Eight o’clock arrived at last. I got up. I took off my wrinkled suit. I put on shorts, a golf shirt. There wasn’t a chance in hell I was going to go to the office.
Barefoot, I went downstairs. Kelly was in the kitchen. Her eyes were red.
She knew.
What are we going to do? she asked.
I don’t know, I said. I don’t know.
I sat at the kitchen table. I put my head in my hands. I smelled of nicotine. My chest was tight.
Did you call Steiglitz? I asked.
I got his voice mail.
Did you leave a message?
I told him that we’ve got to get her back to the clinic.
More money. More post-tax money. For what? To give her another chance to torment us with false hopes and promises? Jesus. How much of this could we take?
I was trying to choke down a scalding cup of coffee when Steiglitz called back. Kelly answered the phone. He said we could bring her to the clinic. He wouldn’t be in today. But he’d see her tomorrow.
At least they could keep her off the stuff til then.
Kelly went to her bedroom, where Melissa was hiding. I drank another cup of coffee. I cleaned the kitchen. I put in a load of laundry. Kelly was gone for half an hour.
She’ll do it, she said on her return.
She’ll go to the clinic?
Yes.
Just like that?
What do you mean, just like that? I had to sell my soul.
I’m sorry to hear that. We’ll have to get you a new one.
I got a small smile for that one. She was resilient. She’d handle it. Hell, she’d handle it better than I would.
What did she say? I asked.
Never mind what she said. She said she was sorry. She made a mistake. She’ll never do it again.
That’s depressing. Yes, it is.
Should I go and talk to her?
She doesn’t want to see you. She’s too embarrassed.
I wasn’t certain how that made me feel. There was a kind of relief. That I wouldn’t have to deal with her. Too many emotions. Loud, insistent and inconsistent emotions. I needed a rest from emotions. But it was also a rejection, of a sort. She didn’t need me anymore.
But had she ever?
Everything I’d ever thought or felt about Melissa was suspect.
I called an office limo for them. I asked them to send Christof. He’d take good care of Kelly.
I went to my bedroom. Booted up the computer. Nosed around some paleontology sites. Sometimes old bones can be comforting.
I heard the limo pull away.
The bones weren’t doing it for me.
I had to get away.
I called Dorita.