Soulmates (18 page)

“Maybe I
will
go to the den,” she replied absently, picking Dan Junior up off the floor, kissing him. “Come on baby Marcus, you can come, too.” He toddled along side of her as she quietly retreated to the den, Daniela and Gladys watching her. When she was out of earshot, they whispered to each other.

“What do you think happened?” Gladys asked. “I haven’t seen her that distracted for a long time.”

“I don’t know what it is, but I do know that his majesty is late, and that might be what’s got her going.”

“Things are certainly tense around here. I thought they’d get better; they
were
getting better. But something’s not right.”

Daniela leaned in and in barely a whisper told Gladys what she suspected might be a problem. “I overheard them arguing a few days ago. I know I shouldn’t repeat this, but only to you.” Evidently, Dan had been remiss in his husbandly duties. Gladys raised her eyebrows in acknowledgement. If she knew anything after being married all this time, it was that men needed to pay attention to their wives or all hell would break loose.

“Okay, gotcha,” Gladys replied as they looked toward the den.

Lisa shut the door, leading Marcus to his toy pile. Dan Junior was grabbing at her blouse as she sat down and started to unbutton. “I can’t imagine not having a little one to nurse,” she said tenderly, offering him her breast. Every few seconds, he’s stop nursing and lookup at her with a big smile. “You are cute! And so are you, Marcus cutie.” Glancing at the clock, each minute that passed brought her closer to the conclusion that she was going to do something drastic if her marital situation didn’t change right away.

Chapter 16

Alone in the brownstone with baby Brent and the nanny, Sandra plotted out the rest of her weekend. She remembered life before children, before Tom. Time off from work meant her own time,
and
time for Jack.
Don’t think about him,
she commanded.

The wonderful apartment on the Upper West Side; why’d she ever give it up? She should have sublet for just a time as this. Then, when faced with eviction, which she knew was on the horizon, she’d have a place to go. Reaching for her address book, she thumbed through the alphabet until she came to the G’s. Gorman Agents. Dialing the number, she listened to the message and then waited for the beep.

“This is Sandra Benson, formerly in 1-D on 82
^nd
St. I’m looking for a unit in the same area, two bedrooms and baths. Please call me if you have anything available.” She left her phone number less than hopeful. The thrill that she would be leaving Brooklyn for the last time lifted her spirits. Earlier that week, she’d run into Tom and his wife at Waldbaums. Standing at the baby food display, she looked up just as they passed her, the wife very pregnant. A bolus of heat struck her in the face and traveled down her body, shame and regret and jealousy all rolled into one giant ache. If she’d encouraged it she could have thrown up, it was that intense. He glanced over at her and didn’t change his expression except maybe a tensing of his jaw, his hand on his wife’s back.

Pushing her basket away quickly before they stopped to browse, Sandra was angry at the physical response.
I did nothing wrong,
she thought. Snippets of things she
did
do wrong tried to wedge in her mind, flirting with Brent number one, but she fought it. He raped her. Brent Smith drugged her and raped her. She
didn’t
have an affair with him.

Frustration growing, her goal was to pay for her groceries and get out of the store before she ran into the happy couple again. Walking quickly, the tears came unbidden, angering her further.
Why in hell are you crying?
Tripping over the pavement, she made the decision then that leaving Brooklyn, even if she were forced out, would be a good move for her.

Valarie was getting ready to leave, interrupting Sandra’s memory inundation. “Okay Miss, I’m almost done. A load of clothes to fold and that’s it for tonight.”

“See you tomorrow,” Sandra muttered. Brent was reaching for her earrings, determined to pull them out.

“No, no you little monkey,” she whispered softly looking off into space. “What are we going to do tomorrow?”

Jason was no longer an entertainment option after his tragic accident. Would he expect Sandra to visit him in the hospital? Would he even know who she was? Maybe after he was out of danger she’d venture down to Delaware to see him.

The beach was probably out of the picture; Pam’s icy demeanor when she’d called that morning with Jason’s news left little for Sandra to hope for. Being with Jason had bordered on the insane; it was definitely juvenile. How could she explain it to Pam? Then Sandra thought of something; she’d use the baby as an excuse, saying that she wanted to bring Brent to the beach. For the sake of a weekend at the beach, Sandra hoped Pam could find it in her heart to forgive her.

Reaching for the phone, she kissed Brent and tried to hold it away from his grasp while she dialed. Pam answered right away.

“I am so sorry about everything. I’m sitting here with the baby and we miss you. Please, Pam, won’t you forgive me and let me bring Brent to the beach?”

“Who
is
this?” Pam said, winking at John.

“It’s Sandra! Are you kidding me?”

“Yes, for heaven’s sake! I’m kidding you.” She wanted to say no to her, that the house was torn up and that she had company, but she did miss the baby.

“So, what do you think?” Sandra asked, feeling silly begging Pam but wanting to visit, needing to get out of the house and needing to reconnect with what had been Jack’s, but not realizing it fully.

“Sure, come over. I might be in and out all day; my friend John and I are doing some projects around the house and we keep going out for supplies.”

“John? Is this someone new?”

“You got it,” Pam said cagey but proud.

“What are you doing? I mean to the house?”

“You’ll see when you get here. I’ll leave the garage door unlocked if we have to leave,” she said. Sandra thanked her and they hung up. Like a fire had been lit under her, Sandra sprung into action.

First, she yelled up the stairs for Valarie. “I know it’s late but can you come to the beach with me?” Coming to the top of the landing and thinking for less than ten seconds, Valarie nodded, rolling her eyeballs in pleasure.

“Heaven. Of course, I’ll come.”

Sandra gave a rare howl of laughter. “I was thinking the same thing. When’s the last time we got away?” Valarie could have told her it was just last weekend when
she
was left in the city with the baby while
Sandra
took off to be with Jason, but she was being paid to do it. “I’ll get the baby’s clothes packed up and you do his food.” Like a synchronized team, the women had everything ready to go within an hour. They settled in the limo, enjoying the trip to the beach as subtle changes from urban asphalt and concrete segued to sand on the pavement and a decided resort feel in the air. Determined to be a perfect houseguest, Sandra promised herself to keep the conversation benign at all times.

Grabbing Valarie’s hand, she giggled. “I’m so excited! We really need this.”

“Oh, you know it,” Valarie agreed. The limo pulled in front of Pam’s house and both women gasped.

“Oh my, that’s a shock,” Sandra said as the fountain came into view. “I wonder what she had in mind.”

“I think it’s fabulous, just fabulous,” Valarie said, her island esthetic more liberal when it came to garden statuary. While she was gathering her belongings from the car, Sandra glanced up and saw a big truck with Zapelli Construction decals on the side parked in Pam’s driveway.

“That name is terribly familiar,” she said, frowning, hoping this guy Pam was with wasn’t someone she’d dated in the past. Dread sat like a stone in the pit of her stomach.

The next minutes were spent unbuckling baby Brent out of his seat and pulling all of their belongings out of the trunk onto the sidewalk. Sandra took the baby and walked up to the door while the driver helped Valarie haul everything else.

Pam and John were still talking on the veranda when the doorbell rang. “Who can this be now?” she grumbled. Peeking in the sidelight, shocked, she saw Sandra standing with the baby.

“Hello,” Pam said shocked.

“Surprise! We talked, remember?” The stone in the pit of her stomach turned to a boulder.

“We did, but I thought you meant tomorrow,” Pam said, opening the door wider and then reaching for the baby, standing aside so they could enter the house. “It never occurred to me that you were so desperate to get out of the city that you’d pull it together when it’s almost bedtime.”

“Desperate is right,” Sandra said, slumping over. She straightened up again and sniffed the air. “The ocean smells heavenly.”

Pam led them into the kitchen to see the work. “I won’t be offering you anything to eat so if you’re hungry, we have to order. We were going to go out, but it’s no big deal to change our plans.”

“Oh, please don’t change them on our account. I’ll order a pizza for us. You go back to what you were doing. Where are the ladies?”

“They’re on a cruise, believe it or not!”

They chatted a bit and Pam directed them to go to the guest rooms upstairs. “I’ll order dinner for all of us. Italian okay?”

“Pizza is fine,” Sandra said. “Pizza from Shore Pizza.”

Smiling, Pam patted her arm. “Pizza it is.” She watched them climb the staircase and then went back out to the veranda.

“There goes our quiet evening,” she told John. “I’m sorry.”

“I heard. I guess we have to be ultra specific anymore.”

“Yes, you’re not kidding.”

Getting settled upstairs, Sandra tried to ignore the depressing feeling she had; Jack wasn’t there any longer. It wasn’t even his house. When she had a chance, she’d snoop a little, look into the den and the veranda and try to find something of him. Pam had done a great job eradicating Jack.

When dinner arrived, Pam called upstairs for Sandra and her entourage to come down to eat. Everyone took their place around the table in Pam’s dining room, now cluttered with kitchen paraphernalia, making the meal more relaxed.

“John, this is my grandson’s mother, Sandra Benson and Brent’s nanny, Valarie.” John offered his hand, not knowing if it was appropriate or not to shake. Both women were young, the same age as his daughters and he had little to say to them. The baby was cute.

“He looks just like you,” John said, looking at Pam. She didn’t respond, afraid to go into the baby’s appearance too deeply.

“Let’s eat,” she said, opening pizza boxes and containers, explaining what everything was.

A look came over Sandra’s face, grabbing Pam’s arm. “Oh my, now I know why the name Zapelli is so familiar to me. I saw the name on the truck and it rang a bell. Do you have a daughter Violet?”

“Yes,” John said, frowning. “Why?”

“We went to Marymount together.” John brightened up hearing the name.

“Of course! Were you friends in school?”

“Not exactly,” Sandra said. “I was one of the poor commuter girls.”

“So was Violet! Boy I can’t wait to tell her I saw you. What’s your name again?” Sandra and John chatted through dinner and Pam just accepted it. Sandra commanded attention wherever she went, even if it meant dredging up some half-baked college roommate story. Observing them talking, she relaxed. If there was going to be anything untoward between the two of them, it was better if it happened right then.

What happened wouldn’t draw Sandra and John together. Pam got up from the table to retrieve paper towels when she heard John swear.

“That’s a bunch of bullshit,” he said with an edge to his voice.

“I beg your pardon, Mr. Zapelli. Ask Violet.”

“I think I would have known if my own daughter got married,” he said, voice tremulous.

“What’s going on?” Pam asked walking back into the dining room.
Leave it to Sandra to disturb a peaceful evening
.

“I don’t know what you’re getting so upset about,” Sandra said lightly. “All I said was that she got married over spring break right before graduation.”

“How’d this topic even come up?” Pam asked.

“She asked me how Violet’s husband was.
What
husband?”

“Sandra, do you think you have her confused with another student?” Pam asked. Sandra shook her head.

“I wish I did, now. I haven’t seen her since we graduated. Everyone got married. I felt like an outcast because I was the only one who didn’t get an engagement ring for graduation.” John got up from the table.

“Where’s my cell phone,” he said angrily.

“Jesus, do you ever stop?” Pam asked Sandra.

“I’m so sorry,” Sandra whispered. “I told myself to keep things light and now look what I’ve done. How was I to know she never told her parents?”

“What happened exactly?” Pam asked softly, intrigued with hearing something about John’s family for a change.

“Have you met her?” Sandra asked. Pam shook her head.

“No. I just met
him
on Wednesday.”

“She’s big, Pam. Over three hundred, I would guess. So at spring break, the only two
single
girls were me and Violet Zapelli. And then, she comes back from break married. Todd Fisher was a chubby chaser.”

“What’s that?” Pam asked, frowning.

“Are you serious? Guys who like big girls.”

“There is such a thing? It sounds appalling.”

“You are really a snob, you know that? Do you think men only want women who look like us?” It was Valarie’s turn to snicker.

“You two are so
full
of yourself,” she said in her thick Haitian accent.

“Well, it’s true,” Sandra said.

“Oh, I see, well I’ll be sure to tell my husband the next time I see him. He should have held out for beauty.”

“I didn’t mean that, Valarie and you know it. I think you’re lovely.”

While the women argued, John was back on the veranda looking for his phone. He had trouble keying in Violet’s number because his hands were shaking so badly. Violet was his favorite, but he worried about her more than he did his other children because he just did.