by Elle Limpkin
“That’s what I wanted to discuss with you. I got news that Frank died.”
“Oh! What does this mean for you?”
“I don’t know. I’m pretty nervous about it. The senior managers have locked themselves in a conference room for the past hour. I guess they’ll decide. If they open the position, I fully intend to apply.”
“You like it?”
“I love it. Don’t tell anyone in my former team, but it’s more fun than what I used to do. I get to talk to customers and negotiate the contracts from the beginning before they get to the development team. It’s what I want to do.”
“Well then, I wish you get the job,” Eda said, chancing one more bite. No, the taste was still unsatisfactory. “Did you talk to Johan today?”
“Last night. Actually, Bud did, not me. He told him about what that bastard said. Thinking that his genes are inside JP makes me sick. We’re doing everything to help, but I don’t think Johan is ready to give him all that money. I can’t say I blame him in his situation.”
“What do you mean by his situation?”
Talia hesitated. “It’s Clara’s fault, really,” Talia said after a long time of chewing discreetly from the salad. “I hated her.”
“I didn’t realize you’ve met,” Eda said, giving up on the sandwich completely.
“We did a couple of times. She was so annoying; I don’t know how Johan put up with her. I tried to tell him she was bad news, but he was adamant about me staying out of his marriage. I guess he’s sorry about that now.”
“Why?”
“Because she left him in a lot of debt. She had lots of credit cards, all maxed out, and he inherited all that. Before she died, he was planning to start his own business. Of course, he couldn’t do it anymore and had to stay at that awful company.” Talia shook her head. “He said it’ll take one more year to get back on track. If he has to pay Michael, it will set him back again. And he doesn’t want to let money problems affect JP. He wants to do it all—good schools and everything. I hope his efforts won’t prove to be in vain.” Talia kept rearranging the salad pensively.
“You can’t think that. Nothing will stop Johan now that he knows who JP’s biological father is.”
“Yes, but even with Michael’s cooperation, there are still risks. I mean, he could be incompatible even as his father.” Talia pushed the bowl of salad away and settled for a glass of water. “We didn’t want to have our wedding now with everything that’s happening with JP, but Johan insisted. From the night Bud proposed, he keeps saying that the best thing we can do for him and JP is to go on with our plans.”
∞∞∞
The news of Frank’s death reached the entire office a couple of hours later when the management sent an email communication. "We regret to inform you that our beloved colleague... We were all proud to have worked with him for the past ten years. Our hearts go to his family... Even though we deeply regret his passing, we have to move on. New communications will follow.”
The next official communication followed five minutes later, giving her colleagues too little time to debate what would happen with Frank’s position. Talia would fill the position permanently after an outstanding performance in her temporary role.
“If I get another email saying Matilda will be our boss permanently, I’m gonna throw up,” a colleague whose name Eda couldn’t remember said.
At intervened. “She’s not as bad as I thought.”
“I know, right?” Lari said. “I think she had a stroke or something. Yesterday we were waiting in line for coffee, and she told me that my recommendation to improve HTS response was brilliant.”
Their exchange solidified the smile on Eda’s face. But despite a clear managerial improvement from Matilda’s side, one that she planned to keep working on, the team lead position was opened for contest.
∞∞∞
The call she’d been waiting for all day arrived a couple of hours before the schedule ended.
“I need a wife,” Johan said.
Time stopped while she was staring at a fixed dot on the ceiling. “What?” she eventually gasped.
“I’ll tell you all about it when you get here.”
“Where?”
Johan thought for a few moments. “That gas station where we talked to Michael. How fast can you get here?”
As it turned out, pretty fast. After receiving permission from Matilda to leave early, either because she genuinely wanted to help or because she was too preoccupied to care, Eda drove top legal speed to her destination.
Despite her promptness, Johan was tapping the side window incessantly, opening the side door as soon as he saw her.
“Come on, come on, come on,” he rushed.
Once inside his spacious SUV, Eda’s questions began.
“I’ll tell you everything; just stop asking.”
Johan didn’t begin his story until she agreed with a nod.
“I came back here early morning, went through their garbage a tiny bit. I know it’s disgusting, but I found the names of the actual owners, Donna and Richard Queen. I googled them. From what I could tell, they’re a nice couple in their fifties. No red flags whatsoever.”
“Why is Michael living with them?”
“I’ll get to that part soon,” he said, much to her annoyance. “I’d decided to leave to avoid suspicion when Michael came out of the house.”
“You didn’t punch him again, did you?”
Johan laughed. “No.”
“Too bad.”
“I was hiding behind that big oak tree in front of the next house, so he didn’t even see me. But I almost didn’t recognize him. He was all suited up, briefcase and everything. You’d think he was the CEO of some multinational.”
“You mean he has a job?”
“No. I followed him. He went inside the gas station and came out wearing the same jeans you saw him wear the other day.”
“So, he's was faking having a job,” Eda concluded. “Why?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. After he left the gas station, I turned back. The last thing I wanted was to be present at any of his escapades. So, I wandered the streets, hoping to find something useful.”
“Didn’t anyone notice you were there?” Eda asked, fixing her gaze at an ad banner that was coming into focus. A doctor with sparkling white teeth invited people to plastic surgery.
“They sure did. One guy waved me to stop the car, asked what I was doing there and all that,” Johan explained. He took a break, distracted by something in the rearview mirror.
“What did you say?”
“What else? That I was looking to buy a house.”
“Very original,” Eda commented.
“That was all I could think of. Thing is, there is a house for sale. We didn’t see it before because it’s much deeper into the suburb. The man who stopped me, Sam, is a realtor.”
Eda laughed. “Ha! I bet he stops every unfamiliar car that passes by, searching for clients.”
They were already deep into the suburbs, with beautiful houses that took the eye. It was nice, maybe too nice.
“We went to see the house,” Johan continued. “It’s gorgeous. If it weren’t so close to Michael, I swear I’d be interested.”
“Where are we going, then?”
“Sam invited me and my wife—I told him I was married—he invited us to a gathering at, guess who, Michael’s house.”
“Wait. What gathering? And why would Sam invite you?”
As the house in question was coming into view, Johan sped up the exposition. “It’s for the couple moving out; they don’t have any furniture left, so the Queens offered to house the farewell party. Sam invited me because... well, I might have said I was considering buying the house. He wanted to introduce us to the neighborhood, sure that we wouldn’t be able to resist it.” Johan ended with a grin.
Eda loved going into any situation fully prepared; this was the opposite of that.
The door opened, and a young man
displaying his shiny baldness with pride waved them to come inside before Eda had the chance to request more details. Instead, she opened the side door, albeit reluctantly, and shaped her mouth into a grin that would remain stuck the rest of the evening.
“You must be Eda!” the man exclaimed, ignoring Johan completely. “Your husband told me you are gorgeous. I can see he was right.”
“Thank you, that’s so kind,” Eda said graciously, shaking his hand.
“I’m Samuel Price, but my friends call me Sam. I have to tell you, dear, that this place is absolute heaven. All the people living here are good—I'm sure you’d fit right in. There’s even a school for your son two streets away.”
Eda could see his lips moving but stopped paying attention to his words. It was blah blah blah buy the house blah.
The host came to her rescue.
“Sam, stop bothering my guests,” Donna Queen said, spreading light and warmth around her.
“They’re my guests,” Sam protested, tapping his sizable abdomen.
“It’s my house,” she argued. To the duo, she said, “Come inside, please. I’m Donna Queen, your host for the evening.”
It was hard to imagine that Michael was biologically related to such a lovely person. Maybe Michael was some stranger who took advantage of her kindness. That was as good an explanation as any.
The exquisite taste of the interior design made her believe that Donna had chosen the paint and the decorations, down to the smallest items.
“This is a lovely house,” Eda confessed her admiration.
“Thank you, dear! I’ve spent three years in India when I was younger. Most of what you see here was inspired by my time there.”
“The house is rather big, isn’t it? Do you and your husband live alone?”
Donna stopped her advancement. “Oh no, dear. We have a nephew living with us.”
“Oh?” Eda asked.
“His parents died when he was 10. Been staying with us ever since.” A shadow covered her for a brief moment.
“Is anything wrong?”
“No. Michael is like our son, and even though there have been issues in the past, he’s our pride and joy.”
Eda’s heart would’ve split in two if she were the one who had to inform this kind lady that her nephew was light years away from anything resembling pride or joy. She was content to display a smile, hoping Johan would swallow any remark he might have had.
They mingled quickly into the crowd, unsure whether people’s kindness was nothing more than faked diplomacy. It took little time for them to immerse into the group, faking being a couple so well that Eda forgot for a moment that they were lying. That she and Johan weren’t married. That they had no intention of moving to the neighborhood.
“Sam said you’re interested in our house,” said Alan, a man with eyes so black they seemed hollow.
Even though her motivation was as good as it could get, lying to so many people tore her inside. “I haven’t seen it yet, but Johan says it’s wonderful.”
As if to strengthen the lie, Johan wrapped his arm around her waist and glued her body to his.
“I remember when you were so passionate about me, Alan,” his wife said, fixing the fake couple with a belly the size of a planet and a blue gaze which stood out against her dark skin.
“I was this passionate about you fairly recently,” he protested.
Her chuckle filled the room. “I’m talking about the obvious love in their eyes. You must be married what, a year?”
“Something like that,” Johan answered, tightening his arm around her even further and completing the image with a quick kiss on her cheek that left a burning spot behind.
“I thought you have a 5-year old,” Alan said.
Eda was quick to explain before Johan spread the lie even further. “JP is Johan’s son from a previous marriage.”
“Oh, I see. So, no kids of your own?” she asked, caressing her belly.
“No.”
“Trust me, it will change your life,” she said. “This is my third.”
“Wow!”
“Can I ask why you are moving from this place? Seems idyllic,” Johan asked.
“I got a job in San Francisco,” Alan answered. “Makes for a commute too long for my taste.”
“I can’t believe I have to start everything all over again in another place. Find a school for kids, groceries stores, make friends, find a park that’s just right and close to home. It’s a pain,” his wife complained.
“Do you work, or?” Eda asked. Despite living in different areas, this woman’s life seemed too similar to Polly’s.
“I did when we got married. But Alan was a resident doctor when we had Eva, our first daughter, and worked crazy hours. I didn’t want our child to grow up barely seeing her parents, so I became a full-time mom. It was crazy hard at first, but now I can’t imagine ever going back to work. I wouldn’t have time either with three kids.”
Wild thoughts came rushing into Eda’s mind like a tsunami. What if their lie was true and she and Johan were married? JP would also be her son, her responsibility. In time, they may decide to have children of their own. Would that mean that life as she knew it would be damaged without repair? That she would lose everything she worked hard for and enjoyed doing her entire adult life?
She often thought that love had to be the only thing that made marriage bearable, but now she doubted it would be even that in her case. She loved Johan; she admitted that with pain, at least to herself. But was she the right person for him? He didn’t just need a companion for himself, someone to start life with, but was looking for a mother for his child, a role that seemed as unattainable as the moon.
“Are you okay?”
Eda glanced sideways to Johan. “Yes...yes, I’m fine. I need to freshen up a bit.”
She rushed to the bathroom she’d spotted during the tour of the house. As soon as she entered the small room with a blend of white and red all over the walls, she set her back against the cold door, letting herself slide down until she fully sat on the floor.
How could she forget, even for a moment, that her involvement in Johan’s life was temporary? It couldn’t go on past JP’s recovery. That was the condition imposed on herself that allowed her to get this far. Strangely, this idea moved farther from her as time passed, now hoping, even believing that a future with him was possible.
It wasn’t. She was far from what he needed, a housewife that spent her entire time raising the kids, going to the club, and making sure the house was in order. Unbearable! While Eda had never been preoccupied with a career or advancing to the highest levels in a company, she couldn’t stand the thought of a life deprived of the thing she loved most—programming.
Rebel tears watered the marble floor; Eda took a hand to her cheek, noticing the waterworks. Johan was a package deal, one that she could not handle. Especially children. There was not a doubt in her mind that she did not want to have children. While many of her friends would think that made her a horrible person, she refused to consider having a family to please them.
She hoped with all her heart that the Alan family, Polly, Talia, and Bud were all wrong, that Johan had no interest in her that went beyond pure friendship. In case he did, prolonging the situation would hurt him more. It had to end. The sooner, the better.
It took a long time before Eda felt in control enough to step out of the bathroom, strengthened by her decision and dreading what was to come.
Her quest to find Johan again took her throughout the house. This time, she allowed none of the beauty of the interior design or the cheer of the guests to swoop her in.
When she was ready to give up, the front door opened wide, letting Johan inside, with a raging Michael following him closely.
A Quick Goodbye
“I want you both to get the hell out of my house and never come back,” Michael spit when he was close enough to her to avoid being heard by anyone else.
“Let’s go,” Johan said, emotion
less.
After the rushed goodbyes, which involved some excuse Eda had forgotten two steps later, they got into the car and drove away.
“He was desperate to convince me to keep what I know about him to myself,” Johan answered her inquisitive glare. “He said that Richard and Donna can never know what his life had turned into; that they’d die of shame if they did. He invented having a job for them. They did their best to raise him well after his parents died, but he said that by that time he was already lost. He decided to give them the image of the nephew they wanted while leading the life he chose. Apparently, he cares about them.”
That Michael was capable of positive human emotions was a welcomed surprise. “Do you believe him?”
Johan narrowed his eyes, fixing the road. “I don’t know if I believe him. It doesn’t even matter if what he told me is true. He doesn’t want them to know what he’s been up to. I found the leverage you were talking about.”
They got what they wanted. They should bounce with joy. And yet, there was no room for joy.
“You don’t seem happy about it,” Eda commented.
He glanced sideways. “I know. I’m so sick of all this. Michael agreed to donate the bone marrow in exchange for our silence and our promise that we’ll never set foot in this neighborhood again. I hope you don’t mind I took the liberty to make that agreement in your name too.”
“Of course not,” she answered immediately. “Again, you don’t seem happy about it.”
“I am happy,” Johan said firmly. “I’m thinking what will happen if he’s not a match. He’s coming tomorrow morning to the hospital for the test.”
“How long until you know the results?”
“The test takes about half an hour.” Johan parked in the gas station, right near Eda’s car. “What if he’s not a match? I’ve spent the past couple of weeks thinking that if I find JP’s biological father, he’ll be fine. But the truth is that after all this, he may still not be able to donate. Or the transplant may not be successful. It’s a risky operation.”
Eda opened her mouth to say something as generic as It will be okay, but she shut it back immediately. Those were nothing but empty words that offered no real guarantees. He needed tangible help, not words.