Chapter 10 #3
Her whole body shook after he left and she sat down on the couch.
She was angry and sad, scared and humiliated.
He had treated her like a hooker in the end, any tender moment they had shared forgotten.
In the end, it meant nothing to him, or maybe it had.
But he could sense that she was no longer willing to be his slave as she once had been.
Her mother had been right yet again, and now Veronica understood why she had been so upset and so worried, and so outraged to think of Veronica in that life.
She had given up her career at the law firm for him, in exchange for a few suitcases full of clothes.
It was insulting that he wanted her to leave all the jewelry he had given her as birthday and Christmas gifts.
In fact, they weren’t gifts, he considered them loans, and had known that he would take them back in the end.
All she wanted to do now was get out of the apartment as fast as she could.
She had loved him once, but she didn’t love the way he had treated her in the end.
He was treating her like a whore, not the decent, loving woman she had been to him.
He wanted to be her jailer and control everything she did.
At the slightest sign of independence in any form, he was throwing her out of her home.
As soon as she stopped shaking, she called Isabelle and asked if she could borrow some suitcases. Isabelle traveled and Veronica knew she had valises.
“I’m sorry, I don’t have any. Ian came and took a lot of his stuff, he took my suitcases and he hasn’t given them back yet.
He says he’s living out of them. Are you going on a trip?
Anywhere fun?” Veronica realized when Isabelle asked the question that she had nowhere to go, and had no idea where to stay.
She didn’t have time to find an apartment the next day.
She’d be packing, and it might take all day to do it.
Veronica’s voice still sounded shaky when she answered. “Anson just told me to move out of the apartment. He’s been upset since we found out about the inheritance.”
“Did you tell him how much it is?” Isabelle sounded shocked.
“No, I didn’t. It would only have made things worse. He felt that if I inherited anything from Mom, he shouldn’t have to support me anymore, but I’ve been his beck-and-call girl for ten years.”
“Did he give you some warning?”
“He just came to tell me. I have to be out by six p.m. tomorrow, and leave any jewelry he gave me. I get the clothes.”
“What a rude bastard,” Isabelle said, furious on her behalf.
“He was as cold as ice. He stayed for about an hour, told me to get out, and left. Mom was right.”
“She always was,” Isabelle confirmed. “I’m sorry, Veronica.”
“He was angry that I went back to school. I was supposed to be in the apartment at all times, waiting for him.”
“Where are you going to stay?” Isabelle was worried about her.
But in her own current state of turmoil, having Veronica move in with them would have been another unsettling element for her children.
And Veronica could afford to stay anywhere until she found something more permanent.
They were both at a time of enormous change.
“I don’t know. I have to figure that out.
I have to pack. I’ll let you know.” But she had plenty of money for a hotel now.
She called Quinne, who said she had no real suitcases since she always took carry-on.
Charlotte was in meetings, so Veronica texted her, and Charlotte said she needed the ones she had and couldn’t spare them, which left Olivia, who said she only owned two, and Veronica needed way more than that.
She estimated six or seven. In the end, on Monday morning she took an Uber to a luggage shop she knew and bought eight suitcases for her wardrobe, her books, and the contents of her desk.
And then she took another Uber back to the apartment.
Before that, on Sunday night, she had lain in bed all night, thinking of how cold Anson had been when he left her.
No goodbye, no kiss, no gentle touch, just his ordering her to get out like a cheap trick.
She was up at six, emptying closets, and she took a cab to the luggage store at ten.
She was back in less than an hour and packed for the rest of the day.
Before she left to buy her luggage, she called Scott Freeman.
“Well, this is a nice surprise,” he said happily.
“Thank you. I need a favor. I’m moving today. Could you possibly go to my landlord’s office at six to return the keys? It’s not too far from your office. He wanted to send his lawyer to get them, and I said I’d send mine.” Her voice sounded shaky and serious. She hadn’t mentioned moving before.
“I’m glad to be of service. Is this short notice, or have you been planning it yourself?”
“It’s short notice,” Veronica said, trying to sound calmer than she felt. “He told me yesterday.”
“You can refuse to move if he didn’t give you proper written notice. You can even refuse to pay your rent. It will take him a year to evict.”
“I’d rather not get evicted. It’s not my apartment, and I don’t pay rent.
I just want to go quietly.” Suddenly he realized what had happened.
She was breaking up with the boyfriend who kept her on such a short leash, and was considerably older than she was.
Or at least she was moving out. Scott considered it good news, and was delighted to help.
“I’m sorry. What time do you want me to pick up the keys?”
“Around five-ish. Thank you so much,” and before that she had to figure out a place to stay, and get everything she owned into suitcases.
As soon as she came back from the luggage store with eight big suitcases, she put things in them as quickly as she could.
She tried to calm herself and not panic.
She wondered if Anson would call her to apologize for being so cold the day before and tell her he would miss her, but he never did.
When she picked up her cellphone to look up hotels, it was dead, and she realized that he had cut it off since he paid for it.
She used her computer and the landline in the apartment.
She booked a room at the Mark, as she had to stay in the city so she could go to her class. Isabelle dropped by with a sandwich for her at lunchtime, and they sat and talked for a while. She was halfway through her packing and took a break. She was happy to see her sister.
“He didn’t give you any kind of warning?” Isabelle was still shocked, but in some ways not surprised. Men like Anson Phillips were ruthless, and he had always made it clear that she was his mistress, even though he had been generous and treated her well.
“Maybe he was right,” Veronica said quietly. “I didn’t want to sit here waiting for him all the time. After Mom died, I suddenly realized I was wasting my time and my brain, which is why I went back to school. I didn’t say anything, but I wanted some freedom.”
“Are you okay?” Isabelle looked her in the eye and Veronica nodded with wide eyes.
“I think I am, or I will be. I wasn’t expecting it, and he was so cold.
” She went back to packing then and Isabelle left.
By four o’clock she was finished, and everything she owned was packed into the eight bags.
They were standing in the hallway, and she was wearing jeans and another Columbia sweatshirt, and heavy boots. There was snow on the ground outside.
She walked around the apartment before Scott arrived, thinking of all that had happened in ten years there.
She had been so proud of it at first and felt so grown-up.
He had made her feel so important, and took her shopping to buy clothes he liked to see her wear, like a doll.
Veronica hadn’t seen it that way then, but her mother had when they argued about it.
She knew that her mother would have been pleased that she was moving out, even if it wasn’t her decision.
At twenty-six, she had felt so proud and happy there.
At thirty-six, she felt humiliated and ashamed.
She had wasted ten years of her life with a married man who didn’t love her and had used her, and she had consented to it.
She couldn’t blame Anson for her part in it, and blamed herself.
Scott arrived promptly at five o’clock, and she was ready to leave.
She had ordered a van with a driver to take her bags the short distance to the hotel.
She had to look for an apartment, and thanks to her mother she could afford one.
She felt as though Anson had shot her out of a cannon into a new life she wasn’t prepared for, but she would have to learn.
And after her refresher class, she could get a job in a law firm and work her way up from the bottom. She was ten years late getting started.
“Are you okay?” Scott asked her. She didn’t look heartbroken or distraught. She looked nervous, and her hair was piled on her head in a clip. She looked younger than when he had seen her looking chic and polished in Chanel. All her Chanel was packed, and she had a lot of it.
“Yeah, I think I am,” she said. “Thank you for helping me.” She had put the keys in an envelope.
She had three sets and she knew Anson had his.
She left all the small kitchen appliances.
She would have to buy everything new when she found an apartment, but maybe it would be fun.
And she had packed all the jewelry in their original boxes in a briefcase she had.
It was all there, every piece of it, as he had instructed.
She handed Scott the briefcase and asked him to return it with the keys.
She wasn’t sad to give up the jewelry. It felt like an affront now, and it made her feel cheap.
Scott rode down in the elevator with her, after she took a last look around the apartment.
She took two photographs of herself with Anson, and left the rest in their silver frames.
She had emptied the desk and all the closets and drawers.
The van was waiting for her downstairs, and the doorman filled it with her bags.
“Can I call you?” Scott asked her, and she shook her head.
“No, you can’t.” He looked disappointed, and she smiled. “I think he canceled my cellphone, it was his. I have to get a new one tomorrow.” He was relieved to see her leaving, but he was shocked too, by the brutality of Anson’s behavior.
“It sounds like he didn’t miss a trick.”
“I’m staying at the Mark. You can call me there.
I’ll text you my number when I get a new phone.
” He wondered if she would go out with him, but he was afraid to ask.
Maybe she needed more time to recover. Ten years was a long time.
But she felt strangely invigorated and excited.
She hadn’t expected to feel that way, but she felt as though she was getting out of jail, and in some ways she was.
Scott left on his mission in an Uber with the envelope of keys and the briefcase, and Veronica headed for the Mark with all her worldly possessions.
She had booked a suite, and the lobby looked chic and fashionable and was full of well-dressed people.
The bellman set up all her bags in her room.
There were some she knew she wouldn’t use now, with summer clothes.
She ordered a glass of wine, and sat down on the couch to catch her breath.
She realized that Anson had thought he had left her penniless.
He had canceled the credit cards he had paid for, with no idea that she had a fortune of her own now.
Scott was back forty-five minutes after he had left her, and handed her a small package when she let him in, saying it was from him, not her “landlord.” She offered him a glass of wine and he was happy to accept.
She opened the package while they waited for his wine, and she smiled and was touched when she saw it.
He had bought her a phone, and got a referral from her old number.
Anson’s cruelty was matched by Scott’s kindness to her.
“I can set it up for you,” he said, taking it from her and handing it back a few minutes later.
“Your new phone number is on a piece of paper in the box,” he told her with a smile, and they sat down in the living room of the suite.
She was dying to ask Scott about Anson but was embarrassed to do so, and he could guess what was on her mind.
“I didn’t see him. I left the keys and briefcase with his assistant.
She was very nice.” Veronica had spoken to her hundreds of times during the five years the woman had been there, but she wouldn’t be speaking to her again.
It was strange that the man who had been the mainstay of her life for ten years had vanished completely from her world overnight.
She didn’t miss him yet, she hadn’t had time, and all she could think of was the cold way he had spoken to her the day before.
She was shocked to realize that she had no feelings for him, that she just wanted to get on with her life now, start living again.
She wasn’t sure where to begin, but she had class the next day, which would ground her.
She saw that Scott had something to say, and he hesitated.
“Would it be inappropriate to invite you to dinner tonight?” he asked her, and she smiled. She felt the same current pass between them that she had felt before, but it didn’t frighten her now that it would upset Anson.
“It would be fine,” she said, feeling freer than she had in years.
“There’s a nice Italian restaurant near here, or Sant Ambroeus around the corner.” It sounded great to her, and she could imagine her mother smiling, now that she was out of Anson’s control at last.
They sat and talked for an hour, and walked to the restaurant.
She didn’t change, she just combed her hair, and she tucked her hand into his arm as they crossed the street.
It was only a few blocks to the restaurant, which was crowded and lively, and she looked up at Scott and felt as though her life was starting over.
She was liberated and free and young again, as they sat down at a table.
She was giddy with excitement, and so was Scott.
He hadn’t expected this to happen, nor had she.
Veronica sensed that she was exactly where she was meant to be.
Anson had done her the biggest favor of her life by setting her free, and she smiled as she looked around.
It was one of those moments when everything was perfect and she’d been given the chance to start her life again.
And she knew her mother would have been thrilled for her.