Among the Ducklings (24 page)

“Great.
I'll come for the free food,” Phil replied. Stacy laughed, remembering that she
had told Phil the same thing, the first time they met at the art exhibit.

“I'll give
you more than free food,” Stacy said, with a seductive wink.

##

The few
times Phil saw Isabel that evening, she was always busy talking to other guests
as if she were trying to avoid him.
She
looked beautiful
, Phil thought.
 
Their eyes made contact once, and she turned her head quickly.
 
Phil wished at that instant that he could
hold her in her arms, kiss her and make love to her. After that brief eye
contact, Phil saw Isabel talking to Rebecca and both went into what Phil
thought was a guest room.
 
They never
came out.

##

Back in the
guest room, a furious Isabel was having an argument with Rebecca, who was
sitting on the bed.

“Why didn't
you tell me that you had broken up with Mark?”

“Does it
matter?” Rebecca asked.

“You tell
me?” Isabel
said,
her face all red.
 
“I spoke to Mark earlier this evening, and I
asked him why. He told me to talk to you.”

“I don't
know why he would say that,” Rebecca replied. “Frankly, I don't know where all
this is going, Isabel.
 
Yes we broke up.
Yes I'm pregnant.
 
There is nothing I can
do about it.”

“Why did
you break up?”

“It's none
of your business,” an angry Rebecca answered.

“You know,
you've made such a fool of all of us,” Isabel said.

“I don't
know what you're talking about,” Rebecca protested.

“All this
time, we thought you were carrying Mark's baby, and you didn't say
anything.
 
Now I see why Mark's mother
wanted a paternity test.
 
She knew,
didn't she?

“Knew
what?”

“Don't lie
to me,” a furious Isabel said. “I know that you slept with Richard.
 
He confessed it to his wife, who came to see
me because she was concerned that you might be carrying Richard's baby.”

“It
happened only once,” Rebecca started to sob. “Both of us realized it was a
mistake and promised never to talk about it again.” Isabel couldn't believe
that her own church-going little sister could be such a liar and a cheat. She
trusted Rebecca so much that she didn't believe Kristin when Kristin told her the story.
But when she talked to Mark and found out that they had broken up, she began
putting two and two together. She wasn't sure whether she still wanted to live
under the same roof with her.
 
That would
be a decision she would have to make very soon.
 

“So you're
carrying Richard's baby?”

“No. It's
not Richard's baby. I told Mark about what happened between Richard and me, but
since then he refused to believe that I'm carrying his baby.”

“So when
you told me that you were going to the movies with Mark and his sister, was
that a lie?”

“It
wasn't.
 
Mark didn't want to go and I
went with Mark's sister.”

“When I
stormed out of the restaurant because Mark's mother was accusing you of
sleeping around, she was right all along?” Isabel said.

“I don't
sleep around. It only happened once with Richard. I didn't know that Mark told
his mother,” Rebecca protested.

“Rebecca,
you're not the person I thought I knew.
  
I can never trust you again.
 
You're free to leave now and rejoin the party outside, we'll talk about
this later,” Isabel firmly said. Instead of leaving, Rebecca remained seated on
the bed, sobbing, with her two elbows resting on her legs, right above her
knees, and her face in the palms of her hands. Isabel didn't leave either. She
was debating what to do about Rebecca.

##

When Phil
and Stacy reached Stacy's suite later that night, they were exhausted.
 
Before going to bed, Phil had proposed that
they move back to his house and save money on the hotel. But Stacy had told him
that the hotel was paid for already, for the whole month, and that they would
move in together when the short term lease ended.
 
In reality, Stacy didn't have any intention
of moving into Phil's small house. Her attorney had made an offer on a mansion
on Fisher Island, and that's where she wanted to be with Phil.
 
Instead of her moving in with Phil, Phil
would move in with her.

As
Phil was sleeping, Stacy checked her email. Her last email from her publicist
was about an hour ago, saying that it was urgent that she call.

“Stacy
picked up her cell phone and went down to the lobby.

“What is
it?” Stacy asked.

“A friend
of mine called me and told me that
Vanna
has been
shopping the story around.”

“Has she
found another magazine?”

“At least
one other paper refused, but my friend thinks it's only a matter of time.
 
All I'm saying is if we cannot block the
story from being
published,
we have to be prepared to
spin it our way when the story comes out.”

“OK, When
you come up with something just let me know,” Stacy said, ending the
conversation.

##

Isabel
didn't return home that night. By the time the last guests left the party, it
was later than expected, and Isabel decided to sleep over instead of driving
back so late.
 
When she woke up the next
morning, the smell of
cafe con
leche
, coffee with milk, hung over the entire
kitchen, reminding her of how her mother used to dip fresh
tostada
, pressed Cuban bread with
butter, in her hot coffee with milk. Her mother was the pillar of the family.
She missed her mother's strength and wisdom. How would her mother have dealt
with Rebecca?
 
What would her mother have
told her about Phil? Would she have told her to talk to him, instead of
avoiding him, as she did all night? Phil looked so good last night, making her
wish she was in his arms, and envying Stacy for being with him.
If only she had the strength to face him, even though he was with
another woman.
He had told her how much he loved her and love doesn't
dissipate so quickly.
 
She knew because
she was still in love with him.

Chapter
Fourteen

A few hours
later, both Isabel and Marcia were sitting on the balcony, looking at the water
below.
 

“Do you
believe that it's Mark's baby?” Marcia was asking, after Isabel told her what
had happened the past few days.

“Beats
me.
She says
so.
 
But how do we know? She seems to be
good at lying,” Isabel said. “Last night, she said it wasn't Richard's.”

“Well,
we'll know when the baby is born, won't we?” Marcia said.

“Are there
tests that can be done before that to determine who the father is?” Isabel
asked.

“Right now,
there are two types of tests that also allow for collection of DNA sampling for
testing during the prenatal phase, but each test is a little invasive and
carries risks of miscarriage.”

“That
sounds scary.”

“Well these
tests are usually done together with ultrasound testing to find out if
everything is OK with the baby. So the short answer is yes,” Marcia said.

“I guess it
all depends on Rebecca and what she wants. She's an adult, after all,” added
Isabel.

“But she
has betrayed your trust. What are you going to do with her?” asked Marcia.

“I still
don't know. I'm very disappointed in her,” Isabel replied. “I'm not sure what I
could have done differently.”

##

While
Isabel and Marcia were at the condo talking about Rebecca, Frank and Melinda
were having lunch at home. Melinda had decided that now was the time to tell
Frank more about the situation with Rebecca.
 
When Mark had come home the night before, he had told her about his
conversation with Isabel.
 
Apparently,
Isabel didn't even know that Mark and Rebecca had broken up over Rebecca's
cheating with Richard.

“Mark told
me that he talked to Isabel last night,” Melinda began.

“I was
thinking that we should call her to apologize,” said Frank.
 
“No loving sister would ever let someone
accuse her sister of being promiscuous.”

“Actually,
Mark and Rebecca broke up two months ago because Rebecca slept with Isabel's
fiancé.”

“Is that
true?
 
How did you know about it?” asked
Frank, with a stunned look on his face.

“Mark told
me.”

“How would Mark
know about it?”

“Rebecca
told Mark,” Melinda said.

“So is this
why you thought that the baby might not be Mark's?” Frank asked.

“Yes. I'm
sorry about what happened at the restaurant, but I could not just come out and tell Isabel
that her fiancé was sleeping with her sister.”

“I bet your
reputation for being mean grew since that day,” Frank said with a laugh.
 
“I hope Isabel doesn't know some your
employees.” Frank was referring to Melinda's bad reputation among her employees.

“If I was a
man, people would say that I'm a good leader. Since I am a woman, people say
that I'm a bitch for expecting my employees to do their jobs,” Melinda said.
Melinda's last statement caused Frank to laugh louder.

“Be
serious, Frank.
 
Doesn't it bother you
when you hear people say all these bad things about your wife?”

“Nope.
I know my wife. She is the most beautiful
person inside and out,” Frank added while winking at Melinda.

“How much
do I owe you for saying that?

“Do me a
favor Melinda,” Frank then said, “just call Isabel and see how we can patch
things up. After all, if the baby is really Mark's, we wouldn't want to end up
with egg on our face, and in court fighting for visitation rights.

“Why can't
you call her yourself? She seems to think you're the nice one in the family.”
Melinda said.

“Once in a
while, it's OK for you to play the good cop in the family. Don't
worry,
I won't ruin your reputation by telling your
employees that you are nice,” Frank said, chuckling, before planting a wet
kiss on his wife's lips.

##

At the same
time Frank was discussing the situation with Melinda, Phil was on his way back
to his house from Stacy's hotel.
 
He had
not been there in days and was looking forward to sleeping in his own bed.
 
Stacy had promised that she would come by
later, after taking care of some business with her concierge.

It was almost evening and Stacy had not
come.
 
He was going to call her when his
home phone rang.

“Phil?”

“Isabel, is
that you?” Phil asked.

“Yes, how
are you?” Isabel replied.
 
She sounded
hesitant.

“I am
OK.
 
You looked good last night,” Phil
said.

“You too.”
She didn't know how to say it. She was missing him and was hoping
that she had not lost him. After talking to Lucy yesterday, she felt that she
owed it to herself to at least try to get Phil back.

“Isabel,
why are you calling me?” Phil asked.

“When I saw
you last night, I realized how much I missed you and wanted to know if you at
least missed me a little bit.”

“Why are
you doing this, Isabel?” Phil asked. Isabel felt uncomfortable and didn't know
how to respond, but Phil, who didn't notice, continued, “The last time you
called, you told me that you were in love with Richard and you didn't want to
see me again.”

“But you
did say you loved me, and when I saw the pictures with you and that actress, I
didn't know how to take it.”

“Stacy
doesn't have anything to do with it.
 
This is between you and me.
 
You
couldn't make up your mind, and when you did, you chose Richard over me. I'm
afraid it's too late for us now,” Phil said.
 
Phil's words felt like a knife in Isabel's heart.

“So you're
not giving us a second chance?” Isabel asked.

“What
chance? We never had a first chance.
 
In
fact, the only reason you are calling me is because you and Richard have broken
up. Otherwise, you would be planning your wedding with him.”