“I know,” Susan waved her hand dismissively. “Maria or Rose, right?” She shook her head and headed for Ronnie’s office. Margaret jumped up immediately.
“Ms. Cartwright, I don’t think she wants to see anyone.”
“Oh no, Margaret. She wants to see someone. It just isn’t me.” With that, she reached for the door handle.
“I don’t…” Ronnie began, stopping when she saw who it was. “Susan, I’m very busy.”
“Busy doing what? Hiding in your office and working yourself to exhaustion?” She closed the door and stood in front of her sister’s desk. “Ronnie, you can’t keep this up.”
“Don’t start playing mother hen with me. I’m not in the mood.”
“And what do you plan to do? Stay in this depression? Have you looked in a mirror lately?”
The strain had taken its toll on Ronnie. Dark circles under her eyes were a testament to the lack of sleep. Her cheeks were drawn, her hair given only the barest of care. The sullen woman had taken to spending the night in her office, finding an empty home too much to bear. Susan recognized her sister’s outfit as one kept in the office closet for emergencies.
“Come to my house for dinner tonight, Ronnie,” she urged. “You know Jack and the kids would love to see you.”
“No. I have things to attend to here.”
“No word from Rose yet?”
“She left the Barcade a week ago and checked into the Maverick. Traded in one dive for another.” Ronnie rubbed her face with her hands. “She must have left instructions with the front desk not to let any calls through. They keep taking messages but she won’t return my calls.” Susan nodded, having already known those facts thanks to frequent phone calls to Maria.
“Have you been over to try and talk to her again?”
“What’s the point?” Ronnie sighed. “I did that twice and she wouldn’t even open the door for me.” She buried her head in her hands. “She just keeps telling me to go away.”
“Sis, I hate to say this but maybe you should consider moving on.”
Ronnie lifted her head and gave her sister a look of total desperation. “I can’t, Susan. Don’t you understand that she’s everything to me?” A tear rolled down her cheek. “I need her like I need air or water. I feel so empty without her.” She turned her head away, angrily wiping away the tears that seemed to form so easily during the past week. “What’s all this worth?”
“Hmm?” Susan didn’t understand the question.
“What’s all this worth?” She gestured at the reports and papers on her desk. “What are gains and ratios and profits worth if there’s nothing to show for it? What’s the precious Cartwright reputation and status worth if the one woman I need most in my life won’t even speak to me?”
“Ronnie, you’re talking crazy now. You know as well as I do this business has to survive and make money.”
“For what? So we can have a few more zeros in our bank accounts?” She stood up and looked out the window. “It doesn’t mean anything without her.”
“Veronica?” Ronnie wiped her face with her hand before turning to see Beatrice standing in the doorway. “I was downtown doing some shopping and I was hoping you girls would join me for lunch.” She stepped inside and shut the door. “What happened to your friend? I thought she replaced Laura.”
“She left,” Ronnie said without elaboration. “I’m too busy for lunch today, Mother. Maybe Susan can go with you.”
“Well, it’s nothing important I guess.” She sat down on the leather sofa. “So that woman you tried to help left? I could have told you it wouldn’t work.” She looked at her younger daughter.
“Those people don’t understand what hard work is all about. They just want to sit around and collect a check. I suppose she’s filed for unemployment to pick your sister’s pocket some more.”
“Rose isn’t like that, Mother,” Susan defended. “She didn’t quit because she didn’t like to work. There were other reasons.”
“There’s no excuse for leaving a good paying job except pure laziness. It’s in their blood.”
“In whose blood, Mother?” Ronnie snapped. “The poor white trash that you love to talk about?” Her hands gripped the back of her chair, knuckles white with the strain. “I’m sure there are people like that, but Rose isn’t one of them. She’s good and honest and would give her last dime to help another person out.”
“Veronica…” Beatrice’s tone was low, warning.
“No. I’ve had it. You badmouth everyone who isn’t a blueblood like us. Rose has neverdone anything to earn your dislike, yet you treat her like a bastard at a family reunion.” Seething with anger, Ronnie let loose the words that refused to be kept back any longer. “I don’t care what you think, Mother, I love Rose and I won’t have you talking badly about her, do you understand me?”
Susan took a step back, certain that her mother and sister were about to have a royal battle of words. Never had any of them stood up to her mother and now Ronnie had just announced her defiance on the most taboo of subjects. Beatrice stiffened and pursed her lips.
“I thought that issue was settled years ago or have you forgotten your promise to your poor father?” The matriarch now stood in front of Ronnie’s desk, her hands resting on the mahogany top. “You swore to him that you were through with those perverted ideas.”
The strain of losing Rose sapped any tact or restraint Ronnie had left. “You think telling me not to love women would make those feelings go away? It didn’t. You two forced me to promise that no matter how I felt. What is so wrong with loving another woman?”
“Veronica, think about your position for a minute.”
“Fuck my position!” Ronnie shoved away from her chair and took a step forward noting that Susan quickly stepped between them. “Face it, Mother. Your oldest daughter is a lesbian. You can’t change that so you’d better learn to accept it. Rose is my lover and I’ll give up everything I have in order to keep her.” She lowered her voice, the tone deadly serious. “Including my family.”
“Maybe this isn’t the best time to talk about this,” Susan said, trying to guide her older sister away from their mother.
“No Susan,” Beatrice bristled. “It’s obvious your sister has decided to throw away everything her father and I worked for all these years.”
“Why is it so hard for you to accept?” Ronnie shrieked. “It’s my life.”
“Mother, there is no reason why she can’t be that way and still do a good job running the company.”
“Whose side are you on, anyway?” The matriarch turned on her younger daughter. “Don’t tell me that you accept this, that Jack accepts it.”
“It isn’t for us to decide who Ronnie loves, Mother.” Susan took a deep breath and looked at her older sibling. “And yes, Jack and I do accept Rose,” she added.
“I can’t believe this.” She walked over the couch and retrieved her bag. “I would have thought after poor Tommy’s death you would have realized what can happen from hanging out with the wrong element. And just how do you think the shareholders will feel about this?”