The Ex's Confession

by L. C. Davenport

  Rebecca was thoughtful as she got dressed in one of the outfits Cassie had purchased for her. It was, surprisingly, rather comfortable. She had always assumed fashionable clothes were scratchy and confining. Maybe she should just let Cassie take care of her wardrobe from now on. As long as she didn’t have to go with her.

  The best way around the whole Elliot mess seemed to be avoidance. He evidently didn’t want to see her, and she didn’t want to see him again either. At least, that’s what she told herself. And it would definitely be much healthier if she could just stay away from the newspaper for once.

  ***

  After she had thrown a load in the washer, Rebecca wandered back upstairs and circled the apartment several times, at a loss for something to do. What did people like Cassie do all day, anyway? There was nothing to clean, no children to watch, no job to go to. She was surprised Cassie hadn’t gone completely mad yet.

  She finally found herself in the sitting room that Cassie had turned into a sort of music room. Cassie didn’t play any musical instruments but had recently let William convince her to invest in a piano to update the apartment.

  The piano was beautiful, of course, and even though it was never played, it had a lovely tone. Rebecca ran her fingers over the keys. She remembered her mother playing the piano. Rebecca had loved to sit on the floor under the bench and watch her mother’s feet tapping on the pedals. She had been fascinated by the way her feet and her fingers had danced together to make the most beautiful music she had ever heard. When Rebecca had been four, her mother had relented and started to teach her daughter how to play.

  Rebecca sat down and started to pick out a classic. She knew Cassie wouldn’t be bothered. It had been a joke between the three sisters when they were younger that if a tornado tore into their house in the middle of the night, and lifted it off the ground and dropped it miles away, the rescuers would find Cassie still asleep the next morning with no idea how she got there.

  She laughed softly at the memory. Their house had been so much happier when their mother had been alive. Her mother had managed to placate William and moderate his impulse shopping. She had also taught her middle daughter, at least, to love many of the things she had herself. Rebecca thought of the last time she had spoken to her mother…

  She came home from school and ran through the house looking for her. She finally found her in bed. It was an unusual place to find her, but her mother insisted that she was just tired. After the usual questions about schoolwork, Rebecca couldn’t keep her news to herself.

  “I met a boy today,” she said, trying to sound offhand and failing miserably.

  “You did?” Her mother sounded equally casual, although Rebecca could see her mother’s eyes twinkle at her. “What’s his name?”

  “Elliot Winters. He’s in my English class.”

  Anne gave her daughter a knowing look. “I’m assuming there’s something special about him,” she said.

  Rebecca could feel herself blushing. “I was late to class and had to sit in the back. Elliot was sitting next to me, and we whispered all the way through class and then he walked me to every one of my classes,” she said. “He said he’d been wanting to talk to me since the first day of school.”

  “And how do you feel about that?”

  “I noticed him back in September but I thought he was too cute to notice me back. He’s really lovely,” she sighed.

  Her mother gave her a hug and said that she looked forward to meeting him. “Now I think I’m going to take a little nap,” she yawned. “Come see me in the morning before you go to school. Love you.”

  But the next morning her mother had not been well at all, and Rebecca had convinced William to take her to the hospital. Rebecca had gone to school, worried, and had been summoned to the office shortly after lunch. The principal was kind and hugged her when she told Rebecca about her mother’s death. Rebecca had run the four miles home in a daze and had collapsed on the front stairs of the house, unable to go any farther.

  That was where Elliot had found her an hour later. He had skipped school when she hadn’t been in English class and had looked in the phone book for her address. He’d taken one look at her, crumpled and sobbing on the stairs, and had put his arms around her and held on.

  Her fingers faltered and stopped playing. She closed her eyes and rested her elbows on the keys, her head in her hands. Elliot had been so wonderful in the weeks following her mother’s funeral. In fact, he had been wonderful all through high school. He had never seemed to care that she wasn’t as pretty as Elisa or as popular as Cassie. He had just accepted her for who she was.

  Rebecca rubbed her forehead and looked up… straight into Elliot Winters’s eyes. They stared at each other for a long moment. Neither seemed to know what to do next.

  “I’m sorry,” he said from the doorway. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

  Rebecca tried to slow her heartbeat. “That’s all right,” she said. “I was just about finished, anyway.”

  Elliot was silent for a moment and stood there motionless. He stared at her with a strange expression for what seemed an eternity. Then he shook his head slightly and said, “I heard the piano from my apartment; I hope you don’t mind that I let myself in. Nicole gave me a key.”

  Why was Nicole giving out keys to an apartment that didn’t belong to her? Rebecca wondered. Was she secretly paying rent on two apartments? Elliot must have seen some of her thoughts for he continued, “I believe she meant to give me a key to her apartment. Last night Haley lost her own key and asked me for the one Nicole had given me. After she tried it she gave it back to me because it didn’t work, and since it doesn’t work on her door, I thought I’d try over here.”

  “That’s fine,” Rebecca said. “I’m sorry I bothered you.”

  “You didn’t.” Elliot stopped talking and took a deep breath. When he opened his mouth, his face had hardened into the near-mocking expression he had worn all through dinner the night before. “I find I need to apologize to you,” he said stiffly, his eyes locked on a picture hanging over the piano. “I’m sorry I jumped to the wrong conclusion about you and Michael the other day. I know Michael is a wonderful person and would never cheat on his wife.”

  That was it? The apology in the newspaper had been far better, Rebecca thought. She waited for him to continue, but nothing happened. “And?”

  “And what?”

  “That’s the most miserable apology I have ever heard,” she said. Jen should be here now, she thought with some amusement. This was not the way a man in love behaved.

  “I said I was sorry.”

  “You said you were sorry you misjudged Michael, not me,” she pointed out. “Did you accuse him to his face of infidelity too, or was that just for me?”

  Elliot’s head jerked in her direction. “I am sorry I accused you of doing something you did not,” he said, his words starting to come faster. “I had assumed you understood that.”

  “You assumed incorrectly,” Rebecca snapped. She almost wished there was a music book on the piano that she could throw at him. “If you are done insulting me again–”

  Cassie appeared behind Elliot, her eyes wide in surprise. She was holding Rebecca’s phone. “I was walking past your room when I heard your phone ringing,” she said, glancing from Elliot to Rebecca in some consternation. “It’s the library lady. I thought you’d want to talk to her.”

  Rebecca took the phone and turned away from Elliot. “Hello?”

  “Rebecca? This is Sarah Pompilius from the Chicago Public Library.”

  “Hi, Ms. Pompilius,” Rebecca said faintly. She leaned against the piano.

  “Please call me Sarah. I am calling to offer you the job.”

  Now Rebecca put her free hand on the piano. She was feeling like she might slide to the floor if she didn’t have a firm grasp on something. A second later, she felt someone’s hand push her down into a chair that had materialized behind her knees. “Are you all right?” Elliot whispered. H
e looked concerned.

  Rebecca nodded at him. Why was he being kind all of a sudden? Hadn’t they been arguing just moments before? “That’s excellent news,” she said to Sarah. “When would you like me to start?”

  Sarah coughed. “That’s the only problem. The current story lady is expecting a baby next month and does not want to give up her job until she delivers. We’re just hoping she doesn’t go into labor at one of the branches. Children may never enter a library again. We wouldn’t need you for another four weeks or so. Will that be a problem?”

  Rebecca looked at Cassie hovering in the hallway, a hopeful look on her face. She was pretty sure Cassie wouldn’t mind a houseguest for another month. “That shouldn’t be a problem,” she said. “Will I need to do anything in the meantime?”

  Sarah paused. “Jen tells me you are currently without reliable transportation,” she said finally. “Since you will be traveling between branches on a regular basis, it would be best if you could find yourself a car that will not break down.”

  “I was planning on doing that anyway,”

  “You will, naturally, be reimbursed for your mileage. I have your email address; I’ll send you the formal offer this afternoon. Thank you, Rebecca.”

  Rebecca closed the phone and looked up. Elliot was still standing next to her, his hands stuck in his pockets. “I have the job,” she said slowly, and started to smile. At Elliot’s surprised look, the smile turned into a grin. He smiled back reflexively, and then she sprang out of her chair, turned to Cassie and repeated, “I have the job!” Cassie squealed and hugged her tight enough to make her breathless.

  “That’s wonderful!” she cried. “We need to celebrate!”

  Rebecca laughed, and was almost giddy from relief. “I can’t celebrate until I find a car,” she said. “I need to find one before the job starts next month. You don’t mind if I bunk over here that long, do you?” she asked.

  “I think it would be wonderful if you just moved in permanently,” Cassie said. “I wish you wouldn’t be so independent.”

  Still laughing, Rebecca said, “It’s too late for that.”

  “At least let us help find you a car,” Cassie said. She looked over at Elliot. “Elliot can come, too. It’d be good to have a car expert’s opinion.”

  Rebecca raised her eyebrows. Since when was Elliot a car expert? She was so sure he would bow out that she was surprised to hear him say, “I could do that. When do you want to leave?”

  After Elliot had returned to his apartment Cassie followed Rebecca into the kitchen. “What was that all about?” she asked. “I thought you two were going to kill each other.”

  “It’s nothing,” Rebecca said shortly.

  “It didn’t look like ‘nothing’ to me. Is something going on that you’re not telling me?”

  Rebecca paused. How much did Cassie remember from their high school days? “Elliot and I go a ways back,” she finally said.

  Cassie looked at her strangely. “How far back?”

  “High school.”

  Cassie sat down at the table and picked up the newspaper, idly flipping through it. Then her head jerked up. “Wait a minute,” she said slowly, her eyes narrowing as she looked at her sister. “Didn’t you date a guy named Elliot in high school?”

  Rebecca nodded. Maybe Cassie remembered more than she thought.

  Her eyes narrowing even further, Cassie stood up and walked over to stand next to Rebecca. “How long did you date Elliot Winters?”

  “Four years.” Rebecca slumped against the counter. “And then he asked me to marry him.”

  “He what?”

  Rebecca nodded. “I didn’t tell anyone but Faye,” she said. “We talked about eloping. It sounded so romantic.” She laughed. “And then you and Michael went and did the eloping for me. Elliot and I were engaged most of the summer after graduation. And then I called it off.”

  “Why?”

  Shrugging, Rebecca looked at her sister in a mute plea for understanding. “Faye convinced me that we were too young and that Elliot wouldn’t fit in with the family. I was dumb enough to listen to her.”

  Then Cassie did something completely unexpected. She started to laugh; huge, uncontrolled laughter that had her sitting on the floor and brought tears to her eyes. “You hadn’t seen him since,” she gasped out, “until last week, here in my apartment.”

  Rebecca started to smile. From this light it was sort of funny. “Nope.”

  “And now he’s living next door.”

  Starting to laugh now, Rebecca just nodded.

  Cassie wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “If I’d had any idea I wouldn’t have encouraged Nicole and Haley to drag him everywhere with us.”

  Rebecca’s laughter died abruptly. “Please don’t say anything to them,” she pleaded. “I’m handling things just fine, and it’ll only get more awkward if everyone knows our old history.”

  Cassie seemed to think about this for a minute. “All right,” she said finally. “But if things get too out of control, we’ll take care of him.”

  Rebecca tried to smile. This was the second time in as many hours that someone had volunteered to ‘take care’ of Elliot for her. If he continued to be a jerk, as Jen had predicted, maybe she’d be tempted to take them up on it.

  Later that afternoon, Rebecca found herself in the back seat of Michael’s car sitting next to a silent Elliot. Cassie chattered away, not noticing the tension behind her, but Michael’s eyes strayed to Rebecca every few minutes. He had let Cassie convince him to leave work an hour early and had conveniently forgotten to invite Nicole and Haley along for the fun.

  Rebecca let Cassie’s voice wash over her. She looked outside, watching the buildings flash by as they drove. She didn’t pay much attention to where they were going until Michael pulled into a BMW dealership.

  She sat in the car for a moment and thought. It was really very generous of Michael and Cassie to help her out; she already owed them for letting her stay in their apartment, and she knew they were only trying to help. But how much money did they think a story lady made every month? There was no way she could afford any car on the lot, new or used.

  “Aren’t you going to get out and look around?” Elliot’s voice was neutral.

  “No, I don’t think so,” she said. “I don’t think any of these cars will be what I’m looking for.”

  Elliot turned his head to look at her. “What, aren’t they good enough for you?”

  Rebecca opened her mouth and then, thinking that it wouldn’t do any good to argue, closed it again.

  “Ah, I see.” Elliot’s voice had switched from neutral to slightly mocking. “A BMW isn’t flashy enough for the daughter of William Done.”

  This time Rebecca ignored her internal filter. “Probably not, but William Done isn’t paying for the car; I am.”

  Elliot had the grace to look surprised, and it was his turn to open and close his mouth. “You were wrong about William,” she continued, looking away from him. “He did not appreciate the fact that I wanted to go to college. It took me two years to get up the courage to leave home by myself with no financial support, and that courage was hard won. I’m not about to lose my independence just because I moved back to Chicago.”

  Elliot cleared his throat and ran his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry,” he said after a long pause. “I just assumed that–”

  Rebecca got out of the car, then turned around to look him squarely in the eye. “William doesn’t have any money anymore,” she said quietly. “He squandered most of it away after Mom died, and when I was at school it just got worse. I only came back to Chicago when things became too much and they had to sell the house. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to tell Michael and Cassie that I’d rather look somewhere else for a more affordable set of wheels.” She turned her back on him and walked over to Cassie.

  “Michael thinks this one would work for you,” Cassie said in a dubious tone, touching a sleek black car. “They
all look the same to me. Can you tell a difference?”

  Rebecca tried to laugh, but the conversation she had just had with Elliot had left a bitter taste in her mouth. “I actually think we’d have better luck somewhere else,” she said. “Story ladies don’t make that much money, and I’d rather not get in over my head.”

  “Oh, we’ll help you out,” Cassie said as if it were obvious.

  “No, you won’t. I appreciate the offer, truly I do, but I need to do this on my own. Please, Cassie.”

  “I think she’s right.” Elliot’s voice sounded strained from behind her. “Rebecca should get the car she needs, not some souped-up, gas-guzzling thing that will cost her a lot of money to run. Maybe we should go across the street.”

  Cassie looked over at the Ford dealership on the other side of the road. “Fine by me,” Cassie said cheerfully. “Like I said, they all look the same to me. Let me tell Michael and we’ll meet you over there.”

  Once she had disappeared into the showroom, Rebecca started walking through the parking lot to the street. Elliot followed her.

  “Cassie doesn’t understand about money issues,” she tried to explain to him. It was so hard to make someone understand how she and Cassie could still be so different. “She thinks she does, because she and Michael have decided to ‘economize’, but she doesn’t get it.”

  Elliot didn’t say anything for a moment. Then he put his hand on her arm to stop her, and this time he didn’t pull away as if the contact burned him. “I’m sorry,” he said. He sounded like he meant it. “I had no idea that you had to do all that on your own.” He paused again. “It seems as though I have a lot to apologize for,” he said quietly, looking at his feet.

  Rebecca just smiled at him and resumed walking. “That may be,” she said. “Maybe with practice you’ll get better at it.”

  Elliot grunted. “I’m a fast learner.”

  ***

  At last, Rebecca was the proud owner of a used, slightly dented blue Ford Focus. Michael put up a protest, “An American car? Are you out of your mind? That thing will blow up on you within the month!” But eventually he came around. It didn’t hurt that Elliot took him aside and spoke to him for some time. When they returned, Michael didn’t mention it again.