Reconcilable Differences: A 'Having It All' Novel (9 page)

“—stories. I’ll never trust you again!” D'arcy cried,
tears glistening.

“That’s it, isn’t it? You never did trust me. What have I
ever done to make you feel—?” Eli pleaded.

“What can you expect from such an irresponsible
philanderer—?” Sharon said.

“Shut up, will you?” Eli screamed in Sharon’s face,
spittle flying.

Kate had had enough. “Stop right there! All of you.” She
turned away. “Sit down, please. Everyone.” She moved to her seat and stood,
tapping the table with her fingertips, waiting for everyone to take their
places, and sank into her chair with her spine straight as a pike. She let them
wait while she turned her cool gaze at each of them, and sent a particularly
reproachful glare at Sharon. When her eyes met Simon’s she was aware of a
bright intensity there—was it approval? admiration? His lips tightened ever so
slightly in a small smile meant only for her that made her feel an inch taller
and sent a tingling warmth through her middle. She couldn’t explain why, but it
was suddenly important to her that he respect and admire her for her work.

When it was quiet, she made notes, gathering her
thoughts. She was loath to ask them what had incited the dispute, but… it had
to be done. “Okay. Everyone take another deep breath. We’re going to discuss
this like adults, calm and rational.”

Sharon sniffed and raised her chin. “You needn’t address
us like school children, Kate. Clearly something’s happened to upset D'arcy,
and if she feels justified in … ”

“Excuse me, Sharon.” Kate cut in, her voice a whisper of
steel. “You’re behaving like school children.
If
you don’t mind: Were you there? Did you see or hear what happened?”

“Well, no, but … ”

“Well then. I would also like to remind you of your
commitment to support the mediation process. Please refrain from accusations
and name-calling in future. It’s unprofessional. And unhelpful.” Kate’s voice
was as hard and sharp as a nail, though she felt enormous frustration.

Sharon’s mouth hung open. Kate closed her eyes for a
brief moment, gritting her teeth, and drew a deep breath. When she opened them,
she could see Sharon’s face pinched in fury, her shoulders drawn up. Later,
shrew.

“Now. D'arcy. In as few words as possible, describe what
could have possibly happened during a half hour coffee break to cause such an
outburst.”

D'arcy sniffled, indignant and distraught. “We went for a
coffee down the street. We sat down at a table and were talking. Everything was
fine.” Her voice rose in pitch and cracked. “Then this bimbo with her
navel-ring hanging out of jeans down to here,” she sliced herself across the
midriff, “ —bounced into the shop and squealed— ‘Eli, oh, Eli baby, what a
surprise,’ —and threw herself at him. He jumped out of his chair and grabbed
her in a huge hug, and then he kissed her and pawed her, right in front of me!
I was stunned. I couldn’t imagine who this little tart was, but he didn’t even
introduce me. I was like, like—” she stuttered, searching for the word, “—like
wallpaper or something. He completely ignored me while he made a date with her,
for Chrissake!”

Kate made notes, glancing at her watch. “Okay, thank you
D'arcy. Stop there. Eli? Your version please.” With deliberate calm, Kate
refused to judge the truth based only on D’arcy’s interpretation of it.

Eli didn’t hesitate to launch to his own defense,
bursting with righteous indignation. “This is just what happened last time.” He
looked pointedly at Kate. “She sees what she expects to see and jumps to
conclusions.”

“Just describe and explain events, Eli, please,” said
Kate in a soft monotone. She noted Simon squinting at Eli, as curious to hear
his explanation as she was.

“The ‘bimbo’ in question is Cara, my agent Jeffrey’s
seventeen-year-old daughter!” He sat grim-faced, his dark brows joined in an
angry line across his eyes, which glinted as black and unfathomable as coal.
“We’re friends. She’s been out of town and was happy to see me. I did
not
kiss her. She kissed
me
. I did hug her. Why wouldn’t
I? I was happy to see her, too. She’s been in Italy since May.” His lip curled
in disgust. “And the ‘date’ D'arcy refers to is a reception at Jeffrey’s
gallery on Thursday evening that she ought to know about. We’re celebrating the
sale of two large canvases to a collector in London. All my
friends
will be there.”

“Okay, stop there.” Kate paused again, letting the facts
sink slowly into everyone’s brain. After a few moments, she spoke. “D'arcy, how
did this make you feel?”

“I felt … ” her expression was graphic: her mouth warped
into a frown, her brow creased, eyes pained, chin quivering. “I felt
humiliated. I felt rejected… and betrayed. He didn’t tell me who she was, or
even acknowledge me to her. How is that supposed to make me feel?”

Kate nodded and gave her a small, reassuring smile. “And
you? What emotions are you feeling, Eli?”

“That’s easy. Anger. And resentment.” Eli was still
fuming, nostrils flared, his body tense as a sprung bow.

Kate talked them both through the event, showing them how
it looked from the other’s point of view, and trying to frame their respective
behavior in terms of their good qualities, instead of allowing their fears and
biases to color the experience.

“Eli, this sounds like consideration and good manners. Do
you typically introduce D'arcy when you meet friends that she doesn’t know?”

“I’m not a complete idiot, you know! I didn’t get a
chance.” He was getting worked up, his voice escalating as he rose from his
chair in agitation. “You people talk to me like you think I’m an idiot.” He
wiped saliva from his mouth with the back of his hand, and Kate met his eye and
silently sent him soothing energy.

Sharon perked up, leaning back in her chair and glaring
at Eli. “If he’s going to get violent, I’m afraid we can’t continue until he
learns to behave.”

Kate shot Sharon a staying glance. “Hold on, Eli. Stay
with me.” She reached out an open hand. “I’m trying to explore past patterns of
behavior, to see how this fits in. D'arcy, has Eli always been openly
affectionate with friends, with you? Is he demonstrative, I mean?”

“What are you getting at?” Eli interrupted.

D’arcy’s face relaxed, her eyes sliding sideways, “I
suppose, yes. His Mom is like that too, all hugs and kisses.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Eli demanded.

Simon’s eyes widened with alarm, and he lay a calming
hand on Eli’s arm. “Take it easy buddy.” Kate released a breath, feeling
grateful for his presence.

Eli was undeterred, his voice jeering, pugnacious and
petulant. “This makes perfect sense. It’s been there all along.” Eli turned on
D'arcy, belligerent now, leaning over her, jabbing his finger. “You never
respected me. You’re just as prejudiced as your precious Mother and Daddy. You
don’t trust me to behave nicey-nicey because I’m such a cad; not raised
properly and all that. Should have thought of that before you married me, eh?”

Whoa, touched a nerve there. Why was he overreacting like
this?

“Don’t misunderstand me, Eli,” Kate cautioned. “I’m
trying to–“

He turned to Kate. “I can hear it in your voice, too.
Judgment.” Foam gathered at the corners of his lips, which were working in a
sneer. “You’ve all declared me guilty without a shred of evidence. You already
think you know what I am. But you’re wrong.” He turned to D'arcy. “You know me,
cher
. You know what I’m
like. I wouldn’t do that!”

Abruptly, Simon rose and touched Kate’s shoulder, sending
a current of warming energy down her arm and across her ribs, steadying her
racing pulse. His face had shuttered, become grave. His shaggy brows bristled,
shadowing his steely eyes and his voice was dangerously calm, taut and quiet,
like the whisper of steel on whetstone. He took hold of Eli’s arm with a firm
grip, ushering him toward the door. “Please excuse us, ladies. We’ll be back in
just a moment.”

~*~

Kate
was grateful the kerfuffle was
over, but she felt an unexpected surge of resentment toward Simon for taking
control. It wasn’t like she hadn’t dealt with unruly or distraught clients
before. It was her job, after all, what she was trained to do.
Does he think I can’t handle it?
She scowled. But she knew Eli respected and admired Simon and would listen to
him, and tried to damp down her irritation.

While they waited, she took the opportunity to work with
D'arcy. It was, actually— she was loath to admit to herself— a good time for a
spontaneous breakout session. With Eli out of the way, the atmosphere calmed
and Kate was able to get D'arcy to see how Eli’s tendency to be expressive,
openly affectionate and careless of etiquette, though he wasn’t intentionally
insensitive, fed her fears that he was flirting and having affairs. She
admitted that one of the things she loved about him was his ability to
completely lose himself in the moment, the person, the idea. When his fancy was
caught, his passion was immediate and engrossing, and he was completely
unselfconscious in his devotion to it.

“That can be a dangerous tendency, if you ask me,”
offered Sharon. “Everyone needs to exercise control over their emotions.”

“Sometimes that’s true, Sharon. But if everyone did all
the time, there would be no artists, no musicians, no lovers in the world,”
Kate said, meeting D’arcy’s eye with a knowing smile.

D'arcy admitted that in the past she had felt jealous of
the way he became absorbed in conversations with people, to the exclusion of
her or anyone else in the room. But she understood it and accepted it. “Lately,
though, I’ve had a harder time with it.” She admitted it was her own needs that
perhaps had changed.

Ever vigilant, Sharon chose the opportunity to raise the
alleged infidelity again, asking how she could trust him after catching him in
such a compromising situation. “What kind of man would do that? It isn’t
right.”

“Well, D'arcy? How are you feeling about that now?” asked
Kate. “Do you still believe Eli slept with one of those women?”

D'arcy was pensive, her voice wistful when she spoke. “I
don’t know, Kate. Maybe I–”

“But you were certain,” exclaimed Sharon. “That’s what
drove you to file for divorce, wasn’t it?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Sharon … the evidence was damning,
yes, I admit, but pretty circumstantial. I really wouldn’t put it past Eli to
pass out at his own party,” D'arcy lowered her face into her hands and ground
at her temples with her carmine-tipped fingers. She looked dog-tired.

“I’m telling you, a word to the wise is enough,” Sharon
shook her head, tight-lipped.

“Meaning… ?”

“Meaning… he’s already shown you his colors. If he didn’t
sleep with those girls, how long until he’s tempted again?” Sharon’s hands
sliced down onto the table like small square guillotines, unforgiving.
D’arcee’s eyes widened in distress, and she inserted her little finger between
her teeth, nibbling.

Kate grimaced and, resisting the urge to roll her eyes,
said, “Sharon, I’m sorry, but I have to ask you point blank. What exactly is
your objective here?” She opened her hands, remembering the phone-call from
Darcy’s mother. “Have you been retained to ensure D'arcy and Eli are divorced
despite
their wishes?” It was
difficult to keep the sarcasm out of her tone; Sharon’s motives were so obvious.
“You’re doing a great job of helping them along, if that’s the case.”

Sharon huffed, her nostrils flaring like a small dragon,
but there was no opportunity to further the topic, as the door opened. Simon
and Eli returned, Eli shuffling. Simon glanced at him significantly, eyebrow
cocked.

“Er.” Eli angled toward his chair, gripping its back. “I…
uh… I’m sorry. I kinda lost my cool, there.” Kate met his eye cautiously, not
smiling. “M’sorry Kate. I didn’t mean what I said, honest. I just get worked up
into a lather.” Eli dared a peek at D'arcy, who offered him a shy, tentative
smile of acceptance.

Kate reluctantly acknowledged that Simon had done a very
effective job of turning Eli around. “Good. Alright then. Please sit down and
we’ll resume.” They did sit, and Kate tried not to scowl at Simon. He answered
with a bemused expression, filled with unaffected warmth, empathy and
confidence, and a little shrug. Somehow it annoyed her even more.

“Right. I’m sorry we lost the momentum we gained earlier
this morning, but, perhaps we learned something valuable in the process,” Kate
opened her hands, palm up. “D'arcy, why don’t you tell Eli what you discovered
this morning?”

Tentatively, D'arcy admitted she had been too willing to
leap to the wrong conclusions lately about his behavior, especially toward
other women. She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, to trust him. “I
guess I need reassurance, instead of resentment.”

Eli glanced at Simon. Simon sat forward, his hands
clasped together against his chin, as though he sheltered the most precious,
tiny treasure trapped between them, his blue eyes bright with expectation, like
a summer sky. Kate could almost hear him cheering Eli on. Eli squared his
shoulders. “I know, D'arcy.” He swallowed, his prominent Adam’s apple sliding
up and down his tanned neck. “I think… no, I’m pretty sure a lot of… of my
flying off the handle is just my old insecurities.”

“I think I know that,” said D'arcy. She laid a hand
lightly over his on the table.

“I mean, it’s not even you. I’m still pretty blown away
by what’s happening. Maybe I’m afraid it won’t last. That I’ll be found out,
knocked down a peg, y’know?” Eli’s eyebrows tilted like brackets in his creased
brow, and the earnest, anxious expression in his dark chocolate eyes melted
Kate’s heart.

Gosh, she wanted so much for these two to work it out. It
was so obvious to her that they loved each other very much. Kate stood
straighter, pulling in a deep breath, filling her lungs.
I’m good at this. I really am able to help
them. We’re making progress.