Liz laughed. “It’s all right, Caroline. We don’t have a housekeeper, Teddy. Aside from occasionally having someone come in to do the big jobs when my mother has a busy week in her shop or is sick or something, we manage the house ourselves.”
“Does that mean you can cook?” he asked. He pointed his fork to Caroline as he leaned forward. “This one has been thinking of taking a class but Mother sprouted feathers when she heard. After all, that’s what the help is for.”
Caroline gave him a look and Liz asked, “Do you want to learn to cook, Caroline?”
“Yes, I would love to, but it’s never worked out before schedule-wise.”
“I could teach you.”
“Really?”
“Of course. We’re here for a week, surely you can learn something in that time.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Teddy threw in. Caroline kicked him again.
“I think that’s a lovely idea, Lizzy, and a very sweet gesture. When would you like to begin?” asked Caroline.
“Are we doing anything tomorrow, babe?” Liz asked Will.
“Not that I’m aware of. We may be meeting my Harper relations for dinner, but it isn’t confirmed yet.”
“Why don’t you two come over for brunch tomorrow? Caroline and I can cook and then we can all eat it!”
Teddy looked alarmed and Caroline looked anxious but excited. “What do you think, Teddy? Sounds nice, doesn’t it?”
Will jumped in before his cousin could reply. “Don’t worry, Ted. Liz is a wonderful cook. I’m sure she can salvage whatever disaster Caroline comes up with.”
“Hey!” cried Liz and Caroline at once.
“All right, it’s a plan. Boxing Day brunch at the Harpers. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?” said Teddy.
They finished and removed to the sitting room when Thomas woke up and needed to be nursed. Caroline sat with him in a chair in the corner, a large cloth covering her and the baby while Will hovered around the tree and refused to even glance in her direction. Liz chuckled and pulled him down to sit beside her on the floor.
She sorted the gifts into piles, which was basically two for each person, one from each spouse and one from the other couple. There was also a large pile for baby Thomas, who quickly fell asleep again in an ornate basket near the tree.
“Who’s opening first?” Teddy asked.
“Will or Liz. They’re the guests,” Caroline answered.
Liz handed Will a red box. “This one’s from me.”
He opened it slowly, not sure what to expect. He was somewhat surprised to find an empty picture frame. He turned it over and there was a note on the back. To remember our first Christmas.
She wrapped her arms around him from the side and pressed her lips to his cheek. “Merry Christmas, baby,” she whispered.
“Thank you, Elizabeth. I love it,” he said softly.
“You’re welcome,” she answered. Then she handed Caroline a small package wrapped in bright purple paper. “This is for you, Caroline!”
Caroline loved her artisan earrings and immediately tried them on. Teddy opened his gift, a book titled How to Stay Hip After Becoming a Father, and laughed out loud while Caroline teased him that he wasn’t that hip before the baby was born. They gave Will a black turtleneck cashmere sweater. Liz opened her gift and laughed when she saw a red hoodie with a large British flag emblazoned on the front.
“I chose that,” Teddy said proudly. Liz looked at him in surprise. “You’re English by marriage now,” he added amongst the laughter and jokes.
“There’s something from me in the pocket,” added Caroline.
Liz found a sweet little pendant necklace in the shape of an arrow and hugged Caroline. “I love it! Both of them. Thank you!” She kissed Teddy’s cheek and bit back her laugh when he blushed scarlet.
Caroline almost cried when she opened a lovely string of pearls from Teddy, fanning her face and complaining about the hormones that made her so emotional. Teddy blushed again when he opened an expensive pair of deep blue silk pajamas from his wife.
Liz picked up her last gift from Will and shook it happily. Will looked a little self-conscious as she was opening it and kept twisting his wedding ring on his finger.
“Oh, Will!” Liz cried as she pulled a beautiful red silk robe out of the tissue paper. “It’s so soft! Thank you!” She kissed him and immediately showed it to Caroline.
“I’m just glad I’m not the only one getting pajamas!” Teddy said.
Will glared at his cousin who just shrugged in response.
The new parents opened all of their sleeping baby’s gifts and Caroline did tear up when she opened the engraved ornament Liz had gotten from her mother’s shop; it was an intricate silver baby carriage with Thomas’s name and birth date on it.
Before they packed up to go home, Liz made them take several pictures in front of the Christmas tree so Will would have something to put in his frame.
***
Boxing Day was a huge success. Caroline came early with baby Thomas and she and Liz made homemade biscuits and gravy with sausage, scrambled eggs, and huge fluffy cinnamon rolls covered in sweet white icing. Liz handled the difficult parts, of course, but Caroline felt like she learned a lot and had a great time.
The men eventually came down to help with the baby and Will cut up fruit while Teddy made coffee. The two couples laughed and talked and Liz pictured future holidays and vacations just like this, the four of them making food together and sharing life. She quickly shook her head and threw off the melancholy that came with the remembrance that this would be over before she knew it. She told herself not to feel guilty about forming a friendship she knew had an expiration date. She and Caroline could still be friends after the divorce—they lived on opposite sides of the ocean. Caroline wouldn’t be forced to choose one over the other. Surely they could stay in touch via email and phone and occasionally visit each other when Will wasn’t around. And of course she and Will would still be friends.
As they were piling the dishes into the sink, Caroline suddenly turned to Liz and exclaimed, “Oh! You have to see my store before you go back!”
“The one you used to work at?”
“Yes. I check in a couple times a week now, just to keep in touch, but I’ll go back full time in the new year. We have the most beautiful Christmas display up. I’d love for you to see it! What do you say we leave Thomas with the men and have a little time to ourselves?”
“Sounds great!”
Caroline’s “store” turned out to be a six-level department store called Fleming’s. She led Liz to the fifth floor and began showing her around.
“This is the casual women’s floor. I’ve decided to add a maternity department for the first time in the history of the store. Designers are sending me samples, it’s going to be divine!”
“So, when Teddy said you ran an entire department, this is what he meant?”
“Yes, mostly, though I’ve run other departments before this one. I’ll eventually run the entire store, but not before Thomas is much bigger and pregnancy is behind me for good.”
“Feeling confident or are you in line for a promotion?”
“Both!” she laughed. “My sister doesn’t want it, she doesn’t really enjoy business. She’s more of a musician and her heart is there.”
“Wait.” Liz turned to look at Caroline. “You own this? This entire store?” She gestured to everything around them.
“Yes, of course. I’m a Fleming. You didn’t know that?”
Liz laughed thinly. “No, I didn’t.”
She turned and looked at a dress on display so Caroline wouldn’t see her confusion. Liz couldn’t really explain it herself. She just felt so comfortable with Caroline that she often forgot she was dealing with another of William’s rich friends. She’d come to think of Caroline as more her friend than Will’s, and this reminder that they were so incredibly different was unsettling. How could she have not known something so big?
Everyon
e probably just assumed she knew and never thought to tell her. Or it was just so common place in their world to own department stores that it wasn’t even mentioned, like the fact that she had a bicycle. What was the big deal? Everybody had one.
Most of their conversations had centered on the baby and husbands and demanding in-laws. They’d rarely spoken of work, and when they had, it was in a casual, passing way.
She pulled her mind back in and listened to what Caroline was saying.
“…My father will leave his controlling shares to me and my sister will inherit my mother’s shares. Still a stake in the company, but no major responsibilities.”
Liz nodded. “So is it one location or do you have multiple stores?”
Caroline went on to tell her about locations in Edinburgh, Manchester, Glasgow, and Dublin. Liz listened attentively until they were back in the car and on their way home.
“It must be very different, where you’re from. I can’t imagine living in an entirely different culture,” Caroline said after a few minutes of silence.
“Well, it’s William who lives in another culture. I’m just visiting here.”
Caroline gave her a knowing look. “But you’ve entered his world.” Silence hung heavy for a few minutes. “What’s it like?”
“What? In my world?”
Caroline nodded. Liz bit back the snarky comment she wanted to make about slumming it and seeing for herself. This was her friend who was asking out of genuine curiosity, not arrogant snobbery.
Liz sighed. “Everyone’s more together. And I don’t mean that in the organized sense. We’re less compartmentalized. Everyone eats together and does chores together and does chores! We don’t all have private bathrooms and planes and cars and staff. We share space and breath and life.”
“It sounds nice,” Caroline said wistfully.
Liz nodded. “It is. But it can also be cramped, and intrusive, and annoying when the people you’re sharing space and life with are not who you’d pick if you had a choice.”
“We are very compartmentalized, I suppose, though I never thought about it that way. With our houses and nannies and cars.” She looked around the private car they were riding in for emphasis.
“But it has its good points, too. You have an incredible amount of freedom, Caroline. That has immense value! Do you know how many women would love to take a few months off work to have a baby and go back to find their job waiting for them—and a good job at that? Having a nanny may feel less personal, but it’s also an amazing gift. A gift that allows you to sleep and function better, to have time with your husband and maintain your marriage. That’s huge! Do you know how many marriages break up when the kids are small? It’s enormous pressure! My friend Sheila tells me all the time that they almost split up when their son was two and that’s why she’s afraid to have another. And he has a great job so she could stay home with her son, but it still wasn’t enough!”
“You seem to have thought about this a lot for a woman without children.” She looked at Elizabeth’s belly suspiciously.
“I suppose I have. My cousin Mary got pregnant with her first when she was seventeen. It was really hard on the entire family, but mostly on her. He was okay, but not the greatest guy, and he had absolutely no prospects or ambition—still doesn’t. Her parents were middle class, but just barely. They couldn’t really help her.
“My own parents divorced when I was three. My mother wanted to go to school, but with two little babies and a husband who was busy with his business all the time, it just wasn’t realistic. It broke them. Who knows if they’d been able to pursue their own dreams if they would have made it?”
Caroline reached over and squeezed her arm. “So you think I should quit complaining?” she asked with a smile.
“No, I don’t even think you are complaining. There are pros and cons to both situations, like everything else, but maybe there’s a way to get the best of both worlds and not throw the baby out with the bath water. Money may not buy happiness, but it can buy options, and options lead to more choices and better choices can absolutely buy happiness.”
“I think I like your way of doing math there, Lizzy Harper.”
Liz just smiled and nudged Caroline’s shoulder with her own.
31
Taggston Publishing
January
9 months Married
“You must be Elizabeth.”
“Yes. Please, call me Liz.” She held out her hand but he had already turned to gather something from his desk. She hugged her coat tighter and readjusted the bag on her shoulder.
“This is your orientation packet.” He whirled to face her and thrust a thick envelope into her hands. She hugged it to her chest as he took off down the hall, talking over his shoulder as she scurried after him. “This is where you’ll pick up your mail.” He gestured to a block of cubbies along the wall. “Every Monday you report to me for assignments. You’ll be rotating through the different editors’ staffs. Four editors, one week each.” He stopped so suddenly she almost ran into him and pointed to a hall lined with what she supposed were editors’ offices. “You get two breaks a day, fifteen minutes each, and one hour for lunch. The break room is over there.” He pointed to another room to her right. Her heels were clacking wildly to keep up with him.
“There’s a cafeteria on the fifth floor. This is Linda.” He pointed to a plump, middle-aged woman seated at a desk in front of them. “She’s the intern coordinator. She gave the intern tour last month that you missed.” He glared at her slightly over his glasses. “If you have any problems with your university or paperwork, etc., ask Linda. If you have any problems with the work itself or don’t understand what you’re expected to do, ask me. I’m your direct supervisor and therefore responsible for you.” She waved at a smiling Linda as they walked off to the left and into a small, windowless room with a round table and chairs and some hooks on the wall. “This is the intern room. You can keep your belongings here.”
He finally turned to face her. “While you are an intern at Taggston Publishing, you are expected to behave in a professional manner at all times. You have a copy of the employee handbook in your packet. Dress code and anything else you need to know should be there.”
She nodded.
“Any questions?” he asked.
“Yes. What’s your name?”
“Higgins. Russell Higgins. You may call me Mr. Higgins. Your first assignment is with John Shankman. He’s expecting you in five minutes.” Mr. Higgins then turned and left the room, leaving a thoroughly bewildered Liz behind him.
After hanging up her coat and bag and quickly checking the dress code to make sure she didn’t need to change, she made her way back to Linda’s desk.
“Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find John Shankman’s office?”
“Of course. Go to the end of this hall and turn right. He’s the second door on your left.”
“Thank you.”
Liz followed her instructions and stepped into the open door of Mr. Shankman’s office and realized she was in the assistants’ anteroom. There were two desks on either side guarding two matching doors. Neither of the studious-looking men looked up.
“Excuse me, I’m looking for Mr. Shankman’s office? I’m a new intern here,” she said in what she hoped was a quiet but steady voice.
The man on her left looked up. “Mr. Shankman is in a meeting. I’m his assistant. You actually need to speak with the associate editor under Mr. Shankman. Ralph Watson has the office across the hall.” He went back to typing and ignoring Liz, so she thanked him quietly and left the room.
“Excuse me, I’m looking for Mr. Watson?” she asked the scruffy looking man behind the desk.
“That’s me. You must be my intern.” He stood and held out his hand.
“Elizabeth Barrett, you can call me Liz.”
“Your parents must have had a sense of humor,” he said with a grin.
“Yes, sir.”
“Have a seat, have
a seat,” he said as he bustled around to her side of the desk and quickly cleared a stack of papers from one of the two chairs there. He was chubby and a little clumsy, and his glasses continually slid down his nose. His hair was tousled on his head in what she supposed he thought was a stylish way and he wore corduroy trousers with a sweater vest. She saw a tweed jacket thrown over the back of the chair.
“Thank you.” She sat and looked at him expectantly.
“Well, Liz, here’s how this works. I’m an associate editor and I help with Mr. Shankman’s authors, mostly in production, and occasionally acquire authors of my own. I share an assistant with Kelly Green—try not to laugh—who is in the office next door. There are also assistant editors, most with specific specialties, and editorial assistants in offices down the hall—that’s the sort of job you’re likely to get when you complete your internship. Now, today we have a meeting with a new author of mine, the scientist Ian Mellen. Are you familiar with Dr. Mellen’s work?”
Liz stared at him, unsure of what she should respond to first and desperately searching her brain for any information on Ian Mellen.
“Um, no, I’m afraid I’m not.”
“No problem, the appointment’s not until ten. Why don’t you take the time to read up on his work and you can sit in on the meeting. Meet me in conference room two at five till.”
He stood and guided her out of the room and she wandered back to the intern room in a daze. It was already nine twenty. She sat down and googled Ian Mellen.
She was in the conference room at ten till ten and nervously wiped her palms on her skirt. She’d thought the pencil skirt and plain cotton boatneck top were a good idea; stylish, but not too expensive looking. She was a student after all. Now, she wasn’t so sure. Ian Mellen was a big-time scientist, as she’d just discovered, who was being considered for a Nobel Prize and had met with leaders and dignitaries all over the world. Surely that called for a pair of earrings at least? The only jewelry she had on was an old but classic watch. She felt terribly underdressed and completely unprepared. If she was going to fall flat on her face, she at least wanted to look good doing it. Fake it till you make it, Barrett. Buck up.
Green Card Page 36
