The War of the Roses: The Children (7 page)

“That she would give me Milky Ways if I….” Michael sucked in a deep breath.

“If you what, sweetheart?” Victoria said, glancing at Josh.

“If I let her copy my math test.”

“And did you?”

Michael nodded, flushing red. It was clearly a breach of the school's academic honor system, Mr. Tatum's fondest bragging point. In Mr. Tatum's world, any violation of that honor system was a crime for which no punishment was too much. Examples of expulsion for this infraction were legendary.

“You knew this was against the rules?” Victoria asked.

Michael nodded again. They could see the fear in his eyes.

Josh and Victoria exchanged troubled glances.

“So you let her copy your math test?” Josh reiterated. “And she gave you the Milky Way.”

“No, she didn't,” Michael snapped. “And I let her copy my answers.”

“Then why didn't she fulfill her part of the bargain?” Josh asked, confused.

“She said she didn't see my paper,” Michael said. “She's a liar. I showed it. And I got a hundred on the test.”

“Did she?” Josh asked.

“She got two wrong,” Michael said. “I can't help it if she couldn't see all my answers. I showed her my paper and I saw her looking.”

“So you took the Milky Way out of her bag,” Victoria prodded.

“It was mine,” Michael said, his voice rising. “Then I took it again the next day. She promised me two. She's the one that lied first.”

“We're not talking sequence here, Michael. Never mind that she lied. That's her and her parents' problem. You lied and that's our problem and yours,” Josh said.

“But she lied first,” Michael said obviously convinced of the justice inherent in his eleven-year-old logic system.

“And you lied because you were afraid to tell Mr. Tatum that you participated in test cheating.” Josh said, as if he were coaching him through it.

“A lie is still a lie, Michael,” Victoria said.

“And he was protecting the Crespo girl,” Josh added, as if he had become a defense witness.

“So that's why she was so hysterical. She had to tell her parents something,” Victoria said.

“Mystery solved,” Josh said.

“Not quite, Josh. He still lied to us.”

Michael nodded.

“It was a bad thing, Mom. Madeline made me do a bad thing.”

“Madeline didn't make you lie, Michael,” Victoria said gently. “You have to be responsible for your own actions. You lied to us, to Mr. Tatum, to the Crespos. Pure and simple. You can't just decide when to lie and when to tell the truth.” She turned to Josh. “This is the real lesson here. Never mind the extenuating circumstances. A lie is a lie.”

Her rigidity was terrifying, triggering both shame and thankfulness that he had found the courage to sever the relationship with Angela.

“Do you understand the severity of your act, young man?” Victoria asked.

Michael lowered his head again. It seemed like a gesture of contrition and Josh felt the boy's pain. He turned to Michael and tousled the boy's hair. In his mind, the incident was over.

“Feel better now that you've told us?” Josh asked.

“We can't leave it at that,” Victoria snapped.

Josh turned to his son, assuming, for Victoria's benefit, a severe expression.

“You know your punishment, Michael.” Michael nodded. “No privileges until we decide when it ends. Now you run up to your room and get to work,” Josh said, feeling flushed with parental wisdom and command. Michael embraced both his parents and went off to his room.

When he was gone, Josh poured them both drinks and they sat down beside each other on the couch.

“Emergency over,” Josh said, lifting his glass and tapping hers. He felt exhilarated, relieved, and slightly manic.

He laid his glass on the table, got up from the couch, and locked the door to the den. Returning, he gently removed her glass from her hand and placed it beside his.

He then embraced her, kissed her deeply, and maneuvered her lengthwise on the couch and began to unbutton her blouse. He kissed her nipples. She seemed pliant but not eager. He continued his effort despite her tepid acquiescence.

“I need you,” he whispered.

“It's all right,” she said, caressing him.

She could not have possibly interpreted his sudden elation as anything more than the brief pleasure of his orgasm. It had not been mutual. The timing was, after all, not even remotely appropriate. Her mind was obviously elsewhere, dwelling on the future of their child.

In this brief encounter no images of Angela intruded to prod his libido.

Victoria rose early to prepare a healthy breakfast of Irish oatmeal and honey, topped off with fresh fruit. Emily called to say she had a wonderful time at her friend's house and the routine of the day began with no mention of yesterday's trauma. As far as Josh was concerned, not only his affair with Angela was over, but also the case of purloined Milky Ways. The very fact that it went unmentioned at the breakfast table was proof positive of its demise.

“It'll work itself out,” Josh said as he kissed Victoria on the forehead.

“We'll see.”

He arrived at the office in a cheerful state of mind. The condition dissipated quickly when he learned from his assistant that Angela had called in sick. It was an unexpected absence. She was working on a new concept for an important client with a close deadline.

“Was she sick? Or her kids?” Josh inquired.

“Her husband called,” his assistant replied. “Said Angela was sick.”

“Serious?”

“He didn't say.”

He pondered the answers, then ordered his assistant to postpone the presentation for a day or two.

“Did he say whether she would be in tomorrow?”

“He made no other comment.”

Josh hung up and tried to keep his mind occupied, certain that Angela's absence had nothing to do with physical illness.

At eleven his cell phone buzzed and he answered it with trepidation.

“I've got good news and bad news,” Victoria said.

His heartbeat accelerated and his breath came in gasps.

“Bad news first,” he managed to say.

“Mr. Tatum called. The incident is over. The Crespos have withdrawn their complaint. Bygones are bygones.”

He was startled. “That's the bad news? So where is the good news.”

“Same news.”

“I don't get it, Victoria,” he said, confused.

“It means they've accepted Michael's lies as the truth. Tell me, Josh. Who wins here?”

It was not a subject he wished to tackle at this moment. Why was she agonizing over this?

“We win,” he said, finally finding his bearings. “Michael wins. You're going to drive yourself crazy over this, Victoria. The important thing is that Michael has acknowledged his lies to us and given us his reasons. That took a lot of character.”

“Then why am I uncomfortable?”

“Because you're not thinking clearly. He's being punished, remember? And we haven't risked his future. Providence has smiled. Accept it. The long-term weather report is cloudless and sunny.”

“Is it?”

“Don't be so damned rigid, Victoria,” he said with impatience.

“I'm not being rigid, Josh. This is the wrong tack.”

“Stop this.”

“He gets away with this, he'll repeat the performance.”

“This is the wrong time to discuss this, Victoria. I've got enough on my plate as it is.”

“I'm sorry to bother you.”

“Put it behind you.”

That was exactly the advice he had given to Angela yesterday.

“I'll try,” she said.

The similarity to Angela's reaction was uncanny. All women were connected by the common bond of illogic, he told himself.

“Don't
try
, Victoria,” he said with frustration. “Just do what I suggest. Put it behind you.”

He waited for her response, hearing only her breathing beyond the silence. Despite his advice and worry over their son, he secretly admired her adherence to principle and wished he could muster the courage to follow her example.

He thought fleetingly of Angela and their terrible deception. Again, he cursed his weakness. He wished that, once and for all, he could stop berating himself. His reform would be militant, he vowed. Never again!

“Victoria,” he said, his voice rising. “I need to tell you something.”

“What?” she asked.

He sensed that he was on the verge of confession, then stepped back, clearing his throat.

“I think you're terrific,” he said.

“That's a heavy burden, Josh.”

“He's just a child. Cut him some slack.”

“I'll try,” she said abruptly, breaking the connection.

Still, he could not shake his worries over his son, nor could he dismiss a lingering anxiety over Angela that her abrupt absence had triggered. Hadn't she promised not to do anything stupid? His thoughts were disturbed by a sudden buzz on his console.

“Mr. Bocci is here.” It was the familiar voice of the receptionist.

“Who?”

For a moment, he felt disoriented.

“Angela's husband,” the receptionist said.

“What does he want?” Josh asked, barely managing to get the words out.

“He wants to see you.”

“I'm really very busy, Miriam, tell him no.” He quickly reconsidered. “Wait.” He sucked in a deep breath. “Does he look angry?”

“Not at all. Very pleasant.”

Always thinking the worst, he told himself.

“I hope it's not anything serious about Angela,” he mused aloud, feeling a brief twinge of panic. “Give me a couple of minutes, then send him in.”

Despite the receptionist's assessment of Dominic Bocci's demeanor, he needed to calm himself. What could he possibly want?

Dominic Bocci came in bearing a broad smile and appearing benign in demeanor. Josh could detect no sign of hostility, which relieved him considerably. He was a good-looking compact man with black curly hair, a dark complexion, and a large curved nose. He was dressed in a blue blazer with gold buttons, a white shirt, red tie, grey flannel pants with razor-sharp creases, and spit-shined black shoes.

Josh got up from behind his desk and ushered his guest to a seat in the conversational grouping that he used for visitors and casual meetings. It crossed his mind briefly that he had fucked this man's wife on or near every piece of furniture in his office. A sourness invaded his chest. As he sat down on one of the upholstered chairs, Dominic Bocci shot his cuffs, carefully crossed his legs, and seemed to study Josh with more than passing interest.

“I hope Angela's okay,” Josh said clearing his throat. “We depend on her a great deal here.”

“She's pretty upset,” Dominic said, striking a sudden ominous note that belied his expression. “But that's understandable, considering….”

“Considering?”

“Come now Mr. Rose, we both know what's going down here.”

Josh's first thought was that this man was an actor playing a role in some bad movie. But that thought quickly disintegrated under the excruciating burden of another, more poisonous, idea. The reality hit him with the force of a spear through his body.

“What does that mean?” Josh asked, but his tongue could not move the words.

“I'm hoping we can settle this quick time,” Bocci said. He was cool, which was doubly disturbing since Josh felt his entire body break out in an icy sweat. “Look,” Dominic said. “I don't want any trouble, either. I'm here to avoid trouble. Hell, I got a family, too. I ain't gonna begin to break up mine.”

He squinted and contemplated Josh's face, his lips curling in a smile that did not show his teeth.

“Frankly, I don't give a shit what happens to yours,” Dominic said.

The sudden burst of hostility was a clear indication that the man's conservative Ivy League clothes and general attitude and movie gangster pose betrayed street smarts that put Josh at an immediate disadvantage.

“I… I really am at a loss…,” Josh began, realizing suddenly that any pose of innocence or denial would fall on deaf ears.

“Look, I know about Angela and you. Don't think I feel good about it, but I have no intention of being physical. So rest easy on that score. I made my peace. I'm not some crazy guy with a sliced-up ego comin' here to tear your balls off.”

“Just what do you think you know?” Josh said, attempting without success to find his own brave facade. Dominic gurgled a kind of chuckle, shook his head, and continued to gaze at Josh with his odd squint.

“Hey, Rose. You think you can fool this Guinea? No way. Fact is, I knew for a while. You've been boffing my wife and now it's over, right?” He chuckled. “I know you're sweatin' bullets tryin' to figure out what I have in mind. When I found out, I hung back. I figure you got to be a nut case putting yourself in such a spot. Not in today's world, buddy. No way. Them days are over. You want strange, you got to go to strangers. Am I making myself clear?”

“Explicit,” Josh groaned. “I don't know about clear.”

The man leaned forward on the couch and looked from side to side as if to make certain he would not be overheard. It was more of a gesture of extreme confidence than a necessary caution.

“Rose, I want you to know that this isn't personal. I'm a man of the world myself. Sure I was pissed off. Angela's a hot little number and maybe I wasn't doin' my homework. She's also ambitious and talented and a helluva good mother. You gotta weigh these things. We went to the priest and got everything straightened out between us.”

That priest, Josh thought, offering silent condemnation. Defrock the bastard, he cried to himself.

“Forgive and forget, right? I ain't no angel myself.” He smiled without warmth and continued to squint at Josh. “You neither.”

For the first time since he had walked into his office, Josh saw a flash of anger and determination in the man's eyes that belied his attempt to maintain a calm exterior. He means business, Josh thought, his heart thumping against his chest.

“So you're asking what I'm doin' here?” Dominic said, tapping his knee. A gold bracelet slipped down his wrist and settled near the base of the thumb of his right hand. Josh kept his silence waiting with trepidation for the other shoe to drop.

“I thought about this ever since, you know, ever since I found out. Here you are, Angela's boss. Means you got power over the people who work for you, like Angela. Let's face it, you can bestow favors. You can make or break a career, kick someone up, kick someone down. Give raises. Make recommendations. To the people under you, you're one important dude. Right?”

“I think your perspective is a bit off center,” Josh said.

“It ain't my perspective, I'm speaking for Angela.”

Josh resisted the urge to make any further comment. He felt a giant hole being dug in front of him with Dominic about to push him into it.

“So I figure that if we file a harassment suit against you, we got you dead to rights.”

“Angela couldn't contend that.”

“Why not? As I said before, you're the power, man.”

“But she was already on the fast track on her own. Everybody around here knew it. She's a first-class designer. She could go anywhere. No one held her back. Besides, she's a valuable colleague. I needed her. She made me look good.”

“You betcha. She's one talented lady.”

“And definitely not an innocent victim of harassment.”

“Look, man. Would she want to file a suit? No way.”

Josh was dumbfounded. A lawsuit? Not Angela. Hadn't she been the aggressor? Had he failed to see the dark underside of Angela's character? Had he bothered to see her as anything but a sexual pleasure machine? Nothing in their relationship, whether as working colleagues or frenzied sexual partners, suggested such a cruel destructive motive. She had said only yesterday that she had loved him. And he, Josh, had once believed that he might be in love with her. Good God! Was this the retaliatory action of a scorned woman or had he been set up by Angela from the beginning?

“It's hard for me to believe Angela could be part of this,” Josh said with faltering conviction.

Dominic shrugged and unconsciously picked imaginary lint from the sleeve of his blazer.

“I guess you just don't get it. Believe me when I say that no one, especially Angela, wants trouble. So here's what she's willing to do. I'm just the messenger here. For a couple a hundred grand we're outta here….”

Without waiting for him to continue, Josh stood up. He felt a sudden hammer blow to his head, his skin became hot with anger, and sweat broke out on his body.

“You slimy blackmailing bastard. Get the fuck out of my office or I'll have you thrown out.”

Dominic shook his head, chuckled and smiled, and lifted both hands, palms up.

“Hey man, cool down. You don't want this. Next thing you know, this whole thing will be out in the open and the shit will hit the fan. Do you really want that, kiddo?”

In the pause that followed, Josh fought his anger. A sudden nausea seized him and he had to swallow hard to keep from vomiting. He felt trapped in a maze, unable to find the right path to the exit. He sucked in a couple of hard breaths, forcing his calm while his mind raced to assess his position.

Suddenly he felt the full impact of his victimization, reviewing events that led to this moment. It was Angela who had pursued him, who had seduced him with her overpowering sexuality. Hell, he wasn't made of stone. And she had shown such enthusiasm and lack of inhibition. Had he unwittingly fallen into a trap? Whatever the motive, he was in deep shit. Let's see you wiggle out of this one, Mr. Creative Director. Finally, he managed to get himself under control and sit down.

He had no illusions about the impact of a sexual harassment challenge. The company had run numerous sensitivity seminars as a cautionary measure. Nevertheless, people took chances. The agency, with many young men and women employees, was a hotbed of consensual sex. He was certain, too, that there were the usual trade-offs, sexual favors for material enhancement. It had never entered his mind that his affair with Angela was in this latter category. She was already teacher's pet.

“That's better,” Dominic said when Josh had settled down again. “This is deal time, man. I know what you make. I know where you live and how. I seen your house. What's two hundred grand to you? You get to keep your job and your good lifestyle. The wife's no wiser. The boss don't know. Pay up. Walk away. It's a one-shot deal.”