A drink in hand, Pebble was weaving her way through the crowded terrace, making her way down from the inn towards the calm, glistening sea quietly lapping the shore. Pebble wanted to sit by herself by the icy waters of the Sound for a few minutes – away from the booze and the partying. Not that it wasn’t one of those wonderful parties – the kind only Danes can invent when it’s time to start celebrating the advent of summer. Einar was a serious party-maker – no person or detail, no matter how insignificant, was forgotten. Einar didn’t just invite the select team of people who worked for him on the Parisian fur show – he invited every employee of the Republic Group (including the sandwich lady in the canteen), and everyone and their uncle employed by the Republic Group’s growing subsidiaries in Sweden and Norway.
It was 11:30 p.m. when Pebble sat down on a wooden bench by the sea, a glass of Southern Comfort on the rocks in her hand. Far behind her were sounds of drunken laughter and the smooth music of the Katrine Madsen Trio. Pebble wasn’t drunk, just very, very relaxed. The evening had been beautiful, everyone treated her like a queen as she laughed and flirted with countless dashing young men and women in the Republic family. Being Ms. Beach, l’assistant de Einar Bro, was more than fun – she had immediate access to the whole corporate culture of the Republic Group. It was a whole new way of life.
Who would ever have guessed? Pebble sunk down into the comfortableness of being just exactly who she was. She knew she was experiencing something unique. How many times in my life have I felt like this? She couldn’t remember when it had happened before. Maybe never. Pebble might have cried (for joy and the turn of fortune in her life) if Einar hadn’t disturbed her special moment.
“Pebble,” his voice was strange, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you…” He had come up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder.
She turned around in surprise – she wasn’t expecting anyone. She thought she’d slipped away quite unnoticed. But Einar found her, pulling her from a special place she’d never visited before…no wonder she was stunned.
“Einar?”
“May I sit down…”
She moved over on the bench, making room for him. She was still not quite there.
“What a magnificent night.” She tried to come back to the now.
“Pebble…?”
“Yes, Einar?” She could feel his warmth besides her. She’d never seen him drunk before.
“Isn’t it a wonderful bunch of people…?” He waved his arm back towards the inn and the crowded terrace.
“Yes, really.” She meant it.
“My people…” his voice was slurred. “Every one of them loves me…you know.”
She’d never heard him speak like that. But that’s the way liquor works…“They do…”
“Einar, let’s go back…We can’t just both disappear like this…” Pebble felt uncomfortable. “It’s not polite for the star of the show to…” She was trying to be funny, feeling the darkness of his mood surrounding her.
“Oh come on, Pebble, nobody’s going to miss us for a few minutes. And besides, it’s not often I get to sit with you like this…we’re always so busy when we’re together…”
He moved closer. He was wearing one of those wonderful designer shirts he was so fond of. In the darkness, his frog-like features were softer.
“Pebble…” He tried to put his arm around her.
“Please, Einar…”
“Aren’t you cold?”
“No. I’m okay…”
Einar gazed out towards the lights twinkling in the distance along the coast of Sweden. “You just don’t understand, Pebble…my wife’s still seeing Peter Cato…” Pebble was surprised at Einar’s admission, Why is he telling me this? Since that dinner at the Hotel d’Angleterre, Einar never talked about his private life with Pebble again.
“Birgitte’s still seeing him…after all these years.” It was almost as if Einar was talking more to himself than to Pebble. “I thought they’d given up on each other…long ago…”
Pebble didn’t know what to say.
“I know I’ve never been an attractive man…”
God, I wish he’d stop. Pebble felt sorry for him, but didn’t know how to deal with his revelations. He is my boss. “Come on, Einar, it can’t be that bad.” She let him sit close. He smelled of cologne and booze.
“You know, Pebble, Peter was my best friend once. And now he hates me. And my wife hates me, too.”
“It can‘t be true. I don’t believe it.”
“It is…it really is.”
“Then why don’t you get divorced?” Pebble asked. She surprised herself by asking. “I mean what the hell – I’m divorced. Jesus, everybody’s divorced.”
“Divorced?” Einar laughed. “Birgitte would never consider it.”
“Well, why not? Almost everybody I know is divorced.”
Einar laughed, “You don’t know my wife.”
“No, I don’t…but I don’t understand, Einar. If she really hates you, why would she want to stay married to you?”
“Well, first there is my money…” He paused and took another swig of his drink. “Yes my money, Birgitte really likes money…”
Pebble had heard about their mansion up the coast in Humlebaek, but she’d never seen it.
“And then there are the children. Birgitte was brought up on the West Coast of Jutland – she comes from a very religious family.” Einar turned and looked at Pebble. “But a New Yorker like you would never understand.” He laughed bitterly. “I have the most wonderful daughter, Pebble. Wonderful. Christina is simply the apple of my eye…But I guess you can understand the money part…first and last, Birgitte loves my money.”
“It can’t be that bad…”
But Einar wasn’t listening. He was drunk and mad. “It’s just a crying shame…being married to someone who hates you. Nobody ever despised you I’m sure…so you’ll never understand.” Einar looked down into his glass and laughed again. “The two of them were made for each other…they really are.”
Pebble wished she could extricate herself from the situation. Einar’s my boss. I don’t want to know this. But she couldn’t just walk away.
“Einar, let’s talk about something else…”
“You know why Birgitte isn’t here? That bitch…do you know why?”
Pebble didn’t say a word. I guess I have to know.
Einar put his arm around Pebble. As she turned to push him gently away, she noticed tears on his cheeks.
“Oh Einar…” He looked pitiful and forlorn in the light of the moon. Poor little frog face. The waves lapped gently on the shore. Pebble wished they would comfort him. “Einar,” she started out slowly, in her kindest voice, “this is a night to be happy – for you – and for everybody in the Republic Group…I mean, without you where would we be? You’re such a talented person…” She knew it sounded corny, but she wanted to comfort him. “Look how successful you are…” She knew her words sounded empty.
“Talented – me?” He almost laughed. “What difference does it make, when I’m so lonely and unhappy?”
“Oh, Einar, just think of all the people who admire you.” She tried, but her words just seemed to roll off his back.
“You’re such a nice person, Pebble…but you can’t imagine how it is being married to Birgitte – that bitch…Do you know…it’s unbelievable…I could wring her neck…” Suddenly he laughed, but Pebble didn’t like the way he sounded. She was glad they were so far away from the crowded terrace. What if somebody sees him like this? She didn’t quite understand why, but she wanted to protect him.
“That bitch…do you know she was the one who betrayed Peter?” Pebble had no idea what he was talking about. Must be some private matter I’m not privy to.
“She betrayed him, she really did.” It was almost as if he was mumbling to himself. “That two-faced bitch…Oh if only I could wring her neck…I’d do it gladly…”
“Come on, Einar, let’s go back to the party. You’re j
ust getting yourself all worked up for nothing.” She stood up and took his arm and tried to pull him up from the bench.
“No, no.” He withdrew his arm from her grip. “Do you know what she did – what my wife did?”
“Einar, please…I really don’t want to know…” But she sat down again, afraid to leave him alone in the mood he was in.
“Birgitte and I were having this insane fight – it was months and months ago – around the time I found out she was seeing Peter again…And I said to her (almost in jest) something like –‘what can you possibly see in that sweet-talking conman?’ which really burned her up (of course) because according to Birgitte, Peter is God’s gift to womankind. Well, anyway…she was defending him, she really was, telling me how smart he is…and all that stuff…” Einar kept pushing his hair back from his forehead nervously as he talked and rattled the ice in his empty glass. “And, Pebble, I just sat there…I mean I was just trying to be calm, and so I just sat there. I remember we were in the bedroom and I was sitting on the bed and she was ranting and raving – really hysterical, and all I could think about was how to end the discussion and get out of there. But she wouldn’t stop. She just went on and on about me and about Peter. And when I finally stood up and told her enough was enough, she said ‘Einar, you just don’t have any idea how talented Peter really is…’ and to prove it or maybe just to humiliate me a little bit more (like it wasn’t bad enough she was seeing him again), she flings a bit of unpleasant business information right smack in my face.”
“You’ve got to understand, Pebble, that even though Birgitte’s got a good head on her shoulders, we almost never discuss business. Well Birgitte says to me – just like that – Peter’s American copywriter developed this wonderful campaign for him so he’s launching WonderLift soon, way ahead of time. You see Birgitte probably just heard in passing that both Peter and I were representing similar products and that we were competing for the same market. She probably didn’t think anything of it at the time, but suddenly, when she was going for my throat, it dawned on her that she had a bit of information she could hurt me with.
“So I said –‘oh yeah?’ And she said –‘yeah.’ And I said –‘well, how do you know?’ And she says –‘well I saw some papers on his desk the other day…’ And I say…‘oh come on, Birgitte…why should I believe you, for all I know you’re just trying to hurt me?’ And the bitch says –‘you can believe me Einar because I can tell you that they’re going to be launching WonderLift on February 20th’…” and Einar laughed and laughed. “Isn’t that amazing, Pebble?”
Pebble sat as if turned to stone.
Einar slapped his knee drunkenly and kept on laughing at his story. “So you see, my charming wife betrayed her lover, too…”
Einar was silent for a while. Then he said, “It sure does serve him right…”
Pebble stared out at the quiet sea. So I didn’t tell Einar, she muttered to herself.
“And you know something,” Einar was so drunk he didn’t realize what he’d just told Pebble, “I called up YourLift the very next morning and moved the launch fast forward. Poor Peter…anybody my wife touches is in for trouble…”
So I didn’t tell Einar!
Einar was quiet, lost in thought. The sea was utterly silent. “The funny thing is…since this happened, Birgitte’s been behaving a little more civilly…she knows I can ruin her affair with Peter any day of the week. All I have to do is tell him it was Birgitte who told me the WonderLift launch date.”
* * *
The next day Pebble told Irene.
“It wasn’t me.”
Irene had heard the story before, but at that time Pebble wasn’t sure.
“Well, what are you going to do about it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, maybe you should think about it.” Irene was surprised that Pebble was so subdued. As far as Irene was concerned, Pebble should be in a stark, raging fury. “I mean, we’re talking about your career, Pebble. Your life.”
“I know, but I’m just so stunned – I almost can’t believe it.”
“Believe what – that you were the fall guy?”
“Well, not just that – I mean the way this whole thing has changed my life.”
“What do you mean?” Irene was puzzled.
“Well, I mean I’d never be working for Einar if this hadn’t happened.”
“So?”
“Well, the irony of the whole situation is that I love working for that man. He’s a terrific boss and I’m learning so much. It’s really changed my perspective on a lot of things.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know…like about myself…like about how much talent for business I have.”
“Why do you think Einar hired you?”
“Well, originally I thought it was because I was a talented copywriter.”
“And now?”
“And now I’m not so sure.”
“Do you think he hired you out of pity?”
Pebble was aghast, “I never thought of it that way…I just thought maybe he hired me to cover up the WonderLift thing…No, I never thought it was out of pity.”
“And now?”
Pebble thought about it for a moment, “I really don’t know.” It was a weird thought.
“You really like Einar, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I guess I do.”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Pebble. You’re not the first woman in the world to be fascinated by powerful men. But I think you should be aware of it.”
Pebble was almost mad. Irene doesn’t understand a thing.
“That’s not fair, Irene, there’s more to it than that. Einar’s so intelligent and so capable. And he’s given me so many wonderful opportunities.”
“But, Pebble, you seem to forget, you’re intelligent and capable, too. Why should you always be dependent on other people? Why does somebody else have to give you the opportunity all the time?” Irene was big like a man again. The windows to her office were open wide. Outside, small groups of people were sitting along the canal, drinking beers in the bright sunshine. The leaves on the trees glistened green in the sunshine. “Why are you always servicing others, Pebble? Why you?”
Pebble couldn’t answer Irene’s question. No matter how much progress I make, she always wants me to make more. Pebble tried to explain the feeling she had on the bench just before Einar found her and disturbed her. “It was the most wonderful feeling I ever had in my whole life…I don’t know how to describe it. It was like I was so whole…in a way I’ve never been before in my life. I was so comfortable being me. Sounds strange, doesn’t it? But I’ve never felt like that before in my whole life.”
“It doesn’t sound strange at all,” said Irene, sitting large and comfortably in her chair. “In fact, it sounds very good, Pebble, but it’s just not enough…this feeling good. I mean what are you going to do about your situation now? It’s not enough that Einar opens a lot of doors for you. What about your good name? You’ve got to think of your reputation – or have you forgotten what everybody else in the business must be saying about you?”
“I guess I’ve tried hard to forget.” Which was true, Pebble was good at looking the other way when the truth was unpleasant.
“Don’t you think Peter Cato should know it wasn’t you? Or have you forgotten the panic you were in when all this happened? You were almost hysterical. Remember? You said nobody would ever give you work again. At that time, you felt you were forced into taking the job Einar offered you. So in a way, it’s besides the point that you like it so much.”
“But I can’t just go in there and tell Peter.”
“Why not?”
“Well, for one, why should he believe me? I mean it’s an incredible story in a way.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, that Einar learned the launch date from his own wife. Peter didn’t tell Birgitte or anything. She just happened to see some papers on his desk by accident. Can
’t you just imagine how it happened…”
“So what if it’s incredible…” Irene was persistent; she didn’t like having her clients slandered. “It’s the truth, Pebble.”
“Okay, say I do go to Peter and tell him the truth; what good will it do? It’s not like I have any proof…I mean, Birgitte is Peter’s mistress…I mean, how can I prove that she told him? Look, maybe Peter and Birgitte really do love each other – how should I know? All I do know is I don’t see any reason why Peter should believe me…he’d probably throw me out of his office again.” Pebble laughed.
“I see what you mean,” said Irene, laughing, too. “But even if he throws you out, he’ll have to think about what you said afterwards.”
Pebble didn’t reply. She knew Irene was right. She had to clear her name.
Irene tried a new tact. “Let’s try something else, Pebble.”
Pebble glanced at her watch before saying, “Okay.” There was still a half an hour left of her session. God, I’ve had more than enough of Irene for today!
Irene got up and placed an empty chair before Pebble.
Oh no, not another one of her exercises.
“I want you to imagine that Peter Cato is sitting in this chair, Pebble.”
Pebble sighed; she was getting wise to Irene’s methods. “Yeah, and tell you what I’d like to say to him?”
Irene laughed.
“You know, I’d like to beat his brains out…”
“Really, why?”
“Well, he didn’t treat me fairly.”
“Are you sure? Remember he thinks you told Einar the launch date, right?”
“Yeah, that’s true.” Pebble was crestfallen.
“Actually, what I wanted you to do was complete the encounter you had with him the day you came back from Greenland. You were so stunned by his accusations that you practically didn’t defend yourself, did you?”
Adventures of Pebble Beach Page 17