No Ordinary Affair (12 page)

Still, no matter how she did the math,
she
was coming up shy, and she
knew she had no other choice but to tell
Maximus Greenway what she had done
.
There was no way she could finish shopping for him without getting more money, and based on Clay's response, he was not going to help her out with anything.

If Clay had taught her anything, it was that lying only compounded a problem. As much as it had hurt her to find out her husband had been with other women, what hurt even more was finding out later that he’d lied all those times he’d claimed to be working late or out with a male friend.

Laura decided that the least she could do was purchase as many things on Max Greenway’s gift list as she could before telling him what had happened.
 
She threw herself into her shopping with single-minded determination, vowing to please him with her gifts as much as she’d disappoint him with her revelation. His mother loved to read, he’d said, and she’d loved birds. Laura knew just what to do. She headed down Walton Street to Shea Bros. Used and Rare Books. Back when she’d had a little money, before the breakup, it was where Laura - also an avid reader and book collector - would sometimes go to treat herself.

Stooped little Ben Shea had helped her find the perfect gift for Mrs. Greenway, a book by John James Audubon signed by pre-eminent bird experts Roger Tory and Virginia Peterson. She paid the $
1
00 price in cash and carefully tucked the book and the receipt in her bag.

Next on the list was Jean, and Laura was touched that Max Greenway obviously valued the women in his life. It made her feel even worse for having spent his money on her son’s tuition.

The Greenways had an account at Simple Pleasures, a store featuring items for bath and body. Laura, remembering that Mr. Greenway’s receptionist was about to have surgery, purchased a cashmere throw, sheepskin lined bedroom slippers before heading down to Fineman’s Catering, where she purchased gift certificates for six catered meals.
  Thankfully she was able to use the Greenway account for those purchases, so she didn't have to dip into the remaining cash.

As the afternoon wore on, the crowds became a problem. But she was determined to finish. Laura rang her neighbor, Tammy, who sometimes babysat for her, and asked her if she would mind picking Evan up from school and keeping him for a few hours.
She had no clue how she would pay Tammy but she didn't have a choice. 
Tammy, who was between jobs as a nanny, said she’d be delighted.

Laura continued to shop, and soon her Jeep Cherokee began filling up with gifts. There was an underwater camera for one of Max’s younger brothers, who’d recently taken up scuba diving. There was an antique map of Scotland and a tiny but expensive bit of illuminated manuscript for another brother and a electronic grain mill and pasta machine for a sister with a passion for gourmet cooking.

Business associates were easier; Laura had gotten their wine, cheese and cigar preferences and matched them with gifts of to fit their tastes.

It was 4:00 when she pulled up in front of Mr. Greenway’s building. She was about to start pulling things out the back when he walked out the door.
  She was exhausted, and almost frantic with guilt.  She'd managed to use mostly his corporate accounts, but even that made her more guilty, because she knew perfectly well there were several times she'd favored one gift or shop over another because of the ability to use the accounts.  Even with that she was down to less than $40.00 in cash

“Laura,” he said. “You must be psychic. I was just about to phone you to check in.”
She started at the sound of his voice.
“You’re a jumpy little thing today. Too many rude salespeople can fray one’s nerves, I suppose.”

She managed a smile. “Yes,” she said. “I was just coming to tell you that..
.
well…
I’m finished.”

He looked puzzled. “Finished? Laura, I thought it was going to take days and that we were going to keep up with each other….remember?”

She looked around and blinked hard, determined to keep the tears out of her eyes. “I know, Mr. Greenway, but something’s come up so I reduced it to one day. I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the gifts. If you want to take them in and look them over.”

“Oh, not here,” he said. “There’s no point in hauling them up to the office and then hauling them back down. Would you mind if we just took them to my house?”

Laura looked at him for a moment. All she wanted to do was get this over with. No, she didn’t want to go to his house. But she knew she couldn’t refuse.
 
“Sure,” she said. “I can follow you. Is it far?”

“I live out at The Gables,” he said.

She felt herself cringe, as if the very mention of the community were some sort of omen.
 
“I know where that is,” she said. “I used to have..
.
I mean, I have clients out there.”

He looked at her again. “Are you sure everything’s OK?”

“Yes..." 
She fidgeted nervously. He was so tall and intimidating, standing there in his topcoat and scarf.
Then she took a deep breath. 
“
No, actually everything's not OK. 
I’ll explain when we get to your house.”

“Fine, keep me in suspense,” he said, his voice light, but it did nothing to brighten Laura’s mood.
 
“You can follow me,” he said, climbing into a Lexus parked on the curb in front of her well-used Cherokee.

As she drove, Laura made a quick call to tell Tammy she was going to be even later than expected. Evan, Tammy said, was fine. Tammy had gotten a Nintendo Game Cube as an early present from her aunt, and she and Laura’s son were playing Mario Sunshine. Evan had two messages for his mother. The first was, “I love you.” The second was, “Don’t rush home.”

Laura noticed as she snapped her phone shut that the year’s first snowfall had begun. Just a dusting was forecasted, but she knew in the morning Evan would scrape together what he could and thrill himself with the first tiny snowball of the season.

As she sped along after Max Greenway’s car, she noticed the Christmas lights were beginning to come on in the windows of the houses she passed. It was supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, and she felt miserable. Now she was at the mercy of Max Greenway, who would determine how much worse things would get.

Max Greenway’s house was further back in The Gables than the Tighlman’s was, taking up two huge lots on Egret Road. It was a large, two-story Dutch colonial covered in old brick, with slate shingles. A pea-gravel circular drive cut through the well-manicured lawn, upon which sat a sign reading, “Protected by Greenway Security Systems.”

Tiny snow flakes were swirling in the air as she and Max Greenway unpacked the bags and boxes from the back of her vehicle and carried them into the house.

The interior suited him. The walls were covered in heart pine paneling. The furnishings were sturdy and sensible.

“We’ll just take everything in here,” he said, as she followed him from the foyer into a great room. Carefully, she knelt on the floor and arranged the bags carefully on the oriental rug.

For the next hour, she watched him examine next gift, biting her lip in anticipation and breathing a sigh of relief with each positive comment. He was especially impressed with the book Laura had picked out for his mother.

“I’ve known for years she loved to read. Audubon, the Petersons - she’s quoted them like they were Christ. And now here are
their
names. She’s going to be absolutely ecstatic.” He smiled. “You, young lady, deserve a bonus. Hiring you was one of the best things I’ve ever done.

“You probably won’t feel that way after you hear what I have to say,” she said.

“Well, have a seat and let’s talk then,” said Max, settling into a chair and motioning for her to sit on the couch.

Laura sighed and handed him a folder before sitting down. Then she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and started talking.

“If you look in that folder, you’ll find an accounting for everything I spent,” she said. “There’s receipts for everything. But there’s also something missing.” She felt the shame creep into her voice, and the tears. “
Almost nine
hundred dollars
of the cash
you gave me.”

Max Greenway said nothing, just looked at the folder for a moment so intently that Laura wondered if he’d even heard her. “So where is it?” he finally asked.

“I -- I used it to pay my son’s school tuition.”

“You used my money to pay your bill?” Max Greenway was looking at her now, his eyes not exactly angry but certainly not pleased.

“It didn’t happen the way you might think,” Laura said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “I was behind because….well, that’s not important. But I was behind and when I went by to pick Evan up Monday - after I left your office - the finance officer told me that if I didn’t give her $1,000 right then he’d have to immediately withdraw.”

A tear leaked from her eye and she brushed it away, embarrassed at her inability to hold her emotions in check.

“I panicked,” she said. “I had a credit card in my pocketbook but the school didn’t take credit cards. So I used your cash to pay the bill and keep my son in school.”

Max Greenway said nothing. He just stared at her. It made Laura feel terribly uneasy. She stood and turned her back to him.

“After I left the school I went to the ATM.”

“Laura, sit back down and face me.” Max Greenways’ voice was stern. “I don’t like people who turn their backs on me. Especially when they’ve done something to get them into trouble.”

Laura felt her heart jump into her throat. Max Greenway was a man who commanded obedience. She’d known that the moment she’d walked into his office. His order frightened her and she immediately submitted to his command.

“Now go on,” he said.

“So after I left the school I went to the ATM to get a cash advance on my credit card, but it would only give me $120.”

“So how is it that a woman running her business and her household doesn’t know her own credit card balance?”

“It’s complicated,” she said. “It involves someone else and I’d rather
not.
”

“I think you owe me a full explanation. I want to hear it.” His gaze didn’t waver.

Laura looked at him, trapped. She ran her slim fingers through her the top of her long brunette hair and sighed. “The card was an emergency card, one of those high-interest cards that my husband and I never used. When we split up, we didn’t even think to cut it up. We never used it when we were together and I sort of forgot about it until Monday. But I figured Monday was an emergency so I decided to use it. But apparently, he’s already been using it, and not for emergencies, unless you consider dinners, movie tickets and lingerie emergency purchases.”

“Might I assume the lingerie isn’t for you?” Max Greenway asked.

“There’s another woman now,” Laura said. “Well, actually there was another woman when we were together. I just was just a little slow on the uptake.”

“You should have known better than to have retained any type of joint credit with him, Laura. You know now that if he doesn’t pay it then it’ll hurt your credit rating.”

“I know,” she said miserably. “The credit card company said the first payment’s
already past due
. I’m sure he won’t pay it. I couldn’t even get him to help me with Evan’s tuition.”

Max Greenway shook his head. “And now you’re worse off than ever. You have a new credit card bill plus you owe me the money you took. And of course, those tuition bills have a way of coming around again.”

“Yes, I know, Mr. Greenway.” Laura replied. “You have every right to call the police on me or ruin my reputation by telling people what I’ve done. If you did, I’d understand. I brought this on myself. My purpose here isn’t to ask you for mercy. It’s to ask you to give me a chance to repay you. I’ve put my bill for my shopping services in the folder. As you can see, it’s already marked paid in full. There’s $
40
on the table.
I was supposed to get paid today by one of your neighbors, but she made me wait. Her husband’s going to be back in town on Monday. I can get
at least some of the money to you then
.”

“Which neighbor?” he asked.

“I’d rather not say,” she said.

“I’d rather you did.” He was looking at her
again with that hard, principal
’s gaze.

“Mrs. Tighlman.” she said.

Max Greenway smirked. “That doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “She’s all flash and no substance. I’ve never cared for her. She hired illegal immigrants to work for her because they’re cheaper. I’m hoping the feds will eventually bust her.”

Laura said nothing. She was relieved to have gotten it all out, but still nervous hat he hadn’t addressed what he was going to do - if anything, regarding her actions.