Power Play: A Novel (31 page)

“No, it’s not okay. It’s John, but not what you think. We’re fine. It’s his parents, Mom.” She looked at her mother and made her promise not to tell a soul.

“Who am I going to tell, for heaven’s sake? Of course I won’t tell.
What’s wrong?” After the sexual harassment incident, she wondered if Marshall was in some kind of trouble again.

“His parents are getting a divorce,” she cut to the chase. “His dad came up to Tahoe on Friday and told his mom he’s divorcing her, and John says she’s falling apart. But it gets worse. He told her he’s had a girlfriend in L.A. for eight years. She’s a lot younger than his mom, I don’t know, twenty-five or thirty or something. But he’s been with her all this time, and that’s why he goes to L.A. every week, to be with her, and I guess he has to work there too. But they even have a house together in Malibu. And Mom, you won’t believe this, they have two little girls together, twins! Can you believe that? He wanted to show John and Lindsay pictures of them, because they’re their sisters. Lindsay had a fit. John was on the phone with me all night. I didn’t even know what to say to him. Anyway, his dad is filing for divorce, and he’s going to marry the girlfriend with the twins.”

“Holy shit,” Fiona said with a look of astonishment. She had heard stories like it before. People had second hidden families, and mistresses, but this was very close to home, and Marshall had appeared to be such a model husband and father. You just never knew what went on in people’s lives. She felt sorry for John and the other children, and especially for his mother. So the poster boy CEO wasn’t such a good guy after all. Logan’s instincts about him had been right. And he probably was guilty of the affair in the harassment suit too.

Above all, Fiona felt sorry for his wife. She had stuck by him through the threatened harassment suit. And maybe there were others, who knew. Marshall wasn’t nearly as respectable as he seemed, far from it. Fiona wondered why he had decided to marry the younger woman now, after so many years. Fiona felt sorry for them all, except the mistress with the twins. She should have known
better than to get involved with a married man and have babies with him. Fiona assumed she was some gold digger who was after what she could get and had hung on long enough to win the jackpot, or maybe blackmailed Marshall into it. But she surely wasn’t a decent girl, sleeping with a married man, and breaking up his family for her own. Fiona did not approve, and all her sympathies were with Liz and her children, and her heart went out to John.

“He says that was always his worst fear,” Alyssa told her, “that his parents would get divorced. Especially after that woman accused his father of sexual harassment and said she had an affair with him. Maybe she really did, and he paid her off to lie about it.” Anything seemed possible now. Marshall had lost all credibility with his family and those who knew him, once they heard the story of his mistress with the twins. “John says his mom’s been a nervous wreck ever since that woman came forward and accused him of having an affair with her. John says his mom believed his dad, but she was upset anyway. I guess it scared her. And now John says the whole family is in an uproar. His older brother says he’ll never speak to him again. He thinks their dad is a sociopath. And Lindsay hasn’t spoken to him all weekend. John doesn’t know what to think. He’s always respected him so much. He idolized him.” Alyssa spilled out the whole story to her mother’s astonished ears.

“Mom, what can I do?” Alyssa asked her with a worried look. “John’s so upset. And he says he’s ashamed for his father too. And he’s sure it’ll be all over the press.”

“It probably will,” Fiona confirmed to her. “These things come out eventually, especially if he’s going to marry her now.” Several public figures had been in similar situations, and the tabloid press always had a heyday with it. “There’s nothing you can do, sweetheart,
except be there for John, and comfort him. He didn’t do anything wrong. None of this is his fault.”

“He loves his father so much, and now he says he’ll never forgive him.”

“Maybe he won’t. Or he might one day. It’ll all take time.”

“He said he’ll never meet those girls, or accept them as his sisters.”

“That’s sad for them too. They’re automatically outcasts because of what their parents did, which isn’t fair to them. All the children are paying the price for the sins of the father. And so is his wife. I can only imagine how John feels.” And it suddenly occurred to her that it supported all of Jillian’s theories about the outrageous sexual behavior of men in power, and that power was an aphrodisiac to them. This was a perfect example of just that.

Fiona looked at her watch then and realized that Logan was about to arrive any minute, and she still had to shower and dress. She cleared the table and Alyssa helped her. They had been talking for two hours. And Fiona told her she had to dress.

“Are you going somewhere, Mom?” Alyssa looked surprised. Her mother never went out on Sundays. She stayed home and worked, or spent time with Alyssa or Mark.

“I’m having a guest,” Fiona said, avoiding her eyes as she folded the newspaper and put it away.

“Like who?”

“A friend,” Fiona said vaguely, and Alyssa looked at her with wary eyes.

“What kind of friend?”

“The one who took me to the baseball game yesterday.”

“You mean you’re seeing him again?” Alyssa looked shocked as her mother nodded.

“It’s not a big deal, I’ve had dinner with him a couple of times, and he’s good company. I was going to introduce him to Aunt Jill, but I guess we had too much fun and she’s been away for too long.” Fiona smiled at her daughter, who still looked concerned. She was not used to her mother dating and wasn’t sure it was a good idea. What if he turned out to be a jerk? Or mean? Fiona had had the same concerns, but she didn’t now. She was almost certain Logan was a good guy, whether they turned out to be compatible or not. Time would tell.

“Isn’t he an investigative reporter?”

“Yes. Why?”

“For God’s sake, don’t tell him about John’s dad, Mom.” She looked panicked.

“Of course not.” He had given her his word the night before, but she wouldn’t have told him a story like that. It would come out soon enough without her adding to it. And out of respect for John, she wouldn’t have told anyone. “I would never do that,” she assured her daughter, who looked relieved. “Why don’t you stay and meet him? You can have lunch with us at the pool. I think you’ll like him.”

Alyssa didn’t comment and looked at her mother with concern. “Why are you dating him, Mom? You have us. You don’t need a guy.”

“That’s probably true,” Fiona said matter-of-factly, knowing instantly what her daughter was worried about. They were jealous of her time, and didn’t want to share her with anyone else. Her solitude and availability suited them, and there was no one for them to compete with. “But you and your brother are both in college. He’s in New York and only comes home for school vacations, and you’re busy and now you have John. It’s nice for me to have a little fun too. I’m not going anywhere, and you’re always going to be my first
priority,” she reassured her. “But this might be nice for me. If it isn’t, I’ll stop. We’re not serious about this, and we’re going to keep it light. Okay?” She smiled at her, and Alyssa nodded, but now she wanted to take a look at the guy. Her mother hadn’t had a date in years, and she couldn’t understand why that had changed. She had no idea that her aunt had been urging her mother to get out and date. And she wasn’t at all sure she liked it. It was different for her dad, they hardly ever saw him, but their mother was always around in the evenings and on weekends and free for them, and she didn’t want anything to be different now. But her mother seemed sensible about it, and not all romantic and wound up.

Alyssa lay by the pool until her mother was ready. Fiona had put on shorts and a T-shirt, and she hadn’t gotten all dressed up. She wasn’t wearing makeup, and her hair was down. She was wearing flip-flops and looked totally relaxed and like herself when the doorbell rang. Alyssa liked the fact that she hadn’t gotten all dolled up for her date, which she would have considered a sign that her mother was now out of her mind, like John’s father. And she was pleasantly surprised when Logan walked in. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, was clean shaven, and had dark hair. He looked intelligent, attractive, and relaxed, and he was wearing flip-flops too, and he had brought French bread, cheese, and wine for them. He seemed happy to see Fiona, and treated Alyssa like an interesting adult and talked to her about more than school. And when they all sat down at the table by the pool, he treated her mother more like a casual friend than a date, although it was obvious that he liked and respected her. Alyssa couldn’t find anything she didn’t like about him, and when she helped her mother clear the table, she whispered to her in the kitchen.

“He’s cool, Mom … he’s hot!” She giggled.

“Which is he?” Fiona laughed at her. “Cool or hot? Don’t confuse me.”

“Both. He’s nice, and I think he likes you.” And this time she seemed pleased. She approved.

“I thought he’d be perfect for Aunt Jill,” she said with a tinge of regret.

“He’s too young for her. She’d look silly with him. He’s just right for you.”

“So you like him?” Fiona checked the polls again, and Alyssa laughed.

“A lot.” She left a little while later, and Logan complimented her on her daughter, as they lay in bathing suits by the pool.

“She’s a really bright kid, just like you.” He smiled at her and then looked worried for a minute. “Did I pass muster?” He knew how important her children were to her, and he could see how protective Alyssa was of her mother.

“With flying colors. You are both ‘hot’ and ‘cool.’ I think that’s high praise from that age group.” He looked relieved, and then turned on his side to look at her.

“I really like you, Fiona. I feel so comfortable with you.”

And she was enjoying being with him too. Nothing exciting happened that afternoon. They just lay in the sun and talked. They ate the rest of the cheese and wine for an early dinner, and then he drove back to the city. And he kissed her before he left, on the lips this time, with more fervor than the day before, but not too much. She didn’t feel as though he was crawling all over her, or desperate to get her into bed. Everything was happening at a comfortable pace for her. She had only just agreed to date him, so he wasn’t rushing
anything, and they were savoring each moment together. And they had agreed to go out the following weekend, which worked well for her, she had a busy week ahead.

He sent her a text when he got home, thanking her for a great day. And she did the same when she answered him. And so far it was an even exchange, which was exactly what she wanted. She wanted a partner and a friend, not someone who would push her around, and she didn’t want to push him around either. Logan seemed like an even match. She was very pleased. And she couldn’t wait to tell Jillian about it when she got home.

On Monday morning, Marshall did all he planned to, in order of importance, as soon as he got to the office. It had been a long, unpleasant, stressful weekend, and he was happy to take refuge at work. He hadn’t heard from Liz or his children since he left Tahoe, but he didn’t expect to. He had told Liz to find a lawyer. He wanted to get the divorce moving soon, and she needed to decide what she wanted to do about the house, if she wanted to keep it or sell it. He was amenable either way, and he was going to buy a new house for him and Ashley, possibly in the city, which might be fun for her, or maybe in Hillsborough, where the girls could have horses. The peninsula would be easier for him. And he was going to leave Marin County to Liz, so they didn’t run into her. He had already thought of everything.

His first call of the day was to Connie Feinberg to tell her he had “taken care of business” over the weekend, just as she had wanted.

“Liz and I are getting a divorce,” he told her simply.

“I’m sorry to hear it, Marshall.” She sounded sad, far more than he did. She was a little shocked at his callous tone when he made the announcement. “And I’m sorry if the board pressed that decision. We would have been fine either way. We just didn’t want you vulnerable to another scandal, which would eventually involve UPI. But I’m sure this is a heartbreak for all of you, if this is how it worked out.”

“The kids will get over it,” he said matter-of-factly, “and Liz and I need to move on. The other situation would never have happened if our marriage was still viable. And I stuck with it much too long. It was time to clean this up. The board was right. I’m calling my attorney this morning. I’d like to file as soon as possible, which means that Ashley and I could get married by February. If there’s any stall on the money issues, we can bifurcate that from the divorce so nothing gets slowed down.” He was moving ahead at full speed. Connie had scared him.

“We’re not asking you to rush this,” Connie said, feeling responsible, and sorry for his soon-to-be-ex-wife. “Once you tell people you’re separated and getting divorced, the rest is up to you, and you can be seen with or involved with anyone you want. I’m sure there will be some comment at some point about your young daughters, but these things happen in today’s world. The order of how people do things seems to have changed, and it’s not nearly as shocking as it would have been twenty or thirty years ago. As soon as people hear about it, they’ll forget. At least we hope so. And thank you for dealing with this so quickly.” She had spoken to him exactly a week ago, and she hadn’t expected him to move so fast, but she was glad he had. “Is Liz okay?” She sounded worried, but Marshall seemed very relaxed. Once he had made the decision, particularly after he
saw Ashley, it was done. After years of indecision and inertia, when Connie lowered the boom on him, he had moved faster than the speed of sound.

“She’ll be fine,” he said about Liz. “I’m planning to take good care of her.” He meant financially, which Connie instantly understood. But Connie knew that there was more than that involved. A fifty-year-old woman had just lost a twenty-seven-year marriage, her status, her job, her purpose in life, and the man she loved. Connie was sure that Liz felt she had lost everything, and couldn’t imagine a life without Marshall. She hoped he was aware of it too. It didn’t sound like he was, but it was none of Connie’s business now. He had done as she had asked. Her involvement stopped there. She thanked him again before they hung up.