Carla"s cell rang. "It"s Dr. Sam," she said. "Hi, Doc! What? Okay. Nora"s going home now. We"re sneaking through the backyard. I"ll tell her. Bye." She turned to Nora. "Dr. Sam says the newspeople have Sh.o.r.ecrest staked out. They don"t know you were released yesterday, and of course Sh.o.r.ecrest isn"t going to give them any information. They"re outside our street because they"re waiting for you to come home."
"Let"s sneak through the backyard, then," Nora said.
Getting their coats, the two women exited the back door of the Johnson house and ran quickly across the lawn. There was a large privet hedge between their homes. Their kids had worn a pa.s.sage through the hedge over the years. They slipped through it, and removing her key from her pocket, Carla opened the kitchen door to the Buckley house. Entering quickly, they closed and locked the door behind them.
Nora looked about her, and smiled with pleasure. She was home. Removing her coat, she laid it aside and went to the fridge, opening it and looking in. There was a container of plain, fat-free yogurt, an open quart container of milk, and everything that had been in the fridge eight weeks ago. She laughed. "She was no housekeeper, poor Heidi," Nora remarked. "I"ll spend all afternoon cleaning up this mess. If only J. J. needed a science fair project, we could do the wonderful world of mold. I"m just going to toss everything. The plastic containers will have absorbed the smell after this long. Who doesn"t empty out a fridge of ancient food?"
"Will you be alright?" Carla asked.
"I"m fine," Nora a.s.sured her.
"Then I"ll go do the shopping. Anything other than the basic supplies to get you through until the reporters go away?" Carla inquired.
"Get me one of those rotisserie chickens the market does. And a box of Mallomars," Nora told her with a grin. "I can survive on chicken and cookies."
"I"m glad you haven"t changed entirely," Carla replied.
"Have I changed? Really?" Nora was surprised.
"Oh, yes. You"re more a.s.sured, stronger now. I guess what I"m saying is that you"re no longer a victim, Nora. You fought Jeff, and you"ve won." Carla b.u.t.toned her jacket as she spoke.
"I never meant for Heidi to be hurt," Nora said quickly.
"I know you didn"t," Carla answered her, and then blowing a kiss to her friend, she went out the kitchen door.
Nora picked up her own coat and went to the hall closet to hang it up. Returning to the kitchen, she got out a large black lawn-leaf bag, and dumped the contents of the fridge into it, pouring the milk down the sink, washing the yogurt away. There was only one gla.s.s ca.s.serole in the fridge. She sc.r.a.ped the contents of it into the black bag and washed the dish by hand, noting that the dishwasher was full of clean dishes. She put everything away and cleaned the sink. She wiped down the walls and gla.s.s shelves of the empty fridge. Then she went upstairs.
The unmade bed showed signs of one occupant. They were the same sheets she had put on the bed clean on New Year"s Day. Jeff"s pajamas were on the floor. She picked them up and, going into the hall, threw them down the stairs. They would go in the black bag with the rest of the garbage. She opened her walk-in closet. Her clothing was gone, and in its place hung two pairs of trendy jeans, a pair of flannel slacks, two wool sweaters, and a silk shirt. Pulling the clothes from their hangers, Nora threw them down the stairs as well.
She pulled the sheets from the bed. She was going to get a new bed. In fact she was going to redo the whole bedroom. She had always hated the decor in this room, but Jeff had liked it. The headboard was even similar to the one his parents had. She considered what she would change it to, but she was too distracted right now by the fact her husband had been s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g another woman in the bed in which he had conceived children with his wife. "b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" She wasn"t going to sleep in this room until it was redone. She"d use the guest room.
"Where are you?" Carla"s voice called.
"Upstairs," Nora said.
Carla"s footsteps sounded, and then she came into the bedroom. "What are you doing, and what"s all that stuff at the bottom of the stairs?"
"Garbage," Nora replied. "I"m moving into the guest room until I can redo this room. Where are my clothes?"
"Jeff had them packed up and put in the cellar," Carla answered. "I"ll get the guys to bring them up this weekend. I got the groceries. They"re in the kitchen. The reporters are still outside the street. When I went out they yelled questions at me. I just shrugged. Listen, Nora, if they don"t go by evening, and you have the lights on in here, they"re going to know you"re back. I wouldn"t put anything past them to get a picture or a story from you."
"I can live with just the television," Nora murmured.
"They could see the flickering from the outside," Carla responded.
"Tell Rick to issue a statement to the press that I will grant them a half hour tomorrow morning at eleven, and I"ll answer questions. But this is on the condition that they leave with their trucks now. And Carla, my windows will be dark tonight. You know the den has those heavy short draperies with the lining. I"ll draw them as soon as I go downstairs again."
"You"re going to access The Channel? Nora, the cable operator might give that information out to make a few bucks if you call. Then they"ll know you"re home," Carla fretted. "What if someone tries to jump the gun and get an exclusive?"
"I think I can handle it," Nora replied quietly.
"I"ll go call Rick," Carla said. "Do you want me to come back?"
Nora shook her head in the negative. "I think we"re safer if you don"t."
Carla shoved a cell phone at Nora. "Take it. I picked it up at the market. It"s one of those ones with the prepaid minutes. You"ve got one hundred twenty. It"s safer just in case someone is listening in on your line. And don"t answer your house phone, Nora. I"ll call the kids and your mom, and give them the cell"s number, okay?"
"You"re make this sound like a covert operation," Nora laughed.
"It is," Carla said, grinning. Then she hugged Nora. "G.o.d, it"s good to have you back, and to know you"re safe!"
"Rick still has to reason with Jeff, and Jeff isn"t going to be reasonable in jail," Nora reminded her friend. "Now scoot, and leave me to finish cleaning up my house."
Carla departed, and then called Nora once on her cell to tell her she had gotten in touch with Margo, J. J., and Jill, and given them the cell"s number. Then she had called Rick, and Rick had issued the statement. The media people and their trucks were now gone from the head of Ansley Court, but the cop and the barricade was still there just to ensure everyone"s privacy for the interim. "Need anything else tonight?" Carla asked. "I mean that I could give you."
Nora could imagine her grinning. "Nope. I"m fine," she replied. She had cleaned out the master bathroom, but she wasn"t going to use it. She found a fresh tube of toothpaste, a new toothbrush, and her own hairbrush. She put them in the guest bath. Until the master bath was cleaned thoroughly and redecorated, she wasn"t going in it. In fact she was going to gut this bathroom and put in all new fixtures.
It was getting dark now. Nora heard the clock in the foyer striking six p.m. She hurried downstairs, carved some chicken off the rotisserie bird Carla had brought, fixed a salad with some of the greens now in the clean fridge, made some iced tea, and sat down to eat. She wasn"t interested in the local news. She didn"t give a d.a.m.n who did what to whom overseas. The world was crazy now. All she wanted to do was survive the madness, and she had her escape in The Channel. She picked up her cell and dialed the cable company, ordering The Channel for the evening. The operator seemed neutral, and uninterested in who she was. She had never considered it before, but she now suspected that the operators taking calls for Suburban Cable were located somewhere else. They didn"t know her or the scandal now surrounding Ansley Court. She finished her meal, and put her dishes in the dishwasher. She hadn"t had to turn on any lights, and in the den the curtains were drawn tightly. Nora went into her laundry room and, taking a few clothespins, returned to the den and clipped the draperies shut where they just might allow a crack of light through.
She plunked herself in Jeff"s recliner. It was like new because he had hardly sat in it. The mantel clock struck eight. Nora turned on the television and waited. And then her penthouse living room appeared. Eagerly she put her hand on the screen, and was there. "Kyle!" she called.
He arose sleepily from the couch, the relief on his face evident. "G.o.d, Nora, I missed you," he told her, and wrapped his arms about her.
She held her face up to him for a kiss, and almost melted with the desire he instantly engendered in her body and soul. Their lips met, and when they parted once more, Nora said, "You owe me a ma.s.sage, Mr. Gorgeous." She smiled.
"And afterwards, what would madam"s wish be?" he said.
"To spend the entire evening with your talented c.o.c.k in my p.u.s.s.y, my darling!" Nora told him. "I missed you!"
"What has happened on your side of reality?" he asked her, taking her hand and leading her into the bathroom, where the ma.s.sage table was set up and waiting.
"So far everything has been just as Mr. Nicholas said. I woke up in a nursing facility. Heidi got beaten up and pressed charges. Jeff is in jail." She undid her robe and climbed naked on the ma.s.sage table.
"Are you happy, Red?" he asked her softly, pushing her hair aside to kiss the back of her neck. "G.o.d, I missed your scent!" he groaned.
"Yes," Nora told him. "I"ve never been happier, although I wish Heidi hadn"t been hurt. Use almond oil, darling."
He poured some of the heavily scented oil into his big hand and began to smooth it down her back. "I don"t know how long I can do this," he whispered to her.
"I want the full treatment," she told him.
He laughed softly. "You"re fully prepared to torture me, huh?"
"Maybe," she said.
Neither of them heard the elevator doors opening in the living room. The plush carpeting stilled the footsteps crossing over to the bathroom door, and then they heard Mr. Nicholas"s low, cultured voice. "Good evening, Kyle, Nora."
She started, and blushed. Kyle"s hands grew still on her body.
"No, no, my dear," he said. "Let Kyle finish what he is doing. I do so enjoy the sight of a beautiful female form. We can talk as he ma.s.sages you. Carry on, Kyle." He came around the table and drew up a padded stool, upon which he sat. "Now, tell me, Nora everything has gone as I promised you?"
"So far," Nora replied.
"And tonight as Kyle makes love to you, your husband will see it in his dreams. It will be the final straw for him. He has behaved quite badly during his short incarceration, I"m afraid. They have had to restrain him. He had been so unpleasant the judge refused bail. It really doesn"t do to annoy these small-town judges. I actually have come to believe that no one has ever said no to Jeff, or refused him, in his entire life. He seems unable to cope. It will not seem odd therefore that they find him dead in the morning. It will seem the natural result of his choler. And then, my dear, you are a free woman."
"Thank you," Nora responded. His feet were very narrow, and he was wearing very well-polished black leather shoes. But then he tipped her face up to his. His fingers were very warm against her chin. Almost hot.
"So now, my dear, we must discuss your repayment of my kindness," Mr. Nicholas said. He averted his gaze from hers momentarily. "Turn her over, Kyle, so Nora and I may speak on this matter. You can finish the ma.s.sage when I have gone."
Kyle turned her over, but as he did he wrapped her in the sheet that had been covering the table, thus preserving her modesty. Their eyes met in silent understanding. Nora sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the ma.s.sage table.
"Ah, excellent," Mr. Nicholas said. "Now, my dear, one must always pay the piper, and you have said yourself that you would meet your obligations to me. Is that not so, Nora?"
"Yes," she answered him. What was he going to ask her? Whatever it was, it was worth it if she could be free of Jeff, and her house and her children were safe.
"I am a man of many and varied interests," Mr. Nicholas began. "The Channel is just one of them. There are other things requiring my attention now, and I find I must choose someone to be the new administrator of this enterprise. I choose you, my dear Nora. You are exactly the person for whom I have been looking."
"You want me to be the administrator of The Channel? I can"t!" Nora cried. "I wouldn"t have the faintest idea of what to do. I don"t even know how all of this is even possible. I"ve never held down a job in all of my life. I"ve just learned how to operate a computer. I know nothing of office procedure."
"You don"t have to, Nora," he told her calmly. "You will have others to handle the mundane ch.o.r.es of The Channel. But you have what I want in my deputy. You are intelligent, and there is a well of anger deep down inside of you that exists. Your intuitiveness is most promising, my dear Nora."
She was astounded. She was frightened. "I can"t," she said.
"Of course you can," he replied. "And you will. You owe me a great debt, my dear, and I have kept my word. Now you must keep yours. Why is it you humans take so greedily of what I offer and then demur about paying the price? Think, Nora! What would your life have been without The Channel? Without Kyle? Do you want to go back to the way it was? Your husband deserting you for another woman? Throwing you out of your house? Making you a penniless wretch. Your children"s dreams destroyed. I can make it happen if that is your wish, and you will owe me nothing."
"The Devil and Daniel Webster." Nora was suddenly reminded. But she couldn"t think of a way to talk herself out of this predicament. She looked directly at Mr. Nicholas. "Can I continue to traverse between these two worlds?" she asked him.
"Of course," he said. "At least until you are an old woman, and die."
"Then what happens to me?" Nora queried him, but she already knew the answer.
"You will remain here within The Channel," he answered her. "Think about it, my dear Nora. You will be forever young! Forever beautiful! Forever desirable!"
"And I will have Kyle?" Why was it you never knew when you were making a bargain with the devil? Nora wondered sadly to herself.
"Of course," Mr. Nicholas said. "He is yours for as long as you wish him to be. Consider, my dear, you will have the kind of power of which all rulers dream."
"But I don"t really understand what it is you want of me, expect of me," Nora said.
"I will teach you everything you need to know, my dear girl," he promised. "Kyle will open an antique shop in Egret Pointe," Mr. Nicholas said.
"Kyle is human?" Nora was surprised.
"All too human, I fear, eh, Kyle?" And Mr. Nicholas laughed darkly. Then he continued. "He is quite the expert in seventeenth-and eighteenth-century English and American antique furniture, gla.s.s, and china. He will advertise for an a.s.sistant. You will answer the ad, and he will hire you. Although you will not need to work, your doing so will be but part of the metamorphosis you undergo in your friends" and family"s eyes. People will admire you for your grit and determination despite all the tragedy that has befallen you. The shop will be quite successful in part to your presence. I do like an investment to pay off."
"I do know something about antiques," Nora said.
He laughed. "Whether you do or not isn"t really important," Mr. Nicholas told her. "The office upstairs where you will work most days will be where you will manage The Channel for me. You may want to check into the office at The Channel in the evenings occasionally."
"Will I have Margaret?" Nora said.
"No, no, my dear. Margaret is far too valuable to me. She has been involved for years with my other interests. I shall give you Celia, who works at the desk across from Margaret"s. Edna will remain, moving up to Celia"s position, and I shall give you another girl as well. You and Celia will be in constant touch during the day."
"Wouldn"t Celia be a good administrator for The Channel?" Nora ventured. "After all, she knows all about it, and how it operates. I don"t."
"Celia would never aspire to such a position," Mr. Nicholas said. "Besides, she doesn"t have your intellect, or depth of duplicity."
"You make it sound as if I am evil," Nora cried.
"All humanity has the ability to be evil, dear Nora," Mr. Nicholas told her. "How many of you can really turn the other cheek? A few, but not the majority. Could you really have stood by and said "So be it" if Jeff had taken your home, left you penniless, and destroyed your children"s future? That is part of what being good is, but most people can"t do it."
"Does everyone who is lured into The Channel end up d.a.m.ned?" Nora asked him sadly.
"No," he said. "Most people live their foolish fantasies for a time, and then grow bored with it and go away. Very few can be entrapped in this manner. And fewer yet with your potential. Don"t look so distressed, my dear Nora. Being bad is far more fun than being good. Look what being good, being dutiful, got you."
"Then I have no choice," she said softly.
"You made your choice," Mr. Nicholas said quietly.
"What if I say no, I won"t do it?" she asked him.
"It shall be as it was back just before J. J."s graduation last June," he told her. "Of course you will remember all of this, and you will not be able to convince yourself it was your imagination, my dear. You shall know that you willfully threw this opportunity away. You shall lose your beloved house. Jill will not be able to finish law school for at least six years. She will have to work in order to pay her tuition, and of course she has no skills other than waitressing and temping as office help. As for J. J., he will give up his scholarship to help you survive. You see, Nora, you really do have a choice," Mr. Nicholas said. "If you take the path I have laid out for you, you will be a very wealthy woman in your reality. You will inherit everything that Jeff has ama.s.sed. Heidi will accept repayment with interest for the moneys she has expended on the bridge loan. Be generous with her. She cannot afford to retain possession of the co-op. Even if it is in her name, she will be glad to get her small investment back, and leave selling it to you. Surprisingly she feels guilt about the children"s college funds. And of course she has other goals in mind now, which I will see she attains in return for her cooperation. Brad will make certain she understands, and does what she is told.
By the way, do get Rick to have Raoul Kramer negotiate the sale of your husband"s partnership in Buckley, Coutts and Wickham. The senior partners will attempt to cheat you. And do invest the moneys conservatively."
Nora shuddered. It was like being on the other side of the looking gla.s.s. It was surreal. She was getting investment advice from the Devil. But how could she live with herself knowing what she had done to her children by refusing him? And she would remember, Mr. Nicholas said. Nora believed him. Everything he had promised her had come true. Why would any woman in her right mind give up all of this, all of what she could have, out of a sense of right and wrong? She looked at Kyle. His face was expressionless as if he didn"t want to influence her. They would be together every day in his antique shop, and every night here within The Channel. "How long must I repay this debt I owe you?" she asked Mr. Nicholas.
"Does it really matter, my dear Nora?" he asked her with a small smile.
"No," she said with a deep sigh. "It doesn"t."
"Then we are agreed, my dear? You will accept my offer?"
"Yes," Nora told Mr. Nicholas, "I will. How clever you are, sir, to seek out a weakness and use it to your own advantage."
"You will learn how to do that in time, my dear," he promised her.
"Will I learn all of your little tricks?" she queried him.
Mr. Nicholas laughed. "No," he said, "but you will learn enough over the coming years to be quite valuable to me, my dear Nora. Oh, one small thing more, dear girl, employee. The Kyle who will exist in your reality, your world, will not know you other than as his employee. Only in The Channel will he be the man you have come to love, and who loves you. His memory of you in your reality will not exist. You must, after all, suffer some small punishment for your sins. Even I am not allowed to put the universe out of balance." He stood up. "I will leave you and Kyle to your private pleasures now." And with a neat little bow he departed the bathroom. They heard the elevator doors closing behind him as he went.
"Do you want to know?" Kyle asked her.
"I know what I need to know for now, I suppose," Nora answered him.
"I was never privy to what he intended to do with you," Kyle said.
"No, you wouldn"t have been," she replied, lying back on the table, and unfolding the sheet that had covered her so that she was naked once again.