“I have to be at work in about an hour,” I said. “But I wanted time to visit before I left.”
She looked at me quizzically. “Need any help?”
“No,” I said. “Sit. Let me take care of you this time.”
She sat, and turned the newspaper around to read. “Anything I should be aware of in here?”
“We’re flying under the radar today,” I said in a cheery tone. “So far, so good.”
I poured her a cup of coffee and set out the half-and-half. “So…” I said.
She dragged her attention away from the newspaper. “So?”
I was at the counter, half facing her. Taking a breath, I messed with some of the waffle fixings and said, “I was out of line yesterday.”
She nodded, but didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then: “Yes, you were.”
“I am sorry. Truly sorry.”
“I know,” she said, turning back to the news. “And you should be.”
I sprinkled powdered sugar over a strawberry-topped waffle and placed it in front of her. “Did you want blueberries? Bananas?”
“No. This is just perfect.”
Strawberries were always Mom’s favorite. At least some things hadn’t changed. “Whipped cream?”
She laughed. “You trying to fatten me up?”
“No, just trying to apologize.”
“Sit.”
I grabbed my own fruit-topped waffle and joined her at the table.
“Ollie,” she said, gently, “I had a wonderful day out yesterday.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Really, I am,” I said. “I don’t know what-”
She shushed me with a look. “You and I both know that when this vacation comes to an end, Nana and I will be headed back to our trivial lives in Chicago.”
“Trivial?” I shook my head. “You do so much-”
“Shh,” she said with force. “My life is good, for me. But it’s… little. I’m not surrounded by the most important people in the world like you are. You see and hear and do things most of us only dream of.”
“That doesn’t make what you do unimportant.”
“True, but what you don’t seem to understand is that while I’m here, I get to share a little bit of your life. And Kap…” Her eyes went all dreamy for a moment. “He’s part of that. He’s interesting-different.” She laughed. “And sexy.”
I felt my face redden.
She laughed again and playfully tapped my hand. “All I want is to have fun,” she said. “I don’t get a lot of fun back home.”
I nodded. Regret at my attitude from the day before soured my stomach. I looked down at the uneaten waffle and changed my mind about it. “I really am sorry,” I said again.
“And you’re forgiven,” she said. “I do understand, you know. I remember when Nana went out on a couple dates.”
“Nana dated?”
As if summoned, my grandmother appeared in the doorway. “Damn right I did,” she said, sniffing the air and eyeing my plate. “Maybe someday I’ll tell you about all the ones that got away.”
“Ones?” I asked. “Plural?”
Nana lowered herself into the chair opposite mine. “You going to eat that, or you going to stare at it all morning?”
I pushed the heaping plate across the table. “For you.”
She dug in as I stood up. With a hand on my mother’s shoulder, I reached down to kiss her cheek. “Thanks, Mom.”
Much to my relief, Howard Liss was not on the morning Metro train. Not that I’d expected him to be up and about this early. Most people weren’t.
That’s why it was such a surprise to get a voicemail beep when the train came aboveground at Arlington Cemetery. My phone had been off overnight but I’d turned it back on before leaving the apartment. That meant that whoever called had done so in the past few minutes. Maybe it was Mom or Nana.
The train slowed, then stopped to load new passengers at Arlington. As a lone person boarded the car in front of the one I was in, I took the opportunity to access my message: “Olivia,” came the breathless voice. “This is Howard Liss. You must call me as soon as you get this. I’m sure your phone has a redial feature, but don’t use that one. Use my private line.” He provided the number, but I didn’t even consider writing it down. At the same time, the Metro started moving again. “This is of the utmost importance.” I heard him take a breath, before repeating: “Utmost. I know you think you should not contact me. But if I don’t hear from you by mid-morning, I will move forward to make public that relationship we discussed. I know you-”
And just like that, I lost the signal.
I swore.
The two other riders in my car looked up.
I lifted a hand in apology. “Sorry.”
One returned to his newspaper. The other leaned against the window and closed his eyes.
Just what I needed. More Howard Liss. Why on earth was he contacting me, anyway? What good could I possibly do him? “That relationship we discussed…” The creep. He was lucky I couldn’t get a signal. Otherwise I would have called him back immediately just to burst his little bubble.
The train ride to MacPherson Square took an interminably long time. I’m usually the kind of person who stews about something before issuing a retaliatory response. Tom used to call me a little volcano. By the time I made it to the street level and pulled out my phone, I’d built up such a head of steam that I could barely contain myself. Somebody had to zip this guy’s mouth shut, and I felt like just the person to do it.
I punched the redial button. He answered on the first ring. “Howard Liss.”
“This is Olivia Paras,” I said briskly. I had rehearsed a whole slew of powerful opening lines, but what came out was: “How dare you threaten me?”
He made a gurgling noise. “Oh, yes. Hello.”
I pressed the phone tight against my ear. “All you can say is ‘Hello’? After leaving me a threatening message, you can only say, ‘Hello’?”
He dropped his voice. “You weren’t supposed to call on this number.”
“Oh, yes,” I said loudly as I strode south toward the White House. “That, too. What do you think I am, some simpleton? Just because I was involved in a couple of”-I lost my intensity for a moment, thinking about my involvement in other situations-“incidents at the White House, doesn’t mean that I care to participate in your crazy schemes. And I don’t-”
“Please,” he said, interrupting me. “Can you call me back on that other number?”
What the heck was wrong with this guy? Convinced he was even more touched in the head than I’d originally assumed, I was tempted to hang up. But I couldn’t. No matter the state of his mind, this fellow held the power to mess up my life. And Tom’s career. Before I hung up, I knew I had to impart one very important piece of information.
Using the same name for Tom that Liss had when he accosted me on the train, I said, “You need to know that ‘MacKenzie’ and I are no longer involved.”
Dead silence.
“Liss?” My footsteps made soft scratches on the sidewalk as I kept up a quick pace. “Are you there?”
A click and then my phone went dead. I muttered an angry expletive as I dialed my voicemail account and listened to his message again. This time I memorized his “preferred” phone number and dialed it as soon as I terminated the call.
“Olivia?” he asked when he answered. “Thank goodness.”
“What is wrong with you?” I asked. “I have no intention of turning this into a chatty phone conversation. So just listen. The ‘relationship’ you threatened to make public is no longer an issue.”
Dead silence, again.
If this unscrupulous, unprincipled blabbermouth hung up on me a second time, I swore I would march down to the newspaper office to confront him personally. He surprised me by whispering, “Hang on one second.”
Moments later, the quiet background on his side of the connection was replaced by the sound of traffic and wind. “You there?” he asked.
“Not for long.” I wasn’t exaggerating. I’d made the trek from the station to the White House gate in record time. Anger does that for me.