Five Women (43 page)

“Well, I'm leaving,” Eve said, finally. She got up. All of them were a little drunk.

“I should go too,” Eben said. “May I put you both into cabs?”

The three of them left together. They stood on the sidewalk in the pleasant night, watching as two rattletrap cabs jockeyed for position to get them as passengers. Eben held open the door of the first one for Eve. It clanged rustily off into the night as he opened the door of the second one for Felicity.

“Come and have a drink with me,” he said. She nodded, and he got in with her and gave the driver the address of an apartment house Felicity knew must be his.
What am I doing
? she thought. But she didn't care; she felt dangerously alive.

He lived in one of those clean and nondescript high rises that had been put up in the 1960s, on a side street on the East Side. There was a doorman, and an elevator that was self-service at this late hour. When he opened the door to his apartment it was unexpectedly large, with picture windows, the blinds pulled up to the frame, facing a little village of other people's apartments, their blinds pulled up too, except in the bedrooms where they were asleep. In a city so crowded and with such lack of privacy people began to think themselves invisible. Felicity saw the blue glow of television sets, everybody watching the same nightly news.

Eben put on music. He offered her some wine. Felicity turned off her cell phone. He showed her around the apartment: his bedroom, the guest room for his daughter when she came to visit, his office where he wrote.

“I feel guilty about Eve,” Felicity ventured. “I mean . . .”

He took her hand and the shock went right down her body. “There was nothing between Eve and me,” Eben said. “She would call me to get together once in a while, so I'd say okay. It was nothing. She knew that.”

“I knew that too,” Felicity said. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”

“I just did.”

He led her back to the living room and they sat next to each other on the living room couch and told each other everything that had happened to them since they were born. She was aware that this shared grief was a kind of seduction, but she was still so new at it that she found it touching and beautiful. It was finally past one o'clock in the morning, but she wasn't tired and she wasn't worried that Russell had probably called her several times. Russell was dangerous and frightening, but she would tell him that she had been exhausted and had gone to bed early, right after dinner at Yellowbird, and he would believe her. She felt charmed tonight. She was not worried about work tomorrow either, because she felt as if she might never need sleep again. The music played on, intoxicating and new, evocative of no other moment but this.

Then finally, as if on some joyous impulse, Eben swept her into his arms to dance, and at that moment Felicity felt he had swept her away to a wilder place from which she might never return. A moment later they were kissing, his mouth soft and generous, and then they were undressing each other. They didn't even bother to go into the bedroom the first time they had sex; he simply pulled down the blind and they did it on the living room rug. He did everything Russell had not wanted to do to her, and she did everything that she had not wanted to do to Russell, and they both screamed with pleasure when they came.

“Oh God, help me, Eben, help me,” she begged at that moment when she didn't know what she was saying, “Please help me leave my husband.”

The next time they did it in his bed, and slept, and then again. She had never known a man who was so lusty. When, in the early morning, she finally had to leave, to bathe and change for the office, Eben stopped her at the door and entered her a fourth time, standing.

“Leave your husband,” he whispered into her hair. “Live with me.”

In the sanity of morning sunlight she laughed because it sounded like love play, but she was also flattered, and a part of her believed him. She had found a man who was her sexual equivalent, and who was romantic and kind, and when she left Eben Mars, Felicity was stunned and already in love.

When she turned on her cell phone again there were four voice mail messages. Two were from her husband, and two were from Jason, who knew Russell was out of town and had wanted to see her. It was as if she had forgotten Jason. She didn't even want to see him right now. As for Russell, she wished he would disappear. There were also four messages at home; two from Russell, the last one wishing her a good night, and two from Eve.

“Where are you?” Eve's voice demanded. After Eben had reassured her she had forgotten Eve, too. Eve probably wanted to dish. She would have to be careful about Eve, and for the first time Felicity was a little nervous.

Eben called her at the office as soon as she got there. “You are the sexiest woman I have ever known,” he said softly. “I wish I were with you right now.”

“And you are the sexiest man and I wish the same,” Felicity answered back.

“Come by on the way from work,” he said. “Please. Please.”

“I don't know if I can . . .”

“When will he be back?”

“This evening,” Felicity said.

“Then come to me before. I need you. Just for an hour and I'll let you go. Please . . .”

She was getting wet thinking about it, hearing his voice. “All right,” she said.

“I want to take you to dinner,” Eben said. “I want to show you off. I want you to walk in my potato fields with me and afterward I'll write a whole book of poems for you and make love to you forty-five times. A hundred and forty-five times. I want you to leave him. I'm going to make you leave him.”

“I wish you would,” Felicity said.

“I think I'm falling in love with you,” Eben said. “I want to take care of you. I want to make you happy.”

“You already are,” Felicity said.

Chapter Thirty-six

E
VE UNDRESSED FOR BED
, throwing her clothes on the floor. She had noticed Eben's attraction to Felicity all evening, and what was more insulting, Felicity was encouraging it. Felicity was such a basket case with that husband and lover that she had to cry on everybody's shoulder. She should know that Eben was not what she thought, not a man to rely on to change her life, that he was just a smart man who was a good fuck and furthermore, he belonged to Eve.

Felicity should be home by now. Eve called her, but all she got was the voice mail. Probably Felicity was in the bathroom, so after a while Eve called again. Again no answer. Now what? Was she asleep already? Eve looked at the clock on her bedside table, and a half hour later she called again and hung up before the voice mail clicked through. Then she called a fourth time and hung up again. She thought of calling Eben, but if he didn't answer she would have to hang up on him, too, and if he did answer and said he was alone it could easily be a lie. Also, calling to check up on him would make her look as if she were chasing him, and it was important that he knew she was just as strong as he was.

She was so suspicious and restless that there was no question of even trying to go to sleep. Eve got up and dressed again, in jeans and a sweatshirt, and then she went downstairs and hailed a cab. She got out on Eben's corner and walked. There was nobody on the streets tonight; it was a weeknight, and people were at home, asleep, preparing their brains and bodies for the next day at work. She knew exactly which windows were Eben's apartment because she had been there several times, and when she looked up she saw that they were all still lighted and the blinds were up. From across the street she could see everything. She just wanted to know if he was home and what he was doing.

What he was doing was dancing with Felicity. Eve couldn't believe it. He whirled her in his arms like Fred Astaire, and then they kissed. But instead of an old movie fadeout, what Eve saw standing there was Eben kissing Felicity with every appearance of the beginning of foreplay, and then rushing to the window and pulling down the blinds in one forceful snap.

Eve knew the bastard was fucking her friend. And her friend, her
married
friend, with a lover of her own, was fucking Eve's property. No matter what any of them said, it wasn't over until Eve decided it was over. She stood there for a while longer, but it was creepy on the deserted street, and Eve knew from past experience that Eben liked to have sex several times in a night, so they could be at it for hours. She walked, fists clenched, face grimacing in fury, until she found a cruising cab, and then she went home.

She didn't fall asleep until it was nearly light, and then she overslept. She had wanted to see what time Felicity came in to work. But by the time she woke up and called Felicity's office she was in a meeting. Eve left a message, and then called twice more before she got her.

“Don't you believe in calling back?” Eve said instead of hello.

“I'm sorry,” Felicity said. She sounded even sweeter than usual. “It's been crazy here today. I just got your messages.”

“So you spent the night with Eben,” she said harshly.

There was the briefest pause. “What are you talking about?”

“I called you and you weren't home, and then I went by his apartment and I saw you both in there, kissing. Don't deny it, I know it was you.

“I wasn't there,” Felicity said. She sounded scared. “It was probably someone else. You told me you think he has lots of women.”

“None who look like you.”

“How do you know?”

“Don't bullshit me,” Eve said. “I want you to meet me for lunch.”

“I can't.”

“Yes you can. You'd better meet me. I can make a lot of trouble for you. Meet me in the coffee shop near your office, the one on Madison Avenue with the turkey sandwiches. One o'clock.”

“I have a meeting at two,” Felicity said.

“What I have to say to you won't take a whole hour,” Eve said.

They met in the Viand coffee shop, a crowded, narrow little room, and sat in a red vinyl booth facing each other. Eve ordered the warm sliced turkey sandwich she liked and Felicity ordered a Greek salad which she actually seemed calm enough to pretend to eat. The eating was a kind of social fencing. Eve was too angry to be hungry, and she knew Felicity was much too nervous.

“What's the matter, Felicity, aren't two men enough for you?” Eve began.

“You know I'm afraid of my husband,” Felicity said. “I would never, never go to any man's apartment when he's out of town. My husband calls me all the time to check on me, and he's violent. He'd be capable of coming home unexpectedly just to see if I was there. He would kill me if he thought I had another man. He would.”

“And you know I've been seeing Eben,” Eve said. “I have rules. The most insulting thing in the world, the thing I consider unforgivable and totally out of line, is to have one of my woman friends go out with a man I've been intimate with.”

“Intimate?”

“Yes.”

“I wouldn't call what you and Eben had intimacy. You fucked him. From time to time.”

“And he's one of my toys in my playpen,” Eve said. “As long as I want him there for that reason he's mine, and no other woman has a right to go near him. Ever. Even when I'm finished with him, he's still off limits.”

“Even then?”

“Yes.”

“I'd better tell every man who plans to go out with you then,” Felicity said lightly. “If he has sex with you his dating life is forever over.”

“I'm telling you to stay away from him. You're my friend. You're not allowed.”

“I'm not seeing him,” Felicity said. “This was a total misunderstanding on your part. You're my friend, too. I care about you. I wouldn't do such a hurtful thing. I completely understand.”

“I hope so,” Eve said. “I can tell your husband, you know. I can also tell him about your lover.
Jason
 . . . I don't know his last name, but the first name's enough.” She watched Felicity pouring artificial sweetener into her iced tea and noticed that her hand was steady. Could it be possible that wasn't Felicity in Eben's apartment in the first place? The lights had been pretty dim and she was far away. “I'll be watching you,” Eve said.

“Watch as much as you like.” Felicity sipped her tea. “We've signed a few new producers and playwrights at the firm recently,” she said with a friendly smile. “I always have my eye out for someone to introduce you to who could help you with your career.”

“You do?” Eve said, surprised and pleased. “When can you do that?”

“Soon. I'm looking.”

“Oh,” Eve said. “Well, I'd appreciate that. I always need contacts.”

“And which of your girlfriends has the most?” Felicity asked. “I do!” She was beginning to sound so enthusiastic that Eve was swept away too. They smiled at each other.

“I can help you,” Felicity said.

“That's great,” Eve said. She would pretend to drop the Eben Mars issue for the moment. Felicity would think she had won and Eve would get what she wanted more than anything in life: a boost for her career. She never wanted to have to choose between sex and success, one shouldn't have to, they were separate things, but once in a while one had to back down a little bit and keep the emotions in the wings. This didn't mean she wouldn't keep her eye out to see what Felicity and Eben were up to. Eben was still her toy, and she didn't want anyone to make a fool of her. She didn't get a hard young prick like that very often, especially these days, when all the men she met seemed to be scared to death.

That evening Eve walked past Eben's apartment building and looked up to see that he had pulled down all his blinds. It would have looked as if he had gone away, except that she could see light behind them. So Felicity had told him, and now he was being careful to protect his privacy. Eve wondered what kind of discussion they had had. She took a cab to Felicity's street and walked past the townhouse she shared with her husband. Lights were on there, too, and on the second floor she could see a middle-aged black man watching baseball on an enormous television screen. She had never seen Russell Naylor, but Eve was sure it was him. She waited a while until she saw Felicity crossing a different room, dressed in a robe and carrying a box that looked as if it had a manuscript in it. So they were in for the evening. If she didn't know better, Eve would have thought it was a nice domestic scene.

She went back to Eben's building, which was on her way home. There was a pay phone on the corner, and Eve called him. “I'm bored,” she said when he answered. “Why don't I come over and you give me a drink?”

“I'm getting ready to drive back to the old farm,” he said. “Rain check?”

“Sure.” She thought for a moment. “Are you taking someone, or would you like to take me?”

“You?”

“Why not? I'll come back tomorrow on the jitney.”

“I have to be alone,” Eben said. “I'm working on a new poem.”

“To Felicity?” she asked mockingly.

“She's a lovely woman, but no.”

“Well,” she said. The operator's voice came on asking for more money. Eve hoped he had no idea where she was.

“Goodbye,” Eben said, and hung up.

Eve stood there for a while, annoyed at being rejected, even though it wasn't the first time he had turned her down. She saw his lights go out, finally, and she waited to see his car nose out of the garage in his building, but it never did. Nor did he come walking out of his front door. He was in for the evening, too, and he had lied to her. She was sure he was with another woman. Eben liked to be alone, but he also had one woman or another around all the time. Wait till she told Felicity. She hoped Felicity wasn't stupid enough to have fallen in love with him.

On the other hand, she hoped Felicity had. It would serve her right. From what Eve knew of Eben Mars, the only person he was in love with was himself. Eve started to walk home, and on the way she had another thought which was quite disturbing. What if Eben was staying in town because he wanted to see Felicity tomorrow? What if they had started on a real affair?

If he had been with a woman tonight he would have told me, Eve thought; Eben doesn't care about my feelings. He knows I don't love him. In fact he likes to tell me about his other women, just to be sure I keep my distance, he's so neurotic. It can't be that he's
saving
himself for Felicity? Eve felt a twinge of pain, and the anger started up again, making it hard for her to breathe.

It would never work for them, of course, Eve thought. Eben Mars would never marry a black woman. For all his antics and pretenses of being an artist, deep down he was much too conventional. Of course I'll tell her, Eve thought. I'll call her tomorrow morning at the office. That's the least I can do.

She was joined to them now, to Eben and Felicity, to whatever they were doing and about to do, until it played itself out. Felicity thought the triangle she was in was with Eben and her husband, but she was wrong. The triangle was with Eben and Eve.