Eliza Starts a Rumor

by Jane L. Rosen

  “Come inside for a few minutes.”

  They had wanted to get to Eliza’s early enough that she would hopefully be home, but not too early for it to be rude. Alison had done a bit of online investigating and was confident that Eliza wasn’t employed, that her husband was, and that their kids were in college. Arriving between nine and ten seemed like their best shot to find her home alone. Alison looked at the time. They had enough for one cup of tea to calm Olivia’s nerves. As they drank, Alison prepped her.

  “So, if she’s home, I imagine she will come out and talk to us. I’m confident that I can get her that far at least. Once she does, let me do most of the talking.”

  “Thanks, I would rather that.”

  “It’s fine. I’m going to guide the conversation, I promise, but you have to elicit her sympathy for this to work. You can’t appear deranged, not that I think you are deranged—of course I don’t—but she has to see herself in you in order to want to help you.”

  Olivia sipped her tea and nodded her head in agreement. She could see that Alison needed more assurance.

  “I got it. I’ll be strong. I am strong.”

  “OK, are you ready?” Alison cheered her on, with two fists in the air.

  “I’m ready!” Olivia feigned matching enthusiasm.

  * * *

  —

  For a minute or two, Alison and Olivia stood between Eliza’s house and her neighbors’, assessing the situation. Actually, Alison was assessing the situation; Olivia was concentrating on breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth.

  In for four, hold for seven, out for eight.

  In for four, hold for seven, out for eight.

  The neighborhood they were standing in was much more of a neighborhood than where either of them lived, with Olivia up in the cliffs and Alison smack in the middle of town. The difference registered in both of their minds.

  “It’s nice here,” Alison said. “More like what I imagined the suburbs to be like.”

  “I guess,” Olivia somewhat agreed. She had not spent much time imagining the suburbs. She was sure she would still be in the city if she hadn’t fallen so head over heels in love with her house.

  “You good to go?” Alison asked.

  Olivia nodded and continued listening to her breath. As they reached the door, she felt a wave of strength come over her. Knowing the truth, whatever that may be, had to be better than living with doubt and uncertainty. She couldn’t bear the thought of even one more night of pretending that everything was OK. They had to get an answer.

  Alison motioned for Olivia to ring the bell, as if it were symbolic—of what, she wasn’t sure. The ring surprised them, it wasn’t the normal ding-dong, but a repeat of the first four notes of Beethoven’s Fifth. They both laughed, causing them to laugh again at the fact that they were laughing. Eliza answered the door. She looked taken aback, but, thankfully, kind.

  “Can I help you?” she asked from behind the screen.

  “I hope so,” Alison answered. “We understand that you’re the moderator for the Hudson Valley Ladies’ Bulletin Board.”

  They certainly didn’t look dangerous, but Eliza kept a strong hand on the inner door, ready to slam it, if necessary.

  “That’s correct,” she answered cautiously, surprised by the sight of two women with baby strollers standing at her door questioning a forum that had only ever existed online.

  Alison smiled warmly, realizing as much.

  “I’m Alison Le and this is my friend Olivia York. We both recently moved here.”

  Olivia smiled, too, and added, “I bought this jogging stroller from someone on the bulletin board. Thank you!”

  Eliza relaxed and smiled back now that she felt more confident that this was a friendly visit, odd as it may be. How did these two even know where she lived? She waited for them to get to the point. As she did, she saw Amanda arrive home. She sensed she needed backup.

  “Olivia believes her husband may be having an affair with the woman who posted anonymously on your forum. We need to know her name in order to investigate further.”

  Eliza swayed back and forth a bit with her feet placed firmly in the doorway. What have I started? Yes, I need backup. She flicked the outdoor light on and off continuously, an age-old SOS between her and Amanda, but only Alison and Olivia took notice of her strange behavior. She gave up and called out her name, never moving from behind the door.

  “Mandy!” she yelled loudly. It obviously surprised them both and Eliza apologized. “Sorry, I was just calling my neighbor over.”

  Amanda waved, and Eliza waved her over quite intensely, elevating the bizarreness. Amanda approached with an innocent, “Hey, what’s up?”

  “This is . . .” Eliza had already forgotten their names. They both stepped up, happy to shake hands with someone on the street side of the screen.

  “Alison Le.”

  “Olivia York.”

  “Nice to meet you, I’m Amanda, Eliza’s neighbor and oldest friend.” She reached out to shake their hands, adding, “You can call me Mandy, most everyone around here does.”

  Everyone but Eliza smiled awkwardly. She had collected her thoughts and was eager to dispense with them and move on.

  “I’m afraid I can’t help you. The anonymous post feature doesn’t share names or emails.” She looked at Mandy and filled her in.

  “These ladies want to know the name of that anonymous poster who’s having the affair.”

  “Oh, hoping for some scarlet letter action?” Mandy asked with a bite in her tone. She was no fan of women who sleep with other women’s husbands, but no fan of publicly shaming them either. Two sides to every story, she always thought. It took her a second to remember that this woman was actually created, or at the very least embellished, by Eliza. It was Olivia who set things straight.

  “Not at all. I believe it might be my husband who’s cheating.” She moved Lily’s blanket down so they could see her face. “This is my daughter. If it is my husband, then he was cheating on me while I was pregnant, while I was giving birth, and while I’ve been nursing his baby.” The strength in her words and her voice surprised even her. “Do you have children?” she asked. They both nodded yes.

  “Then I am you. Do you understand?” She said it again, slowly and nearly begging, “I am you.”

  It hit home, especially for Amanda. She stepped up.

  “Can you excuse us for a minute?” she asked, while making her way around them and into the house. She smiled a forced smile at them and closed the door. They wondered if it would ever open again.

  Olivia whispered, “I’ve been more welcoming to Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

  “It is strange, but don’t worry, you did great. Don’t say much else. You clearly have the neighbor’s sympathy, but it can easily turn.”

  Inside the house a heated debate was going on. Amanda and Eliza were at odds, with Eliza feeling like she had too much to lose by telling these two strangers the truth. In the end, the hurt of having been recently scorned fueled a passion in Amanda’s argument that Eliza couldn’t compete with.

  “You have to put this poor girl out of her misery,” Mandy implored. “Not everyone has a husband as wonderful as Luke. You have no idea of the pain she’s in.”

  Eliza opened the door and asked them in. They sat in the living room where she carefully chose her words, coming up with some version of the truth.

  “The anonymous post was fictitious. Someone made it up to drum up controversy on the bulletin board.”

  They both looked at her confused. She simplified it, “It’s fake news! You have nothing to worry about. I’m sorry if this caused you harm, really I am.” That part she was sincere about.

  Alison was about to question her further, but Olivia let out a cry of relief that pierced all of their hearts. Their eyes teared up as hers overflowed. Eliza
doled out tissues, and they even laughed a bit. Olivia never knew such relief existed, just as she had never known such anxiety had existed. She was thrilled to put the whole thing behind her.

  As they walked home, Olivia stopped a block from her house to thank Alison and say goodbye. Part of her hoped to never see Alison again. If she didn’t, she could go back to her beautiful glass house and ostensibly pretend this entire episode had never happened. But she wasn’t that type of girl. She appreciated the way Alison had stuck her neck out for her; she wasn’t about to chop it off and keep walking.

  “Circle Time at the library on Friday?” she asked.

  Alison was relieved; she realized they were at a crossroads, both literally and figuratively, and that their friendship was based on a rather awful and embarrassing experience.

  “That would be great. Eleven o’clock, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Lunch afterward?”

  “Perfect.” Alison had gotten very close to some of her clients, and when their cases were closed, she often never heard from them again. It wasn’t so much that they weren’t in each other’s daily lives anymore, but that the clients preferred to put the whole thing behind them, without staring into the face of its biggest reminder. She sensed that Olivia might feel similarly.

  “It’s over now, Olivia. We never have to discuss it again.”

  Olivia hugged her, grateful that she had read her mind. Alison added, “Plus, I have a date Thursday night with that gorgeous guy whose shoulder you fell asleep on, so we can deconstruct every detail.”

  Olivia perked right up. “What? Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “Well, given the circumstances . . . Also guess who texted me last night?”

  “The baby daddy?”

  “Yes.”

  “I guess the drama is all in your court now.”

  “Uh-huh, and it is not the court I’m used to.”

  CHAPTER 23

  Olivia

  Olivia went to great lengths that day to get her marriage back on track. Feeling the pain of it possibly ending had been enough to scare her into action. Spencer walked in the door that night to a dinner of homemade osso bucco and mushroom risotto, his two favorites, and a warm chocolate cake for dessert. She knew this couldn’t be an everyday occurrence; she had run around all afternoon like a piping plover getting it all together, but hoped the effort would be appreciated. It was.

  The night felt like it totally set things straight. They talked about simple, happy things, like what color to paint the den, and whether to go to the Cape or Nantucket for summer vacation. After making love they lay in each other’s arms and promised never to doubt each other again. It may have been the deepest love that Olivia had ever felt for Spencer. Lily even cooperated by sleeping through the night, and in the morning, they all woke refreshed and happy. It gave Olivia an idea. After feeding Lily, she poked her head into the closet where Spencer was getting dressed to run.

  “If you can wait ten minutes, Lil and I can come with you. I’ve got a real hold on this jogging stroller thing now!”

  “Not today, honey. I have an eight thirty conference call.”

  “A conference call? While you’re running?”

  “Yeah. It’s a mandatory compliance thing. I mute the phone and just listen.”

  “Oh well, I guess it’s silly then.”

  “Definitely another time.”

  He kissed her on the nose in his old sweet way, and any hurt she felt from the rejection of her offer to run with him melted away. Everything felt right with the world.

  Until about ten minutes later when, while making the bed, Olivia fanned out their comforter and Spencer’s cell phone shot across the room.

  “Uh-oh, Daddy forgot his phone,” she said out loud to Lily as she looked at the time—8:23.

  “I guess he’ll be back any minute.”

  She felt bad for him. He hated to miss a run. She slipped the phone into her robe pocket and continued straightening up while Lily watched her happily from her bouncy seat. As 8:30 came and went, she began to worry that something had happened to him. Soon, she dismissed it and decided that, in typical Spencer fashion, his run came before anything else. He must have put it in front of the call. Lily fell back to sleep, and Olivia quietly stepped out of the room to get a few more things done.

  She was in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher when Spencer ran in, sweaty and thirsty. He reached for a glass with one hand; his phone was in the other. Olivia flashed back to the meeting with Andie Rand:

  “The worst cheaters have two phones,” Andie had said. Olivia remembered it clearly because, at the time, it gave her hope.

  “Spencer only has one,” she had responded. “I’m sure of it.”

  He smiled at her. “Last night was great, baby. Thanks again.” She just stared, frozen. He was already out of the kitchen and didn’t notice.

  “I’m taking a shower,” he yelled on his way to their bedroom.

  She wanted to close her eyes and pretend his second phone was not in her pocket, but she couldn’t. Both anger and fear burned inside her. She ran up the stairs, intent on confronting him. As if fate put out its foot, she tripped on the top step and fell forward, knocking the wind out of her. The jolt stopped her in her tracks. She pushed herself up against the wall to get her breath back and regained control. “Stop and think, Olivia,” she said to herself.

  On one hand she wanted nothing more than to listen to Spencer’s explanation, but on the other she questioned what it would do for her. She could picture him making excuses: “I have a second phone for work. I thought we were done with this paranoia.”

  She longed to hear that, to believe it, and to stick her head back in the sand where she wished it could stay. Andie Rand’s words, “cheaters have two phones,” ran through her head again. She called Alison and told her what had happened. Apparently, her words were indistinguishable.

  “Slow down, Olivia, slow down,” Alison begged.

  “I can’t! Spencer is in the shower. I need to think quickly, but I can’t think at all. You need to think for me. I found a second phone caught up in our covers. It’s in my pocket. I haven’t confronted him yet.”

  Alison took a beat.

  “OK. Leave it in your pocket. See if he looks for it. Do not confront him except to ask what he is looking for. If he lies, then we know there’s a problem. If he comes clean, then maybe there isn’t. I know what Andie said about second phones, but I used to have two and certainly wasn’t cheating on anyone. Maybe it’s for work, and you just don’t know about it.”

  The shower stopped, signaling time’s up. Olivia took a deep breath.

  “I’ll call you back.”

  The only thing worse than being cheated on was not knowing if you were being cheated on. Olivia was sure that she needed to be sure. She straightened herself out and went into the bedroom. Spencer was combing his hair.

  “What are you up to today?” he asked, casually.

  “The usual nothing much,” she responded, impressed by her normal tone. She sat on the bed and pushed herself back against the pillows as she often did to chat with him when he got ready for work. She grabbed her book from the nightstand, pretending to read it. Spencer slid his pants off his valet. He patted the empty shelf above it where his phone usually sat charging. He looked around the bedroom, at first casually then with a bit more urgency. She followed his eyes to the phone he had walked in with. It was identical to the one in her pocket. Their eyes met on it, each of them oddly aware of the other’s gaze, albeit for different reasons. He lifted up some papers on his desk.

  “Looking for something?” she asked, hopefully.

  “No, I’m good, thanks,” he responded.

  Her chest caught fire—a burning sensation that began in her belly and shot through her heart as if it were in flames. She couldn’t breathe. She co
uldn’t keep up the facade for even a second more. In a panic, she reached down to sleeping Lily and pinched her leg, just hard enough to wake her. Lily cried out, instantly filling her with guilt and purpose.

  “I have to change the baby,” she uttered as she grabbed Lily and left the room. She stood at the changing table apologizing for the awful thing she had done. Lily calmed and cooed. Olivia reveled in her forgiveness until Spencer’s phone buzzed in her robe pocket.

  CHAPTER 24

  Amanda

  Amanda was actually waiting outside of school when Pippa came out squealing in delight. “I got the part!!!” It was both amazing and surreal, since Amanda had come out squealing through the same door on more than one occasion decades before. She kept the reminiscence to herself, not wanting either to encroach on Pippa’s moment or to see the obligatory eye roll if she did. Mandy was thrilled for Pippa, and more than a little thrilled for herself as well. The first parent volunteer meeting was scheduled for the next day, and Mandy decided to arrive early to pitch “The Bard”—as everyone referred to the teacher who ran the Shakespeare troupe—on why she would make the perfect assistant director. She was over the moon at the thought of being back in a theater.

  Stepping into the high school auditorium the next day for the parent meeting was an epic trip down memory lane. Aside from a new curtain and the seats having been reupholstered a strange shade of purple, nothing much had changed. She was flooded with theater club memories of running lines, belting out songs, taking curtain calls, and having her first crush. It wasn’t Curly or Jud she was thinking about while singing “I’m just a girl who cain’t say no” but the dashing high school drama teacher, Mr. Barr. He arrived just days after Amanda had officially sworn off high school boys, and unlike his hundred-year-old predecessor, he had all the girls swooning. But none more than Amanda, who immediately directed all of her teen angst toward her new unrequited love.

  He must be long retired from here, she thought.