In Sickness and in Death (3 page)

The following evening Brian sat in his office, with the man who would eventually become his sales manager, and kept glancing at his watch. He’d promised Adrienne that he would be home on time. He’d have to cut this short. Jake could go on for hours.

“Look, Jake,” he said as the minute hand on his watch slid toward five o’clock. “We’ll have to continue this tomorrow. I’ve got an appointment in a few minutes.”

The young man rose to his feet. “Okay, Brian. I guess there’s not much more we can do until we get a bit farther along.”

“Probably not.” Brian shoved some papers into his briefcase, snapped it shut and headed for the door. “See you tomorrow,” he said as he closed the door behind him. In the parking lot, he slid behind the wheel of the Corvette and lowered the top. The scent of flowers floated on the warm breeze. It was such a beautiful day, he would much rather go for a drive in the country than look at apartments. He sighed. But Adrienne seemed determine to find another place and he had promised.

Adrienne had apparently been watching for him since she came out of the building as soon as he had pulled into his parking space.

“I thought we could stop at a restaurant along the way,” she said as she slid into the passenger’s seat.

“I’d just as soon get this over with,” Brian said. “Maybe we can just drop by a fast food place.”

She looked at him with an unreadable expression. “Whatever.”

After a quick bite to eat, they went to the first address Adrienne had written down. The apartment complex was an older building in a Spanish style with white-stuccoed walls, a red tile roof, brick-paved courtyards and surrounded by large palm trees. Adrienne’s eyes shone as they approached the office door.

The apartment they were shown had a light and airy feeling about it.

“It seems so
spacious
!” Adrienne enthused.

“That’s only because there’s not any furniture in it,” Brian countered. “It’s actually about the same size as the one we have now.”

Adrienne glared at him and turned to the manager. “We have a couple of other places to look at this evening,” she said. “I’ll give you a call.”

They had no more than returned to the car when she faced him with fury blazing in her eyes. “Why do you have to be so
negative
about everything?”

“I wasn’t being negative. It’s true. That place is about the same size as where we are now. Once we get the furniture in it, all of that
space
you were raving about will be filled.”

“I don’t think you really want to find a new place at all!”

He shrugged. “The additional rent wouldn’t be worth it, that’s all.”

Adrienne withdrew to the far edge of the bucket seat and stared through the windshield, her lips compressed into a firm line. Brian looked at her repeatedly, but she didn’t even glance in his direction.

When they arrived at the next address, he shut off the switch but made no move to get out of the car. “Adrienne?” He reached across and laid his hand on her shoulder. “Look, honey, I’m sorry. It’s just that, if we want to get a nicer place, I’d like to see it contain enough improvements to make it worth the extra money. You know what I mean?”

When she did not respond, he sighed. “We’re here. We might as well look at this place.” He got out of the car, went around, opened her door and waited until she exited. Silently, they entered the three-story sprawling brick apartment complex. Brian wasn’t impressed with either that apartment or the one they visited afterward, but he kept silent. He couldn’t keep from wondering what it was exactly that Adrienne hoped to achieve by the move. Regardless of the neighborhood, in his opinion, none of the three apartments they’d seen offered sufficient upgrade to warrant the increase in rent. However, he kept silent, neither stating his objections nor questioning her motivation. There was no sense in making Adrienne angry again.

About a week later, Brian came home to find Adrienne waiting for him. She flung her arms around his neck and hugged him so tightly that it nearly took his breath away.

“I’ve found the perfect place,” she enthused, her eyes shining.

“What?” Brian asked slowly.

“I’ve found the perfect place,” she repeated.

“Perfect place for what?”

“For us to live, silly. I stopped over there on my way home from work and it’s absolutely fabulous! Wait until you see it.”

Brian stared at her with a puzzled frown. Adrienne had said no more about moving and he had thought that it had been just a passing mood, but apparently it had not.

“You have to see it,” she went on. “Can we go over there this evening?”

“I . . . I don’t know.” At least she seemed happier than she had been for days. He supposed that it wouldn’t hurt to take a look. “If you really want to, I guess we can go and see it.”

“Good. Let’s go right now.”

“But, honey, I’d really like to take a shower and change clothes first. I get tired of this suit and tie business all day, every day. I like to be more comfortable on my own time.”

“No, no,” she said, straightening his tie. “Just go as you are.”

Reluctantly, Brian did as she requested and, twenty minutes later, they were entering what Brian recognized as one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in the city. He didn’t even realize that they had apartment buildings in this neighborhood. He drove slowly down the main thoroughfare and searched the side streets for buildings that looked like apartments. He saw none.

“That’s it,” Adrienne pointed at a high-rise ahead on the right. Brian whistled through his teeth as he surveyed the steel and turquoise glass structure.

“These are apartments?” he asked incredulously.

“Actually, they’re condos. But we can lease the one I looked at this afternoon.”

Where had Adrienne learned about this place? Did it belong to one of the doctors who
operated at the hospital?

In a daze, he followed Adrienne into the spacious lobby with its central atrium. At the security desk, Adrienne spoke to the guard on duty who, keys in hand, led them to an elevator. The glass-walled car presented an overview of the atrium as they rose to the twelfth floor. The three-bedroom, thickly carpeted living quarters sported window walls in the combination living-dining area as well as in the master bedroom. The master bath was enormous with mirrored walls, sparkling golden fixtures and what seemed like miles of gleaming white marble counters.

Brian followed numbly as they were escorted from the living area to a spa on the top floor that contained not only a large swimming pool and Jacuzzi, but also had a workout room with what seemed to be an unlimited array of exercise equipment.

“Isn’t it
wonderful
?” Adrienne gushed as they left the building. “Can’t you just picture us living here?”

“It’s kind of hard to imagine,” he answered. He had said he wanted an upgrade and an upgrade it certainly was – even though the rent would be more than double.

Doctor Harris was pleased when, the next morning, Adrienne approached him with her face happily glowing.

“Oh, Dr. Harris, thank you so much for telling me about your friend’s condo. Brian and I went to see it last night and,” she paused for effect, “we’re going to take it.” She impulsively grabbed his hands and squeezed them. “I’m just so excited! I can hardly wait to move.”

“Well, Adrienne, I’m glad you and your man liked the place. My friend, Harry, will be pleased to hear that such a fine couple has leased it. He still doesn’t have any idea how long he’ll be on that European assignment.”

“Well,” she laughed, “I hope he doesn’t come back too soon. I just
love
the place!”

Dr. Harris laughed. “I’m sure it’ll be a year or two anyway.”

Brian didn’t tell his mother they planned to move until he called to give her his new address. When he told her the street, she nearly dropped the phone.

“Mercy, Brian,” she exclaimed. “You must have got one really big promotion to be able to afford that neighborhood.”

“I told you, Mom, that I did get a two-level bump-up. That’s pretty nice considering how infrequently it occurs.”

“Yes, but, darling, it’s primarily doctors and lawyers who live in that area – and maybe the owners of professional sports teams. I didn’t think corporate management made
that
kind of money.”

Brian laughed. “Well, maybe I don’t make
that
kind of money, but I’m doing all right.”
As long as Adrienne doesn’t get her heart set on a mansion somewhere
, he thought.

Shortly after he and Adrienne moved into the condo, Brian came home to find her standing in the middle of the living area, surveying the room with pursed lips and a frown creasing her brow.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

She turned slowly toward him. “I was just thinking,” she murmured. “We should really be planning on doing some entertaining. Aren’t we going to be having your business associates over?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess we might need to invite some sales people or customers or somebody like that at some point in time. Especially when the business really takes off.”

“That’s what I was thinking.” She turned around and continued to scrutinize the room with a critical eye. “This will
never
do,” she muttered.

“What? What will never do?”

“This furniture. Look at it! Look at that ancient dinette. Can’t you just imagine serving dinner to your important customers at a table like that?”

“It looks okay to me.”

“Okay? It’s horrible.” She whirled around toward the living room area. “And look how ratty that old couch is. I’d be ashamed to have anybody
see
it, let alone
sit
on it.”

“Are you telling me that we need new furniture?”

“I would
think
you could see it for yourself!”

He sighed. He knew by now that whenever her voice took on that set tone there would be no talking her out of whatever she had made up her mind to do. “Okay. Maybe we can go shopping over the weekend.”

Over the next few days, Brian spent much of his time thinking about the purchase of new furniture.
I’m deep enough in debt right now
, he argued to himself
. What with the
car payments and the increased rental on the condo. I certainly don’t need to go out and
buy furniture.
But each time one part of his mind demanded that he set his foot down, another part told him that he would never be able to stand up to Adrienne’s angry outburst and the weeks of pouting that would inevitably follow. On Saturday morning, Brian reluctantly followed Adrienne’s lead as they made the rounds of the various furniture showrooms. At each store they roamed between aisles of couches, chairs and end tables; then moved on through displays of dining tables, buffets and sideboards. Regardless of how much they searched and debated, Adrienne couldn’t find anything that she really liked.

“Why don’t we just give it up?” Brian suggested as they left the latest store. “We can look again later.”

Adrienne glared at him. “You agreed that we needed new furniture. There are lots of places we haven’t been to yet.”

“But,” he protested, “I’ve got a lot of work I need to do.”

“Is that all you ever think about?”

He shrugged. “It’s just that I’ve got several contracts that have to be reviewed this weekend and I’d really like to watch the game this afternoon.”

“You
said
we’d go shopping and we’re
going
to shop.” She hurried toward yet another showroom with Brian trailing reluctantly behind.

He glanced apprehensively at the white marble façade with its gilt script,
Fine
Furniture Salon
, and slowly followed Adrienne through the double glass doors. Instead of the groupings of sofas and chairs the previous stores had contained, this interior was a wide expanse of individual rooms; each accessorized and decorated in a particular style. Soft lighting enhanced the displays so that it was not at all hard to imagine visiting in an upper manager’s living room.

With eyes shining, Adrienne wandered from room to room, brushing her fingertips across the polished walnut or gleaming mahogany and caressing the rich velvet or silky damask.

“Oh, look at that china.” She said, pointing to a china cabinet in a dining room.

“Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

Brian, seeing years of mounting debt accumulate with each enthusiastic exclamation, dejectedly leaned against a buffet while Adrienne chatted vivaciously with a salesman. She turned to Brian with a brilliant smile. “Darling, we’ll want six dining chairs, won’t we?”

It was hopeless. “Do we need that many?”

“Oh, I think so.”

Brian shrugged and waited patiently while, heads together, Adrienne and the salesman perused large books of fabric samples. With little input from Brian, the salesman began writing up the order. Adrienne came over to join him.

“What do you think of this wine cabinet?” she asked, stroking the glowing wood.

“We don’t need a wine cabinet.”

“But we really do, if we’re going to be entertaining. Besides, you know that I like a little glass of wine with dinner.” Brian shrugged, thinking of how infrequently they had a sit-down dinner at home, and Adrienne returned to the salesman. “We’ll want this wine cabinet also.”

The salesman smiled. “Of course,” he said, writing on his order pad.
At least he’s got something to smile about
, Brian thought.
He’s probably anticipating
the huge commission he’ll make on this sale.

By the time Brian and Adrienne left the
Fine Furniture Salon,
they had on order a complete mahogany dining set with pedestal table, two armed chairs, four side chairs, wine cabinet, china cabinet equipped with a set of service-for-eight Lennox and a set of crystal. There was a crystal chandelier in addition to a damask sofa, two arm chairs, mahogany coffee and two end tables along with lamps for all the tables and framed prints for all of the walls.

The level of Brian’s indebtedness had suddenly rocketed.

Months passed and Brian struggled with the mounting debt. After paying the monthly bills, he had to be careful of every small purchase he made. He could not remember when he had been in such a financial straightjacket. The only small flickering light signaling an end to the tunnel of debt was that, if the new business did well, he would receive a substantial year-end bonus. That seemed to be the only path to regaining control. But, if he were to earn that bonus, he had to make sure the business was a success. He began working increasingly longer hours. When Adrienne worked evenings, she would sometimes get back to the condominium before he did.