Scarlett Fever (11 page)

THE DOTTED LINE

Mrs. Amberson had told Scarlett she didn’t have to come in that week, but going there was better than sitting around at home. She preferred going through the submissions and organizing the file of theater reviews to the yawning silences of the fifth floor. She decided to stop in on the way home from Dakota’s. The intense reporting of her movements had loosened slightly in the last few days. It was a minor benefit in an otherwise untenable situation.

Murray the doorman was in extra fine form, poised at his station, eating one of the biggest sandwiches Scarlett had ever seen.

“Hey!” he said. “That dog of yours made a mess again down here today!”

“I told you,” Scarlett said, “he is
not my dog.
”

“You gotta do something about…”

Scarlett felt like every capillary in her face had just gotten the go code. She could actually feel the blood filtering into her skin. Someone had to be punished today, and that person was going to be Murray the doorman.

“What part of
not my dog
do you not understand?” she asked. “What’s the stumbling block? Is it the
not
? Is it the
dog
? Is it the sentence? The dog does not belong to me. He doesn’t even belong to my boss. He’s a borrowed dog, and he has
issues
!”

Murray made a disapproving sound, slapped down his sandwich, and picked up the receiver to tell Mrs. Amberson that her psychotic assistant was on the way up. Scarlett felt bad enough to stalk away with her head down, not looking back as she turned the corner to go to the elevator bank. She rested her head against the mirrored tiles above the buttons and looked at her face in extreme close-up. Her pores looked huge, her eyes red, and her hair broken and crazy. She didn’t like mirror-Scarlett. She didn’t like the Scarlett she was in, either. Or anyone else, for that matter.

“Did you just yell at the gatekeeper?” Mrs. Amberson asked, curious, when Scarlett let herself in. She was sitting on one of the white sofas, sucking on a piece of dried mango and scanning a copy of
Variety.
“He called up here sounding very hurt. Remind me to give you a raise.”

“He keeps asking about the dog,” Scarlett said, walking past her and going right to her desk.

“Are you all right, O’Hara?” Mrs. Amberson said, looking over in interest.

“It’s nothing,” Scarlett said. She grabbed for the first of the pile of envelopes to be opened and sorted. She tore it viciously, ripping the headshot contained inside. Some actress. Another starry stare and whitened, eager-to-please smile. The world was full of them.

“O’Hara…”

Scarlett clawed the next envelope from the stack. Where did they all come from, these idiots who wanted to work with them? There had to be a hundred more today.

“O’Hara. Leave those for a moment. Come sit over here.”

“I need to get these done.”

“They can wait.”

Scarlett dropped the envelopes and came and sat opposite Mrs. Amberson, sinking deep into the plush sofa.

“You’re having a hard day,” Mrs. Amberson said. “You didn’t have to come in today, you know. I know it’s not the easiest time right now.”

“I’m fine,” Scarlett said, staring at the carpet.

“Lies are a tremendous karmic setback. Keep it up and you’ll come back in the next life as something without a spine. You’re not fine. And you don’t have to be fine. This move of your sister’s…it’s a shock.”

“I don’t understand anyone,” Scarlett mumbled. She felt her eyes filling up, but blotted any tears away with her thumbs.

Mrs. Amberson thought for a moment before speaking, which was a little bit frightening.

“O’Hara,” she finally said, “I speak from long experience—when it comes to romance, all bets are off. I like to think that I’m a sensible person, but I’ve done some extraordinary things for love. And even the things that didn’t work out, I don’t regret.”

“Are you actually married?” Scarlett asked.

“Oh, let’s not tell folktales right now,” Mrs. Amberson said. “My point is, the only way we learn anything is by taking chances. I can’t really explain what Lola’s done, or why, or say if it’s a good idea or bad. Nothing in this world is black or white.”

“What do I do?” Scarlett asked.

“Well,” Mrs. Amberson said. “You can’t control other people. They’re going to do things you don’t like, that you don’t agree with, that you don’t understand. But, by the same token, they cannot control you. You’re stuck in this situation. You have to decide what outcome you want. What do you want, right now?”

“I want my sister,” she said. “I don’t want to…lose my sister.”

“How could you lose her?”

“She’s gone,” Scarlett said. “She’s living at the Peninsula, and I don’t even know what’s going on with her or what she’s going to do, and…”

“Do you think your sister wants to lose you?” Mrs. Amberson asked.

“No.”

“Have you spoken to her? Called her?”

No, Scarlett had not called her. She’d been too angry.

“The answer seems simple enough,” Mrs. Amberson said. “I know you are more than capable of being direct. Go to your sister and tell her you do not want to lose her. Find out what is going on. Go do it now. Get to the bottom of it before it becomes a much bigger problem. And I know Lola. She undoubtedly wants to talk to
you.
”

Murray came along the edge of the sofa, sniffing a trail on the floor. He wriggled his pencil-thin stump of a tail nervously at her, in a little show of encouragement.

Lola answered on the first ring.

“Are you talking to me?” she asked.

“I called.”

“I’m at work right now,” she said. “But can we talk? Or meet?”

“You’re at
work?
” Scarlett asked.

“I work on Wednesdays. But I get a break soon. Can we meet at the park? Southeast corner, by the book stands? In an hour?”

Lola appeared right on time, wearing a little black skirt and blue Bubble Spa T-shirt. She approached Scarlett cautiously.

“You’re still working?” Scarlett asked. “Even after…”

“Sure,” Lola said. “I had to cover for those few days, though. I had the flu, remember?”

It was so odd. Scarlett and Lola had shared a room all their lives. Lola’s presence was just something she took for granted. This looked like Lola as usual, in her black skirt and blue Bubble Spa T-shirt, her fine blonde hair looped back in an attractive knot. But everything had changed. There was a space between them that was hard to cross.

“I’m glad you’re still talking to me,” Lola said. “You’re the only one.”

Scarlett could only shrug.

“Marlene was doing so much better,” Lola continued. “And Spencer…I know that a lot of times it seems like we don’t get along, but it’s just…I don’t know. He frustrates me sometimes. We’re just so different. But I’m so proud of him. Spencer’s on TV. My big brother. I always thought that was impossible, but there he is. And he’s so good.”

That was maybe the biggest compliment Lola had ever paid Spencer, and he was nowhere around to hear it.

“I didn’t think it would be like this,” Lola said. “I knew people would be a little shocked, but I didn’t expect Marlene to react like that. Or even Spencer. Mom and Dad look heartbroken. I don’t want everyone to be upset because of me. I’m going to make it up to everyone. It’s going to be fine.”

“I need to know something,” Scarlett said. “I need you to tell me the truth.”

Lola looked over cautiously, but she nodded. She guided Scarlett to a bench and they both sat down. Scarlett had to take a deep breath before asking the question.

“I need to know if you married him for the money. Because you thought we needed it, or…just to be…secure.”

“That’s what everyone thinks?” Lola asked quietly.

“I don’t know what anyone thinks. I don’t even know what I think. I mean, you get married, you move into one of the most expensive hotels in the city…”

Lola flipped over the edge of her skirt and examined the hem.

“Let me tell you something about the money,” she said. “But I don’t want anyone else to know. You have to keep this a secret. Do you promise?”

Scarlett nodded.

“The Sutcliffes aren’t paying for the hotel,” she said.

“Then who is?” Scarlett asked.

“A friend of their family. The Sutcliffes…cut Chip off. All of his money has been locked up. His credit cards have been stopped. Even his tuition bill won’t be paid. Right now, we have nothing.”

Scarlett just shook her head in confusion. The idea of Chip not having money was…well, that idea didn’t compute. Chip
was
money. There seemed little else to look at.

“The only way we can fix it,” Lola said, “is if I sign a postnuptial agreement that says I have no claim to any of the Sutcliffe money. They brought in a lawyer and everything. If I sign it, they’ll recognize the marriage by throwing us a party and announcing it. And they set up an account for me. Mrs. Sutcliffe keeps calling it a ‘household account.’ A credit card and a few thousand a month for whatever I need, plus credit at shops for buying things for our new apartment.”

“You mean, like an allowance?” Scarlett asked. “A really big allowance?”

“I didn’t ask for it,” Lola said. “The lawyer just read it off as part of the deal. I told them I didn’t want that, but they just said it was all part of the package. What they really mean is if I’m going to be their daughter-in-law I have to live up to a certain standard. They’re afraid I’m using him, but I’m not. I didn’t do this for money.”

“Why
did
you marry him?” Scarlett asked.

“It wasn’t…enough.” Lola’s voice wobbled uncertainly. “I just needed…I wanted something real. Something that worked. And I know you don’t believe this, but Chip and I work. I know I’m young, I know all of that. It doesn’t mean I don’t know what I want. You have to understand, the money is just a side benefit.”

“You’re telling me that if Chip wasn’t Chip Sutcliffe you’d marry him anyway? If he didn’t live in a huge apartment on Park Avenue? If he didn’t have a car and a driver, if he couldn’t buy you expensive stuff?”

“It’s all part of who he is,” Lola said, shrugging. “He can’t help that. That’s not why I like him.”

“So then sign the paper,” Scarlett said, shrugging.

On this, Lola got very animated.

“I wanted to! I said I would sign it. I had the pen in my hand. Chip stopped me.”

“Why?”

“Because he didn’t want me to feel second-rate,” Lola said. “He wants his family to accept me, totally. And if they don’t, he’s prepared, you know…for what comes. He’s prepared to let them take it all away. He’s for real, Scarlett.”

That did sound genuine. Scarlett had never doubted Chip’s intentions. She had only doubted Lola’s.

“Yeah, but…” Scarlett hated doing this to Lola, but it had to be said. “He hasn’t felt it yet. He still has lots of nice stuff. He hasn’t been kicked out of school yet. So, he can say now that he’s fine with it, but how is that really going to
be
for him, when he has no money?”

“I know,” Lola said. “I thought about that. The worst part wouldn’t be the money, but his parents rejecting us. He feels rejected a lot. Like by Spencer. And, well, kind of by you. You don’t get it, Scarlett. His family is a mess. He’s always been jealous of
us.
We all get along, more or less. We all like each other. He’s never had that. He’d love to be a part of it, but no one will let him in. Except Marlene, and I think she just likes the boat.”

This was all too big for Scarlett. They sat in silence for a moment, watching the squirrels run by, and the owners getting tugged along by their dogs, and the nannies pushing the strollers. It was getting cold. Scarlett shivered. She should have been wearing her coat, but she had gone out in a thin jacket. Cold and confused.

“So what do I do?” Lola asked. “Do I do what Chip wants? If I refuse to sign, everyone’s just going to think I want money. Or do I just go and sign it? Chip will be mad, but at least everyone else will be happy, and things might actually go back to something like normal. I don’t know what to do.”

“What’s more important?” Scarlett heard herself say. “Taking this stand that just makes you look like you’re after money, or proving that you’re not?”

“I want to prove that I’m not,” Lola said.

“So go and sign the paper.”

“He’d be
really
upset, Scarlett.”

“Do you have to tell him?” Scarlett asked. “You could sign and you could tell them not to tell Chip. That way, they see you don’t care about money, and Chip thinks they just changed their minds.” Lola cocked her head. Obviously, this option had not occurred to her. Lola was just too fundamentally and plainly honest. Unlike Scarlett, apparently.

“You mean lie to him?” Lola asked.

“No, not lie. Just don’t tell…” Scarlett stopped herself. She had been down this road before and knew better. “Yes, lie.”

“But this is…the foundation of our marriage.”

“No it isn’t. It’s something dumb the Sutcliffes are doing, and Chip is just mad. Tell him later, when everything has calmed down. Everyone is just
freaking out
right now. Someone…has to be calm.”

She had no idea what she was saying now. Words were just coming out of her mouth. But Lola seemed interested in the words. She was nodding.

“You’re right,” she said. “Everyone’s too upset right now. Someone has to do something sensible. Chip probably won’t even care in a few months. I could just go and sign the paper, and everyone would calm down.”

“If you want,” Scarlett said, backtracking a little. “I mean, I have no idea about any of this. I’m an idiot.”

The idea, now seeded, had quickly taken root in Lola’s mind.

“I have to show them that I’m not after the money,” she said, mostly to herself. “Chip needs to go back to school. You’re right…I didn’t even think of it, but you’re right.”

The more she was told that she was right, the more Scarlett wanted to distance herself from the idea. All she’d really said was, “People are crazy. Why don’t you lie to them?”

“I need to prove it to everyone,” Lola said, turning to look at Scarlett straight on. “Especially you. This isn’t about money. You’re the only one who knows the specifics, but…I’m glad you know.”