Alligators in the Trees (34 page)

Tobias reached over and picked up his watch. 8:45. He hadn’t gotten much sleep, but he was too restless to lie still anymore. He threw back the sheet and sat up. He had slept in his clothes on the sofa all night; for he preferred it to the three king-size beds at his disposal.

In many respects, living in a hotel suited him perfectly, but it hadn’t really begun to feel like home yet. Sleeping regularly in one of the beds would somehow signify a permanence he wasn’t ready to accept, regardless of what his home life was like these days.

Thinking of the last scene with Monique made him cringe. It seemed they had reached a point in their relationship where it was impossible to keep score anymore. He had arrogantly and incorrectly assumed he could do as he pleased and Monique would just have to take it.

It had never crossed his mind she would be unfaithful to him, though why it hadn’t was a mystery to him now. He supposed he’d always taken her love and fidelity for granted, as a sort of guaranteed payment for all her unfettered spending. They were both supposedly getting what they wanted, weren’t they? She took care of him, he took care of her. It was a bargain they had embraced, but now he wondered why they had been willing to settle for so little.

But maybe Monique hadn’t. She had been all too willing to play guardian to his celebrity, regulating his life, keeping it safe and uncomplicated. She was clever enough to pass herself off as Brody’s ally during their courtship, but she turned herself into a human wedge between the partners once the ring was slipped on her finger. If it hadn’t been for her, where would he be today? He’d like to think he’d be further along musically than he was now, yet it was just as likely he’d have ended up in drug rehab or a pine box.

He consoled himself with the idea that life was a series of phases. He had his phase of stardom and unabashed indulgence, then his phase of careful yet brainless living. Now it was time for the next phase to begin. But what exactly did he want that phase to be?

He couldn’t bring himself to go backwards, but that’s exactly what Brody and Monique wanted him to do. Knock out a few new tunes, cut an album and go on tour, regardless of the quality of what they were putting out. Just get the money machine cranked up and running again, before the well ran dry.

Brody had his own reasons for wanting to get back in the game, ostensibly for the creative outlet it provided. But even low-profile Brody had an ego to support. Monique’s motives were entirely selfish. She was only willing to let Tobias’s leash out a little in order to reel him back once he had refreshed his bank accounts and her status as wife to one of the most awesome rock talents alive.

Ironically, Monique had been the one who convinced him to break up the band in the first place, citing how destructive the business could be to body and soul. As soon as he and Brody split, she began campaigning for him to go solo. That experiment had been an eye-opening disaster, one that made Tobias gratefully retreat to Monique’s protective asylum.

But that was the past. He was in charge of his life again. At least that fact had been established. However things played out with his marriage, he would not cower in oblivion like before. He would not shun his gifts out of fear of the toll the rock ‘n roll lifestyle could take on his soul. He was a big boy now. He could keep himself on the straight and narrow, if he wanted to.

For Tobias, the least appealing aspect of their reunion was regressing backwards in time.
Absent Among Us
had its day in the sun. They struck gold, reveled in their glory and made a pile of money, enough to last them the rest of their lives, if they didn’t do anything stupid. Tobias hadn’t exactly been careful, with his expensive taste in young ladies and Monique’s gift for spending money.

But now Tobias found himself questioning his need for financial security. If he were to change the way he lived, if he were to devote himself entirely to music, how much money did he actually need? He could certainly do without a three-bedroom suite. And he surely didn’t have to live in a hotel.

Tobias pushed himself up off the sofa and went to the window. As he distractedly took in the sights of the city in its workaday mode, he wondered if he could really shed his glamorous habits and live a more modest lifestyle.

Could he live in a nasty little hole like Priscilla’s? His expression soured. Change was a good idea, but there was no need to go to extremes. He couldn’t picture himself living on the Lower Eastside, but there certainly wasn’t anything wrong with living in Soho or Tribeca.

The bigger question was whether he could give up his dependence on beautiful young things. In the cold light of day, this seemed an easy enough habit to break, but he knew himself better than that. It didn’t take much to stimulate his need for soft, smooth flesh, the flawless bodies of those young enough to still be compliant and eager to please. It was solely a physical addiction; he got nothing out of their company other than sex and a pretty face to look at.

Tobias turned away from the window and gravitated slowly toward the piano. There was a bigger void in his life than music alone could fill. His earlier relationship with Brody had satisfied him intellectually, and to a lesser degree, so had his marriage to Monique, but their interaction was more akin to mental jousting.

He’d had only one mistress who had challenged him mentally, but their breakup had been so excruciating, Tobias wised up and set his sights on less developed minds. And that’s what he got: an indistinguishable line of Simones, each one stunning, but shallow as a saucer.

Tobias lifted the lid and tapped on a key. While still standing, he played the opening bar of Priscilla’s song. He heard the words in his mind while he played, but neither words nor melody moved him the way they had before. He felt far too melancholy to appreciate the lusty lyrics and seductive rhythms.

He closed the lid and headed to the closest shower, where he doused himself for a long while. Afterwards, he dressed in his usual attire and went out into the day.

Priscilla paid her hotel bill and toted her single bag out onto the street. She had awoken with a clear head and a determined attitude. A change had taken place inside her while sleeping, and she now saw the world and her place in it with new eyes. She was a free as a bird. She had no ties to any person, place or thing. She had conveniently moved Phil to a place in her mind where he no longer had the power to distract her: the past.

All she saw before her now was the present, and at that precise moment, the present was a partly cloudy day, a pocket full of money and a train ride south. She couldn’t imagine a more thrilling scenario. Here she was, poised to begin a new life. She could wipe her slate clean and replace the disappointing reality of her time in New York with a deceptively slim accounting.

She could tell whoever she met down in Florida she had spent the last twelve years in the Big Apple, where she had various jobs and boyfriends, until city life finally got to her, not to mention the horrible winters. End of story. There would be no reason to own up to anything more than that. Poof, just like that, the mistakes and misjudgments of a dozen years would vanish into thin, sun-filled air.

With the prospect of creating a new persona happily fermenting in her head, Priscilla decided some serious shopping was in order. A thirty-something turning her back on New York City because it did not suit her standards, would nonetheless take advantage of the abundance of retail stores before making her departure. Having lived so long in that fashion-conscious city, this savvy female would arm herself with the latest spring fashions before embarking on her new adventure.

In stark contrast to her former frugality, Priscilla was becoming giddy with the thought of buying all new everything: from lingerie to strappy sandals, maybe even a proper suitcase to hold it all. As she hurried down the street, visions of the new Priscilla Vanderpool flashed across her mind’s eye—relaxed, confident, hopeful, as she stepped off the train in Miami, wearing a brightly colored sundress, pulling her new suitcase behind her…

“Priscilla!”
The shouting of her name sounded like an alarm, harshly yanking her out of her daydream, filling her instantly with a sense of impending doom. She stopped short and listened. “Priscilla!” the voice called again.

She turned, scanning the busy sidewalks and streets, afraid of finding out who was so desperate to get her attention. Not recognizing any of the faces turned her way, she started forward, deciding it was unwise to linger. After all, she couldn’t think of a single soul in that town she wished to speak to.

“Priscilla…wait!”

Her head swung around reflexively, and her feet stuttered to a halt, despite her commands to tune out the voice and keep moving. She backed away from the coursing foot traffic while her eyes sifted through the stream of oncoming pedestrians. She wracked her brain trying to place the voice.

“Priscilla,” Tobias said, short of breath, as he suddenly appeared before her. Priscilla’s mouth fell open, but no words came out.

“I can’t believe I found you,” he said, as he clutched her arm and laughed with relief. “Your landlady told me you moved to Florida,” he said.

Priscilla stared at him in disbelief. This could not really be happening. It was inconceivable she could’ve made such an impression on Tobias Jordan as to cause him to seek her out not once, but twice.

She had waited on him a handful of times, yet he was acting like her lifelong friend, risking exposure to the public by shouting her name on a busy street. There had to be something seriously wrong with the guy. Surely he had better ways to occupy his time than hunting down former waitresses.

“I don’t blame you for moving out of that hole,” Tobias was saying, clearly oblivious to her shock. “When she told me you moved to
Florida
, I totally fell for it. I guess you just said that as excuse for leaving.”

“I am moving to Florida.”

“What? Why?”

“Why do you care?” Even though her tone was plainly antagonistic, Tobias was more aggrieved by the fact that she was leaving the city than her chilly reception. Priscilla’s eyes wandered to the faces of passersby while she struggled to make sense of what was happening.

“You actually talked to Mrs. Kay?” she asked, fixing Tobias with a dubious stare.

“Yeah, I went back there the day after you left.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to talk to you about your lyrics.” Finally the light dawned. Priscilla took a step backwards as she braced herself for what was coming. He had belatedly come to his senses and wanted his money back. Fifteen thousand dollars is a lot of dough, even for a rock star. And to think she had almost made a clean getaway.

“All I have in cash is about twenty-five hundred. The rest is in Traveler’s Checks,” she said, already digging in her bag in a rather distracted fashion. “We should probably do this at your bank, don’t you think?” Tobias watched in confusion as Priscilla pulled out a wad of bills.

“What are you talking about?” he asked as she tried to hand him the loot.

“I have all your money, but most of it’s in travelers checks.”

“I don’t want the money back,” he said, slightly offended by the misunderstanding.

“You don’t?”

“No. Not at all,” he said, pushing her loaded fist back at her. “Put that back before you get mugged,” he said, suddenly self-conscious. Priscilla’s hand slowly retreated into her bag, stashing the money back in its secure place, feeling weak from relief.

“If you don’t want the money back…what do you want to talk about?” For the first time, Tobias looked unsure of himself.

“I just thought we could discuss your work,” he said, shifting his feet nervously. “It’s surprisingly good…some of it…pretty darn remarkable, actually.”

It was Priscilla’s turn to squirm. “Are you kidding me?” she said, eyes bugging in amazement.

“No, no…some of your writing is really incredible. It’s all yours, right, your original work?”

“Yeah,” Priscilla said, a giddy squeak escaping her. This whole scene was beyond belief. Tobias Jordan wanting to discuss her lyrics. It was straight out of a fantasy. She laughed again, shaking her head.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she said, pursing her lips in a modest smile. As she began to relax, so did Tobias.

“Why don’t we find a more conducive spot for conversation,” he suggested, as they both drew back against the pressing crowd. Priscilla looked at him askance, wondering what other weird moves he had up his sleeve. In the end, she figured as long as they stayed in a public place, she had nothing to fear from her unlikely, and obviously eccentric, benefactor.

“You really thought I had tracked you down to get the money back?” Tobias asked as he poured cream into his coffee. They had been fortunate enough to run into each around the corner from one of the best delicatessens in the city. Priscilla answered his question with raised eyebrows as she blew on her coffee.

Tobias laughed. “I got the best part of the bargain,” he said, stirring his coffee methodically.

“I’m not sure about that,” Priscilla replied. She still had a hard time imagining him lugging all those bags and boxes into his home. “What did your wife think when she saw all that stuff?”

“She hasn’t seen it. I’m not living at home right now.”

“Oh,” Priscilla said, noting that he was still wearing his wedding ring. Their waitress appeared and set a strawberry-covered slice of cheesecake in front of her. She slid Tobias’s lox and bagels in front of him and disappeared before he could ask for a side of red onion.

“The service here is nothing compared to Frank’s,” he said facetiously, temporarily giving up the quest. He spread the cream cheese on the bagel and arranged the salmon, but that was as far as he got. “Are you really going to eat that?” he asked, eyeballing Priscilla’s indulgent breakfast.

“Sure, why not? This will be my last chance to have the famed New York cheesecake.”

“You’re not really moving to Florida, are you?” Priscilla shot him a dubious glance. Not him, too.

“What have you got against Florida?”

“Nothing. It’s a great place to take kids for vacation, if you have kids. And it’s probably a real hoot for secretaries on parole—kind of a Club Med for poor folk.”

Priscilla, who had been about to try her first bite of cheesecake, halted the fork midair “And in your case, there’s probably some pretty amusing material for you to ponder. I can see you writing some clever lyrics about the wide variety of weirdness that exists down there—man-eating alligators kept as pets, local officials with the sensibilities of third-world dictators, and every other form of deviant indulgence.” The forkful of cheesecake turned flavorless in her mouth. Why couldn’t people just keep their opinions to themselves?

“It’s a rather interesting phenomenon, don’t you think, that some New Yorkers have such a bad opinion about Florida, yet the state has a surprisingly high percentage of former New York residents scrambling to infest it,” she countered. Tobias shrugged. Clearly, it was not a matter of much concern to him.

“It’s mostly the elderly, and they go there just to warm their old hides,” he said with off-hand cynicism. “But why would you want to go there? What could you possibly get from living in a crackpot place like that? You’re too young and your mind’s too sharp to give up city living in favor of hanging out with a bunch of zoned-out numb nuts.”

Priscilla was at a loss for words. With all the static she was receiving on her choice of future residence, you’d think she had announced she was moving to Calcutta or Baghdad. She laid her fork down, losing her appetite altogether.

“I just need a change,” she said almost apologetically. There may be huge numbers of former New Yorkers living in the Sunshine State, but it seemed one could not make the switch without enduring a fair amount of harassment.

Evidently, living in New York fostered a sense of conceit and superiority, something akin to school pride, Priscilla mused as she pushed the strawberry slices around on her plate. Funny, she couldn’t remember ever feeling boastful about being one in eight million residents on a tiny island.

“Travel the world for a while,” Tobias suggested cavalierly. “It’s a great way to blow away the weariness of day-to-day tedium. Plus, after you’ve stuffed yourself full of culture, you come back realizing how wonderful our country really is, despite the fact that it’s culturally challenged. No matter how enchanted I become when I’m traveling, I’m always surprised to find what a latent patriot I am once I hit American soil again.

“But seriously, if you need a break, Thailand, Morocco, the Netherlands—those are the places to go to.” As Tobias sipped his coffee, it occurred to him Priscilla probably had never been out of the country.

“Ever been abroad?” Priscilla shook her head. “You should take a world tour. It’d be a great adventure for you.”

Priscilla looked unconvinced. “No, I don’t think so. Even though I spent most of my childhood traipsing from state to state, I’m really not the traveling type. I don’t mind a change of pace every now and then, but when I get to a new place, I like to put down roots for a while.”

“And so you’re set on Florida, huh?” Priscilla nodded. “When are you planning on going?”

“The train leaves at 5:35.”

“Tonight?”
Tobias croaked.

“Yeah.” It was highly amusing and perplexing to watch Tobias Jordan react to her imminent departure with the same alarm and trepidation that Philip had displayed. Why was it now, after deciding to leave town, that she was attracting all this male attention?

And what had suddenly come over her to make her attractive to such illustrious men? Were they both coincidentally having mid-life crises, the byproduct being a weakness for unemployed waitresses? It was simply too strange to comprehend.

Tobias had taken this latest discovery rather hard. He was practically twitching with nervousness as he sat slouched sideways against the booth, gnawing a fingernail to the quick. He had been so delighted in finding her, he had not thought any further ahead than savoring his good fortune. He was surprised to find how comfortable and relaxed he felt in her presence. He didn’t once feel like he was hunter or prey, which was a refreshing change for him.

Occasionally, he’d remember this was the same person who had penned those inspired lyrics, and he’d feel a chill of pleasure run down his spine. He found he admired her, strictly for her intelligence, which was a wholly novel experience for him. But now, without any consideration of him, she was about to vanish from his life for good. This couldn’t really be how it was meant to end.

“Do you already have your ticket?” Tobias asked, trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice.

“No, not yet.”

“Good. So that means that you’re not committed to anything yet.”

Priscilla cocked her head suspiciously. “I am leaving tonight on the 5:35 to Miami,” she said unequivocally.

“No you’re not,” Tobias said, a sly, defiant smile spreading across his face as he leaned across the table.

Priscilla, dumbfounded, merely blinked at his audacity. “You mind telling me why you think I’m not leaving this over-priced, insane rat race tonight?”

“Because I have a secret. And once I let you in on my secret, you’re not going to want to leave.”

Priscilla barked out an incredulous laugh. “Okay, I’m game. Tell me your little secret and we’ll see what kind of effect it has on me,” she said, arms akimbo, eyes registering her skepticism.

“I can’t tell you yet,” Tobias said, leaning back in the booth.

“You can’t tell me yet. I see. Am I supposed to guess?” Priscilla asked sarcastically. Without realizing it, she had picked and poked at her cheesecake until it looked like a mashed up glob. She pushed the unappetizing mess out of her sight.

“No. You’ll never guess.” Priscilla sighed deeply and sank back against the bright blue booth. Her gaze wandered for a moment before returning sharply to meet Tobias’s merry eyes.

“It’s been…interesting running into you,” she said, as she reached for the check and began digging in her purse for some cash, “but I have a few things I need to take care of before I—” Tobias’s hand on her arm stopped her mid-sentence.

“You’re not leaving tonight, I can guarantee you that,” he said. His cocky attitude made Priscilla flinch.

“Either let go of my arm and tell me what you’re playing at, or I’m going to put on a rather embarrassing show,” she threatened quietly.

“It’s not something I can tell you. It’s something you have to witness for yourself. I’m not putting you on here, swear to God. Come back to my hotel with me and I’ll share my secret with you.”