The Trophy Wives Club

by Kristin Billerbeck

  “Open this door!” I shout at them.

  “Jay isn’t here,” cowardly Craig calls toward me.

  “Open this door or I will call Anna straightaway and tell her where you are and why you’re really here!” As angry as I am, they need to just try me. Craig comes to the door, his boyish haircut looking remarkably blond for its only being June.

  “Haley,” Craig says, like we’ve seen each other recently at the golf club. “You’re looking fabulous, as usual. We’re presently having a business meeting, and I’m sure you’re just looking for Jay, is that so?”

  Rachel stands behind him, and only her eyes appear above his broad shoulders.

  “Come out from behind him. You can’t hide there forever, you know.”

  “Haley, listen, I’m sure whatever you have to say can wait. We have urgent business this morning,” he says through the glass door.

  “You are not…I repeat not stealing this business from Jay Cutler. You would be nothing without that man! Either one of you!”

  “We have creative differences, Haley. That’s all. These things happen. We’re not stealing anyone’s business. Where did you get such an idea?”

  I try to think of an idea of how I know anything when I see the most shocking thing of all.

  Hamilton Lowe appears in the doorway. “Hamilton?” Not you too, Hamilton.

  “Haley.”

  “What do you want, Haley?” Craig asks me, and with everyone staring at me, and Hamilton here too, I lose my train of thought, and all the cutting words I practiced on the way over go bumbling through my head like a box of loose jigsaw pieces.

  Jim, my stalker friend, stands beside me, and though slight, he is truly an actor because I watch him puff himself up. “We’re here on business. It’s come to our understanding that the business arrangement you have with Haley’s husband—”

  “Ex-husband,” Hamilton corrects, and I meet his gaze.

  “Haley’s ex-husband has come under some recent consideration. Haley, having a prior stake in the business, would like to know what Jay owes you, Craig.”

  Wow, you remembered all that? I nod to let him know I am thoroughly impressed. See, a guy who is classically trained in Shakespeare is exactly what you want for this kind of work. They remember everything.

  I may have found the man for Helena.

  “He owes me $2.5 million, Haley,” Craig answers.

  Five minutes ago, I thought I had some power with my twenty-thousand-dollar check. I will never learn. “He’ll pay—you back, if you give him the opportunity, Craig. You know that.”

  “I do know that, but I have projects I want to get behind, and I can’t be furnishing cash for every art film he thinks is a contender.”

  I step forward and look directly at the suddenly mousy Rachel. “Who told him they were contenders, Rachel? Because if you two are working this out together, I do believe that has collusion of the worst kind written all over it, and there will be legal ramifications. Hamilton, what say you?”

  “This is a legal matter that doesn’t concern you, Haley.”

  “It does concern me, Hamilton, and if you had any love for the law at all, it would concern you too.”

  His mouth twitches, but he’s silent like good little lawyers always are when there’s trouble and they’re on the wrong side of it.

  I hear the jangling of keys and look behind me to see Jay entering the building. He blinks at the sight in front of him, and I’m about to warn him off when I see a tall blonde behind him. She looks…she looks like me, quite frankly.

  “Jay,” I sputter. “Who’s your friend?”

  “Haley Cutler, meet Nancy Fabro.”

  The blonde stretches out her hand, and I note her dark brown eyes. Adult blondes do not have brown eyes, it’s a genetic impossibility. Sort of like women with boy hips having breasts the size of cantaloupes. I don’t reach out my hand to the fake blonde standing beside my husband. I do, however, look to Rachel to see what the heck is going on with her.

  “Yeah. Rachel dropped me for Craig. I thought you would have heard by now,” Jay says. “I’ve got to make some phone calls, baby,” he says to his new squeeze. “Sit down, and we’ll get lunch at the Ivy when I’m done here. Haley, what brings you around? You sniffing around for more money now that the tabloid story died?”

  “You could just go back to work like this? With these two?” I wave my hand in front of Rachel and Craig.

  “It’s business, Haley. It’s just business.”

  “I was here to do you a favor, Jay.”

  “What’s that, sweetheart?”

  “Can I talk with you outside, Jay?” I look to Craig, Rachel, and Hamilton. “Please?”

  “Sure, Princess.”

  The fake blonde pouts when he calls me this, but she, like any good Labrador-in-training sits and waits, pulling out a copy of Us magazine from her Louis Vuitton. Which reminds me of another skill I have acquired.

  “That bag shouts fake from a mile away. Here’s a tip, if you’re going to have a Sugar Daddy, you should make him put forth some real effort. Know what I’m saying? And try Sarah at Yoshi’s. She’ll get that color to look natural and not so brassy.”

  I follow Jay outside, and he does what he normally does, looks at everything and everyone but me. “What do ya need, Haley?” He snaps his fingers. “Just hurry up, I got things to do.”

  Once again, I start to bumble, looking for my words. His lack of patience always did fluster me to the point where I forgot what I had to say, or said it so poorly that he would criticize my communication skills. I lean against the wall, sticking out my bad foot, which is now throbbing from being on it for so long.

  “You broke up our marriage for Rachel Barlin and now you’re not with her any longer?”

  “Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”

  I refocus. “No. Jay, do you owe Craig money?”

  “It’s nothing. We always share money back and forth. Right now, he’s just holding the cards. The tides will turn, they always do.”

  “Not this time, Jay. This time, I think Craig plans to sell you out.”

  Jay actually looks me in the eye. Dang, he’s handsome. I am truly cursed by his presence because I still feel a certain loyalty to him even though he does have the fake me waiting just inside the door for him. “Where did you hear that?” he asks quietly, pulling me away from the door.

  “It doesn’t matter where I heard it, does it? I’m probably full of crap, like you always say I am, but I want you to be warned. This business is your life, and I don’t want you to lose it. Not over her.” I look down at my bandaged foot. “Why are men so incredibly blind to a beautiful woman? She’s heartless, Jay.”

  He looks at the office doors. “Beautiful women command respect. It’s just a fact, really.”

  “From who?”

  “Everyone,” he says plainly. “A man sees you walk in with a woman like Rachel Barlin, and you hold the cards, know what I’m saying?”

  “Jay, that is a total lie! Do you know what people say about a man who is twenty years older than a beautiful woman? They says she’s only with him for his money and that he’s basically paid for her.”

  “Ah, but you see, Haley. He can pay for her, and that only proves my point about commanding respect.”

  “Sell the house if you have to, Jay, but don’t lose the business to them.”

  “Haley, do you really think—” He grabs my hand. “Never you mind your pretty little head about the business. I do appreciate your trying to rescue me though. What a gem you turned out to be. I was right about you. You would stand by me through everything.”

  “I thought you fired Hamilton Lowe.”

  “I did. Craig hired him immediately. Seems the Lynchow divorce isn’t going to be quite as clean as ours.”

  “You have an odd definition of that word.”

  “Haley, are you by any chance dating Hamilton?”

  “Your lawyer?”

  “Ex-lawyer.”

/>   “No! Why on earth would you ask me that?”

  “Just always thought he had a thing for you. Always pushing for more for you. I gave him money to buy you one of them new Nissan mini-SUVs and he comes back with a Porsche. I should have fired him then. “Jay laughs. “Just thought he would have made his move by now.” He pats me on the shoulder, like an old high school buddy. “Take care of yourself. And Haley?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Cash that last check, will you?” He walks into the office, and I’m left standing on the street alone, yet again. Until my favorite stalker comes out.

  “You ready?”

  “Can you take me by the bank?”

  “Washington National, right?”

  “How?”

  “You stopped by after work that day I followed you.”

  “I have someone for you to meet, Jim.”

  “For you, Haley. Anything.”

  My cell phone trills as Jim gets into the car, “Hi, Lindsay.”

  “Haley, your mom is looking for you. Will you give her your new cell phone number so that I can have mine back?”

  “I’m sure she has great advice for daily living, Lindsay. Wouldn’t you miss that?”

  “No, I wouldn’t. Call her. Oh, and did you give my number to some guy you met on the beach?”

  “Oh…maybe I did. I thought I gave him my new number.”

  “Well, I hope you got his number because Ron answered, and let’s just say, he was not kind when he said he’d met the beautiful blonde running on the beach. My marriage was on the rocks until he explained how she fell, then Ron knew.”

  “I resent that.”

  “Whatever. Anyway, I don’t think the guy is calling back, so I do hope you got his number.”

  “I didn’t. He was totally my new lab rat. Does Ron have any idea what he’s doing to my sense of self-worth?”

  “I think he can deal. Call your mother!”

  We hang up, and I brace myself for a long-winded mantra on the positive aspects of crafting within one’s life. “Go ahead, call her,” Jim says from the driver’s seat. “The bank can wait.”

  I exhale deeply and dial. “Hi, Mom, it’s Haley. Did you get my Mother’s Day gift?”

  “Haley,” she cries, in full blubbering mode. “Oh I’ve been trying to call you for days.”

  “Sorry, I haven’t checked the messages at home, I guess. Why didn’t you call me at work?”

  “Oh, Haley, you’re going to be so disappointed. I didn’t want you upset at work.”

  “I am?”

  “Gavin’s getting married, darling!” She wails this. “He’s invited you to the wedding in the fall and I didn’t know how to reach you and I knew you’d be devastated. You never got another chance, Haley! It’s so unfair. You weren’t ready to date the last time you met! Why does God punish me like this?”

  Right back atcha, God. “Mom, I have to go. I’ll come home for the wedding.”

  She sniffles some more. “All right, dear. I’ll buy a present from the family, I know that would be too difficult for you right now.”

  “Thanks, Mom. I really appreciate that.” I snap the phone shut. “Well, what do you know, Jim. I’ve been dumped by three different men all in the span of an hour. I’m good. I really like soccer too. It’s a pity, really.”

  “Haley!” Hamilton runs out of the building and though the logical thinking Haley wants to run, the emotional, pitiful Haley stays with her feet planted solidly on the ground.

  “Let me get this out,” Hamilton says. “Don’t stop me or I will not say what I came to say and I need to say it.”

  I nod, encouraging him to go on.

  “Haley, I’m not an emotional man.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  “But when I’m around you, it’s like my body completely betrays me. I have to fight to stay away from you, to act appropriately and lawyerlike, when in fact, you make me feel like an actor. All emotion and no sense.”

  “Is that a compliment? Or are you saying–”

  “Don’t!” He holds up a palm. “Don’t confuse my words, Haley. I would never say anything, do anything to hurt you. I carried out my job according to the oath I gave as a member of the Bar Association, but I’m done with that now. Jay fired me. Craig hired me. I had no idea what his intentions were at the time, or I never would have signed on. He told me he needed legal documents drawn up because he was going to be a father. Do you think it would have occurred to me that he was having a baby with someone other than his wife?” He whacks his head. “Never. I never get it! I quit the next day, and Jay had a proposition for me, but I can’t discuss that.”

  “That makes two of us. My faith in Jesus isn’t perfect, but I know enough to see the heart of man is not pretty.”

  He pulls away from me and rubs his forehead vigorously, while he paces up and down the sidewalk. “You’re the ideal, Haley. I thought that made me shallow and that God had some perfect, virginal woman out there waiting for me. Man, I’m a putz. The first thing I did when I heard from Jay was plot how I might make you notice me. I thought my faith was so deep, but it all went out the window when I heard you were free. I gave you that flyer, and I prayed that I would get over this infatuation.” He stops pacing and meets my gaze. “But now, I think it’s more than infatuation.”

  I start to back up.

  “You’re freaked out. I knew I would freak you out. See? I’m either in lawyer mode or complete emotional idiot mode. There’s no middle ground with you. Now it sounds like I’m blaming you.”

  “Stop. You changed my life, Hamilton. If it weren’t for you, I never would have found the Trophy Wives Club and without them pursuing me relentlessly, I never would have known what I needed. A little compassion goes a long way.” I brush my hand on his cheek. “I’m grateful for you, Hamilton. You tried to be decent. I wish I had appreciated that more at the time, but my mind was not really in a place to appreciate you.”

  “I’ve dated women, Haley. It’s not like I obsessed about you being the gold standard, but—”

  “I have to get to the bank, Hamilton.” I shake my head. “I’m feeling so many different emotions. I feel this incredible elation at realizing I’m a daughter of God, I feel this great sadness that my marriage never was what I thought, and I don’t know where you fit into that picture. Not right now. I can’t give you any type of response.”

  He nods, flattens his lips together, and walks away. He turns and in his best Arnold the Governator voice says, “I’ll be back.”

  I sigh. Wouldn’t it be great if God just blew an air horn in your ear and told you exactly what to do? It’s that whole free will business. Gets in my way every time. The old Haley would fall into his arms and believe every word.

  Chapter 19

  There are certain fall days in northern California where the fog rolls over the hills and settles in the valley. This leaves the coast in pure, clear sunlight. You can see for miles along the rugged cliffs of the beach, but since it’s overcast where everyone lives, no one thinks to come to the beach on such dreary days. That leaves these days for those of us in on the small secret surrounding the mystical rules of the fog.

  These are my favorite days here, because I can look out into the open expanse of blue without a soul around me and realize what a speck of sand I am on this earth. That God gives me any mind at all is a miracle. That He created me in His image is more than I can bear when I see the tumbling surf and know He holds its power in His hands.

  I raise my hands to the sky—just like that weirdo does in the lobby at work—and I let the sunlight warm my cheeks. The wind goes right through me, and I bring my arms down and clutch my middle. I close my eyes to listen to the pounding surf. I am soon taken away into my own place of peace and gratitude. I fall to the sand and kick my shoes off. This is life. When Jesus said He came to give us life more abundantly, I’m certain He meant for moments like this.

  “Haley?”

  I open my eyes and shield them from the sun. It
can’t be. I clasp my eyes shut again, but the voice calls out again. “God, is that you? I know I cannot be seeing what I’m seeing.”

  “Haley, cut it out!”

  I open my eyes to see Hamilton Lowe, just as I did the first time. Jumping up, clutching my flip-flops in my hands, I start to jog and sing a hymn to drown out his deep voice behind the waves. I turn to see him still running after me and gaining in ground.

  “Get off my beach!” I yell over my shoulder. “Haven’t you done enough?”

  Hamilton is keeping an easy stride behind me. “Haley!” he calls again.

  “Go away! I heard what you did in court. Did you think I wouldn’t hear?” I sprint to gain some ground on him, warding off the pain I still feel in my ankle. It never did heal properly. That’s what I get for listening to a soccer coach loose on the shores of Los Angeles.

  He tries to call out over the waves, but they block his voice, and only his mouth moves, as in a bad Samurai film. I find a certain amount of humor in the situation and start to giggle as I run. If only it were that easy to shut him up all the time. He smiles back at me, and I can tell he thinks I’m being coquettish, which changes my mood immediately.

  “What?” I turn and shout at him. “What are you doing here? I already have a stalker in my life!”

  “I saw you get baptized a few weeks ago at church.”

  “And you flew here to tell me that?”

  “I wanted to explain what happened with Jay. I couldn’t before today, and Lindsay explained you were up here for a wedding. I thought it might be the perfect opportunity to wipe our slate clean.”

  “That’s weird, Hamilton.”

  “It is weird, Haley. That’s what you do to me. You make me not act rationally, you make me a complete victim to my emotions. Do you know how emasculating that is?”

  “We barely know each other.”

  “You know me. Look into my eyes and tell me you don’t know me.”