18. Monday, June 25, 2012
MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012
O n Monday afternoon, Julia serviced the aquarium at Dunphy’s; and it was eerie to see her father’s restaurant quiet and shuttered at that time of day. The change in the environment perturbed even the fish, and she made sure to spend a little extra time there with them.
She got home with just enough time to shower before Kevin’s parents dropped the kids off. Julia gave a silent prayer of thanks when they departed mere moments before William arrived.
When he did, the kids talked his ears off about their impromptu weekend in New York. Stranded in the kitchen making dinner, Julia could only listen helplessly to their relentless prattle, floating in from the living room.
“Grandma took me to the zoo in Central Park,” Robert announced.
“Hmmm,” responded Julia’s mother. “Did you go, too, Paige?”
Paige scoffed. “Hell no. Grandpa took me to the Met.”
Julia cringed to know how this must sound to William. It was a constant battle, trying to keep the kids grounded in reality when Kevin and his family were multimillionaires. Reminding them that nearly one hundred percent of humanity couldn’t summon a private jet to any destination in the world on a whim. Staving off entitlement, when John and Phoebe Beale believed entitlement was their birthright .
Thankfully, that was one point on which Julia and Kevin had always agreed. They had made the conscious decision to live far below their means in neighborhoods that weren’t wealthy enclaves. They had sent their kids to public schools, at least until Paige could no longer get the services she needed in hers. And they had dragged the kids – kicking and screaming, if necessary – to volunteer at home and abroad. In fact, they never traveled without incorporating service into at least half of their itinerary, exposing Paige and Robert to the world’s realities, and to the obscene privilege they enjoyed by comparison.
But although she knew this, William did not. And right this moment, the kids sounded almost boastful. Plus, she couldn’t help wondering how William felt, being forced to hear about his once-rival's parents and their boundless wealth.
To rescue William, she summoned the kids into the kitchen to help with meal prep. But even after gathering around the patio table for dinner, Paige and Robert refused to let up.
“Mommy, how come you never take us anywhere, like Daddy does?” Robert demanded.
“Yeah,” Paige seconded, “you haven’t taken us anywhere in, like, ages .”
Julia cast a self-conscious glance around the table. “We haven’t taken any vacations recently because I run a business now, and because...” She made silly jazz hands. “...money doesn’t grow on trees. Dun-dun- dun! ”
“Yeah; it comes from credit cards and amen machines,” Robert concurred with a sage nod.
“ ATM , you dolt,” snapped Paige, smacking Robert on the back of the head.
“Paige!” Julia snapped, before drawing a deep, calming breath. Opposite action, admonished Clio’s voice in her head.
Thankfully, Julia’s mother intervened. “Speaking of entrepreneurship, I believe your father has something to report.”
Julia’s father looked up in confusion before registering his wife’s meaning. “Ah. Yes.” To William, he said, “I met with Marisa at Zeneize.”
In spite of herself, Julia’s stomach bottomed out at the mention of Marisa. William’s face reddened as he studiously avoided Julia’s eyes .
But before he could reply, Paige interjected, “Zeneize... Why does that sound familiar?”
“It’s a restaurant,” Julia said flatly.
Paige’s face lit up. “Oh yeah, right! Grandma and Grandpa Beale took us there.”
Zeneize didn’t sound like the kind of restaurant Julia would take kids to. “They took you and Robert to Zeneize?”
“Well, us and Dad.”
That was news. “When was this?”
“Just last month. It was super-cool. You know the chef there is getting that new show.”
At Paige’s little bombshell, Julia’s throat clamped shut. She wasn’t sure she really wanted to know, but when Paige didn’t elaborate, Julia prompted, “What new show?”
“You know... the reality show where she’s going to take over bad restaurants and make them good again?”
“Zeneize’s chef is going to do that? Marisa Zunino?” The name tasted like ashes in Julia’s mouth.
Paige snapped her fingers. “Yeah, that’s her name! She’s supposed to be really great.”
“Well, your grandfather is thinking of handing Dunphy’s over to a new chef,” Julia's mother explained to Paige. “Maybe that new chef could be Marisa.”
Julia’s father cleared his throat. “Marisa was intrigued. She said she’ll propose Dunphy's to the show’s producers. Obviously nothing is set in stone, but there’s a chance that, for the first season of her show, Marisa will rebrand Dunphy’s as Zeneize at Fisherman’s Wharf.”
“Oh, well, that makes sense,” Paige said around the bite of food she shoved into her mouth. “Did you know she actually used to be, like, a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model or something? Dad says she’ll boost ratings by luring male viewers.”
Julia’s stomach lurched at the glimpse of William's beet-red face. Not to mention the way he studied his plate as if there would be an exam on it tomorrow morning. Suddenly queasy, Julia lowered her fork and closed her eyes .
After several seconds of painful silence, Paige glanced around the table. “Why is everyone acting so weird?”
“Excuse me,” Julia mumbled, springing from her seat and fleeing indoors, where she locked herself in the in-law unit’s bathroom.
Because of course Kevin thought William’s ex-girlfriend was hot.
And of course William’s ex-girlfriend was an actual supermodel, on top of everything else.
How had Julia missed this little detail when conducting her online intel? And then she remembered – she had “safe search” enabled on her browser, in case Paige ever got around her lock screen.
Retrieving her phone, she disabled safe search, then typed Marisa Zunino in the browser.
Sure enough, there were several grainy online photos of a barely-legal Marisa, her ample bosom threatening to explode from a teeny-tiny string bikini. To add insult to injury, they didn’t even look like fake boobs – she was just naturally that stacked. The top’s white triangles barely covered her nipples, and she had an almost freakishly tiny hourglass waist to go with it. Marisa might not have been the cover model, but who cared? She had made it into a Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, for Christ’s sake.
A moment later, Julia heard a light tapping at the bathroom door. “Julie, you had better not be looking her up in there.”
With a shaky, joyless laugh, Julia opened the door. William regarded her with another one of his sad puppy-dog looks.
“How did you know?” she asked.
He shook his head in dismay. “Why do you keep doing that?”
She lifted an eyebrow. “You mean to tell me you’ve never cyber-stalked Kevin? Not even once?”
His answering silence spoke volumes.
“Speaking of Kevin, does he know Marisa is your ex?”
He held up his hands, as if to reassure her. “I have no clue. It’s probably just a coincidence. Zeneize is pretty hot right now.” Immediately, he looked like he regretted his choice of words.
Julia glowered down at her phone. “When I see how genetically-gifted she is, on top of being brilliant and famous, it’s hard not to wonder how I’m supposed to compete. ”
“Compete?” Seizing her elbow, he murmured, “Come with me. No one on the patio can eavesdrop if we talk upstairs.”
She allowed him to lead her upstairs, where he sat on the sofa and patted the cushion beside him. She obeyed, and then he wrapped his hand around one of hers.
“Julie, I’m not sure how to adequately convey just how dysfunctional my relationship with Marisa was, but I’ll try.” Clearing his throat dramatically, he slowly enunciated each word for effect. “ Marisa was not a nice person. Frankly, at times, she was downright cruel. For most of our time together, she treated me with thinly-veiled contempt.”
“Then what do you think the attraction was, on her side? Besides, obviously, that you’re one of the few humans hot enough to be in her league.”
After a scoff of denial, he took a minute to consider her question. “Honestly? I think it’s because I never pursued her. For one thing, I thought she was Kelly’s ex-girlfriend.”
Julia barked out a laugh. “Why?”
“Because when they were in high school, they spent a lot of time quote-unquote ‘doing homework’ in Kelly’s room, with the door locked. They even went as Xena and Gabrielle one Halloween. But Kelly set me straight– no pun intended. Turns out they were just smoking weed in there, supplemented with the occasional six-pack of Zima. She says she made a valiant effort to get into Marisa’s pants, but Marisa shot her down.”
“Ouch.”
“Anyway... I think Marisa didn’t know what to make of my initial indifference, and it intrigued her. I think she’s one of those people who only wants what she thinks she can’t have.”
Julia tried and failed to stifle an eye roll.
“Yeah,” William agreed with a dry, humorless laugh.
Julia gripped his hand tighter. “I’m sorry if I’m frustrating you with all my obsessing about Marisa.”
His gaze softening, he brought her hand to his lips. “I’m not frustrated, sweetheart. I just want you to feel comfortable.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, planting a soft kiss on his mouth. “And I know I will. I promised myself I’d communicate with you, even if it felt scary.”
He squeezed her hand with a tender smile. “Thank you . That’s all I ask.”