Authors: Tara McTiernan
"Yeah, I'm a pretty basic kind of cook: chicken soup, meatloaf, mac and cheese. Nothing like Lucie. I'm really psyched to try her food at Bianca's. You and Grant are still coming, right?"
"Uh huh. I guess. I don't want to let Lucie and Bianca down."
"Listen, any chance you want to come out on Thursday? Just for a quick drink at a very lowbrow place I know? Me and some of the other girls are going. It would be good for you to get out? Are you back at work? Wait, I guess I know that answer: you're home right now and this is when you'd be at school. Anyway...come? Please?"
Kate smiled and it felt strange, as if she was contorting her face. "Oh? Okay?"
"Yes! All right, let me give you the deets. It's in Darien, near your house. Know where O'Malley's is?"
"That little shack place?"
"That's it!"
They agreed to meet at six and Sharon checked for the millionth time to see if Kate needed anything and Kate, for the millionth time, said she was fine. Kate said goodbye and hung up. The facts hadn't changed: she still had to help herself. Looking at the phone with trepidation, she took a deep breath and picked it back up. Now or never.
Fifteen minutes later, Pastor Grimes' sorrowful voice ringing in her ear, she hung up for the second time, this time without feeling of mild happiness she'd had after the first call. No, this was sadness and regret that she felt. But she had done it, freed them to go and hire another teacher. Maybe someday Kate would teach again, but not right now. Thinking of teaching made her think of David and their endlessly repeated lessons together. She had to make that call, too, find out how he was doing, but it would have to wait. She could only manage one heartrending call a day. Soon, maybe later this week. At least things hadn't gotten worse or she would have heard from her parents.
Propelled by the forward-motion of her call to Pastor Grimes, Kate got up, straightened the bed and went downstairs, averting her eyes as she passed the nursery. She would clean the house, which had gotten dusty and dingy due to her malaise even though Grant took a swipe at it here and there over the last few weeks. She would even steel herself and dust and vacuum the nursery. Even if she had to cry the whole time, she would do it.
Then, assuming the garage called and told her that her car was ready in time for her to run to the store, she would make a nice wholesome dinner for Grant. Sharon's mention of homey meatloaf had inspired her: Grant's favorite meal was stuffed pork chops, mashed potatoes with gravy, and peas. She would surprise him tonight with dinner, candlelight, and a genuine, though tremulous, smile. Tomorrow, she would go back to the office and get things straightened out there too. They wouldn't need Tiffany anymore with Kate back full-time, but the girl would have a glowing reference and some severance pay. Everything had to get back to normal sometime and that time was now.
Kate was in the utility room pulling out her dust rags when she thought she saw someone pass the window leading into the back yard. It was just a fleeting shadow. Was someone there? She walked around to the kitchen and looked out over the back yard, leaning over the sink. Someone's dark-haired head was below the window, almost pressed against the house. It looked like the person was wearing all black, like a ninja.
Alarmed, Kate stepped back from the sink. Who was that? Was it a burglar? She looked over at the cordless phone sitting in its charger on the counter, picked it up and was about to dial when it occurred to her it could be a teenager in the neighborhood, some kid playing around. She should check first.
She crept through the back of the house to the small sunroom that was lined with windows. It would be a perfect place to be able to see the entirety of the stranger in their yard as it jutted out next to the kitchen. The only problem was that it had a flimsy screen door whose lock was questionable, so if the person was dangerous and he saw her, she would have to rush to close and lock the door that led to the sunroom before calling the police.
Kate peered around the doorframe and out through the glass. She screamed, jerking back. The person was right there, outside the window! Looking right at her!
It was Bianca, her hair in a severe bun and wearing a black blouse with black slacks. Bianca's always-sleepy eyes flew wide open, terrified by Kate's scream.
As soon as Kate realized, she started nervously laughing and rushed to open the screen door.
"Bianca! Oh, my God? You scared me?"
"I scared
you
? I think my hair's turned white," Bianca said, looking visibly shaken.
"No? No, it's still black? Oh? I saw you and I didn't know who it was? I thought you were a burglar?"
Bianca shook her head, her color returning. "No, I'm no burglar. I was just...stopping by for a visit."
"Oh? That's nice! How sweet of you?" Kate flashed back to the dark head below her kitchen window. What was Bianca doing back there? Why hadn't she rung the front doorbell the way she always did? Well, there had to be some reason, but Kate wasn't going to make things worse than they already were by making a big deal out of it. "Come in? We can have tea. Or I have coffee? Or we've got tons of soup! Thanks again?"
Sharon wasn't the only one who'd brought over soup. Bianca had given them some fancy soups from a gourmet shop in Greenwich and Lucie had dropped off a huge container of a delicious vegetable soup Lucie called "soup au pistou" as well as a chicken dish with a silky rich sauce. They had so much soup their freezer was packed solid with it.
Bianca smiled and said, "I'd love some coffee if you feel like making it. And I'm glad you liked the soups. I love their pea soup with oysters and Pernod. Wasn't that one to die for?"
Kate, leading them into the house, said, "I haven't had that one yet, there was so much food everyone brought and the soups were the easiest to freeze. I can't wait, though? I love shellfish? But I can never have any?"
"Why not? You're not allergic, are you? But no, you had mussels at Ibiza."
"No, I'm not allergic? It's Grant. He's really allergic. He would, like, die, if he had any? So, no shellfish!"
There was silence behind her, and Kate turned back to look at Bianca, who had stopped, as if thunderstruck, in the middle of the den. "What?" Kate asked.
Blinking, Bianca smiled again, "Oh, nothing. I was just thinking. Let's get that coffee and we can have a little chat. I'm so glad you're home. I was thinking you might be back at work at the nursery school and I would miss you. I do miss you? I hope you're doing all right?"
Kate cringed a little, realizing how neglectful she'd been of their friendship and also knowing she would have to tell Bianca the truth about her decision to quit her job, the job Bianca had so selflessly gotten for her. Kate turned and led her friend into the kitchen, wishing she could fast forward through the next half hour and Bianca's disappointment.
Mojito
"Bye, Bianca! Thanks so much?" Kate said, standing in her front yard.
"Toodles, darling!" Bianca waved gaily at Kate as she pulled away in John's black Mercedes, her wide smile turning into a rage-filled grimace as soon as she was out of sight. Stupid mouse! She still couldn't believe it, Kate leaving her dream job and destroying part two of Bianca's plan. She was even going to let Tiffany go, who had turned into a perfect little mole, reporting faithfully to Bianca about everything that took place in the office.
From checking the garage for cars to peeping in the windows of the Palmer's house on their ideally quiet street, Bianca had been careful as always. She'd driven John's Mercedes, his less-favorite car as he preferred to show off in his silver Porsche Boxster. The Mercedes was a commonplace car in Darien, and therefore barely visible. She parked on the street in front of the house so it looked like a legitimate visit by some bland-looking woman in all black. At least that's what the neighbors would have noticed, if anything. She even, luckily, followed her own rule and left the "evidence" - Polaroid photos of her breasts and her freshly-waxed vulva that she was planning to plant in the house - sitting in a gift bag in the car until she'd confirmed the house was empty.
Everything went wrong anyway. Where was Kate's car? Bianca wasn't going to ask and reveal her investigation and Kate never said. But could Kate scream! Bianca now knew she'd gotten too comfortable waltzing into the Palmer's house through the back door, spritzing perfume in the air and smearing lipstick on Grant's clothes and going through their personal things looking for something she could use.
In all her searching she'd found nothing, and then today Kate opened her mouse-mouth and gave Bianca the solution she'd been looking for. Seafood! Shellfish, to be exact, would be her way to get everyone else sick at the dinner party and not Grant. She'd demand some kind of gourmet fish stew from Lucie; she was the hostess after all, and it was due to her generosity that Edie, who'd accepted the invitation, would be sampling Lucie's cooking. A handful of rotten raw oysters should do the trick and would be barely detectable with all the seasoning and other seafood mixed in. Grant would have to have something else during that course.
Grant would also have a roofie, dissolved in his drink. Then she'd get him alone. She realized now that his good-guy act was a shield and she had to break through it by force. Once on the other side, their love consummated, he would be hers. In fact, she probably didn't need to plant those photos after all, and even if she'd been successful, Kate was so stupid she'd probably think of some excuse that would clear Grant of any suspicion. She was remarkably stubborn about that, surprisingly so.
Bianca smiled then, steering the car down the lovely tree-lined streets of Darien and remembering her favorite color smeared all over the floor of The Vault, footprints of red stark on ebony. Kate might desperately cling to her idealistic view of her husband, but she wasn't able to hold on to that baby. It really would have been Bianca's most successful scheme ever if it wasn't for Sharon. Bianca's smile faded. Had Sharon seen? Or just suspected? Bianca had held Sharon's gaze a second too long, she knew that.
Bianca had turned and ran down the stairs, as if to help, all the while wondering if her act was for naught. But she hadn't heard a thing, not a peep from Sharon or any of the girls suggesting that she had anything to do with Kate's fall. And Bianca had certainly worked hard to look innocent, even hanging around the emergency room and making all the usual sad faces and sounds with Sharon and Chelsea. That was why she was so shocked at Grant's treatment of her, back then before she understood what she had to do.
"Grant!" Bianca had stood up so that he could see her as he strode into reception. Now they would be united. He would see how good she was, angelic as Kate. Yes, tonight he would finally see Bianca, his eyes open at last, and then lust and need would follow.
He glanced over and did a double-take, pausing. "Oh, hi. Um, I have to...," he said, vaguely pointing in the direction of the reception desk. Then he just walked away.
Bianca startled and stared after him. Where was it? Their moment that she knew would happen now? Kate was useless, washed up, broken goods. He wouldn't want her anymore. And here Bianca was, gorgeous and sympathetic, her arms outreached.
She realized that they were, in fact, outreached, and put them down at her sides. Then she sat down again and watched jealously as Grant talked to the woman at the desk and then was ushered away, back through the doors and into the inner sanctum of the emergency room. She ground her teeth slowly, imagining Grant and Kate's reunion. What was wrong with this man? Why wasn't he lusting after her like all men? What was he made of? It drove her mad. She felt a tickling, a crawling black bug, in her throat and swallowed it angrily down.
Worse, she had to stay and watch Grant and Kate made goo-goo eyes at each other when they came back out, Grant pushing a diminished waif-like Kate in a wheelchair, because the rest of them were still waiting for Lucie. Grant didn't even look at Bianca then, his gaze reserved for his wife, and the pair left swiftly. To add insult to injury, Bianca had to sit through an hour more of pretending she gave a shit and an introduction to Lucie's loser boyfriend, Ryan, a scruffy guy who had both ears pierced, making Bianca wonder if he was bisexual.