling the truth? What will happen now?
Chris kept talking. “I don’t want you to worry. We have savings and several mutual funds. And I can get something else. There are other opportunities; plenty of companies have approached me in the past. Hopefully, someone will hire me, even in this economy.”
He took a breath. “And, so, while we’re on the subject of money and people, if you still want to know, I’ll tell you what happened with my parents—”
The phone on the counter started to ring.
“Mrs. Moore?” It was the nursing home. The woman on the other line rushed to speak. “I apologize for the late call. It’s about your mother.”
Chapter 53
“What’s wrong?” My heart contracted and released. I motioned to Chris. “Did something happen to Mother? Is she all right?”
“She started being a bit combative last night. Your mother wouldn’t eat, pushed her dinner away, threw her plate on the floor. Later, she slapped one of the nurses who tried to help her comb her hair and brush her teeth.”
I winced, the thought painful. “I’m so sorry.”
My regret was a minor speed bump.
“About twenty minutes ago, your mother tried to get out of bed. We think she fell, then tried to crawl toward the door. The nurses doing rounds found her on the floor. There’s a small bruise on her elbow. We just wanted to let you know what was going on. The doctor on call is checking on her now.”
“Thank you,” I said, already walking toward the door. “I’ll be there soon. I’d like to see her.” I looked at Chris. “Mother fell out of her bed and bumped her elbow. Her behavior’s getting worse. I need to see her.”
Chris blocked my way with his arm. “I’m going with you. I’ll drive.” He grabbed the keys to the car and hit the stairs. I gathered a comb from my purse and raked it through my hair.
Chris, already in the garage, cranked the engine when he saw me. The dashboard lit up and cast an orange glow as I slid into my seat and buckled in. We backed out of the driveway and onto the street. Chris didn’t hesitate, didn’t turn on the radio. The Volvo’s tires gripped the asphalt as we sped off.
I cursed Mother’s dementia. The disease. Cells being killed, hundreds at a time. The subtle changes were easier to overlook in the noise and daylight. More memory loss, confusion. Mother’s disconnect was easy to explain.
But what about Chris? When had this all happened? Why hadn’t he told me sooner?
In the darkness of the car, I searched for words, other explanations. For Mother, for Chris. All of it.
I stole a glance at Chris. He stayed focused, hands on the wheel, eyes on the street signs. One final turn.
Chris jerked the car to an awkward stop and cut the engine. The slam of our car doors echoed across the empt
y parking lot.
At the nursing home entrance, huge glass double-doors whisked open. The smell of antiseptic and cleaning solution permeated the air.
The doctor met us at Mother’s door. He talked quickly, in short bursts of medical jargon. Mother appeared to be fine. “We’ll do an x-ray in the morning to be safe, but her elbow doesn’t appear to be bothering her. Just bruised and tender.”
Chris and I exchanged a relieved look.
The doctor glanced at Mother’s chart. His thick finger ran down the top page. “The dementia. Diagnosed more than two years ago?”
“Yes,” I replied. “Sometimes, she’s her old self. She recognizes me and talks like nothing’s wrong. Then, other times, it’s like I’m a stranger and she gets upset and overreacts to things, even when people are trying to help her.”
“She is very confused tonight,” the doctor agreed, “which has made her agitated. We gave her something to help her rest and relax.” He stopped and made a note on Mother’s chart. “You can go in and see her now. Just for a moment, though. She’ll be sleepy. I’ll be back to check on her in a bit.”
Chris’s keys jingled as he set them down on the table next to Mother’s bed. Her eyes fluttered open. For a moment, Mother seemed to recognize me. She blinked several times, as if she were trying to bring my face into focus, raised one hand, and started to speak.
“Nurse, please, could you bring me something to drink?” she asked, her voice weak. One finger lifted from the bed and pointed at the water pitcher. “I’ve asked so many times and no one will help me.”
“Mother, it’s me, Melissa.” I reached for the water pitcher carefully. “And Chris.”
Mother regarded us both with suspicion. “I don’t remember you.” She squinted at my husband. “What are you doing here? What do you want? Her voice raised an octave and her mouth started to quiver.
“Mother,” I repeated slowly, one hand on my chest. “Don’t you remember? I’m your daughter. Chris is your son-in-law.”
Mother twitched with confusion. “Nurse,” she called out.
The nurse on duty appeared in the doorway. It wasn’t Sharice. “It’s late. Everyone’s tired. I can understand you’d like to visit with your mother. But she’s in no condition to have visitors right now. After she gets some sleep, she’ll feel better.”
“All right,” I agreed.
The nurse’s eyes were full of empathy. “Maybe she’ll recognize you then.”
Chris led me back to the car. I was overwhelmed with disappointment. We rode home, the nurse’s words playing over in my head. Every now and then, Chris reached over and patted my hand. He didn’t need to say a thing. He knew.
Maybe she’ll recognize you then.
Chapter 54
The steam rose from our coffee cups as Chris and I sat on the porch early Saturday and watched the street come alive with sounds and light. Birds chirped and played on the lawn. I should have been tired. Exhausted. I was wide-awake.
Chris seemed lost in his own thoughts. He stood and walked over to the sidewalk to pick up the Wall Street Journal and Telegraph . But when he came back, instead of opening the Journal and getting buried in the day’s news, he set both down next to his feet.
All at once, the tears came. Hot and wet, coursing down my cheeks in rivulets. I needed a bucket to catch them all. Chris knelt down next to my chair, wiping away the wetness from my face with both hands. He let me cry it out.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he said finally. “What can I do to make it better?”
I sniffled and tried to stop sobbing. “You can’t do anything,” I replied. “Everything’s a mess. My mother doesn’t know me. You’ve got to decide about your work. I have to talk to Drew about my job at the station.” I stopped.
Chris stood and pulled his chair closer to mine. He took my hand in his and squeezed it. “It is too much for any one person to handle. But we can do it. Together.”
Something in the sound of his voice made me want to believe him. He put his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands to look at me straight on.
“First of all, I’ll figure something out with work. I don’t want you to worry.”
“That’s a little difficult…”
“I know. I need to talk to a lawyer, discuss options. Figure out where to go next.”
“All right.” That made sense. He had a next step.
“Second, your mother gave everyone a big scare,” Chris said. “That always makes things worse. Maybe there’s a new medication the doctors haven’t tried, or there’s a way she can spend some more time with us here at the house. Maybe that would help.”
“Maybe.” All I could think was that I was going to lose her. And now, especially since I’d found her notebook, her stories about us, I wanted to make things right. I wanted to talk. There were things I needed to say to Mother. Now, I might not get a chance.
Chris patted my arm. “Let’s see what the x-rays show. And you said she has a check-up this week. That’ll help us decide what to do.”
“Okay.”
We rocked on the swing and sipped our coffee.
“What about your folks? You were going to tell me.”
Chris rubbed his hands together. “Melissa, it hurts me to say this. The whole issue, all of the donations to the medical center and other places, it was all to punish me.”
“Punish you?”
“My parents didn’t want us to get married.” He lifted his palms and shrugged. “When we broke up and I went home, they pushed me into marrying their friends’ daughter. She had a trust fund, the family was well connected. In their minds, it was perfect.”
“So, they gave you an ultimatum?”
The answer was obvious. Of course they did. It all made sense; I had chosen not to see it.
“That’s why they cut you out of their will?” I exclaimed. “That’s the reason?”
Chris nodded. “It was my decision. I knew we could make it by ourselves.”
“I wish you had told me a long time ago. I guess it wouldn’t have changed anything.”
“No,” he shook his head.
“I understand.”
Opening up about his parents was a huge step for Chris. And he’d made a huge sacrifice for me. It took guts, bravery, and love. An incredible amount.
He cleared his throat. “Let’s talk about you for a minute, okay?”
I reached over and took his hand.
Chris looked out into the front yard, then back at me. “And so, what about the station? Is Drew going to hire someone for Alyssa’s job?”
“I’m going to talk to Drew soon. Chris, I want to stay in this job.” There, I said it out loud.
“Really? And give up producing?”
“Really.”
Chris turned to face me. “Okay. You should go for it, then. I kind of suspected that’s what might happen.” He inhaled deeply. “I’ve been so wrapped up with my work issues, I really haven’t told you what a good job you’re doing. You’ve been a trooper. Everyone says so.”
I smiled.
Chris rubbed my shoulder. “But what else is bothering you? There’s something. I can tell.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Well, two things, really, that turned out to be nothing,” I started to say.
“Come on,” Chris urged.
Gosh, I was nervous now. I felt like we needed Dr. Phil here. Or Candace. It was scary. I debated about running back into the house and skipping this part of the discussion. But that wouldn’t be fair to Chris, me, or our marriage.
Here goes.
“Rick Roberts kind of made a pass at me. At the station.”
Chris turned white. “Kind of?”
“Nothing happened. He didn’t touch me. He almost did. And I freaked out.”
My husband winced.
“I made it totally clear that he was in the wrong, I wasn’t interested, and that I would get him in huge trouble if he tried anything funny.” I bit my lip. “He ended up apologizing and swore he
would back off and behave. He promised it would never happen again.”
“Do you believe him?” Chris asked. His forehead wrinkled. I could tell he was angry.
“Well,” I said. “I told him there was no way he could afford another divorce. He knows I’d call his wife.”
Chris leaned back. “Wow.” He shook his head. “Do I need to talk to him? Say something?”
“No, that would just make it worse,” I said. “I want to put it behind me. Is that okay?”
He nodded, thinking about what I’d said. “Let me know if anything else happens.” He peered into my eyes. “So, what’s the other issue?”
I pressed a hand to my belly. “Well, I’d been feeling awful, with on and off stomach cramps and nausea. Finally, it was happening so much that I went to see a doctor.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Chris knitted his brows.
“I’m sorry. I thought I was imagining things. Then it didn’t go away. The doctor’s office had this last minute appointment,” I explained. “So, while she was running some tests, I know this sounds crazy…”
Chris wrinkled his forehead. “What? What happened?”
“I thought I might be pregnant.”
My husband was wide-eyed. “But, you’re not?”
“No.”
He fell back against the swing. “Whoa. Sheesh.”
“And so, I got to thinking about babies and what having another child would mean. And then, I worried about Kelly being gone. I thought about Candace and her girls, how Jaden wandered off the other day. I got all upset.”
Chris took my hand.
“And then I had just done this adoption interview about how people give up their babies and they talked about how there were no unwanted children, just unfound families. It was great and such an inspirational piece.”
My throat started to hurt. I fought back my emotions so that I could explain. “So, in the doctor’s office, I’m thinking about all of this and kind of getting excited. When the test results came back, I was just sad. Kind of relieved. But mostly sad.”