Chapter 9 #4
“I was just laying groundwork, in case he agreed to the interview.”
“You have a green light now, so go for it.” Charlotte wished the subject hadn’t imposed the ban on personal questions, but she planned to work around it as best she could, and sneak a few in and see what he did.
Sometimes people answered them anyway, in spite of their agreements.
And she wanted to interview his daughter.
Adult children often had an interesting perspective.
They had seen everything happen over the years, from the sidelines.
Many were loyal to their parents but some weren’t, off the record.
Charlotte was excited about the interview when she hung up, and she was trying to decide where to start and with whom.
She still had some business interviews she wanted to read. It seemed as though each of them was about some controversial position he had taken, or a reaction to one. Charlotte wanted to read them carefully to get a sense of him.
She sat thinking for a minute, deciding who she wanted to speak to first. She needed an appointment with the subject, but first she wanted to do more research, which would help her formulate the questions for him.
She decided to start with his daughter. Charlotte got her office number in Aspen from the internet, and only got voicemail.
She didn’t leave a message, she didn’t want to give Gabrielle advance warning.
And then she left a message for Lillith, just her name with no details. She was off and running.
—
John was with Lillith that night, after having dinner with Isabelle.
She said she had a headache, so they cut the evening short and she went to bed, and John left.
He didn’t call Lillith to warn her. He just showed up and surprised her.
She thought it was a good surprise when he buzzed the intercom and she saw him on the camera.
She was smiling when he came through the door and kissed her.
She was getting used to his surprise visits.
He liked to keep her off-balance, not knowing what to expect or when he might show up.
It meant never letting her guard down, and looking more than halfway decent at all times.
But she didn’t mind, for him. She was still as blindly in love with him as ever.
And his frequent disappearances only whetted her appetite for more of him, as he intended.
It fed her addiction to him and kept her hooked.
She had a snack for him. She kept all John’s favorite treats on hand at all times.
He helped himself to a glass of red wine from a bottle he opened.
She turned it down. She had work to do that night if he didn’t stay, but she hoped he would.
She never discouraged him. He was visiting her more regularly, and disappearing less.
She had learned not to ask him when she’d see him again. He never said.
He told Lillith about the interview while he drank his wine. “Vanity Fair is doing a profile on me,” he said proudly. “It’s about business. I told them nothing personal, that was my condition.”
“Is it smart for you to do a business interview right now?” she asked, concerned about him.
“I think so. It’ll clean up my image, and temper all the criticism, and shut the bleeding hearts up. It’s not a controversial magazine, they don’t take hostile positions,” he reassured her.
“If they agree with you,” Lillith said carefully. He ignored what she said. He often did. She was young and inexperienced in the ways of the world, in his opinion.
“I don’t want you talking to them,” he said clearly.
“On any subject. They can twist what you say, and you won’t be helping me if that happens, although they’ll make you feel that you are.
That’s their game. And you have nothing to add to the business side.
I really don’t want you talking to them.
Is that clear?” John looked at her intensely, and she nodded.
She’d had a message from Charlotte that afternoon, but only her name, which Lillith thought was related to meeting her in St. Barth.
She assumed Charlotte was calling for decorating advice.
She made no other connection, so it didn’t occur to her to tell John about it.
The two women had had a pleasant conversation, and nothing more.
John slipped his hand under her sweater then, and a minute later unzipped her jeans.
They left their glasses on the table and walked into her bedroom, and he drove her to the edge of passion and beyond, then rolled over and fell asleep.
She watched him for a while and stroked his hair.
He was like a visiting lion. She never knew when he would show up, or for how long he’d stay, and then he would disappear back into the jungle again, while she waited for his return.
He never belonged to her, but she hoped he would one day.
He was no longer gentle and kind the way he had been on the boat.
He was a fierce warrior, and he never said he loved her, but he kept coming back for more, which she thought was a good sign, and felt promising for the future.
She was still dreaming of a future with him, and hoped he’d invite her to move in with him soon, so she could see more of him.