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Chapter 16
October 29, 2009 | Filed Under Dawn, Lisa | Leave a Comment
Dawn slowly sat down. She placed her clutch on the table.
Lisa took a deep breath. For a moment she was overwhelmed by a simultaneous sense of personal power and vulnerability.
Dawn waited patiently and coolly; five years of running an international company had gifted her with the most stoic of poker faces.
“What’s up?”
“Do I even have to ask?”
“Lisa, for the third time, I’m very sorry my secretary sent that letter out. What, do you want me to fire her?”
Lisa cocked her head. “Do I really come off as that stupid?”
The young waitress walked up to the table just in time to hear Lisa’s words. Feeling the tension between the two customers she slithered away before asking if they needed anymore tea. Better to leave them without an abundance of hot liquids should the fight get nasty.
“What in the world are you talking about,” Dawn countered, offended.
“I mean, I know I come off as oblivious sometimes… In my own little angsty world but come on. It’s become crystal clear to me that in the past few months you and my husband have declared war on each other. I want to know why.”
Dawn stared at Lisa like a raccoon about to be flattened by the virgin all-terrain wheels of a speeding Range Rover. Trapped.
Lisa took a deep breath. “Did you and Thomas have an aff-“
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Dawn spit out the words.
Lisa had seen that face before. It was when they were in Cabo and a boutique owner had made the almost deadly mistake of trying to pass off faux python slingbacks as the real thing. Why anyone would want to stomp around wearing reptile was beyond Lisa’s imaginative abilities but one thing was clear to her—Dawn was an insulted now as she was then.
She was telling the truth.
A wave of relief slammed over Lisa, washing away the tough chick act. Her posture dropped and hands flew up as she asked, “Then what the hell is going on?!”
Dawn’s face was turned away from the table.
“Dawn?” Lisa was alarmed.
She rose quickly, almost knocking her chair over, and took the seat next to Dawn, who was now rushing to collect herself. Lisa felt terror rise in her, the way a child is scared to the bone when a previously God-like parent exhibits fear for the first time.
Dawn turned to Lisa and locked eyes. She drew a long breath and took Lisa’s clammy hand.
“You are only half correct. Thomas husband did have an affair. But it wasn’t with me.”
Lisa had heard fainters use the expression, “the ground rushed up to meet me,” but never realized how true it was. She didn’t even feel her head hit the floor.
