The Millionaire Claims His Wife(31)

Annie took two glasses from the cabinet over the sink and slammed them down on the counter.

"Chase," she said grimly.

"Chase what?"

"Chase sent the roses."

"How do you know? You didn't even-"

"He's been doing it for weeks."

"Your ex has been sending you roses for weeks?"

"Yes. And I've been refusing them." Annie sat down at the counter and  picked up her slice of pizza. "Your pizza's going to get cold, if you  don't eat it pretty soon."

Deb looked down at her plate, then at Annie.

"Let me get this straight. You went away with your ex, he's been sending  you roses ever since, and you really expect me to believe nothing  happened between You?"

"That's exactly what I expect you to believe," Annie said, and she burst into tears.

* * *

Half an hour later, the pizza had been forgotten, the diet Cokes had  been replaced by a bottle of Chianti, Annie's eyes and nose were pink  and Deb had heard the whole story.

"The bastard," she said grimly.

"Uh-huh," Annie said, blowing her nose into a paper towel.

"The skunk!"

"That's what he is, all right. Taking me to bed and then telling me how terrific it was-"

"Was it?"

Annie blushed. "Sex was never our problem. Well, not until the very end,  when I was so hurt and angry at him for never coming home...."

"Other women, huh?"

"No." Annie blew her nose again. "I mean, not then. At the end, there was somebody, even though Chase said there wasn't."

"Yeah," Deb said, "that's what they always say. So, if it wasn't some foxy broad, why didn't the oaf come home nights?"

"Oh, he came home. Late, that's all. He took all these courses, see, so  he could learn the things he needed to build up the business he'd  inherited from his father. He worked crazy hours, too. Most days, he'd  leave before sunrise and not get back until seven, eight at night."

"Uh-huh."

"And then, when things took off and the company really began to grow, he  went to all these parties. Chamber of Commerce things. You know, the  sort of stuff you read about in the paper."

"And he left you home. God, the nerve of the man!"

"No. I mean, he took me with him. And then I decided I didn't want to go to these things anymore."

"I can imagine the rest. The jerk went by himself and that's when he  began to fool around. He met this society type with a pedigree and a  face like an ice sculpture and she was lots more appealing than the  house mouse he'd left at home, right?"

"Well-well, no. He didn't meet anybody. Although, eventually, he-he got involved with his secretary."

"How disgustingly trite. His secretary! Will men never learn?"

"He said it wasn't what it seemed to be, but I knew."

"Of course, you knew. Lipstick on his collar, receipts from motels you'd  never been to in his pockets, charge account statements for flowers and  candy and perfume..."

"No."

"No?"

Annie shook her head. "Well, bills for flowers and candy and perfume,  yes. For my birthday, or Christmas, or sometimes just for no reason at  all."

"Really," Deb said, arching an eyebrow.

"I'd never have known, except I just-I showed up at his office when he  didn't expect me and there she was, wound around him like-like a morning  glory vine on a fence post."

"And Chase said he was just taking a speck of dust out of her eye," Deb said, shaking her head.                       
       
           



       

Annie looked up, her mouth trembling. "Chase said it wasn't what it  looked like. His secretary said it, too. She cried and begged me to  believe her, she said Chase had never even looked at her cross-eyed but  I-"

"But you?"

"But I knew. That he-that she... Because, you know, I'd stopped turning  to him in bed, when he reached for me. I couldn't help it." A sob ripped  from Annie's throat. "I loved him so much, Deb. So terribly much!"

"Oh, Annie, you poor soul," Deb said, "you still do."

"I don't," Annie said, and she began to weep uncontrollably.

Deb stood up, went to Annie's side and put her arm around her.

"Oh, honey, I never realized. You're crazy about the man."

"No," Annie said in a choked whisper, and then she pulled out of her  friend's embrace and threw her arms into the air. "Yes," she said, "and  isn't that pathetic? It's true. I am crazy about him. I love him with  all my heart. I'd even forgive him that fling with his secretary."

"If there was a fling." Annie shot her a look, and Deb shrugged. "Well,  it's a possibility, isn't it? I mean, all those stories about bosses and  their secretaries...if half of 'em were true, the American economy  would grind to a halt. Anyway, why would she have put up such a denial?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything, anymore, only that somewhere along  the line, Chase and I lost each other. And I know now that it wasn't  all his fault. We were so young when we got married, Deb. I thought  marriage was just a fairy tale, you know, the prince rides off with the  maiden and they live happily ever after. But it isn't like that. You  have to work at a marriage, talk about your goals and your problems."

"And you guys didn't."

Annie shook her head. "No," she said, her voice muffled as she wiped her nose again.

"Well, it's never too late."

"It is." Annie dumped the wet paper towel into the trash and peeled another one off the roll. "It's way too late."

"What about the reconciliation attempt?"

"I told you. It wasn't for real. We just went through the motions, for Dawn."

"But you made love."

"I made love. Chase-Chase just figures we slept together." Annie flashed  Deb a fierce look. "And don't you dare tell me it's the same thing."

Deb smiled sadly. "Trust me, Annie. Even I know that it isn't. Well,  what happened when the weekend was over? Didn't he suggest seeing each  other again?"

"He did." Annie's expression hardened. "He phoned a dozen times. Sure, he wants to see me. For sex. Not for anything else."

"You don't think it would help to see him? Tell him how you feel?"

"No! God, no! It's bad enough I showed him how I feel. In bed, I mean.  I..." Annie shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it anymore.  There's no point. Tallcing's not going to change-"

The telephone rang. Deb waited for Annie to reach for it.

"Do you want me to take that?" she said, after the phone had rung three times

Annie shook her head. "Let the machine pick up. I'm not fit to talk to anybody."

The answering machine clicked on.

"Hi," Annie's disembodied voice said. "It's me, but I can't take your  call right now. Leave a message and your number, and I'll give you a  ring soon as I can."

"Very onginal," Deb said with a smile.

Annie smiled back at her, but her smile disappeared at the sound of Chase's voice.

"Annie? Annie, it's me. Please, babe, pick up if you're there."

"Speak of the devil," Deb whispered.

"Okay," Chase said, and sighed. "But I've got to tell you, it's a  problem. How does a guy find out why his ex-wife won't talk to him, if  she won't talk to him?" Annie folded her arms. "He knows why," she  hissed to Deb.

"Here's the deal," Chase said, and cleared his throat. "I'm in Puerto  Rico. I've got this new client... Hell, Annie, you don't want to hear  the whole story. The thing is, I'm flying back to New York tonight.  Matter of fact, I'm at the airport down here, right now."

"Fascinating," Annie muttered. "Now he's going to give me his itinerary."

"I'll only be in New York for a couple of days before I head back down  to San Juan, and then I'm liable to be gone for a while. And I figured,  if there was any last chance you'd see me again..."                       
       
           



       

"Sleep with him, he means," Annie said, glowering at the telephone.

"I know I've said some of this before, babe, maybe a hundred times to  that damn machine of yours, but I guess one last try can't hurt, so here  goes. Annie, I know we didn't intend to get involved again. I know we  went away together because I dug us into a hole with Dawn. But I  thought-I really thought that night we spent together was incredible.  And-"

"And we ought to try it again," Annie said coldly. She tried smiling  brightly at Deb but it didn't work. Her smile trembled and tears  glittered in her eyes.

"And I knew I didn't have any right to ask you to take me back, Annie.  That's what I kept thinking, all the way back to Seattle. You've made a  new life for yourself, and you've found a new guy, and I could tell you  regretted what had happened, the minute you woke up that morning. You  were so quiet, with that same shuttered look you had the last few years  we were married."