The Garden of Betrayal

19

I was sitting at my desk ten minutes later, feeling poleaxed, when a message from a friendly client popped up on my screen: Hearing Cobra terminated your contract because Walter thinks you’re untrustworthy. What the hell is going on?

I reached for my keyboard and then stopped, realizing that nothing I wrote would make any difference. It was true if Walter said it, and plainly he had. Short-term, I had nothing to worry about. My clients weren’t lemmings; most would stick with me, if only because I’d been so hot recently. But they’d be more standoffish, so as not to offend Walter, and because something like this would give me a bad smell. Long-term, my relationships would deteriorate, and I’d get more cancellations. A year or two hence I might well be out of business. I sat quiet for a second, thinking about it.

The truth was that I didn’t give a damn. I could always make money. Alex’s death was a wake-up call, a reminder that the only important thing in my life was the people I loved. I picked up my phone and dialed home, tired of being clever. I’d come right out and tell Claire I knew about her audition in San Francisco, and make her understand that I’d do anything to be with her-that I loved her and couldn’t be happy without her.

“Hello?” she answered.

“It’s Mark. You busy?”

“I’m heading over to the hospital in a few minutes. I have rehearsals all day. Why? Is everything okay?”

“Not really. I need to talk to you.”

She was silent for a moment, and I wondered what she was thinking.

“Come early tonight. Before the reception. I’ll meet you in the Pediatric Pavilion at five o’clock.”

“I love you.”

“Five o’clock,” she repeated distantly. “There are some things I need to talk to you about as well.”