CHAPTER 13
“It’s kinda weird. Okay, he sat at our table, but why should we go to his house?” Michael asked. He was behind the wheel of their Mercedes and Margo hoped he wasn’t drunk. They spent more time in the restaurant than they had expected. When they arrived there, it was still light outside and no wind was stirring. Now it was dark and rainy. The wipers lazily moved the water from the windshield.
“Because we have to treat the lonely, elderly people kindly.”
“Is that all you have on your mind?”
“What else do you think I have on my mind?” Margo was indignant. She had much more on her mind than anyone could possibly imagine, but it was no one’s business.
“Never mind.” Michael shook his head.
“By the way, you were actually the one who invited him to the table when he approached.”
“What was I supposed to say?” Michael asked. “Get out of here, old fart? I mean … You’re right, he’s an old man. He looks like he’s a hundred.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“Ninety-eight?”
“I think he’s about seventy.”
“I thought he was a little cuckoo at first.”
“Enough about him. Tell me about your crazy girlfriend!” Margo remembered the conversation they had started at the restaurant. The conversation that changed the path of her thoughts.
“I told you everything!” Michael answered.
“What’s her name?”
“What’s the difference?”
“Tell me.”
“Marsha. Her name is Marsha.”
“Crazy Marsha. I had a friend in school who was named Marsha and she was also crazy. Could it be her?”
“I don’t know.”
“All Marshas are nuts,” Margo concluded. “The one I knew told everyone that I threatened her life. She kept talking nonsense, and spreading gossip.”
“Did you threaten her life?” Michael asked.
“Of course not! She was just a jealous bitch. I stole her boyfriend, but that’s not important now. She calls you, you said? Your crazy Marsha?”
“I haven’t heard from her since the fire. If she lost it completely and actually did it then she could be scared and lay low.”
“I have a question.” Margo coughed. “If they prove arson, what happens to the insurance?”
“Don’t worry about that.” Michael waved his hand. “We have a place to live and I’ll always make enough for our needs.”
“For our needs?” Margo almost choked. Needs? What about “a place to live”? It was her house!
“I have three huge deals coming,” Michael said. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Let’s just not talk about it or I’ll think you married me for my money.” Michael giggled nervously.
“I love you, dear. I married you because I love you,” Margo said, almost through her teeth. She didn’t know yet what to do with the information she had received, but she understood that nothing was going to be as easy as she had thought. Maybe she wouldn’t talk about money for a week or two, but then something had to change. It was going to change even without today’s conversation, but now it could happen faster. The old man interrupted their discussion, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t have it again.
Margo turned to the window. She looked at, but didn’t see the city’s flashing lights.
She had a husband. She had a young lover. And she had a new friend. A rich, old man who didn’t know what to do with his estate and she could help him solve that problem.
They reached home in thirty minutes. Margo covered her face with her palm against the bothersome rain, so that her makeup wouldn’t smear, even though she had to wash it off anyway. As soon as the door closed, Michael went to the kitchen to make coffee. Unlike most people, he claimed that coffee helped him fall asleep. Margo watched him go and then walked to the bedroom to change for the night. When she had dressed in her pajamas, removed her makeup, brushed her teeth, and was almost asleep, Michael climbed into bed, grunting and groaning. He had finished his coffee and spent just a few minutes in the bathroom. Now he threw his arm around Margo, groped for her breast, and began to squeeze it, breathing heavily.
“I have a headache,” Margo said.
Michael’s hand froze, but he kept squeezing her breast and didn’t let it go for a few seconds. Margo wanted to slap him, so he would understand faster that nothing was going to happen today. Then she heard something like a sigh or a moan, the hand slowly released her breast and was gone.
Margo closed her eyes again. She heard Michael getting out of bed and shuffling into the kitchen.
“Go jerk off, you moron,” Margo whispered. She tried to imagine the old man’s house, but strange images began to appear before her eyes: some horses, trees, rooms, as always happened before she drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER 14
Their morning coffee began in silence. Michael’s hair looked like a haystack, and he appeared to have tossed and turned all night. His eyes opened and closed slowly instead of the usual blinking, as if he was about to fall asleep. He slowly took a bite of the sandwich he had warmed up in the microwave and sipped his black coffee without milk, but with three tablespoons of sugar. Margo ate oatmeal with berries and drank fruit tea, hoping that breakfast like this would never challenge her with problems of fat on her thighs.
“Didn’t sleep well?” Margo finally broke the silence. It wasn’t like she was interested or worried, but the silence had begun to annoy her.
“I slept, but not much,” Michael admitted. “I had a lot on my mind.”
“What exactly?” Margo scraped the remnants of her oatmeal.
“Work mostly. I think I’ll be late again tonight. You’ll be in bed by the time I come in.”
“Are you cheating on me?” It was a sudden thought. If that was the truth, he was done.
Michael woke up instantly.
“No! Of course not!” he exclaimed. “What kind of question is that? I’ve married one of the most intelligent and beautiful women in the world. I’m not crazy enough to cheat on her.”
“I hope not. It’s just all these late nights at work, and business trips.” Margo had never worried about this before, she didn’t worry now, but it seemed to her that these questions needed to be asked for some reason. She thought any normal woman would ask them. They were stupid in her opinion though. Who would have cheated on her?
“No, I’m just working.” Michael sipped his coffee. “I want to provide you with the life you deserve.”
“I know you’re trying.”
“I am. What’s up with your work?”
Margo looked down.
“I don’t want to talk about it, until I know all the details,” she replied.
“Oh. I hope everything will be fine.”
“Trust me, so do I.”
Margo had never worked. She hadn’t worked in the traditional sense of the word and she had no idea what to say. What happened with her business? What would happen with any business?
“Everything will be okay.” Michael smiled and patted her hand. After that, he got up and went to the sink and put his empty cup there.
“I hope I will never be alone again,” Margo said quietly, staring at Michael’s back. When he turned to her, she looked into her cup, twirled it on the table.
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“Charlie left me so quickly. Sorry, it just came to my mind.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“I hope not!” Margo laughed. “I hope to live with you for as long as it’s meant to be.” Margo almost threw up with her last words. “Who knows how long that is. Poor Charlie. We didn’t have a relationship as close as you and I have, but he was a good person. He passed away and I thought I was alone in the world.”
“He didn’t leave you anything?” Michael asked. He approached Margo and put his hand on her shoulder.
“He had children from his first marriage. It doesn’t matter
. I worked, everything seemed stable and now I have this problem and I’m nervous, you know.”
“Yes, I understand,” Michael said. Margo resisted an urge to throw the cup at him.
“Your house burned down, did you think that could happen?” Margo asked.
“How is it possible to foresee something like that? I’m not a psychic.”
“See?” Margo gazed into her cup. There were daisies on it and she decided to throw it away, although she didn’t quite understand why. “Life is so unpredictable. We are not immune to tragedies and black stripes.”
“Life is unpredictable.” Michael agreed, but didn’t turn on the path where Margo pushed him so hard.
“We have to be ready for stuff like this, only I don’t know how. How do you insure yourself against these surprises? I couldn’t sleep last night, thinking about it.”
“Don’t worry, dear,” Michael said, standing in front of Margo. “I won’t leave you. I will always be there for you.”
“Yeah. Charles promised the same thing, but didn’t keep his promise. As I said, we are not insured for surprises.”
Margo sipped her tea trying very hard not to look at her husband.
Michael adjusted the belt on his robe, shuffled his slippers.
“You never know what can happen,” he said and Margo wanted to strangle him. He refused to understand her hints.
“Exactly,” she agreed calmly, while everything inside her boiled with irritation. “You never know and you never will. When my friend said that her husband bought an expensive life insurance policy, I laughed at her. I mean, spending that kind of money, basically throwing it down the toilet when, in all probability, nothing will happen anyway. Now I understand her.”
Michael adjusted his belt again and returned to the coffee machine without saying anything.
Margo didn’t have any girlfriends. She didn’t have girlfriends and she didn’t need them. Why? To show off her new outfits? Margo was a member of two Country Clubs for that matter and she went to theaters and restaurants. She didn’t need these women with their dramas. Plus, it was impossible to predict what was in their heads and what they were going to do. Men were so much more predictable.
“Do you understand her?” Michael asked, putting his cup in the coffee machine.
Margo really wanted to smack him.
“Of course. Her husband is older than her and she doesn’t work. If he goes, she will have no future.”
Michael said nothing again and turned to Margo with a full cup of coffee. He looked at his wife and moved a spoon in his cup.
“I understand,” he said at last. “You’re right. I’ll talk with my agent today and find out what options are available.”
“Options for what?” Margo had to pretend that she didn’t understand what he meant. She finished her tea and thought that it wouldn’t hurt to chase it with coffee. Her hubby was fueled not by coffee, but by her energy. She hoped that he was going to do what she hinted at.
“You’re right. How do I know, maybe I’ll kick the bucket tomorrow. I hope not. Maybe I should start exercising.”
Margo hoped that was not what he had in mind, otherwise a kick in his ass was guaranteed to him.
“We need stability and confidence in the future,” Michael continued. “We have to buy life insurance, as your girlfriend’s husband did.”
Margo shook her head.
“Are you sure?” she asked and finished her tea that had already gotten cold.
“It’s insurance. It is what it is,” he said. “It’s not like I’m going to die tomorrow.” Michael giggled.
“You’re the best,” Margo said, and walked over to Michael and hugged him. As soon as he reached for her under the robe, she turned away, smacking him on the lips. “So many things to do. Make coffee for me,” she said, thinking about two phone calls she was going to make today. She loved action, but so far she was waiting.
In less than an hour, Michael left for work. Margo only managed to go to the terrace from the kitchen and finish her coffee during this time. Michael kissed her cheek and said he didn’t know when he would return.
“I’ll miss you,” Margo said.
“You have no idea how much I am going to miss you,” her husband replied.
Margo waited until the sound of his car engine disappeared and dialed Tristan.
CHAPTER 15
Tristan came exactly when she told him and left a couple of hours later because Margo had an appointment with a hairdresser and of course Daisy had to come and do her usual business. By this time, Daisy had combined the duties of an assistant, a cook, and partially a cleaning lady. She didn’t mind, especially when Margo added a dollar to her hourly pay. She did that so the assistant wouldn’t start looking for another job with a higher salary and a smaller sheet of chores, and also because she liked the fact that she was paying for her lover’s girlfriend’s food. There was something masochistically beautiful about this.
Margo took a shower after Tristan’s departure and headed to the kitchen for a glass of cold juice. She startled and almost screamed when she saw Daisy in the middle of the room. The girl stood straight, holding her bag on her shoulder, and stared at Margo. Her lips were pursed and her hand was pulling at the worn handle of the bag.
“What’s your problem?” Margo winced, wrapped her robe tighter to cover her naked body, and headed for the refrigerator, going around Daisy.
Something was wrong.
The girl didn’t answer and Margo turned to her after opening the refrigerator door.
“What?” she asked.
“I know everything,” Daisy said and dropped her hands, leaving the bag alone.
“What are you talking about?” Margo took out a carton of juice without asking her assistant to do it as she normally did.
“You know what I mean.”
“I have no idea.”
Margo returned the carton to the fridge and sat on a chair, drinking the juice in small sips. The ice-cold drink drained into her stomach, cooling her body. She was calm. She understood what this conversation was going to be about, but her condition didn’t change.
“Tristan.” Daisy said.
Margo took another sip of juice, silently looking at her assistant.
“I came a little earlier and saw him when he went out.”
“So what?” Margo put her glass on the table.
“He said he just came to help around the house, but I understood everything right away.”
“Are you saying you are smart?” Margo asked.
“I’m not as stupid as you think. I heard him talking on the phone a few times, but I couldn’t figure out who it was. His behavior changed, I knew something was happening.”
“Okay.” Margo sipped her juice again. She didn’t like drama.
“What is okay? Is that all you can say?” Daisy’s eyes became huge with astonishment.
“What else do you want me to tell you?”
Margo drank her juice and thought about having to spend time in search of a new assistant. Or maybe she would do without one for now and save money. For now. It was a nightmare, but she really had to think about saving. What was this? Why did she marry that idiot?
“How could you do this to me?” Daisy slapped her hand across her chest. Tears appeared in her eyes.
Margo was losing her patience, but didn’t want to show it.
“Why are you acting so calm? How could you? I did everything for you! Everything you’ve asked!”
“For free?”
“What does that have to do with anything? You didn’t have to take my boyfriend from me!”
“If I took him, he would be with me, not with you.”
“How can you say that?” it seemed that Daisy couldn’t believe it. She was in shock. “How can you be so cold and indifferent?”
“I don’t have time for drama,” Margo said, putting the empty glass on the table.
“I love Tristan, don’t you understand?”
“Does he lov
e you?”
“Yes!”
“That’s not what he told me.” Margo stood up. This conversation exhausted her.
“Really? What did he tell you?”
“Do you really want to know?”
Daisy didn’t answer right away. She straightened her bag on her shoulder, wiped her eyes, and swallowed a lump in her throat.
“Yes,” she said softly, not taking her eyes off Margo.
“All right,” she answered, shrugging her shoulders and realizing that a real hysteria was about to begin. “He said you are boring, not at all interesting in sex or in conversation.”
Daisy swallowed a lump in her throat again, trying to hold back her tears.
“Then why was he with me?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Insurance.”
“Maybe he loves me and he was with you only for money?” Daisy even raised her head with pride.
Margo grinned, threw her robe to the floor, and twirled in front of her assistant, now her former assistant, showing off her naked body.
The girl flushed and lowered her eyes.
“Do you really think he was with me only because of money?” Margo asked.
“You have a husband,” Daisy said without looking up.
“So what?”
“Why do you need Tristan? What if your husband finds out?”
Margo picked up her robe, put it on again, and tied the belt, as she approached Daisy. She stopped near the girl and placing her finger on the girl’s chin, she lifted her head. Daisy was taller and bigger than her, but Margo didn’t care. She was always above everyone in her eyes.
“You don’t even want to think about what will happen if my husband finds out.”
“You took a person I love from me.” Daisy didn’t dare to take Margo’s hand away. Margo did it herself.
“To love doesn’t mean to own, baby.”
“You are so cruel!”
“It’s time for you to go.”
“Really?” Daisy clenched her teeth. “Do you think you can just ruin someone’s life and get away with it?”
Margo pretended that she thought the question over.
The garden of dead thoughts Page 9
