Даниэла Стил - Neighbors

“Do you wear a blanket over your head, or a hat and dark glasses? Now that I know who you are, I’d recognize you immediately.”

“Audrey Hepburn used to say that if you don’t make eye contact with people on the street, they don’t recognize you. I think that’s true. But I go out very, very rarely. I sneak into a yoga class once in a while, and go for long walks on the beach, but that’s about it.”

“What about your daughter in New York? Do you go to see her, or does she come here to see you?” She had mentioned Kendall to him before. She hesitated before she answered. He was so dignified, respectful, and distinguished looking that she was saying more to him than she would have normally. He had a warm style, and a kind manner with people.

“Actually, we don’t see each other very often. She has a busy life, and I haven’t traveled since…since I retired from films.”

“It’s probably not easy for you to go out with fans hounding you.”

“It’s a little more complicated than that. My daughter and I talk on the phone, I’ll get to New York one of these days.” But she didn’t sound convincing, and he could see that she was sad as she said it. He could feel her retreating and he was afraid he had upset her, particularly since he knew about her son’s death now, from his friend at the OES office. He couldn’t imagine her daughter not coming to see her. He saw his own children as often as he could. But he wasn’t a movie star who had become a recluse, and hadn’t been struck by tragedy. His wife had died, earlier than they’d ever expected, at fifty-three, but she had handled it with dignity, and he had done his best to live a good life since, and remain connected to the world after she died.

Meredith had retreated from the world and had been in hiding ever since. He wondered who her friends were, and if she had any. She had been so generous with her neighbors, he wondered if that was typical of her. The only thing he didn’t like that he had seen so far was the couple who worked for her. The two of them looked like a nasty piece of work to him, and wanted to make everyone who crossed her threshold, including him, as uncomfortable as they could, to chase them away. He wondered what the story was there, and why she had them working for her. Most people didn’t have that reaction to him, either due to his military rank, or his open, easy, friendly nature. Meredith was warm and welcoming to him too, despite her celebrity. But her two employees seemed hostile and downright unpleasant.

“Anyway, I wanted to apologize to you for not recognizing you. I was mortified when I made the connection. I wanted to stop by on my way home to tell you.”

“It’s nicer that you didn’t recognize me.” She smiled at him. “I don’t want to be treated like some kind of historical relic,” she said with a laugh, “although I suppose that’s what I am by now.” But she was sixty-three, not a hundred, and she looked even younger, without makeup, and with her blond hair.

“You’re not a relic, you’re a legend,” he said, slightly in awe of her.

“Oh dear, that sounds scary too. I’m just a person who used to make movies. Now I spend my time gardening and reading, going for long walks. It’s a peaceful life.” But it sounded empty and sad to him, and yet she didn’t look like a sad person. But her eyes told him that she had been through hell and come to a place of peace. He wondered if it had taken her all fourteen years of her retirement to do it.

“Well, your neighbors are very lucky that you’re letting them stay here. And I feel fortunate to have met you. If it’s all right with you, I’d like to drop by again. You’ve got a good group here. I’m a big fan of Arthur Harriman. It’s a treat to have met him. He’s remarkable for his age, and such an extraordinary talent. You’ve actually got quite an interesting group here. Joel Fine is certainly the king of high-tech startups.” Meredith knew that. “I’ve read about him. He’s a fascinating guy. He comes from a wealthy background, went to Harvard, and got an MBA at UC Berkeley, and made a fortune on his own with his startups. He hasn’t had one fail yet.”

Joel was very upset when he got back from his house inspection, as Charles Chapman was leaving. Something had fallen in his garage and dented his Ferrari. Will had asked him at lunch if he could see it, since he talked about it, and Joel said he could.

“Call me if you need anything,” Charles Chapman said again when he left, and Meredith thought about their conversation and wondered if she had said too much, but he was easy to talk to. She didn’t usually admit that she and Kendall didn’t see each other and hadn’t in years. They weren’t estranged, since they still spoke on the phone from time to time, but they weren’t close either. Kendall was close to her father, and the damage with her mother had never been repaired. Kendall had never tried to, and San Francisco was no longer on her map. Meredith had made her peace with that too. Her heart had taken a beating three times, when Scott left her for Silvana, when Justin died, and when Kendall stayed close to her father, blamed her mother for everything, and systematically cut her out of her life. Jack and Debbie had gotten her through it, and she felt indebted to them forever, even if they were being difficult now, about having the neighbors stay under her roof. They wanted Meredith to send them to one of the earthquake shelters and there was no way she would now. They were people to her now, and rapidly becoming friends, as they opened up to her.

After Charles left, Andrew went back to the hospital a little while later. Joel took Will to see his Ferrari and let him sit behind the wheel. He was basically a nice guy, he just didn’t have a strong respect for women and saw them as sex toys. His father had been that way too, which had broken up his parents’ marriage. Meredith could already tell that there was so much more substance to Ava than he gave her credit for. He was nice to her, and generous, but all he really cared about was her body. Meredith couldn’t imagine being with a man like him, but Ava seemed devoted to him, and didn’t seem to mind. She had sold her soul for the lifestyle he offered her, and Meredith wondered if most women would. And Joel was used to being seen as a prize of some kind, and a means to an end. Although she had no money, Ava wasn’t with him for what he could give her or do for her. She genuinely cared about him and sometimes even believed she loved him. She wasn’t cynical and thought the best of everyone. It came through in everything she said.

The one who worried her in the group was Tyla, who seemed so meek and vulnerable to Meredith, after knowing her for only twenty-four hours. She obviously adored her children, and was devoted to her husband and anxious to please him, but he seemed so harsh with her when he thought no one was listening. He was handsome, intelligent, successful, and charming to everyone else, but Meredith sensed a chip on his shoulder she couldn’t identify, and a silent, deeply buried, underlying rage. She didn’t know why, but she thought there was something dangerous about him, and she had noticed that his children seemed ill at ease around him too. She had heard Will stammer a few times when his father addressed him. She suspected that still waters ran deep in Andrew’s case, and things weren’t always as they appeared.

—

Later that afternoon, Joel went downtown to see if they would let him cross police lines to check out what condition his office was in. He didn’t ask Ava to come, in case it was dangerous, and she ran into Peter in the kitchen when they both went to make a cup of tea. She was wearing very short shorts and a T-shirt stretched over her enormous breasts. He blushed as soon as he saw her, as though she could read his mind, and he had his manuscript with him. Arthur had gone to take a nap, and Peter was going to work on his manuscript by hand. He had left his vintage typewriter at Arthur’s house. It was too cumbersome to carry, and he had nowhere to set it up here. He had mentioned earlier that he never wrote on a computer, and loved his typewriter.