Даниэла Стил - The Affair

“Actually, we go on hiatus a few days before. I don’t know what Joe has planned. He’s all wrapped up in looking at a space in Malibu. He wants to open something there. I love the idea of coming to see you in France. Let me check in with him. I’ll call you back tomorrow.” They functioned as a team after thirteen years together, and were considerate of each other. “He’s so busy these days, he won’t even notice I’m gone,” Athena added. They had a flock of dog sitters and walkers and a housekeeper who could take care of their animals in her absence. Joe insisted on that so they weren’t constantly running home to feed and walk them.

Their life ran surprisingly smoothly, despite Athena’s haphazard casual nature and disorganized style. She was more efficient than she appeared. She just didn’t want to end up like their mother, with nothing in her life but work. All four girls thought Rose paid a high price for it, and worked too hard, especially now, with their father gone. But it was what Rose wanted, and their father had respected her dedicated work ethic. It was only since the kids had grown up and his death that she had eliminated almost everything except the magazine in her life. It filled the void that he had left, so she was happy.

Nadia and Athena talked for a few more minutes, and Athena promised her an answer about July fourth the next day. Nadia was in good spirits thinking about spending four days with them, and hoped that all or most of them could make it. She didn’t mention it to Sylvie and Laure at dinner, in case it didn’t work out, so she wouldn’t disappoint them. They loved their aunts, and their cousins, although Nadia hadn’t invited her niece and nephews. It would be easier without them, to just make it a sisters’ weekend. They could focus on each other, and talk more freely, when her own children were busy or in the pool at the château. There was lots for them to do there, and the two little girls played well with each other. They noticed their mother’s good mood at dinner and were relieved to see it. She had seemed very quiet and sad lately, and Sylvie particularly was concerned about it. It was hard to hide her sorrow from them, although she tried.

—

Nadia heard from Olivia first, much to her surprise. She and Harley had discussed it over dinner after Nadia’s call, and had included Will in the conversation, as they did with all things. It was easier for them having only one child, due to their demanding careers, and they included him in everything and had treated him as an adult since he was old enough to talk. By fourteen, he was used to participating in decisions. Both Will and Harley agreed that they could manage without her for the long weekend. Harley knew how worried she was about her sister, and it was a sacrifice he was willing to make. Since Will was bringing a friend up to their house in Maine, it was fine with him. Although he loved his parents, he was trying to get a little distance from them lately. His father was older than his friends’ fathers, and his mother had been even busier since she’d been on the bench. He wanted to hang out with his friends, without being with his parents all the time.

She sent Nadia a text that night, which Nadia found when she woke up in the morning. “Count me in. Arriving Thursday morning, leaving Sunday night. Sisters rule! Love, O.”

Athena called Nadia in the morning, which was midnight for Athena in California. She and Joe had discussed it when he came home from the restaurant. He had agreed in four seconds flat.

“Of course. You know I love your sister. She needs you guys right now. You should go. I’m going to work that weekend anyway. We’re shorthanded in the kitchen at the restaurant.” He was a hands-on owner, and pitched in to help in the kitchen whenever needed. He enjoyed it.

“So I’m in,” Athena said, sounding delighted. At her end, Nadia was beaming.

“I can’t wait to see you all,” Nadia said, relieved. “Wait till I tell the girls!” It was the best thing that had happened to her since the bomb that had exploded in her life after the Cannes Film Festival. She couldn’t think of anything better than four days with her sisters. For the first time in a month, she left for work with a smile on her face and a spring in her step. She could hardly wait for the Fourth of July weekend, and she was grateful for their willingness to leave their respective partners and children. She laughed out loud as she drove to the office, knowing that Nicolas would be panicked if he knew about it, because Nadia and her sisters were a force to be reckoned with. If their mother showed up for the weekend, even more so. Watch out, Nicolas Bateau! The McCarthy women were coming! And anything could happen after that.

Chapter 5

Venetia kissed Ben and her children before she left for work on Wednesday. Ben was going to drive them out to Southampton before lunch. Venetia was planning to leave for the airport straight from the office. She was hoping to beat the holiday traffic to Long Island, and catch a flight that would land her in Paris at six a.m. on Thursday. She had a car and driver set to meet her in Paris and drive her on the two-hour trip to the château. By the time she got her luggage and made it to Normandy, she figured she’d be there in time for breakfast. She had tried to pair up with Olivia, who was flying that day too, but Olivia had canceled her court calendar for that afternoon and was taking an earlier flight. Nadia had already gotten to the château two days earlier to get everything ready for her sisters, and the day before they were to arrive, Sylvie and Laure had helped her cut flowers in the garden and put them in their rooms. Athena was planning to arrive at noon, since the L.A. flight arrived later than the ones from New York. It was a ten-hour flight from L.A., as opposed to six from JFK.

“Don’t go falling in love with some handsome Frenchman on the flight,” Ben whispered to Venetia when he kissed her goodbye. They lingered for a moment, while the children went upstairs to pack their tote bags with favorite toys and treasures to take with them to the Hamptons for the weekend. They were sorry their mother wasn’t coming, but Venetia had suggested that maybe they could all go to visit Nadia and the girls for a week in August.

“You’re the best-looking, sexiest man I know,” Venetia answered as he held her, and she meant it. She was even more in love with him than she had been when they got married. It was a relationship that worked well. They enjoyed doing the same things, liked similar people, and respected each other profoundly. And they were crazy about their kids. “Thank you for letting me go.”

He knew how worried she’d been about her sister, and he was planning to have fun with the children at various activities and friends’ picnics over the holiday weekend. He loved Nadia too, and was sorry she was going through such a hard time. He had no idea what had gotten into Nicolas. He liked his brother-in-law. They always enjoyed being together, and Ben thought that Nicolas genuinely loved his wife. Ben had never expected him to pull something like this. He’d seen the photos of Pascale in the press, and she was undeniably spectacular looking and very young, but beyond the physical, he couldn’t see the attraction. What was he going to do with a twenty-two-year-old actress and a baby, other than destroy his marriage?

“I’ll call you when I get to the château,” Venetia promised, and rushed out of the house with her suitcase, and a giant white alligator Birkin with clothes to change into on the plane, work she needed to read, and all the little odds and ends she hadn’t put in her suitcase. She was wearing white jeans and a T-shirt with a white denim jacket and white ballet flats.

She worked at a frantic pace till lunchtime, and at two o’clock she left her office after signing a bunch of orders and checks in haste, then left for the airport in plenty of time to catch her flight. She was traveling first class, as she always did. She settled into her seat when she boarded and finally relaxed. She texted Nadia when she sat down, “On the plane. Can’t wait to see you. Love, V.” Olivia was in the air by then, and she knew that Athena would be boarding shortly in L.A., after leaving Joe and their dog walkers a thousand instructions for the special needs of her pets.