Hungry for Love (36 page)

“
Here
’
s what
’
s going to happen
,”
said Bill with icy precision. 
“
I
’
m going to a party to make excuses.  Happy Birthday
,
Chrissy
,
by the way—surprise!  When I get home you won
’
t be here.  And Monday
,”
pointing at Kevin
,
“
When I get to work
,
you won
’
t be there.  The both of you can go to hell where you belong.
”

“
I can
’
t get all my stuff out of here tonight
,”
asserted Chrissy
,
determined to stand up to Bill despite the look on his face. 
“
Who do you think you are anyway
,
not like I don
’
t know what
’
s been going on with you and her.
”
  She pointed toward the door where Laura no longer stood as Bill just shook his head at her.

Kevin looked toward the doorway his wife had vacated and wondered only briefly what Chrissy was talking about
,
then returned his focus to the more important issue. 
“
Why should I give up half a practice that
’
s mine
?”
asked Kevin.

“
I
’
ll get moving men to deliver your exercise crap wherever you want.  And I
’
ll get a lawyer to split the practice.  Both of you—get the hell out of my house.  I
’
m calling the security company and they
’
ll make sure you
’
re out
,
stuff or no stuff.
”

Bill turned and strode out the door
,
grabbing a suit jacket from his closet.  He walked outside and stood next to Laura by their cars
,
a hand on her arm to steady her. 
“
I
’
m sorry you had to see that
,”
he said.

“
Which part
,”
she asked
,
“
The screwing
,
the smoking or the fudge
?”

Bill shook his head
,
“
What a couple of schnooks we are
,
huh.  Thank God the kids weren
’
t with us.
”

Laura nodded wryly. 
“
So what do we do now
?
  Call the caterer and cancel
?”

“
I hate to do that to her
,
she
’
s so sensitive
,
she
’
ll take it personally.  Plus so many friends are probably already there.   I
’
ll just go
,
make up a lie
,
hope it ends early.  If I stay here I might take a baseball bat to them.
”

“
We
’
re always stuck being the grownups
,”
said Laura. 
“
Should we just take one car
?”

And that was what they did.  According to Bill
,
Chrissy was sick and each time someone asked where she was
,
he made up a new
,
even creepier disease.  As most of the people there were Bill
’
s friends
,
not Chrissy
’
s
,
nobody really minded her absence and they also didn
’
t leave early.  They had a good time and nobody noticed how subdued both Bill and Laura were.

Sophie and Bert were the last to leave because Mrs. G had wanted to stay and help
,
although no help was needed.  Angie
’
s crew was top notch and the party would have been a huge success under different circumstances.  Sophie smiled toward the back
,
where the girls had conked out on some chairs.  Will was riding the carousel
,
determined to set a record and each time he did another round
,
he shouted out the number. 

“
It was a lovely party
,
dear
,”
said Sophie
,
although she could see something was wrong when she looked into Bill
’
s eyes. 
“
Need someone to listen
?”
she asked.

Bill smiled at her and made a gesture
,
his hand slicing across his throat and a squawky sound coming from his lips.

“
Well
,
maybe it
’
s for the best
,”
she said
,
knowing instantly what he meant. 
“
Want us to stick around a while
?”
  Bert stood by her side
,
and although he was tired
,
he said nothing. 

Bill hugged his neighbor and said
,
“
Oh no
,
thanks though.  We
’
re leaving too in just a couple minutes.
”

“
Okay then
,
it
’
s up this hill to our car.  If you want to stop by later
,
I
’
ll be up for a while.
”

Bill smiled at Sophie and watched her and Bert go up the tall hill that led from the pier to the street.  He didn
’
t know if they
’
d parked on the pier itself
,
on the street
,
or in one of the nearby lots but it was a bit of a trek and he hoped they
’
d parked on the pier.

He gazed off into the distance
,
where a few feet away Laura had raced over to a young couple who were smoking.  They peered into her eyes
,
growing more and more alarmed
,
not so much because of her message but because she was becoming so emotional that she sounded almost unhinged.

“
Oh no
,
you
’
re smoking.  Please!  Think about what you
’
re doing.  You could lose your life
,
lose each other.  Everything would be over.  Dead. I
’
m talking final here
,
final
,
end
,
no more
,
nothing more
,
completely over and dead.
”

Without a word
,
the couple turned and raced away
,
their pace becoming more rapid with each step.  Laura observed them and began weeping
,
and she stumbled toward the carousel as Bill walked toward her and took her in his arms.

Her sobbing grew more pronounced
,
her breath ragged
,
her words coming in breathy gasps. 
“
Control was all I wanted.  I thought if I could make a difference
,
make them stop smoking
,
then at least I could feel I had a handle on something
,
was doing something
,
getting something right
,
something good.
”
  Then she laughed
,
sobbed some more
,
and sniffled
,
saying
,
“
Fighting the devil.
”

Bill dabbed at her eyes with his handkerchief.

Laura sobbed and wheezed a bit
,
saying
,
“
But there is no control.  I should know that by now after all these years with Kevin.
”

“
Ah honey
,”
said Bill
,
cleaning up her streaky face with his handkerchief.

“
Do you think I married him so I could face all this
?
  Face that there
’
s never any control
?
  Face that there
’
s no safety
?”
  She took the handkerchief and mopped at her eyes then resumed sobbing. 
“
If I could live with Kevin all these years
,
maybe I don
’
t need as much control as I thought.
”