Private Pleasures (26 page)

The remote van from the city's two biggest stations appeared outside of Nora's house. She was glad she wasn't there. Eager young reporters began making the rounds of Ansley Court, knocking on doors and asking questions. The Pietro d'Angelo twins were surrounded as they got home from school, with one anchor badgering them until Tiff came flying out of her house, the protective and avenging mother to rescue her children.
"I'm calling the police," she shouted at the media.
"First-amendment rights, lady," one of the young reporters shouted at her.
"Fuck you!" Tiff yelled back as she hustled her kids safely inside.
Shortly afterwards the police arrived and set up barricades, behind which they moved the reporters and their trucks. The trucks were still there in the morning. One of the uniformed cops came to the Johnsons' kitchen door. He suggested that using the backyard might be a good way for Nora to get into her house without being annoyed. The barricades were removed to allow the residents out to go to their jobs, then put back. The police van departed shortly after eleven a.m. One cop remained on guard.
Carla was watching. "They're eating sandwiches and talking," she said. "I think we can get you home if you want to go."
"I want to go," Nora told her.
"I'll have to shop for you," Carla said. "I doubt there's anything in the house you can eat. Heidi didn't cook. They always had takeout."
"Jeff never wanted takeout," Nora noted.
"Heidi told me she didn't cook," Carla answered. "I guess she had other talents."
"She must have liked working alone," Nora remarked cattily, and Carla laughed.
Carla's cell rang. "It's Dr. Sam," she said. "Hi, Doc! What? Okay. Nora's going home now. We're sneaking through the backyard. I'll tell her. Bye." She turned to Nora. "Dr. Sam says the newspeople have Shorecrest staked out. They don't know you were released yesterday, and of course Shorecrest isn't going to give them any information. They're outside our street because they're waiting for you to come home."
"Let's sneak through the backyard, then," Nora said.
Getting their coats, the two women exited the back door of the Johnson house and ran quickly across the lawn. There was a large privet hedge between their homes. Their kids had worn a passage through the hedge over the years. They slipped through it, and removing her key from her pocket, Carla opened the kitchen door to the Buckley house. Entering quickly, they closed and locked the door behind them.
Nora looked about her, and smiled with pleasure. She was home. Removing her coat, she laid it aside and went to the fridge, opening it and looking in. There was a container of plain, fat-free yogurt, an open quart container of milk, and everything that had been in the fridge eight weeks ago. She laughed. "She was no housekeeper, poor Heidi," Nora remarked. "I'll spend all afternoon cleaning up this mess. If only J. J. needed a science fair project, we could do the wonderful world of mold. I'm just going to toss everything. The plastic containers will have absorbed the smell after this long. Who doesn't empty out a fridge of ancient food?"
"Will you be alright?" Carla asked.
"I'm fine," Nora assured her.
"Then I'll go do the shopping. Anything other than the basic supplies to get you through until the reporters go away?" Carla inquired.
"Get me one of those rotisserie chickens the market does. And a box of Mallomars," Nora told her with a grin. "I can survive on chicken and cookies."
"I'm glad you haven't changed entirely," Carla replied.
"Have I changed? Really?" Nora was surprised.
"Oh, yes. You're more assured, stronger now. I guess what I'm saying is that you're no longer a victim, Nora. You fought Jeff, and you've won." Carla buttoned her jacket as she spoke.
"I never meant for Heidi to be hurt," Nora said quickly.
"I know you didn't," Carla answered her, and then blowing a kiss to her friend, she went out the kitchen door.
Nora picked up her own coat and went to the hall closet to hang it up. Returning to the kitchen, she got out a large black lawn-leaf bag, and dumped the contents of the fridge into it, pouring the milk down the sink, washing the yogurt away. There was only one glass casserole in the fridge. She scraped the contents of it into the black bag and washed the dish by hand, noting that the dishwasher was full of clean dishes. She put everything away and cleaned the sink. She wiped down the walls and glass shelves of the empty fridge. Then she went upstairs.
The unmade bed showed signs of one occupant. They were the same sheets she had put on the bed clean on New Year's Day. Jeff's pajamas were on the floor. She picked them up and, going into the hall, threw them down the stairs. They would go in the black bag with the rest of the garbage. She opened her walk-in closet. Her clothing was gone, and in its place hung two pairs of trendy jeans, a pair of flannel slacks, two wool sweaters, and a silk shirt. Pulling the clothes from their hangers, Nora threw them down the stairs as well.
She pulled the sheets from the bed. She was going to get a new bed. In fact she was going to redo the whole bedroom. She had always hated the decor in this room, but Jeff had liked it. The headboard was even similar to the one his parents had. She considered what she would change it to, but she was too distracted right now by the fact her husband had been screwing another woman in the bed in which he had conceived children with his wife. "Bastard!" She wasn't going to sleep in this room until it was redone. She'd use the guest room.
"Where are you?" Carla's voice called.
"Upstairs," Nora said.
Carla's footsteps sounded, and then she came into the bedroom. "What are you doing, and what's all that stuff at the bottom of the stairs?"
"Garbage," Nora replied. "I'm moving into the guest room until I can redo this room. Where are my clothes?"
"Jeff had them packed up and put in the cellar," Carla answered. "I'll get the guys to bring them up this weekend. I got the groceries. They're in the kitchen. The reporters are still outside the street. When I went out they yelled questions at me. I just shrugged. Listen, Nora, if they don't go by evening, and you have the lights on in here, they're going to know you're back. I wouldn't put anything past them to get a picture or a story from you."
"I can live with just the television," Nora murmured.
"They could see the flickering from the outside," Carla responded.
"Tell Rick to issue a statement to the press that I will grant them a half hour tomorrow morning at eleven, and I'll answer questions. But this is on the condition that they leave with their trucks now. And Carla, my windows will be dark tonight. You know the den has those heavy short draperies with the lining. I'll draw them as soon as I go downstairs again."
"You're going to access The Channel? Nora, the cable operator might give that information out to make a few bucks if you call. Then they'll know you're home," Carla fretted. "What if someone tries to jump the gun and get an exclusive?"
"I think I can handle it," Nora replied quietly.
"I'll go call Rick," Carla said. "Do you want me to come back?"
Nora shook her head in the negative. "I think we're safer if you don't."
Carla shoved a cell phone at Nora. "Take it. I picked it up at the market. It's one of those ones with the prepaid minutes. You've got one hundred twenty. It's safer just in case someone is listening in on your line. And don't answer your house phone, Nora. I'll call the kids and your mom, and give them the cell's number, okay?"
"You're make this sound like a covert operation," Nora laughed.
"It is," Carla said, grinning. Then she hugged Nora. "God, it's good to have you back, and to know you're safe!"
"Rick still has to reason with Jeff, and Jeff isn't going to be reasonable in jail," Nora reminded her friend. "Now scoot, and leave me to finish cleaning up my house."
Carla departed, and then called Nora once on her cell to tell her she had gotten in touch with Margo, J. J., and Jill, and given them the cell's number. Then she had called Rick, and Rick had issued the statement. The media people and their trucks were now gone from the head of Ansley Court, but the cop and the barricade was still there just to ensure everyone's privacy for the interim. "Need anything else tonight?" Carla asked. "I mean that I could give you."
Nora could imagine her grinning. "Nope. I'm fine," she replied. She had cleaned out the master bathroom, but she wasn't going to use it. She found a fresh tube of toothpaste, a new toothbrush, and her own hairbrush. She put them in the guest bath. Until the master bath was cleaned thoroughly and redecorated, she wasn't going in it. In fact she was going to gut this bathroom and put in all new fixtures.
It was getting dark now. Nora heard the clock in the foyer striking six p.m. She hurried downstairs, carved some chicken off the rotisserie bird Carla had brought, fixed a salad with some of the greens now in the clean fridge, made some iced tea, and sat down to eat. She wasn't interested in the local news. She didn't give a damn who did what to whom overseas. The world was crazy now. All she wanted to do was survive the madness, and she had her escape in The Channel. She picked up her cell and dialed the cable company, ordering The Channel for the evening. The operator seemed neutral, and uninterested in who she was. She had never considered it before, but she now suspected that the operators taking calls for Suburban Cable were located somewhere else. They didn't know her or the scandal now surrounding Ansley Court. She finished her meal, and put her dishes in the dishwasher. She hadn't had to turn on any lights, and in the den the curtains were drawn tightly. Nora went into her laundry room and, taking a few clothespins, returned to the den and clipped the draperies shut where they just might allow a crack of light through.
She plunked herself in Jeff's recliner. It was like new because he had hardly sat in it. The mantel clock struck eight. Nora turned on the television and waited. And then her penthouse living room appeared. Eagerly she put her hand on the screen, and was there. "Kyle!" she called.
He arose sleepily from the couch, the relief on his face evident. "God, Nora, I missed you," he told her, and wrapped his arms about her.
She held her face up to him for a kiss, and almost melted with the desire he instantly engendered in her body and soul. Their lips met, and when they parted once more, Nora said, "You owe me a massage, Mr. Gorgeous." She smiled.
"And afterwards, what would madam's wish be?" he said.
"To spend the entire evening with your talented cock in my pussy, my darling!" Nora told him. "I missed you!"
"What has happened on your side of reality?" he asked her, taking her hand and leading her into the bathroom, where the massage table was set up and waiting.
"So far everything has been just as Mr. Nicholas said. I woke up in a nursing facility. Heidi got beaten up and pressed charges. Jeff is in jail." She undid her robe and climbed naked on the massage table.
"Are you happy, Red?" he asked her softly, pushing her hair aside to kiss the back of her neck. "God, I missed your scent!" he groaned.
"Yes," Nora told him. "I've never been happier, although I wish Heidi hadn't been hurt. Use almond oil, darling."
He poured some of the heavily scented oil into his big hand and began to smooth it down her back. "I don't know how long I can do this," he whispered to her.
"I want the full treatment," she told him.
He laughed softly. "You're fully prepared to torture me, huh?"
"Maybe," she said.
Neither of them heard the elevator doors opening in the living room. The plush carpeting stilled the footsteps crossing over to the bathroom door, and then they heard Mr. Nicholas's low, cultured voice. "Good evening, Kyle, Nora."
She started, and blushed. Kyle's hands grew still on her body.
"No, no, my dear," he said. "Let Kyle finish what he is doing. I do so enjoy the sight of a beautiful female form. We can talk as he massages you. Carry on, Kyle." He came around the table and drew up a padded stool, upon which he sat. "Now, tell me, Nora— everything has gone as I promised you?"
"So far," Nora replied.
"And tonight as Kyle makes love to you, your husband will see it in his dreams. It will be the final straw for him. He has behaved quite badly during his short incarceration, I'm afraid. They have had to restrain him. He had been so unpleasant the judge refused bail. It really doesn't do to annoy these small-town judges. I actually have come to believe that no one has ever said no to Jeff, or refused him, in his entire life. He seems unable to cope. It will not seem odd therefore that they find him dead in the morning. It will seem the natural result of his choler. And then, my dear, you are a free woman."
"Thank you," Nora responded. His feet were very narrow, and he was wearing very well-polished black leather shoes. But then he tipped her face up to his. His fingers were very warm against her chin. Almost hot.
"So now, my dear, we must discuss your repayment of my kindness," Mr. Nicholas said. He averted his gaze from hers momentarily. "Turn her over, Kyle, so Nora and I may speak on this matter. You can finish the massage when I have gone."
Kyle turned her over, but as he did he wrapped her in the sheet that had been covering the table, thus preserving her modesty. Their eyes met in silent understanding. Nora sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the massage table.
"Ah, excellent," Mr. Nicholas said. "Now, my dear, one must always pay the piper, and you have said yourself that you would meet your obligations to me. Is that not so, Nora?"
"Yes," she answered him. What was he going to ask her? Whatever it was, it was worth it if she could be free of Jeff, and her house and her children were safe.
"I am a man of many and varied interests," Mr. Nicholas began. "The Channel is just one of them. There are other things requiring my attention now, and I find I must choose someone to be the new administrator of this enterprise. I choose you, my dear Nora. You are exactly the person for whom I have been looking."
"You want me to be the administrator of The Channel? I can't!" Nora cried. "I wouldn't have the faintest idea of what to do. I don't even know how all of this is even possible. I've never held down a job in all of my life. I've just learned how to operate a computer. I know nothing of office procedure."
"You don't have to, Nora," he told her calmly. "You will have others to handle the mundane chores of The Channel. But you have what I want in my deputy. You are intelligent, and there is a well of anger deep down inside of you that exists. Your intuitiveness is most promising, my dear Nora."