Chương 3
“Make me the enemy because I’m trying to keep this contained.”
“Contained for who?”
He looked away.
That was enough.
Maya pushed off the table.
“Am I fired?”
“I don’t know.”
“She said I was.”
“She doesn’t employ you.”
“Then why did you send me out?”
“Because I had a ballroom full of donors watching a family explode.”
“She grabbed a seventy-four-year-old woman.”
“I know.”
“And you sent me out.”
“I know.”
There was something in the second admission that drained a little of Maya’s anger.
Scott sat on the edge of the prep table.
He looked suddenly older than he had in the ballroom.
“I should’ve moved faster,” he said.
Maya said nothing.
“I’m not saying you were wrong.”
“It sounded like you were.”
“I’m saying there’s going to be an investigation because there has to be. You made physical contact with a client. She’s going to complain. Half the room has phones. Corporate will hear about it before midnight.”
“So what happens to me?”
“Go home.”
“Paid?”
Scott rubbed his forehead.
“I’ll put you on administrative suspension with pay through tomorrow. After that, HR decides.”
Maya stared at him.
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
The service door opened again.
A security supervisor Maya recognized as Denise stepped inside.
“Scott.”
“What?”
“Mr. Pierce wants to speak with the server.”
Scott’s eyes closed for a second.
“Of course he does.”
Maya folded her arms.
“I don’t want money.”
Scott looked at her.
“I didn’t say he was offering money.”
“You thought it.”
“I thought about thirty things.”
Denise glanced between them.
“He’s in the small salon across from the ballroom. Mrs. Pierce is with him. Ms. Pierce left.”
“Vanessa left?”
“With two board members and one of her friends. Security walked them to the lobby.”
Maya looked at Scott.
He stood.
“I’m coming.”
Denise shook her head.
“Mr. Pierce asked for her alone.”
Scott almost laughed.
“Absolutely not.”
“He also asked for hotel counsel.”
“That makes more sense.”
Maya’s stomach tightened.
“I just want to go home.”
Denise softened.
“You can. Nobody’s detaining you.”
Maya looked toward the clock over the prep sink.
9:48.
She had been scheduled until midnight.
Her phone was in her locker beside a half-eaten granola bar and the pharmacology flash cards she had promised herself she would review during break.
She imagined her apartment. The radiator that clanged even when it was turned off. Her cat, Franklin, who would be sitting on the windowsill judging passing buses. The unopened electric bill beneath a grocery coupon.
Ordinary things.
Safe things.
Then she pictured Eleanor gripping her own wrist.
“I’ll talk to them.”
The salon was smaller than the ballroom but still larger than Maya’s apartment.
Eleanor sat on a cream sofa with her cane positioned carefully against her knee. Richard stood beside the window, one hand in his trouser pocket. A hotel attorney sat in the corner with a notebook closed on her lap.
When Maya entered, Eleanor tried to stand.
Maya stepped forward.
“Please don’t.”
Eleanor sat again.
“I wanted to thank you properly.”
“You already did.”
“Not properly.”
Her voice was softer now, still controlled.
Up close, Maya could see that the beading around one cuff had torn. Two tiny ivory beads hung from loose threads.
Richard crossed the room.
“I’m Richard Pierce.”
“I know.”
His mouth twitched.
“Right. Stupid introduction.”
It was the first ordinary thing anyone had said since the cane flew across the floor.
Maya almost smiled.
Richard glanced at Eleanor.
“I need to ask you what you saw.”
The attorney shifted.
Richard noticed and corrected himself.
“No. That’s not fair. The hotel will ask you. Possibly other people will ask you. You don’t owe me a statement tonight.”
Maya looked at Eleanor.
“Has this happened before?”
The room changed.
Richard became still.
Eleanor lowered her eyes to the cane.
Maya regretted asking.
“I’m sorry. That wasn’t my business.”
Eleanor traced one thumb over the silver handle.
“Not like this.”
Richard sat beside her.
“What does that mean?”
“Richard.”
“What does that mean?”
Eleanor looked at the attorney.
The attorney stood immediately.
“I can step outside.”
“No,” Eleanor said. “That makes it sound as if I’m about to confess to murder.”
The attorney paused.
Eleanor gave the faintest smile.
“There. I can still make jokes. Put that in someone’s report.”
Richard did not smile.
“Ellie.”
She exhaled.
“Vanessa has been impatient.”
“For how long?”
“Months.”
“With what?”
“With me.”
Richard’s face tightened.
Eleanor saw it.
“Oh, don’t make that face.”
“What face?”
“The one where you decide to become furious instead of listening.”
“I’m listening.”
“You’re preparing to be furious.”
“I can do both.”
“Richard.”
Maya looked toward the door.
Eleanor noticed.
“Please stay.”
Maya did.
Eleanor folded her hands over the top of the cane.
“After my fall in April, Vanessa started helping more. Driving me to appointments. Handling some foundation correspondence. Organizing the house while you were in California.”
Richard looked confused.
“I was gone six days.”
“Eight.”
“Eight.”
“She decided I should stop driving.”
“You did stop driving.”
“I agreed to stop driving.”
“That’s different?”
“To me.”
Richard rubbed his jaw.
Eleanor continued.
“Then she decided I shouldn’t attend meetings alone. Then that I should let her answer questions for me because I get tired. Then she started correcting me in front of people.”
Her mouth tightened.
“She has always liked correcting me. I suppose I deserve some of that.”
“Not this.”
“No.”
The word came quietly.
Maya watched Richard’s hand move toward Eleanor’s and then stop.
He seemed unsure whether touching her would comfort or crowd her.
Eleanor reached for him instead.
Their fingers joined.
The hotel attorney finally opened her notebook.
“Mrs. Pierce, I need to ask whether you feel safe leaving tonight.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“With Richard?”
“With anyone.”
“I do.”
“Do you live with Ms. Pierce?”
“No.”
“Does she have access to your home?”
Eleanor hesitated.
“Yes.”
Richard turned.
“She has a key?”
“Yes.”
May you like
“Why?”
“She was helping.”
