“So no nights this week? Is that it?” She glared at him.
“I guess so. Look, try to be patient about it. I don’t like this either. They have demanding schedules, and the boys need help with homework. I don’t know how the hell Eileen does it, but she covers all the bases, and so I’ll have to now, for a while.”
“This is like a bad movie. Why don’t you try to remember that I don’t have kids, and this is not how I want to live?”
“You won’t. I won’t be living with my kids. She will. But she’s gone for three months.”
“Why the hell did you agree to it, and to take her place?”
“Because I’m their father.”
They spent two hours arguing and then he had to drive to Greenwich. He got home at nine-thirty, and Seth’s math tutor was just leaving. Pennie came in right behind him, dropped off by a friend.
“Where have you been?” he asked her.
“Yearbook meeting. I’m chairman of the yearbook committee. It looked good on my applications. We meet at night, and we’re way behind. I’m doing it tomorrow too.”
Seth said he had a headache after the math tutor left, and Paul gave him two Tylenol. They were all in their rooms by ten-thirty, and Paul hadn’t eaten yet. When he opened the fridge, there was nothing left of what Tina had cooked for dinner. He found a slice of leftover pizza from the night before and ate it cold, sitting at the kitchen table, and wondering how he was going to get through the next three months. Just keeping the kids’ schedules straight was a full-time job, and he hadn’t had to do homework yet, or cook a meal. And he had to keep a twenty-seven-year-old woman happy too, one who didn’t give a damn about his kids and everything there was to do. It seemed like too much for just one person. It needed a team. And Paul wondered how Eileen was going to do it when she started her catering business.
She sent him a text at midnight, six A.M. in Paris, when she got up. She had to be at her first class at seven-thirty. She was making sure that everything was going smoothly, and he texted back that it was, and added, “I don’t know how you do it.”
“You just keep moving and it all falls into place,” she said. Her first class that morning was on pans, and the afternoon class was sauces. She could hardly wait.
Paul tried to call Olivia when he got to bed, but she didn’t pick up. He had some papers to read for work, turned off the light at one A.M. and set the alarm for six. He wanted to dress and get a grip on things before he made breakfast. He never knew what Eileen did in the morning after he left for work, and never cared. He suddenly realized he had a lot to learn, and a short time to do it.
He got to the office at ten, and was late for a meeting. He called Olivia afterwards, as soon as he got back to his office.
“Six o’clock?” he suggested.
“Can we make it seven? I have a five o’clock meeting and I won’t be finished till then.” Gone were the days of the past three months when they could meet up at the end of their day, whenever it was, and have a leisurely evening ahead of them to relax and make love. She was a pit stop now on his way home. This was actually worse than before he left Eileen, because she was there for the kids then. Now he had to be.
“I can’t do seven,” he said apologetically. “If I do that, I won’t get home till ten, which is really too late.”
“Fine, then forget it,” she snapped at him.
“Olivia, please, cut me a little slack here. I’m trying to fit it all in.”
“Well, you’re not trying very hard to fit me in.”
“I am, but I have to get home in time to see the kids. I wish you could stay there with me.” But they both knew she couldn’t. Even if they liked her, it wouldn’t be appropriate, and he wasn’t going to shack up with his girlfriend while living with his kids.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, annoyed with him. She complained about it to her mother when she stopped by for a visit the next day. Gwen was painting when Olivia got there.
“How’s Paul?” Gwen asked casually, as she dabbed at the canvas and stood back to squint at it. It was coming together.
“Our relationship has turned to shit. His wife is taking a class in Paris for three months, and he’s staying in Greenwich with the kids. He has to get home at night, and I have a feeling we’re hardly going to see each other for the next three months.”
“Maybe that’s a good thing,” her mother suggested, and Olivia nodded.
“I thought that too, but it sure isn’t fun.”
“Welcome to real life,” her mother said to her.
“Whose real life? Not mine. I don’t have kids, and I don’t live in the suburbs.”
“No, but he does, and right now that’s the same thing. You’ll get through it.”
“Will I? Will we? I’m beginning to wonder and it’s only been three days.”
“It must be hard on him,” Gwen said, and set her brush down. “If you add a lot of pressure, it will just make it more difficult for him.”
“Why is it always about his schedule and his constraints?”
“Because he’s a married man with three kids. And right now his wife is away.”
“And I have to pay the price for it.” She looked seriously annoyed. Her mother didn’t think she was mature enough to put up with it and make allowances for him. But if she loved him enough, she would. It was a test of sorts, for both of them. “This is a lot more challenging than it originally looked. I thought his wife was the problem, having expectations of him. But it’s his life.”
“I told you, married men are complicated.”
“It’s messy.” Olivia smiled at her. Her mother had said that too, and she was right.
“And you’re still in love with him?” Gwen asked her.
“I think so. I’d give my right arm for his wife to come back, though, and deal with the kids.”
“Three months is better than forever. Imagine if he had custody of the kids.”
Olivia looked horrified. “Don’t even think it. God forbid.”
Paul managed to see Olivia for two hours that night and get home at nine-thirty. He didn’t get dinner, but the children had eaten, been tutored, and done their homework.
He didn’t see Olivia on Thursday, and he had to go to college prep night at school with Pennie on Friday, but he had organized all three children for the weekend so they were staying with friends. He had two full days with Olivia, and everything was on track again by Sunday night. Tina had agreed to stay on Monday and Wednesday nights too. He felt like he was running relay races. Every time he got a text from Eileen he told her they were doing great.
Everything fell apart again on Monday. Tina called him at the office to tell him that Mark threw up at school. She had gone to pick him up and he had a fever, and Seth texted him that he had a science project due and needed help that night. So his night with Olivia went out the window.
“Is it always going to be like this?” she commented, sounding exasperated when he called to tell her he couldn’t spend the night because he had to go home for a sick child and a science project.
“Maybe, but then Eileen will come home. At least we had this weekend.”
“I thought by the time kids were this age, it was easy.”
“No, it’s harder. There’s more to do. When they’re little, you put them to bed at seven and that’s it. They don’t do science projects and Latin homework in nursery school.” But he hadn’t done that with them either. Eileen had done it all with them for years.
“I guess we just have to deal with it till she gets back,” Olivia said with a sigh. “How about boarding school for three months?” She seemed to be adjusting to it, and he was relieved. “Just don’t sue her for custody, or if you do, move them to the city.” It was the commute that was killing them as much as the kids, and not having live-in help. But Eileen never wanted that and lik
ed doing it herself. Having to juggle three children had certainly taken the romance out of his relationship with Olivia. They hardly had time to make love now, and sometimes he was so tired, stressed, and rushed, he didn’t even want to. Olivia complained about that too.
* * *
—
In Paris, Eileen’s experience was the opposite of Paul’s. She found each class fascinating, each teacher demanding, but she learned something new every day. She understood the equipment better now, the tools of the trade. She had already learned to make sauces that had always been a mystery to her. She studied each lesson avidly, and each recipe, and made copious notes.
Her work partner in class was a young English boy, Hugo, twenty-three years old, whose parents owned a well-known restaurant in Nice. He was determined to get them three Michelin stars one day.
They went to restaurants together and tried to decipher the recipes. They worked well as a team, and when Eileen got home at night, she had hours to herself for the first time in eighteen years. It was a luxury for her. She could read a magazine or a book, or study recipes. She went for long walks along the Seine or in the Bois de Boulogne on Sundays. She had found a charming apartment in the Seventh Arrondissement her first week there, and the guardian brought her fresh croissants every morning. She felt like a free woman again, instead of Supermom and Wife, and she didn’t have to take care of anyone but herself.
“Are you married?” Hugo asked her one day at lunch, as they ate what they’d cooked that morning. It was sea bass in a delicate sauce.
“More or less,” she answered, and he laughed.
“That’s not an answer. Are you married or not?”
“Are you planning to propose?” she asked him, and he laughed again.
“Definitely not. I’m gay, and I have a boyfriend in Nice. Jonathan. He’s American. He paid for me to come here. It’s always been my dream, but my parents couldn’t afford it.”
“It’s been my dream too. I’m married, but we’re separated.”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Me too. But I’m getting used to it. I’m going to file for divorce when I go home. To tell you the whole sad story, my husband left me for another woman. It sounds pathetic.” But she was in good spirits, and loving her time at Le Cordon Bleu.
“You’ll find someone else. You’re beautiful, and smart and funny.” She liked him. He was very earnest and hardworking and talented. Everyone in the class was. They were serious chefs. She was taking the professional course.
“According to my mother, I’m so old no one will want me. I’m forty. And I want to open a catering business in Connecticut, where I live.”
“Do you have kids?”
“Three. I miss them like crazy, but I’m really enjoying this. It’s the first thing I’ve ever done for myself.”
“Good on you.” He smiled at her. He liked her and they worked well together. The days were flying by too quickly.
They continued going to restaurants together, and enjoying their classes. They made friends with two other men in the class, both of them French. Eileen was shocked when six weeks had flown by, and they got their break, and her children were arriving for their ski week.
She asked Hugo where he was going to spend the break, and he said with his boyfriend in Nice. They had a villa in the hills. He had come to Paris for a few weekends, and joined them for dinner. He was about Eileen’s age. He was from LA and very good-looking. They both were.
“My children are coming. I can hardly wait.” She had taken three rooms at a small hotel on the Left Bank because her apartment was too small for all four of them.
She went to the airport to pick them up, and they looked tired and disheveled when they came through customs. She had rented a van and driver for them and their luggage, and their eyes were wide with wonder as they drove through Paris. The driver showed them the Champs-Élysées and the Place de la Concorde, made a quick tour of the Place Vendôme, and they drove past the Cordon Bleu building in the Fifteenth Arrondissement. Then they drove back across Paris to the Pont Alexandre III to the Left Bank, past Les Invalides where Napoleon was buried, and to their hotel nearby. It was cozy and quaint, and she took them out to dinner that night, at La Fontaine de Mars, one of the best bistros in Paris, in the Seventh, after they explored Paris some more. They had had a snack at Aux Deux Magots, one of the oldest bistros in Paris, and an ice cream at Berthillon, the best ice cream in Paris.
They loved the food at La Fontaine de Mars, and she caught up with all their news. But they had been FaceTiming every day so she knew most of it. Pennie was getting nervous about the answers to her college applications. They were only a month away. And she was working hard on the yearbook, at the homeless shelter every weekend, and helping her father with the twins.
“How’s Dad doing?” Eileen asked cautiously. He had said that everything was fine in all his emails and texts.
“I think we’re driving him a little crazy,” Mark admitted. “He can’t do all the things you do.” It didn’t surprise her. “He argues with his girlfriend a lot. He doesn’t have much time to see her, except on weekends. She complains about it. I hear them fighting on the phone at night.”
“I’ll be back in six weeks,” she said quietly. The time had flown so far, but she was learning everything she needed to know to run her catering business. They had even made a wedding cake. She had learned to make chocolates, and discovered she had a talent for delicate sugar work. Their professor was a master who had won many culinary awards.
“Have you had fun, Mom?” Pennie asked her. It had been hard having her mother away during her senior year, but it was a sacrifice they were all trying to make for her. She deserved it. “How are you going to run your catering business?”
“I have had fun, to answer your question. A lot of fun, and I’ve learned a lot. I’m going to hire an assistant to help me, and we’ll subcontract out the rest, all the china and crystal rentals, tents, and staff for parties. I want to do high-end parties in Greenwich.”
“I think you’ll be good at it.” Pennie smiled at her. Having her mother away had made her appreciate her, and everything she did to make their lives run smoothly. Paul had been struggling. She had heard him arguing with Olivia too. Olivia wasn’t happy about how busy he was, and how much time he had to spend with them. It had been nice having their father home again, and she was going to miss him when her mother came home, and so were the boys. They liked having a man in the house. But they missed their mother too.
“Have you and Dad made any decisions?” she asked Eileen, when they were alone for a minute. Eileen shook her head.
“Not that I know of. He hasn’t said anything to me.”
“I think he’s sorry he left,” Penny said wistfully.
“I’m sure he misses the three of you.”
“He misses you too.” Eileen missed him too, but not as much anymore. Her new life was taking off and she was excited about her new business. “Do you want him back?” Eileen sighed before she answered.
“I don’t know. Sometimes things just go too far to get fixed. That might have happened to us. Life is like a river. It moves you along, whether you want to or not.”
“I think that happened to me and Tim. I still love him, but I can’t see us together anymore.” Eileen nodded. Pennie had grown up a lot.
“That’s kind of how I feel about Dad. It’s sad, but it’s happy too, because new horizons come into your life, and new people and experiences. I’m ready for that now. I kind of got lazy before, or distracted. I stopped doing new things. And I’m excited about that now.”
“You were busy with us,” Pennie excused it, but she could see that her mother had come alive again. Her eyes were bright, she smiled a lot more, and she looked comfortable and confident, excited about what she’d been doing. “Do you think Dad will marry Olivia if you get divorc
ed?” Pennie was still sad about it, but she had accepted the idea that her parents wouldn’t get back together. It didn’t seem like they would.
“I don’t know. You should ask him.”
“She’s so young. Maybe she’d want kids of her own. Do you think Dad wants more kids?” These were all the things they were worried about.
“That I don’t. It would be a lot for him to take on. He’s never wanted more children with me.” But Pennie was right, Eileen realized. If he wanted a young woman, more than likely she’d want kids. The idea seemed strange, to think of him with a second family, but it could happen.
The vacation with her children went too quickly, and Eileen was sad to see them leave. They were equally sad to leave her. But she only had five weeks left in Paris now, and that would go even faster. She wanted to soak up all the information she could while she was there.
* * *
—
Paul spent the ten days they were in Paris with Olivia, and they got their relationship back on track again. They slept together every night. He didn’t have to commute. Olivia took him to see her grandmother and he loved her, and enjoyed meeting Federico. Paul said they were the perfect couple. And he and Olivia had brunch one Sunday with Olivia’s mother. Paul was stunned by how beautiful she was, and how interesting and intelligent and knowledgeable.
Olivia and Paul made love as often as they could while the kids were away, to make up for lost time.
By the time the children came back, things were going smoothly with Olivia again. They hadn’t for the last six weeks, with too little time together. She hated to think of his children coming home. She wasn’t looking forward to it, but they were in the home stretch and Eileen would be home soon, and ready to start her business. That would keep her busy too.
Paul picked them up at the airport when they got back from Paris, and they had dozens of stories to tell him about exploring Paris with their mother, and the restaurants they’d gone to with her to check out the food. Pennie had bought some clothes at Le Bon Marché near their hotel, and the boys had bought souvenirs, and brought him an Eiffel Tower that lit up, which he promised to put on his desk at the office.
The Numbers Game Page 14
