by Hart, Megan
“Thanks, Sadie.” He stood, facing me. “I’ll need it.”
I felt the question on my face but it didn’t escape my lips.
Joe, however, seemed to understand me without my needing to speak. He put his hands in his pockets in a gesture I was shamed to find so familiar.
I’d sounded smug. He looked triumphant. He leaned in close, lowering his voice like he meant to tell me a secret, one more serious and titillating than any of the others. I knew before he said a word that he wasn’t going to let me be the one to finish this, after all. I wanted to slap him, angry at him but furious with myself for giving him the chance to end this, whatever it had been, on his terms. Yet all I could do was listen while he made that true.
“I asked her to marry me, Sadie. And she said yes.”
What had been lies? What had been truth? And in the end, did it matter?
In Joe’s stories he’d played the parts of prince and villain with equal skill…but I’d never been one of his stories. Would I become one? A secret story, kept to himself? Or had he already told Priscilla about our lunches and the stories shared? I guessed I’d never know.
There were no more chapters to this novel; Joe had written The End and there was no point in hoping for an epilogue. The story was over.
Sixteen
November
I didn’t know what to do with myself the first Friday in November. None of my clothes fit, my hair refused to curl, my mascara clumped. The air had the bite of snow, and I couldn’t find my gloves. My car smelled like onions. The universe was conspiring against me, the holiday atmosphere in my office suffocating, my body rebelling and demanding to be fed on a day I didn’t want to go to lunch.
I went out anyway. There are some things not even will power can control, and my hunger was making me nauseous and grouchy. I did avoid the atrium and the park. That entire side of town, in fact. I went to the mall meaning to grab a quick bite at a small sandwich café and maybe treat myself to retail therapy. Adam had banned Christmas from our house years ago, saying he hated the pomp and circumstance of celebrating a holiday he didn’t believe, but I had family and colleagues who still expected gifts.
The mall was crowded, not unexpectedly. I gave up the idea of trying to shop after buying only one gift, a picture frame for my mother. Jostled and bustled, I finally got in line at the café, placed my order, took my latte and looked for a place to sit. Spotting a table near the back, I headed for it. I wasn’t quite fast enough. A pair of ladies-who-lunch had apparently decided not to frequent their usual hoity-toity habitats and were slumming in the sandwich shop. They got to the table first, their cloud of perfume heady and expensive. I wanted to sneeze but didn’t even have the chance to do that before I was bumped from behind by someone pushing out of his seat. My bag hit the ground.
Someone bent to pick it up before I had a chance. Our hands touched. He let the bag go as I stood, clutching it.
“I hope it didn’t break,” said the man at the table.
“I think it’s fine.”
His smile was crooked, but friendly. He pointed to the empty seat across from him. “This seat’s empty, if you don’t mind sharing.”
I looked around, but there was no other place. I sat. “Thanks.”
We stared at each other for a few moments, strangers at a table. I sipped my latte self-consciously, uncertain what to say. My new companion seemed in no mood to break the silence, either. His broad, pleasant smile urged me to return it.
“I’m Greg, by the way.” He held out his hand, which I shook.
“Sadie.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Sadie.” His fingers squeezed mine briefly. His hand was very warm. In the next moment, so was my face.
I was saved at that moment by the arrival of the sandwich I’d ordered, and a scant minute later, Greg’s salad and soup. Around us the chatter of conversation rose and fell. It seemed rude not to talk to him, so I did.
It didn’t matter what we said. The weather was nice, yes, it was a shame about that fire downtown, of course the city needed new taxes like a cow needed a tennis racket. Greg carried the conversation without effort, leading me from topic to topic. The area became more and more crowded, necessitating us to move our chairs closer and closer. By the time we’d finished our lunches, we were sitting almost thigh to thigh.
He didn’t touch me on purpose. It was clearly the fault of the man behind us, who laughed loudly and shook his chair, causing Greg’s leg to rub mine. Just as it was the fault of the café employee squeezing by us for making Greg have to lean forward with his hand on my shoulder to keep from being bonked on the head by a tray. The napkin holder, too, conspired against us, for refusing to give up a napkin without Greg’s manly help.
Sitting next to Greg was like licking a battery. Shocking, sizzling and stupid. Each slight caress, every nonchalant stroke, echoed in the tightness of my nipples and the friction between my thighs. We danced, and if I fumbled the steps from lack of practice, Greg was a skilled enough partner to make up for it. I hadn’t thought it would be so easy to be seduced.
I didn’t want this. I craved it. I couldn’t. I would.
I didn’t.
If he’d been Joe, we’d have ended up going to a hotel room, or at least back to his car. But…he wasn’t Joe, this wasn’t as story. It was real life, and when lunch was over, so was the flirtation. When the crowds cleared and there could be no excuse to linger, Greg stood. I did, too. His gaze fell on the band on my finger. I looked at his hand, which wore a similar ring.
“It was nice meeting you, Sadie.”
“You too. Thanks for letting me share your table.”
He had a nice smile, but the heat between us, if there had been any beyond my imagination, had faded. “Anytime.”
I hadn’t done anything wrong, had done even less than in the hours I’d spent listening to Joe tell his tales of sexual excess. Yet I felt twice as bad as I’d ever felt about that, and it took me some hard thinking to figure out why. It came down to something simple. It wasn’t the stories but Joe himself I’d come to depend upon. Substituting a random, unexpected flirtation wasn’t harmless, not when it meant I was trying to replace something I’d come to care about very much with something pretending to be as important.
The parking garage wasn’t the best place for contemplation, but with one hand on my car and the other holding my bag, I closed my eyes and let myself think about what I’d been avoiding all day. It was the first Friday of November, and I hadn’t seen Joe. I might not ever see him again. The rest of my life would have no Joe in it. I’d lost something precious, and no matter how much things with Adam were changing, I missed what I’d had no right to have.
“Dr. Danning?”
I opened my eyes, turning, embarrassed at having been caught in such a socially awkward state. “Elle, hi!”
If Elle had seen my close-eyed contemplation, she didn’t show it. “How are you?”
“Busy,” I said with a small laugh designed to hide the shakiness of my voice. I stood up straight and offered my hand to Elle’s companion. “Hello, I’m Sadie Danning.”
“This is my mother.” Elle took a deep breath. “My mother and I have been shopping.”
“Have you?” I smiled. “That sounds nice.”
Mrs. Kavanagh snorted. “Nice? If you like trudging around store after store and buying nothing, yes. Very nice.”
Elle’s smile didn’t waver. “My mother thinks I need to update my wardrobe.”
Comparing the two of them, I couldn’t agree. Elle’s mother might have been dressed in pieces of obvious expense and classic style, but Elle wore her simple black skirt and pale blue cardigan with far more class. I gave Elle’s arm a quick squeeze.
“That’s a pretty sweater,” I told her. Yes, to make her mother grit her teeth.
Elle beamed. “Dan bought it for me.”
Again, Mrs. Kavanagh snorted. Elle gave her mother a narrow, sideways glance, which the older woman saw. “What?”
“My mother,” said Elle with a serenity that could only have come from long practice, “thinks Dan’s tastes sucks.”
“Language, Ella! Mother Mary!”
Elle’s sweet smile remained unchanged as she shrugged innocently. I had to bite back a smile of my own. The heat in my cheeks started to fade.
“Did Ella call you doctor?” Mrs. Kavanagh, perhaps sensing she couldn’t niggle her daughter any further on the subject of clothes, piped up. “What kind of doctor are you?”
Before I could answer, Elle reached to touch my upper arm. “She was my shoulder.”
I’ve been called many things in my life, but that was one of the nicest. The affection in her voice made my throat thick. “Thank you, Elle.”
She nodded. Her mother looked confused, a state of mind in which I doubted she’d often found herself. She turned to her daughter with a frown.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I wasn’t about to tell Mrs. Kavanagh the role I’d played in her daughter’s life if Elle didn’t want me too. Consequently, for a minute neither of us spoke. This didn’t sit well with Mrs. Kavanagh, who really needed a house dropped on her.
“Ella?”
“Dr. Danning was my doctor.”
Silence while Mrs. Kavanagh assessed this. “…your…?”
“My shrink, Mother.” Elle sounded exasperated and amused.
The curl of Mrs. Kavanagh’s lip should have offended me, as should the looking over she gave me. I’d never been more aware of my shoes needing a polish or my stockings having snags as under Elle’s mother’s eagle eye. She sniffed.
“Well.” She put more meaning into that single word than if she’d recited a soliloquy.
“My mother doesn’t approve of psychologists,” Elle said. I don’t think I was mistaken about her glee.
“I’ll try not to let that bother me,” I said. Elle and I laughed. Her mother, predictably, did not.
“I’ll be waiting for you in the China Orchid,” Mrs. Kavanagh said, “if you want to…talk.”
Talk or kick puppies, perhaps? She made both actions sound as horrible. Elle sighed and waited until her mother had gone out of earshot before she spoke.
“Sorry about that. But I guess now you see what I mean.”
“I never doubted you were telling me the truth,” I said. “How are things?”
She laughed behind her hand, the sound echoing in the garage. “Much better, if you can believe it. With the wedding to plan she’s got caterers to give hell to. She leaves me alone. Sort of.”
“Yes, that’s in a couple weeks. You must be excited.”
Elle raised a brow. “That’s one way to put it. I’d have said sick to my stomach and ready to pull out my hair, but sure. Excited works.”
We laughed again. Her smile softened. She touched my arm again, a gesture of some significance, since she was not the touchy-feely sort.
“I miss our talks, Dr. Danning.”
“Do you think you need to see me again?” The question came out sounding professional.
She shook her head. “No. Not in that way. I’m doing really well, actually. Just that…it was nice to have someone to talk to. It’s nice to have someone you can tell your secrets to, you know? Without being afraid? I knew I could always tell you anything, and you’d give me advice but you wouldn’t judge me or get angry with me. It was nice to have a shoulder to cry on.”
I nodded, touched. “I’m glad I was able to help.”
She chewed her lower lip, looking awkward. “It’s important to have someone like that? Don’t you think?”
“I do.” I studied her.
“I mean, I talk to Dan. He listens. To everything. I think he might wish I didn’t talk so much, actually. It’s been…interesting. But he listens.”
“That’s good.” I meant it, even as once again I found myself in the unenviable position of envying her.
“So, anyway. I should get back to my mother. I’ll see you at the wedding?”
“Of course. I’m looking forward to it.”
She laughed with genuine humor. “I’m glad someone is!”
“Oh, Elle,” I told her. “You don’t mean that, do you?”
She shook her head after a pause. “No. I guess I don’t. Tell me something, Dr. Danning. It’s worth it, isn’t it? Getting married?”
If we’d been in my office with a desk between us, my answer might have been different. Standing in the parking garage, with her no longer my client, my reply was more forthright. “I used to think so.”
She made a small noise, like she understood my answer so completely it needed no comment. I nodded, a wind-up doll with rusted gears. She stepped back and gave a little wave, walking backwards a few steps before turning and disappearing around the corner. I couldn’t move at first, when she’d gone, but after a moment I managed to unlock my door and slide behind the wheel, where I sat for a very long time.
I wished I had someone to talk to.
* * *
It was difficult to mourn losing something I wasn’t supposed to have. I might have spent more time quietly missing the stories I’d never hear again, but I frankly had no time. Adam up was happier than Adam down, but twice as exhausting. He stopped sleeping as much as he’d been, preferring to stay up late chatting. Instead of spending most of his time in bed, he insisted on getting into his chair. He wanted to go places, do things he’d been refusing to do for years.
“But I don’t want to see that movie,” I protested, half-heartedly. I sprawled on the recliner, watching Adam looking up film showings on the Internet. His hair was growing back, but he was still pale. He looked frailer in the chair than he did in bed. “Why don’t we just go out to dinner? Or better yet, stay home?”
He spun around to face me. “I thought you’d want to go to the movies!”
“Well…” I tried to think of an answer that didn’t sound lame. “I’m tired, Adam. I’ve worked all week. I was sort of hoping to take it easy.”
“I’ve worked all week too, Sadie.”
Adam never wheedled. He never pleaded his case. He didn’t even try to make me want what he wanted. He just tried to get me to agree to give him what he wanted.
“I don’t like serial killer movies.” I took off my shoes and stood to strip out of my nylons with a breath of relief.
“We could see something else.”
“Tomorrow?” I tossed my shed stockings into the laundry basket. “We can go to a Saturday matinee.”
“Fine.” He spun the chair again and ordered his computer to close the browser.
I sighed. “Honey, I think it’s great you want to go out and do things. But I’m tired. Okay? I get up at four a.m. every day –”
“Forget it.” I didn’t need to see his face to know he was frowning.
“How about I order some Chinese and we watch those episodes of Monty Python we have on DVD?”
I could see the shrug he meant to make, though it was the barest lift of shoulder. I sighed. Now he was pissed.
“You bitched because I didn’t want to do anything, now you bitch when I do.”
That stung. “I’m not bitching! We’ll go tomorrow, it’s not a big deal!”
“I said fine.”
In the past I’d have tried to placate him, or allowed him to goad me into an argument. This time, I simply left the room. I went to my own, picked up a book I’d been trying to read for months and snuggled into my easy chair to finish it.
It took him fifteen minutes to shout for me. I put the book aside and answered his call. He was muttering curses.
“Your fucking shoes, Sadie!”
I’d left my shoes on the floor, and he’d rolled over one. Now it lodged against the wheel, preventing him from moving. All he needed to do was back up and go around it, which I explained as I moved the offending items and cleared his path.
“I’m sorry, though,” I added. “I know to be more careful.”
Adam launched into a diatribe. I got up an
d left the room. This time, I was ten pages from the end of the book before he called for me again. I made him wait until I was done before I went back in.
“Damn it, Sadie! Don’t walk away from me!” Again, he started being derisive.
Again, I walked away.
I listened to him ranting for half an hour before I came back in with two bowls of ice cream and the Monty Python DVDs. Adam looked sullen. I set the ice cream on the table and fussed with the television.
“What if I needed you?”
I turned to him. “You do need me for a lot of things. But I don’t need to take shit from you. I love you, Adam, and I want to be here for you, but you’ve got to stop hating me for it.”
“I don’t hate you,” he said, but in a low voice.
“Don’t you?” I asked calmly. I don’t think I’d have asked before, but somehow everything that had happened with Joe made me feel like there was no point in pretense any more.
“No.” The way he cut his gaze from mine told me something different.
It still stung. Even though I understood it, even though I knew if the situation were reversed I’d probably have spent a great deal of time hating him, too, it still stabbed me.
“I don’t hate you,” Adam repeated. “But sometimes….”
I waited. The ice cream melted. The TV annoyed me with its blather until I turned it off. “Sometimes?”
“Sometimes, I can’t stand you.”
I sat, still and small, made insignificant by a truth I couldn’t even blame him for sharing. It wasn’t fair, but it was honest. I’d asked him to tell me, and he did.
“I can stand the way you fuss over me, or how you wait outside the door before you come in. I know what you’re doing out there, Sadie. I know how you have to force yourself to smile. I can’t stand the way you make excuses for me to people.”
“I do that because –”
“I know why you do it. And fuck ’em. You don’t need to make excuses for me, okay? I don’t want you to make me better for anyone. You get it? And I can’t stand that I’m your excuse for not having a life.”