“Yes,” said Helen.
Victoria glanced over at Eliza, who gave her a reassuring look.
“Anyway, what more can I say? It’s been interesting, but not as fulfilling as I had imagined,” said Helen.
“I just can’t even imagine what it would be like,” said Claudia, with Midwestern naïveté. “Do you do everything?”
“Um, not really. The whole thing is kind of boring, actually. I thought it would be so exciting and racy, but really, for me, just the idea of it was exciting. I don’t know…it hasn’t changed my life.”
“And did you tell your husband?” asked Claudia.
“God, no,” she said with disdain. “It’s our little secret.”
“Who has a secret?” asked Lauren, entering the kitchen with Donovan and Bridget trailing after her. Lauren was a gorgeous child, and she looked particularly cute today, dressed up in one of the fancy smock dresses that Wesley’s parents had sent, with a silk bow in her hair.
“No one,” said Helen, dismissing Lauren.
“I want a secret,” said Donovan, coming up to Eliza and putting his arms up. He was an extremely affectionate child, with the largest hazel eyes anyone had ever seen.
“Okay, here it is,” said Eliza, whispering in Donovan’s ear. “I love you.”
“That’s not a secret!” Donovan giggled.
“Yes it is,” whispered Eliza again, tickling his tummy. “I love you to the sky.”
“I want a secret!” said Bridget, jumping up and down. Eliza leaned down to her and whispered in her ear, “I love you to the moon.”
Bridget burst into giggles.
Lauren, who was normally quiet and reserved, was relaxed enough to break into a smile and approach Eliza. “Can I have a secret?” she asked politely.
Eliza leaned toward her and whispered in her ear: “I love you to Jupiter!”
Lauren began laughing also. Helen watched as Lauren followed Eliza, Donovan, and Bridget to the kitchen cabinets and waited for Eliza to retrieve and distribute mini bags of Goldfish crackers for each child. Then Lauren said, “Come on, guys,” and the two smaller children followed her into the family room to continue their tea party. Eliza had such a natural way with children, thought Helen, burning with jealousy. She was never like that, never playful or goofy with Lauren. Yet it was obviously what Lauren needed because whenever Eliza was around she was like a barnacle to her side.
“Lauren is so sweet with the little ones,” said Eliza.
“She’s a natural,” added Claudia, nodding. “She’s only, what, seven? And she’s already a little babysitter.”
“That’s the thing with girls,” said Victoria, stretching back in her chair. “Their maternal instincts are there from the get-go. I can’t believe how some of my friends who have girls are able to let them play together for hours without disturbance. My boys would trash the place and be at each other’s throats. If I ask one where the other is, he runs away and I hear a slap, crash, bang, and a wail, and then he comes back without a word. But when I was over at my friend’s house who has girls, she asked her four-year-old to check on the two-year-old, and the girl came back holding the younger one’s hand and reported that she had been playing with choking hazards so they needed a new activity! It’s crazy.”
All the women laughed and agreed.
Later that evening, when all the men had arrived and everyone was showered and dressed and ready for cocktail hour before dinner, Claudia had a moment alone with Eliza in the kitchen.
“I can’t believe your friends,” said Claudia.
“I know.”
“I mean, Helen? Cheating on her husband?” she said the last part with a whisper, eyes fervently darting at the door to make sure no one overheard. “That’s just crazy. I mean, I only just met him, but he seems like a sweet guy.”
“Yeah,” said Eliza, giving the mashed potatoes a final stir. God, if Claudia only knew.
“And it’s sad she’s so not into her kid. She kind of gives her these looks like she’s dealing with an alien,” said Claudia, handing Eliza a pot holder so she could pull the turkey out of the oven.
“You’re right,” said Eliza.
“I think if she spent more time with her, she’d get the satisfaction that she’s trying to find elsewhere. But what do I know?”
“No, you’re right,” repeated Eliza. Could she get extra satisfaction spending more time with her kids? No, that wasn’t what it was with her. She felt she had a great relationship with Donovan and Bridget. And Declan as well. What she had wanted was to feel special. It was silly, really.
“And Victoria is a card!” said Claudia, laughing. “She’s really angry about something, every time I see her. Now there’s someone who maybe should consider divorce.”
“Yeah, her husband’s a jerk.”
“But what do I know? They must be awesome people, because they’re your friends,” said Claudia, grabbing a plate of cheese and crackers and taking them with her to the living room.
Eliza stood for a minute, hands stuck deep into pot holders, steam from the hot dishes curling around her face, and tried to view her friends with detachment. It was too hard. Sometimes it takes an outsider to really tell you what’s going on.
Meanwhile, over at Leelee’s house, Thanksgiving was the tense affair that it had become in recent years. Leelee’s mother, who had become pettier and more disheartened with her life as she aged, had on her usual sour face as she surveyed the dinner with her critical eye. “Now tell me, why don’t you have a dining room again?” she asked several times, apparently not liking the response that they seldom entertained so it was better to turn the designated space into a toy room for the girls. “And when are you thinking of moving?” she’d ask, as if she had a tin ear to the fact that Brad had not earned any extra money to facilitate a move. Her disappointments ran deeper than her daughter’s, but they both agreed on one thing: had Leelee married Jack as planned, life would be better. Well, there was still time.
•• 32 ••
Thanksgiving ended as quickly as it began, with people eating more than they should have and vowing to burn it off after the holidays. Sure enough, the gyms filled up the Monday after, and the bicycle and jogging paths along the ocean were glutted with aggressive workout fiends, feverish in their efforts to burn off the extra helping of sweet potatoes that they had regretfully sampled. All of the girls were back in their routines, dropping children off at school, taking them to classes, and dealing with their own extracurricular romances.
“Can I use your phone?” asked Leelee when Victoria opened the door to her house.
“Sure, and hello to you too,” said Victoria letting her in.
Leelee carefully wiped her shoes on the second floor mat, knowing Victoria was a stickler for dirt tracked into her house. “Sorry, it’s just, Brad is on my case ever since he found an e-mail from Jack, and I don’t want him to find out yet,” said Leelee.
“He’s going to find out sooner or later,” said Victoria.
“Well, I need it to be later. Where is the most private spot?” asked Leelee, glancing around. She didn’t want to ask Victoria for a favor, but Helen wasn’t home and she didn’t feel comfortable doing it at Eliza’s, because even though Eliza was on board, she still seemed a tad bit too disapproving of the whole thing.
“You can use my room or the twins’,” said Victoria, motioning to the second floor.
“Thanks,” said Leelee, bolting up the stairs.
“Do you want something to drink?” asked Victoria.
“No thanks,” yelled Leelee, who was already out of sight.
Victoria sighed and returned to her desk, where she had been opening mail. Leelee was a great friend to go out with, have a few laughs, gossip, and discuss children with, but she was totally inappropriate for this endeavor. Victoria would never have included Leelee if she weren’t so tight with Helen, and quite honestly Victoria hadn’t believed that Leelee would ever find someone to cheat with, but she had obviously
been proven wrong. And now her friend had turned into a monster. Leelee was so convinced that she would marry Jack Porter and be this high society first lady figure that she had become smug and vain. She had always had that propensity to come off as “to the manor born” because she was a Swift and in the Social Register, but now that she would finally have another swanky last name and some dough to go with it, she had become impossible to deal with. But Victoria wasn’t so sure it would all end up going Leelee’s way. She had a suspicion that it was one-sided, and Leelee in fact might be bluffing.
Victoria tore open a letter that was addressed, much to her annoyance, to Mr. and Mrs. Coleman. Who the hell didn’t remember that she’d kept her maiden name? It was so irritating. She glanced at the picture of two smiling blond boys clad in identical blue Ralph Lauren sweaters, cuddling a big brown Lab. Someone was already organized enough to send Christmas cards? She flipped open the cover and read Happy Holidays love, Dave, Nicole, Matty, Jasper, Duchess and Dander (not pictured). It drove her nuts when people credited their animals on their Christmas cards. People, they are not human. It was so tacky. And especially those people who just sent out a Christmas card featuring their dog or cat, with no children. Ridiculous, thought Victoria, throwing the card into the trash bin. They should be committed. It shocked Victoria’s friends that she discarded Christmas cards as soon as she looked at them instead of doing what everyone else does and display them on her mantel. Why the hell would she do that? Half of the people’s kids she didn’t even know, and often a lot of those kids were downright ugly. She didn’t want to junk up her house with that clutter.
Victoria went through more bills and was about to call Verizon and ask them why the hell was her bill so high when she remembered Leelee was on the phone. God, she’d been on there awhile. She wanted to pick up the extension and eavesdrop, but surely they would hear her. Suddenly Victoria was seized by an idea. It was terrible, but hell, it was her house, so why not? She went and got the baby monitor from the kitchen and brought it into her office. The other extensions were upstairs and on as usual, so she would be able to hear Leelee’s conversation.
The dial of the monitor turned and then a low static noise came out of the handset, until Victoria adjusted it on her desk and could finally hear Leelee’s side of the conversation. She listened intently.
“I can’t believe that, Porty, you poor thing,” she heard Leelee say into the phone.
There was a pause where Jack was obviously filling her in on what had happened.
“Look, you were an idiot, eloping without a prenup, you bad boy, you! But I’m sure a judge will understand that you were young and drunk. She’s not going to walk away with everything. You can buy her off with a few mil,” said Leelee in her bossy tone.
So Jack was hedging, thought Victoria. Just as she’d suspected.
“She’s such a bitch! No, I agree, wait until after the holidays, although it’s strange ’cause it’s not like you guys have any kids. Who cares if Daddy’s home when Santa comes or not?” said Leelee. She paused.
“Right, well, but her parents are going to be just as disappointed after the holidays also, especially if you do spend all that time with them in Antigua…” continued Leelee.
This guy has no plan to leave Tierney, thought Victoria.
“Okay, love bug, I don’t mean to be naggy-naggy! I just miss you. I love you to bits,” sighed Leelee into the phone.
Victoria heard the phone click and she leapt across her desk to turn off the monitor. Minutes later, Leelee wandered into her office, beaming.
“It’s all set,” she said with a grin. “I just can’t wait. I told him to delay it until after the holidays, and then we’re good to go.”
Leelee would never confide anything to Victoria that would be remotely negative about herself or her relationship. She felt as though Victoria sometimes looked down on her, as if she were a mere child, and that pissed her off.
“That’s exciting,” said Victoria, spinning around on her swivel chair. “Where are you guys going to live?”
“New York. First we’ll go to Hawaii and then call our respective spouses, and on the way home I’ll pick up the kids and head east,” said Leelee.
“Are you at all upset about Brad?” asked Victoria.
“Brad…” began Leelee, but then stopped. “He’ll find someone else.”
“Right,” said Victoria.
“Anyway, thanks for the phone,” said Leelee.
It was still a bright day when Leelee left Victoria’s house, one of those white December days that appear as if clouds have nestled around the city to protect it from snow and rain. Leelee couldn’t contain her excitement. This is what it feels like to win the lottery. This is what it feels like to be elected president. This is what true happiness is. She did feel bad that she had to hurt some people along the way. But she truly believed everyone would end up happier.
Later that night, Victoria was on her way out to meet Wayne. It was the moment she’d been waiting for. She was going to present him with a copy of the tape she had made of him having sex with Shelly and then make him beg her for mercy. She had been savoring this idea for weeks now. He had called and harassed her and yelled at her and tormented her these past two weeks—he was particularly furious about the aborted threesome—but she had held him off in an effort to get him completely worked up. She wanted to shock him into submission and surprise him with her coup.
As Victoria got in her car, there was a knock on the window. She looked up. Anson Larrabee. What the hell did he want now? She rolled down the window.
“Hi, Anson,” she said without a smile.
“Going out?” asked Anson.
“Yup, looks that way, doesn’t it?” she asked sarcastically.
Suddenly Anson’s face contorted and his manner turned severe. “I’m tired of y’all dismissing me like this. I know all about your infidelity pact. I know about you and Wayne,” said Anson.
“Whatever,” replied Victoria coolly. She didn’t want to appear as if she cared. That was exactly what he wanted.
This further infuriated Anson. “I’m going to tell Justin! I’m going to tell everyone,” said Anson, sounding like a spoiled child who wasn’t getting his way.
“Go ahead,” said Victoria. “He already knows.”
Anson glared at Victoria and wondered if it was true. It could be. Justin was never home, and it actually seemed as though he and Victoria lived separate lives. It had been eons since he’d heard them having sex.
“Oh yeah? Well, what about your girlfriends?” asked Anson.
“What about them?” asked Victoria.
“Do they know about you and Wayne?”
Victoria stared at him coolly, not wanting to confess or confirm anything.
Anson smiled more broadly. He had got her. And it felt finger-lickin’ good! “Do they know that you and Wayne were having this torrid affair for months before you brought them into this pact?”
Victoria continued staring at him, but he saw something flicker across her face that told him everything.
“Do they know that you created this entire scheme, this whole ‘infidelity pact’”—he used his fingers to make air quotes— “so that their hands would be dirty, too, and then they wouldn’t be judgmental about helping you out of your mess?”
It was all coming together now when he said it out loud. He had wondered why she’d suggested the pact at first. She certainly wasn’t the type of gal who needed her girlfriends to follow along. And why extend the affair with Wayne when he was obviously terrorizing her? He had listened for weeks to Victoria pleading with him to back off. But now he understood. She needed help. And the only way to get friends to help in that type of situation was to put them in that type of situation.
“You’re insane,” said Victoria flatly. But her voice inadvertently shook. How did Anson know all this? No one knew this part. And it was true. She had started sleeping with Wayne two months before she’d gone out with her friends and
gotten them to cheat on their husbands. And then when he went nutso, she enlisted them so they could help extricate her from this mess. She had gotten in over her head, but her pride wouldn’t allow her to just confess to her friends and ask for help. Because goddamn it, she, Victoria Rand, was not the sort of woman who asked for help. But now that they were all a team—and all supporting each other, embarking on the adventure together—it was okay to ask Eliza to come with her to Wayne’s. Eliza had already sold herself to the devil with her affair with Tyler Trask. She could never give a condescending look to Victoria again. No, none of her friends would ever have anything on her. And because Victoria was competitive and proud—yes, this she would admit—this was the only way she could have it. But they were never supposed to find out.
“I don’t think I am,” said Anson, backing away from the car. “And I don’t think they’ll think so either when I tell them.”
“What do you want from us, Anson?” asked Victoria, exasperated. “Is this just a game to you? You want us to be scared of you? Or is this because you are so small and petty that you want us to be your best friends? No, Anson. You’ll never be our best friend. You’ll never insinuate yourself into our lives. Because you’re a gossip columnist, and a petty loser!”
Victoria turned around and backed out of the driveway, leaving Anson slack-jawed. Screw him, she thought as she glanced at him in her rearview mirror. Then suddenly she squinted. What was that? Damn. Justin was pulling his car into the driveway. And he was waving to Anson. Should I turn around? she thought. No. Just keep on going.
•• 33 ••
“I was reading Lauren a book about pandas. Fascinating creatures. Do you know anything about them?” asked Wesley.
“No,” said Helen, twirling her spaghetti. They were having a cozy dinner at Caffe Delfini at Wesley’s suggestion. It was an intimate restaurant, with tables so close that you could reach over to the plate of the person at the next table and steal a bite of his gnocchi, the type of place where you could hear everyone’s conversation. A perfect place to ask for a divorce because your unsuspecting spouse wouldn’t make a scene. That had to be the reason that Wesley asked her there, Helen was sure. They had done nothing together in ages, they were virtual strangers, and suddenly this morning he asks to go to dinner? It didn’t make sense. Helen was paranoid. She didn’t want to get a divorce. It scared her, the thought of being thrust out there to nothingness. When she started this pact, she thought she might find someone to share her life with, that all the problems were because of Wesley. But she wasn’t sure she felt that way anymore. She was partially to blame. She had recoiled as much as he had.
The Infidelity Pact Page 19
