He decided to check on her by phone right after the meeting. He would pretend nothing had happened. She’d like that. She’d be feeling sorry by then.
“Did you call?” Kat’s voice on the cell phone. He was approaching the big cloverleaf that led toward the beach communities. “I want to know how it went with Rappaport.”
Kat must have heard his groan over the phone. “What’s happened?”
“I haven’t seen Rappaport yet. A couple more hours. I talked to him on the phone-”
“This can’t wait! It’s been more than twenty-four hours since we turned up that shirt! I’m going to call the police myself.”
“I’m on my way. No need.” That calmed her.
“Did something else happen?”
“I drove to Whittier to check on my mother. She poured herself two glasses of wine at eleven in the morning, and she kicked me out. Not to mention what she did last night at my house.”
“Tell me,” Kat said.
He told her.
“We’re all disintegrating.”
“Ah yes, Inspector Clouseau. That’s it, undoubtedly.”
Kat seemed to ponder on the other end of the line, unfazed by his sarcasm. “Does she like Leigh?”
“I think so. What has that got to do with anything?”
“You don’t know for sure?”
“I thought she did.”
“Did she love her, though? Maybe she’s suffering, too, because she’s worried.”
“I can’t understand this thing with the liquor. It’s not like her.”
“Leave her alone today,” Kat advised.
“But what if she falls? She’s all alone.”
“Jesus, Ray. Maybe you’re suffocating her with your dependency.”
“She’s the one who depends on me.”
“Really?”
“I have to go.”
“Wait. Listen, I got an idea. I want to go and talk to Mr. Hubbel again. Leigh’s father. But not with Mrs. Hubbel around. It’s all I know to do, Ray. I’m going to Whittier right after work.”
“What’s he going to tell you?”
“I don’t know. But he’s her father. Maybe he’ll remember something. Wanna come with me?”
“I can’t think about it right now.”
“Okay. Do what you have to do.”
Achilles Antoniou arrived promptly at one p.m., bursting through the conference room door without introduction. He looked hungover but his tan had deepened and the jeans and deck shoes were so new and so covered with fancy logos, he was still an ad for the good life after fifty.
“Where’s Martin?” was his question.
Martin had left the office at noon after another argument, so Ray just said, “Martin’s late. Let’s get started.”
Antoniou reared back as if attacked. “I need to see Martin.”
Ray tried hard not to react to the contempt in his voice. “Come on over and sit down, my friend. Have some coffee. You came to me originally because you thought I had something. You thought I understood what you wanted.”
Antoniou shuffled from foot to foot. He allowed himself to be led to the couch and took the excellent coffee.
“Let’s chat a little,” Ray said. “Drink some coffee. I’m sure Martin will be here any minute. I’ve been looking forward to showing you the playroom. The plans are right here on the table and we can look at them in a minute. I added some great new touches last night. I’m working hard for your approval, Achilles. That’s some boat you have, by the way. It’s got those clean modern lines, you know?”
“It’s a nice boat.”
“I admit I was surprised when you came back with Martin and asked for a specific design, nothing like what we discussed. I didn’t want to embarrass you in front of Martin, Achilles, but the whole Greek Mediterranean thing-save it for Greece, you know? The style is so out of it here in L.A. Spielberg’s doing modern. Weinstein’s doing modern. You know what Niarchos’s son is doing with his new place in Bel Air, Achilles?”
“Modern?”
“That’s it. You’re smart to know that. I’m here to save you from a serious mistake. Big money down the tubes. I’ve got a set of plans here that are gonna knock the socks off the Spielbergs and Niarchoses. Make them raze their own places and start over. They’re gonna be shit-jealous, Achilles.
“You have the opportunity on that site to make something beautiful for you and your family, something that’s going to be famous for its beauty. Why not open yourself up to the potential of the site? You’ll need a bigger gathering space. Welcome the ocean spray and a lot of movers and shakers onto your new, expansive, gorgeous deck. Hey, come on over here.” He gestured toward the rosewood conference table. “I know you’re gonna be pleased once you really look at these plans. I don’t know anybody more open-minded than you are. Even Spielberg, he’s gonna be a step behind you now.”
Checking his watch one more time, Antoniou stepped in closer, intrigued. He studied the plans.
“I know you were impressed by what you’ve read about me, Achilles, but I’m going to tell you something. I had a revelation recently about what a home is, and we have a chance here to make it happen in a way that’s going to explode people’s ideas, not just about architecture, but about life.”
“That’s a big promise, Ray,” Antoniou said.
“Something entirely new. Your dream house, a template for the next movement in architecture. The whole world’s gonna want to see it. Movie stars, the works.”
That got him. He leaned down, studying the plans beside Ray.
“But where are the walls?” he said urgently. “Where is the line between the kitchen and the entertainment area?”
“Fluidity, you see? Walls that move wherever you need them to move, not just the inside ones, but many of the outside ones. They raise, they lower. They cuddle up to make a big space cozy for a few people. They expand space infinitely. Slate decks off each floor. Imagine waves crashing below, that salty air. This place will flow out of the landscape and the landscape will flow into it. This home will change and grow along with you and your family in the most unimaginably creative ways.”
Ray went into a place he loved, an imaginary place. Antoniou followed along.
Ray had Antoniou’s signature on the new drawings by one-fifty-five, and ushered the client out the door.
At two sharp, Martin was back from lunch.
“You got Suzanne to lie.” Martin was furious. “You said the meeting was at two, you bastard. You spent the time selling him on your insane notions.”
“No, Martin. I spent the time explaining insanely beautiful possibilities to him. Believe me, he left happy.”
“Garbage. You finessed him.”
“Like you finessed him? In my opinion, I straightened him out.”
“He’s our biggest client!” Martin, by now bursting blood vessels in his face, shouted. “I didn’t finesse him, I tried to do what he wanted. Why, oh, why can’t you give him what he wants?”
“He wants special. He wants unique. I’ll give him that and I will make this firm famous beyond anything you ever dreamed.”
“You’re an egomaniac, Ray! You want to ruin us?”
“All you care about is the money. Art doesn’t enter into it. You think so small, Martin. So puny. You cheat on your wife and family. You’ve forgotten what it means to be honest and true. You’ve forgotten what it means to be a man, or a creative professional.”
“It’s about Leigh!” Martin shouted.
“Don’t even speak her name! You want to take this outside?”
“And have you pound on me again?”
“Then let’s discuss this.”
Martin tried to fight him with words, but Ray, sure of himself for the first time in a long time, refused to engage. Martin hated him and his ideas; he hated Martin and his ideas.
The clarity of this notion burst on them both at the same time.
“I guess we’ve come to a parting of the ways, Martin,” Ray said, after more futile discussion.