"The reluctant neighbor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jenkins Peter)

CHAPTER EIGHT

Marily worked like a Trojan Monday. She had induced the dentist, her last partner of the party, to help her move the furniture in the bedroom back to its former position, then she had seen him to the door, then carefully tucked his card away in her purse. He had promised her an amazing discount on her dental work, and would offer the same to Fred later in the week, he told her, as soon as he was initiated a member. As soon as he had disappeared through the hedge of the patio, she had started her work. She dusted, vacuumed, changed the bed clothes, even the pads on the beds, and washed and sprayed a heavy film of air freshener through the house.

She had paused in her work to have a bit of lunch, heard a car pull into the driveway next door, and had run to the window to see if it could be Peter. It wasn't. It was Vivian.

Vivian turned and waved to her, then headed in her direction. Marily opened the door for her, tried to smile and wondered if she knew that she had hoped it was Peter. She did.

"It's just me. Wipe the disappointment off your face, lovely, and let's have some coffee. I've been out laying the groundwork for Fred he's very cute, Marily, I don't think that you appreciate that fact and the fact that all men, every last one of them have the potential of becoming good lovers and husbands and they just have to be taught can we have a bite of lunch if you have anything to make and I'll outline the plan for you and we have considered your situation here and there is little of it that depends on you because you'll be nervous and you might ruin it all and we don't want that." Vivian paused for a split second and then continued full force, outlining the plan that Marily felt she was somehow missing, could not completely follow the flow of words that included general comments about everything under the sun with the plan thrown in. Generally, however, she got the idea. All she had to do was calm herself until Tuesday, then set the first part of it in motion. They would do the rest.

Marily practiced until time for picking Fred up at the airport. She was so nervous that she could hardly drive, fearful that something would go wrong, knowing that if it did it would be her downfall, her disgrace. She parked the car in the lot at the airport, then sat for a couple of minutes and breathed deeply. It all started now for her. She walked in measured steps to the gate and stood, mute, and stared straight ahead and waited for Fred.

He came through the gate smiling, and went directly to her. He kissed her on the lips without touching any part of her body, not putting an arm around her, not drawing her to him, just a kiss. Her nerve faltered, almost fled completely, then he began talking and she regained some of her self assurance.

"Everything went ideally, Marily. I'm on my way up, I can feel it now, I know it now. I didn't want you to worry, so I didn't tell you about my doubts. No, but I had them. Meeting the head of one of the world's largest corporations was just about too much, but I carried it off beautifully. Not a hitch." He helped her into the car, then went to the driver's side and slid in, started the motor and they were headed in the direction of their home before he spoke again. "And how was your weekend, Marily? Did you enjoy the party? Tell me what all you've been doing while I was away."

Marily felt an impulse to jump out of the car, to dash herself along the highway and thereby end it all, but she couldn't of course. Then she thought about just blurting it all out, telling him how she had for the first time enjoyed and appreciated the fact that she was a woman. But, she couldn't do that either. That left her with only one choice, to set the plan in motion. She took a deep breath, turned on the seat to face him, and talked.

"Darling, the party was delightful. Vivian is very busy and she invited me for dinner Friday night and I went and she had cooked all frozen food, but she had been out all day, so I suppose that it doesn't matter that much because it was good anyway. Then, the other guests started arriving and they have such lovely friends, all of whom I want you to meet, and we talked and got acquainted and… well, it was delightful." She stopped and took a deep breath, studying his profile to see how he was taking the whole thing and thinking of herself that she sounded like Vivian.

"Good," Fred told her, "We need to get to know some people. After all, we've been there for two months and it's time we got out a little, got to know some of our neighbors well. I like us to get involved." He smiled at her.

Marily had to admit to herself that she was already 'involved'. She plunged ahead, "Fred, I accepted an invitation to a meeting tonight, a discussion, from Peter. I mean that he's in charge of it – it's about civil rights that he's very interested in – and Vivian has so many clubs and tonight she stays home and I knew that you wouldn't want to go out just getting back and all and she says that you should come over and visit with her… well, I took it upon myself to make all the arrangements for both our evenings."

"Fine, Marily. But, I don't want you getting involved too much in any civil rights movements. That would look bad for me at the company. You do understand that?" He looked at her to see if she understood it.

"Oh, yes, Fred, I understand your position. I thought about it when it was brought up and at first I hesitated, declined, really, but I think that they understand. It's only one time anyway and if I think… well, I can evaluate the whole thing and be careful not to get us out on a limb. You'll see."

"Good, Marily, just don't get upset and say something that you might later regret, or that will get back to the company. It'll be fine, I'm sure."

"Fred… I told Vivian that you could get acquainted, too. I mean she wants to know you and so I thought it would be a good idea for you to go over and talk to her. She's having a friend in, a beautiful and intelligent woman, Anna Shiller, who's married to a man, Hans, who is German, and he's in business here and… well, I thought it would be a good idea so I promised you for the evening." She had spilled the whole thing, not gradually as she had planned, but it was out, it was there, she had said it all. She waited for his reply.

"Good, Marily, I think you've done very well. Sounds great." He swung the car into the driveway, then into the garage and got his luggage out of the trunk, carried it into the house. Marily couldn't quite believe that everything had gone as smoothly as it had. Now she told herself, all she had to do was hang on through the evening and trust the others to do their part.