Fifth Ave 01 - Fifth Avenue (17 page)

George was quiet a moment, thoughtful.

“It could happen,” she said.
 
“I’m not saying that it will, but it could and we should be prepared.”

“I know it could,” George said.
 
“That’s why I called Ted Frostman at Chase.
 
He'll be here at noon.
 
I figured the three of us could talk over a game of skeet and see if we can work something out.
 
What do you think?”

After the past two days, the last thing Celina wanted to do was caucus with Ted Frostman over a game of skeet.
 
She said nothing.

George leaned back in his chair.
 
“Spill it,” he said.
 
“You left the party early.
 
Your mother and I aren’t fools.
 
What’s going on?”

She didn’t respond.

“There’s a reason you haven’t been answering your phone and why you’re so quiet now.
 
That reason probably has to do with Eric.
 
Did you two have another argument?”

Celina moved to speak, but she didn’t want to get into this.
 
Eric was like a son to George.
 
She knew her father hoped they would marry and have children.
 
She knew he hoped that one day they would head the corporation together.

“It’s more than that,” she said.

George held out his hands.
 
Celina hesitated, but then she decided she had to tell him at some point and so she told him everything, her words coming in a rush.
 
George spoke only after she was finished.

“Is that all?” he asked.

“Isn’t that enough?”

He peered over his glasses.
 
“That’s not what I meant, Celina.”
 
His voice was calm, but his face was flush.

“I know,” she said.
 
“Yes, I guess that’s it.”
 
She turned to the windows beside her and waited for him to say something comforting.
 
When he didn’t, when there was nothing but a heavy stillness between them, she looked at her father and was surprised by the anger she saw in his eyes.
 
George was furious and Celina immediately regretted telling him anything.

“I shouldn’t have told you any of this,” she said.

“I’m glad you told me.”

“No,” she said.
 
“It was a mistake.”

“Where is Eric now?”

“Dad....”

“Answer me.
 
Is he at home?
 
In his apartment?”

“I don’t know.
 
Do you honestly believe I care where he is now?”

“After devoting years of your life to him, yes, I do think you care.”
 
He studied her for a moment.
 
“You’re probably still in love with him.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Of course, I’m serious.”

“Is your opinion of me that low?”

“My opinion of you has nothing to do with this--”

“It has everything to do with this.
 
I caught Eric in bed with my sister.
 
When you say you think I’m still in love with him, it makes me look like a fool.
 
I’m no fool, Dad.”
 
But even as she said this, she knew her father was right.
 
She was still in love with Eric.

“Look,” George said after a moment.
 
“I’ll handle Leana and Eric.
 
All right?
 
I’ll take care of them myself.
 
But right now, I want you to forget this ever happened.”

“Forget this happened?”

“Frostman will be here at noon.
 
I need you at your best.
 
If he doesn't feel comfortable with us, he won’t feel comfortable with this deal and he won't be able to sell it to the board.”

So, it was WestTex that mattered.

She pushed back her chair.
 
“You’re incredible,” she said.
 
She reached for her sunglasses and walked around the table.
 
“I’ll talk to you later.”

George looked up at her.
 
“What’s your problem?”

“Are you serious?” she said.
 
“If you don’t know, then it sure as hell isn’t worth discussing.”
 
She left the room and started walking down the long hallway.
 
She was aware that he was following her.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

She wanted to put distance between them.
 
She quickened her pace.
 
“I don’t know,” she said.
 
“To the self-help section at Borders?”

“Would you stop for a minute?
 
Please?”

Celina kept walking until she reached the entryway.
 
And then she stopped.

“I’m sorry,” he said.
 
“I don’t know what I was thinking.”

A thousand thoughts spun through her mind.
 
“You know something, Dad?
 
I called you this morning because you were the only person I could turn to, because I thought you could help.
 
Never once did I think I’d be leaving feeling worse than when I came.
 
I thought our relationship was a hell of a lot more important than any deal we might have with WestTex.”

She went down the brick stairs and stepped into her car.
 
George stood in the open doorway and watched her red Mercedes race down the winding cobblestone driveway to the black iron gates that were at the base of the hill.

It hadn’t been his intention to hurt her, but he had and he was angry with himself.
 
He could hear the sound of her car coming to a stop.
 
He imagined the gates opening, welcoming her in a way that he hadn’t, and then he heard the roar of the engine as the car shot through.
 

He wondered where she was going.
 
If she didn’t come back for the meeting, he couldn’t blame her.
 
He stepped back into the house and went to his office.

*
 
*
 
*

Across the room, on his desk, were three telephones.
 
George chose one and dialed Eric’s apartment at Redman Place.
 
The line rang several times before it was
 
answered by a woman--a voice George didn’t expect or recognize.

She seemed out of breath.

“Yes?” she said.

“I’m sorry,” George said. “I must have dialed the wrong number.”

“George?”

He hesitated.
 
The voice was vaguely familiar now.
 
Then he recognized it.
 
“Diana?”

“Yes,” she said.
 
“And you didn’t dial the wrong number.
 
I’m here with Eric.”
 
She was talking oddly fast.
 
“He needed legal advice on the presentation he’s working on for WestTex.
 
I offered to help.”

“I should hope so,” George said.
 
“That’s your job.
 
Could you put Eric on the line, please?”

“Of course.”

He listened to the muffled sound of a hand being placed over the receiver.
 
There was a brief exchange of words, then Eric came on the line.

“George,” he said.
 
“This is a surprise.”

“Is it?” George said.
 
“Then let me give you another.
 
I know what happened the night of the party.
 
Celina told me everything.”

Silence.

“I want your ass out of Redman International by tomorrow morning.
 
You’re fired.
 
If you’re not out by noon, I’ll have you charged with trespassing.
 
And then I’ll take it a step further.”

*
 
*
 
*

George climbed the stairs two at a time.

Leana’s bedroom was on the second floor, next to Celina’s old bedroom.
 
As he walked down the hallway, he could see the door to her bedroom was closed.
 

Or so he thought.

When he knocked on the door, it edged slightly open.
 
George waited a moment, called Leana’s name twice and entered the room when there was no answer.
 

Large cardboard boxes filled with his daughter’s clothes crowded the center of the room.
 
Empty bureaus stood with their drawers open.
 
Her closets and walls were bare.

He moved around the room, glancing at each box as he passed it.
 
She had packed quickly.
 
Her clothes were stuffed into the boxes.
 
It was clear that she planned on leaving as soon as possible.

And why not?
 
Leana knew there were no secrets between Celina and him.
 
She knew that sooner or later he would confront her with what she had done.
 
Of course, she wanted out.
 
Ever since she was a child, she had dodged responsibility.
 
And now, as George stood in the middle of her bedroom, feeling its emptiness almost as surely as he had felt for years his youngest daughter’s rage, he decided that if she wanted to be on her own, she would have to do it on her own.
 
Not with his money.

He came down the stairs and found Carlos, their butler, adjusting a flower arrangement in the entryway.
 
He had worked for the Redmans for nearly twenty years.

“Any idea where Leana is, Carlos?
 
She’s not in her bedroom.”
 
He had a feeling she might be sitting by the pond behind the stables.
 
It’s where Leana went when she wanted to be alone.

Carlos looked surprised.
 
“She left last night, Mr. Redman, before you and Mrs. Redman returned from Manhattan.
 
I thought you knew.”

“No,” George said.
 
“I didn’t know.
 
Are you aware that she’s moving out?”

He nodded.
 
“She left yesterday.
 
I offered to help carry her bags to her car, but she insisted on doing it herself.
  
Before she left, she told me that she would send for the rest of her things tomorrow.
 
She asked me not to touch anything until then.”

Although Carlos would not tell George this, Leana also had hugged and kissed him goodbye.
 
She told him how much he had meant to her over the years.
 
She said that she felt closer to him than to her own father.

“Did she say where she was going?”

“I asked, Mr. Redman, but she wouldn’t say.”