Disillusioned (4 page)

“Of course, you're right,” she allowed,
returning his smile and converting the tension she felt into a
taunt. “A couple of weeks without having to take care of your
incessant demands will seem like paradise.”

Merritt used their linked hands to pull her
onto his lap, and Tessa pushed her suspicion deep into oblivion in
her thoughts, wrapping her arm around his neck. “You only think I'm
demanding now,” he teased, wrapping her in his vice-like arms.
“You'll have to earn those two weeks of uninterrupted time by
conceding to my incessant demands.”

“Um, we're still here,” Mike reminded them,
and Tessa couldn't help but laugh.

“I can remedy that,” Merritt countered and,
keeping one arm around Tessa's waist, he rose and headed toward the
exit. “We'll see you in a couple of weeks,” he deadpanned, reaching
to open the door.

Tessa peeled Merritt's hand from her waist
and stopped, breathlessly chuckling at her exertion. “Not so fast,”
she insisted, stepping back into the center of the room. “Mike and
I have some things to talk about.”

“There are these things called phones,”
Merritt insisted, but he didn't move to ensnare Tessa again.

“No, really,” Mike agreed. “I should go
now.”

“Children,” Tessa accused with feigned
superiority, and then headed back to the table where Liset sat
smirking at the spectacle before her. Though Tessa hesitated to
release Liset without interrogating her, Tessa knew the futility of
making her own plans. Once Merritt had an idea in his head, there
was no point arguing with him. “Mike, sit down and eat this food I
cooked! This is way too difficult a task for me to let you dismiss
it without tasting it.”

“Well, as long as it doesn't kill me,” Mike
mocked in a mumble. Five minutes later though, the entire crew
tucked noisily into their dinner, and Tessa smiled. No matter what
happened in the next few days, she would remember the fun of that
dinner.

Though Tessa had made light of the situation,
the thought of spending two uninterrupted weeks alone with Merritt
both thrilled and frightened her. Since Sophie's birth, they had
found little time for trips, and those few vacations had proved
either painfully short or achingly tense, depending on Merritt's
mood. Would he decided to sweep Tessa off her feet, or would he
want to diagnose all of Tessa's shortcomings? Or, she worried,
would she have to endure several cycles of each during Merritt's
two week vacation? No business meetings to distract him, no
children to distract her. Could she stand to have his entire
scrutiny upon her for that long?

Before Tessa would have imagined possible,
Liset had packed the kids’ bags, and Grandpa was driving them down
the road and out of sight. Everything felt so rushed – so Merritt.
Spontaneous, insistent, confident. The kids seemed excited, but
Tessa worried that such a sudden and dramatic change might cause
them emotional trauma. When she last glimpsed the car, Tessa let
out a sigh, torn between relief at the removed burden and concern
for her children's hearts. In the end, however, a sudden thought
decided Tessa, making her glad to see the kids go. If Tessa's
suspicions about Liset proved true, the children needed to stay far
away from the au pair. With the kids safely in the hands of Grandma
and Grandpa, Tessa could relax her concerns. Plus, with no other
pressing responsibility, Tessa could invest some time in finding
out why Liset had suddenly gone nuts.

Unaware of Tessa's anxiety,
Mike convinced Liset to accompany him to a nearby coffee shop, so
Tessa saw the two of them to their cars soon after the
children.
He's asking for trouble,
Tessa mused. Still, Mike was a big boy, and if
Liset left with him, Tessa would have some time and space to
think.

“Thanks, Merritt,” she offered duplicitously
upon reentering the house. “This vacation might do me some
good.”

“Of course it will,” he agreed in complete
confidence. “I have to go back to the office for a couple of hours
to prepare some things that I can't do unless it's empty, but I
told Walt not to expect me in at all for the next week at least. I
figured we could go somewhere nice, a real vacation. No need for us
to sit here all day with nothing to do.”

Despite her suspicion, Tessa found herself
caught up in his enthusiasm, and she began to picture luxury and
indulgence. “Merritt, I would love that!” Tessa gushed genuinely,
her concerns temporarily forgotten. “Where are we going?”

“Don't you worry your pretty little
head over it,” he teased, grabbing Tessa around the waist and
whispering in her ear. “I've got it all under control.” He placed
his lips gently in the indentation below her ear, causing a slight
chill to run down her back.

“Of course you do,” she
rolled her eyes as he placed her back on the ground.
How can he still do that
? she wondered, irritated at the thrill that ran through her
stomach.

“And don't forget the
dinner party at six,” he dropped unceremoniously, stepping away and
grabbing his briefcase. “The kids are gone,” he continued, “so no
excuses.” Tessa's heart sank with the reminder.
And the thrill is gone,
she
sighed.
She hated dinner parties with a
passion, and to concede to Merritt's domineering attitude rendered
the event even more odious.

He softened his directness,
however, with what looked like a twinkle in his eyes, and Tessa
realized all at once that he had spoken forcefully specifically to
rile her somewhat rebellious spirit. So few people could actually
rile her, she knew, that Merritt relished his ability to do so.
Rather than respond, Tessa followed him to the threshold, laying a
kiss on his lips before shoving him out the door. She heard a
muffled “Hey!” as she slammed it shut and clicked the lock into
place, grinning at the finality of the door's rattling. Merritt
could, Tessa knew, use his keys to let himself in, but Tessa
doubted that he had the time at the moment, what with his important
office work. No doubt, he would find a way to torment her
later.
Besides
,
she smirked,
he'll be even more fun when
he's had a few hours to stew over my offense.

As if in answer to her expectation,
Tessa felt her cell phone vibrate and looked down to see Merritt's
text message.

I'll take care of you
later,
he threatened, and Tessa grinned at
her success. Her triumph lasted only a moment, however. Between the
moment she shoved him out the door and the moment she would next
have time to engage him, Tessa and Merritt had to attend a dinner
party. Only a miracle could keep Tessa from somehow insulting or
embarrassing Merritt at a dinner party, and once that happened,
Tessa would find little to supply humor to the resulting
situation.

Oh, well,
she sighed resignedly.

Without the kids, Tessa had nothing to divert
her attention from the dreaded soiree. She had two choices. She
could either wile away the next few hours in nervousness at her
possible social faux pas, or she could find some activity to keep
her mind occupied.

The decision came naturally and immediately
to her mind. Under no circumstances would she sit and mull over
what she could not change; instead. Tessa would pay attention to
what had been tearing incessantly at her attention since Liset had
left.

Are you still with
Liset?
she texted Mike.

We just left,
he responded.
Get this:
I invited her back to my apartment, and she said she would love
to.

Well, congrats, I
guess.
The development overthrew Tessa's
planned spying session.

Don't congratulate me yet.
She said she would love to some other time. She has some business
to attend to
.

Tessa's sensors rose to
attention.
So, did you offer to accompany
her on her errands.

She has to do some work at home, but it's
stuff that requires intense focus, so I would be a “pleasant”
distraction that she couldn't afford. “Pleasant” was her word.
Awesome, right?

Truly awesome, Tessa
thought but didn't type.
It's probably a
good thing that she turned you down. After seeing your place, she
might rethink your next date, if that's what you want to call
it
.

Not everyone is as neurotic
about cleanliness as your husband,
he
jabbed.
And we've already set our next
date; I just don't know when or where.

Sounds like a sure
thing,
Tessa ribbed.
I gotta go. Gotta get ready for a party.
Even typing the words to her brother made her clench her jaw
in irritation.

I know how you love
that,
Mike read her thoughts.
See you in the morning. I assume I'm feeding the
dog?

And watering the plants,
Tessa agreed.

Joy!

G-o-o-d-b-y-e, Mike!
Tessa more than hinted.
Talk to you tomorrow, not
today.

Lol. Bye.

So Tessa could go forward
with her planned surveillance. Butterflies
in her stomach, she headed out her door and toward apartment.
With any luck, she would arrive around the same time as Liset,
though not so coinciding as to run into the nanny. Most likely,
Tessa would find nothing interesting: Liset at home, watching TV.
Or maybe – Tessa tried to suppress her excitement – maybe she would
find something much more interesting.

Though she had felt few qualms about making
her decision to investigate Liset, as Tessa approached the
apartment building, she felt a little sheepish. She knew that
rationally, she had no leg to stand on to defend her paranoid
behavior. As she mounted the stairs to the second level, her
confidence faltered. The stairs led up a poorly-lit interior
stairwell which turned alternately north then south with a landing
in between. Tessa forced herself forward, as quietly as possible
lest someone notice her.

Removing her shoes, she continued to the
third floor in her stocking feet, increasingly nervous that she
might make a noise. Just before she reached the top, the sound of a
voice arrested her. It spoke in Spanish, and she definitely knew
it. Circumstances had worked favorably for Tessa, and she had
arrived just in time to hear but not to see Liset. Straining her
ears to listen, Tessa refrained from breathing. The resulting
silence unveiled a one sided conversation in a whispered tone.
This, of course, increased Tessa's suspicions.

“Estaba
a
su
casa.
El
es loco, no?
” Liset's voice
queried. “
Ayudarle
? No,
claramente
no!”

At his house,
Tessa translated silently.
Not going to help him?
The words
meant nothing to Tessa, and when Liset pressed through the door out
of the stairway, Tessa
crept stealthily up
to it, pressing her ear against the cold metal. After a moment, she
cracked the door slightly and peeked through just in time to see
Liset turn down a hallway lined with doors. Tessa tiptoed to the
hallway and peered briefly around the corner before pulling herself
back into the first corridor. She wondered if she would have the
courage to continue.

When she finally ventured around the corner,
a narrow passageway greeted her straining eyes - a very dark
pathway, even darker than the stairwell, as most of the lights
weren’t functioning properly. Again, Tessa peered down the inky
passage until her eyes grew a little more accustomed to the dark,
then she began making her way down the hall. She pressed herself
against the wall so that she would be less conspicuous to any
peering eyes. To her consternation, she found no secure place to
hide. As she passed each doorway, she glanced into the pocket where
the door lay. Each niche lay about two feet deep, just enough for
Tessa to conceal herself. From these pockets, she could catch a
glimpse down the corridor before proceeding to the next
doorway.

Finally, Tessa stopped her progression,
encountering what she had expected to find since the beginning of
her foolish mission: a dead end. She had followed Liset's voice
through several hallways, seeming to wind toward the interior of
the building. As she peered out from the recessed doorway where she
stood, Tessa watched as a sliver of light appeared, and she heard
the closing click of a door followed by silence.

Futility,
she chastised herself. It seemed her mission
would end here; she couldn't very well knock on the door and
confront Liset directly. In light of what she had heard in the
passageway, Tessa thought that such an action would prove not only
rude, but possibly unwise. With her spotty knowledge of Spanish,
she had heard some things on the way down the halls that magnified
her concern.

“Yo
se
,
yo
se
,” Tessa
had
heard
Liset
say.
“
Trabajo por usted, pero no puedo
esperar hasta el hace algo malo. Tengo que
pararle
!”

“I work for you,”
Liset had said. Did she have another job she
hadn't told
Tessa or Merritt about? Of
course, Liset could have spoken to Merritt at that moment, though
Tessa could think of no reason for such an exchange, especially
considering the subject matter. Someone was at someone's
house.
Okay, so what?