Даниэла Стил - The Affair

“Where’s your shit of a husband going to be then?” Olivia asked harshly.

“In the South with friends for a couple of weeks.”

“Has he moved out yet?” Olivia always went straight to the heart of the matter, like their mother, but in a much tougher way.

“Half-assedly,” Nadia answered. “We’re working on it. I told him he needs to get an apartment, that he can’t keep bouncing back and forth between the two of us. I think he’s afraid that if he moves out, I’ll never let him back in, and it really will be over.”

“I certainly hope so,” Olivia said in a clipped tone. “It is over, Naddie. You just have to get used to that idea. And so does he. I’d say her being pregnant clinches that.” Nadia knew that that was not necessarily true, but didn’t argue the point with her sister, knowing she wouldn’t win. Her sister was as American as the flag, and there were no compromises or turning back with her. As far as she was concerned, they were done. Nadia wasn’t quite as sure. She thought it was over, but what if their marriage could be salvaged? It was a living, breathing entity to her, and she wasn’t ready to euthanize it yet, even if part of her agreed with her sister and thought she should. Another part of her didn’t. Her hope for their marriage was dwindling daily, but the ashes weren’t cold yet.

“I’ll talk to Harley and Will and see how they feel about it. Can I call you tonight?”

“Of course. I’d love it if you’d come,” she said again.

“I’d better get back to work,” Olivia said. “I’d love to see you,” she said, sounding gentler. “Harley’s in a regatta that weekend, I don’t know how badly he wants me there. But at least he’ll be busy.” They hung up a minute later, and Olivia turned her attention to the document on her desk, thinking about Nadia in Paris, and how nice it would be to spend four days with her sisters. They didn’t do it often enough, and Nadia’s marital disaster gave them an excuse. Olivia was tempted to do it, if her husband didn’t object.

—

Nadia called Athena right after she’d spoken to Olivia. It was still early in California, and Athena had just come off the air. Most of the time, she was preparing food on camera live, usually with perfect results, but now and then it turned out badly. When it did, she would show her viewers how to salvage a dish that had gone wrong. She was creative and funny, and people loved her show. The sales of her vegetarian and vegan cookbooks had gone through the roof since she’d had the show. She was now considered the guru of vegetarian cuisine. Occasionally, she taped the show, but rarely. People loved the fact that it was live. Athena had a strong, happy personality that was like a warm embrace. She sounded delighted the moment she heard her sister’s voice.

“How’s my baby sister?” she asked, and always sounded as though she really cared and would drop everything to hear Nadia’s victories and woes. “Are things any better?” It didn’t seem like it from what she’d seen in the press. Normally, the American tabloids didn’t care much about foreign stars, but the movie had been such a massive box office hit in the U.S., and the romance between Nicolas and Pascale so titillating, that even the American public was eating it up. Athena was never sure how much of what she read was true. “Is it calming down? How are you, baby?”

“I’m okay. Hanging in. Trying to keep it together. The girls don’t know yet, and I’m trying to keep it that way as long as I can. Nicolas comes home for dinner a couple of times a week, and has been spending a night or two here, so they don’t figure out he’s gone. I tell them he left for work early when he’s not there when they get up.”

“That can’t be easy for you,” Athena said gently.

“It’s not.”

“Are you filing for divorce?”

“Not yet. We’ll probably get there eventually. I just don’t want to move too quickly and regret it later.” It was a sensible position, which was how Nadia did things, in order, with care and caution, and attention to detail. She wasn’t given to fast, flighty decisions, which Athena was at times, but somehow her impulses always turned out well. Nadia preferred to move more slowly.

“I’m sure you’ve heard Olivia’s opinions on the subject,” Athena said.

“Yeah, the electric chair or the gas chamber. Or a public hanging,” Nadia said, and her sister laughed.

“I kind of agreed with her when I heard about it. But that’s not real life. People do some really fucked-up things sometimes, even if they love each other. It’s really about what the two of you want, and how you feel about it. Personally, I’d probably chop Joe’s fingers off, or other parts of him. But who knows? You don’t know what you’d do until you’re in that position. You’re smart to take your time to think about it. Mom always said that good decisions are never made in haste. I kind of think she’s right. That’s probably why Joe and I have never married after thirteen years together. That looks way too scary to me.”

Since Athena had always been sure that she didn’t want children, she felt no pressure to marry, and still didn’t. At forty-three, she was perfectly content as she was, and so was he. She said she liked other people’s children, but didn’t want her own, and insisted that her dogs suited her much better. She had six, and it was chaotic in her home. Stanley, the largest, was an enormous white mountain dog of some kind that looked like a crossbreed with a horse, stood as tall as a man, and weighed two hundred pounds. In addition, she had a black Lab, an English bulldog, some kind of dog that looked more like a teddy bear—which she said was some kind of golden doodle, part poodle and part golden retriever, and tried to sit on everyone’s lap—and two tiny teacup Chihuahuas, who slept in the arms of the mountain dog and liked to ride around on the doodle’s back. Her partner, Joe, successful restaurateur and master chef, put up with all of it and thought that everything Athena did was charming. She was as blond and fair as Olivia, and as their mother had been before her hair turned white. She had a large frame and generous, womanly body.

“I think you’re brave to have ever gotten married,” Athena said with a sigh. “Braver than I am. Joe and I think it would ruin everything. I feel that not making it legal keeps things fresh. We never commingle money, and the only thing we’d have to fight about if we split up is custody of the dogs.” Nadia knew that Joe still had his small house in West Hollywood, where he had lived before he met Athena, but never used it. He used it for storage now. Athena owned the house they lived in, in the Hollywood Hills, with a huge yard for the dogs, and an enormous swimming pool. She called it their Beverly Hillbillies shack. It was full of vintage furniture from the fifties, which was casual, and great looking, and cost a fortune. Her favorite piece was a pink velvet Barbie doll couch that even Nadia thought was amusing and perfect for Athena, Venetia swore she was going to steal it one day, and Ben hoped not. They each had their own style.

“What are you going to do with the girls this summer, with all this crap going on?” Athena asked her. “You can come and stay with us, if you want to get away and hide out. I’d love it.”

“Actually, that’s why I’m calling. I’m trying to organize a girls’ weekend over the Fourth of July at the château. Venetia’s in, Olivia is thinking about it, and Mom said she’d try to come for two days, if she can. I’d love for you to come for the long weekend. You can stay as long as you want. It would be nice to be together.” Nadia was hungry for time with her family. She needed them more than ever before. Her life had never gone as wrong as it was right now. And being with her sisters was the best medicine there was. “Mom suggested it originally, and I think it’s a great idea for all of us to get together at the château. Is your show still on the air then?”