Даниэла Стил - Neighbors

Joel wanted Ava’s company and her body at his beck and call. She realized now that she had become too comfortable in his lifestyle, and even addicted to it. She felt safe in his world even though she knew that one day he would tire of her, and it would be over, like all the women who had come before her. Joel was a golden dead end, she reminded herself of it constantly, but she never had the courage to walk away. It was too easy to stay, even though he offered her no future. But he was kind and fun and generous.

The people she’d grown up with would have envied her, but she had always wanted more for herself and still did. A career she could be proud of, a man who valued her as more than just decorative, or for sex. She wanted a husband and children one day, and Joel was never going to be that person and had said so since the beginning. She knew she’d have to jump off the train one day, but Joel’s life in the fast lane moved too quickly and it was too easy to stay, so she had.

She wanted to be more than she was now, with him. She refused to let go of her dreams, but there was no way to pursue them while she was with him. She knew she was settling for a man who wasn’t capable of truly loving her, or anyone. She was part of the fantasy life he had created for himself, but she was not real to him. There were qualities of Joel’s that Ava loved and she was grateful to him for the life he shared with her, even though she knew that the only person Joel would ever truly love was himself. She knew it, but always hoped a little that something would change, and he would see her as a person, and maybe even fall in love with her.

Joel and Ava left the house after Meredith saw them, and Jack let them out. He had been picking up more broken pots in the garden. Meredith went to check on her rosebushes. Some of them looked sadly battered, and one had literally been torn out of the ground. She was still checking on them and trying to repair them, when the others began coming back at one o’clock. Daphne was skipping and carrying two more dolls along with Martha, and Will was carrying his backpack full of his schoolbooks. His father wanted him to do some homework every day, even though his school was closed. Tyla looked tired, and had a bandage on her hand. She had cut herself throwing away mountains of broken glasses and dishes. She had a suitcase with changes of clothes for all four of them. Andrew was carrying his medical bag, in case any of them got hurt. He had bandaged Tyla’s hand when she cut it. There was a kind of vacant look in her eyes, and she seemed nervous when Meredith glanced at her, as though she was hiding a secret.

Arthur said he had been able to practice on his own piano, but he reported that Peter said that there were numerous cracks and fissures in the walls and ceilings, and a lot of plaster had fallen. They needed an engineer to check it out before they could stay there. And Peter was carrying his manuscript, in case Arthur’s house caught fire.

Joel said his newly decorated house was a mess. Many paintings had fallen, a piece of neon art had been destroyed and half his furniture was broken. Ava was upset that her laptop with all her schoolwork on it had fallen off her desk and was broken. It sounded like there was a lot of work to do at their house too, and they hadn’t been able to pick up all the broken glass everywhere, there was so much of it, along with their dishes. Joel was going to hire a service to do it. Meredith noticed that they had changed clothes, and wondered if they’d had sex again when they were at his house. Ava was wearing a different exercise outfit, in turquoise this time.

They all went to the kitchen, and Debbie had set out a buffet for them, of salads, a platter of sandwiches, potato chips, fruit, and cookies. It was a more than adequate lunch and Debbie commented to Meredith that eventually they’d run out of food, if the houseguests stayed for very long. But Meredith knew they had enough to provide many more meals for the group staying at the house. Their storage cupboards and fridges were full.

“If we do, the stores will be open again by then, and we can buy more food. It sounds like none of their houses are sound enough to move back into and won’t be for a while,” Meredith said curtly. She didn’t like Debbie’s inhospitable attitude at all, and knowing how kind she and Jack had been to her, it really shocked her, and seemed out of character for them.

They had almost finished lunch at two o’clock when Colonel Chapman appeared again to check on them. He said he was on his way home and had come to speak to Meredith. The others reported in greater detail the damage in their homes. It sounded structural at Arthur’s house, and might be at the other two. They agreed that it would have to be checked out by professionals, and their insurance companies would have to be involved too.

“No one escaped this one,” Charles Chapman said, looking more tired than he had earlier in the day. He’d been checking on people in their homes for fourteen hours. He seemed awkward with Meredith when he spoke to her, and after he shared coffee and a brownie with them, he quietly asked Meredith if he could speak to her alone.

“Is something wrong?” she asked him, worried. She wondered for an instant if he had found out something about her neighbors that he thought she should know. Maybe Jack and Debbie were right.

“No, not at all. Except that I’m an idiot. I mentioned your so generously housing your neighbors when I went back to the OES office to report in at the end of my shift. A lot of people are putting friends up, but you’ve got eight people staying here whom you’d never even met before. That’s admirable, and not many people would do it, whatever the size of their home. They’re still strangers, and you’re letting them all stay here, and even feeding them.”

“It seems the least I can do in the circumstances, and we had very little damage, other than a number of painting frames, which broke when they fell, and a few fragile antique objects. I’m a little worried about the chandeliers too, and want to get them checked out when we can get an engineer here, which probably won’t be for a while, if what you’ve said is true.”

“All the construction companies are going to be backed up for a long time,” he confirmed. “But that isn’t what I wanted to tell you. I mentioned your name at the office and my colleague’s jaw dropped. He’s a movie buff, and I’ve seen all your old movies too. I just didn’t make the connection when I met you, and forgot that you live here.” His co-worker had filled him in on the history too, that a bad divorce when her husband left her and a child who had died tragically had ended her career. Charles had heard long ago that she had become a recluse, but he wasn’t interested in movie star gossip, and never made the connection with the warm, attractive, kind woman he’d met that morning. He’d been stunned when his colleague told him. “ That Meredith White?” was all he could say. But when he thought about it, he realized that it was why her face looked so familiar. He had seen her in dozens of movies before she disappeared from the screen. His friend had asked him what she was doing now, and he had no idea, other than living in a big house and housing her neighbors after the earthquake. She had been so modest and unassuming that it never dawned on him that she was the movie star. But seeing her for the second time, it was obvious even to him.

“You must have thought I was an idiot when I said I thought I had met you before. My wife used to love your movies and so did I. But we surely never met, unless you were one of my fighter pilots, or ran a squadron.” He blushed and she smiled.

“Don’t worry about it. That’s fine. It’s been a long time. I’ve been out of the movie business for fourteen years.” He knew why now. He wasn’t even sure if he’d known before. Eventually, she just stopped appearing in movies. He didn’t question why. “I’ve probably changed a lot since then. I don’t go out much, but when I do, people rarely recognize me.”