A Castle in Brooklyn(55)

Each time Jacob would come home and relay the achievements of his new assistant, even if he was a bit talkative, Esther would get more excited. She anticipated the day when Morris would become a partner in EMI Realty and assume half of the worries and labor that went into the business. She also saw this as an opportunity for friendship. Jacob was spending so much of his time with Morris already, perhaps the two who shared a similar past could become friends outside of the office too. She suggested that he invite Morris and his wife over for dinner the following Saturday evening. Jacob adamantly rejected the idea at first, but after Esther noted that she and the wife could become friends now that she was not seeing so much of Florrie, he relented. When he proposed the idea to Morris, the man rushed from his desk and flung his arms around Jacob.

“We’d be so delighted to visit your home, my friend,” he said, using the term for the first time, “and Leora will be so happy to meet your wife. Oh, I know we will have such fun!” His reaction was enough to almost make Jacob regret the invitation.

Saturday evening came all too quickly. Jacob opened the door to their guests, Morris wearing a light-gray herringbone jacket and blue tie, and Leora wearing a mink coat over a pale-pink knit dress that strained at the stomach. As he helped her off with the coat, Jacob caught Esther’s eye, questioning why she would wear a mink coat in April, but neither said a word. Morris extended a big box of Barricini assorted chocolates wrapped in a bright-red bow.

“How kind! Thank you so much!” Esther said, leading them to the couch in the living room. The couple sat and surveyed the room, as Jacob and Esther took chairs across from them.

“Your home is so lovely! I hear Jacob built it especially for you!” said the wife, her head and the blonde beehive that sat atop it swiveling from side to side. Jacob sat back, a contented look on his face. He had not forgotten the time a year earlier when Esther suggested they sell the home, and he hoped Esther had paid attention to the remark.

“Would you like me to take you on a tour of the house?” Esther asked, standing up. Leora smiled broadly, revealing the stain of her red lipstick on her front teeth as she wobbled on high heels, following Esther out of the room.

Morris looked at the two women appraisingly.

“So glad that the girls could finally get together! It’s important since we’ll be working with each other for a long time, my friend.” Jacob gritted his teeth at the mention of “friend” but sat quietly. Morris took no note of Jacob’s silence as he continued his nonstop monologue about the plans for a new office building on Thirty-Fourth Street, the problem with a nonpaying tenant who faced eviction, and a new software program he was looking into. Jacob felt relieved when he saw Esther and her new friend descend the stairs.

“Your house is just magnificent!” Leora enthused, showing the stain on her teeth again.

“Ready for some dinner?” asked Jacob.

During the dinner, which received no fewer compliments than the home, Morris continued his nonstop talk. He had abandoned his talk about work and was relating the adventure of being a child in hiding.

“I fit in so well with the family’s three children, you would have thought I was baptized! Some of the neighbors were told I was studying for the priesthood! Can you imagine? But I suppose I learned to be an actor, a good little liar!” He laughed, scratching his balding head.

Jacob wondered why anyone would be proud to be a liar, but he guessed it was essential during the war. Even so, Morris seemed a little too proud of himself.

“Esther, I must get your recipe for these noodles,” interrupted his wife as she bit into her piece of the brisket dripping in brown sauce.

“So glad you like it. It’s an old recipe from my mother,” answered Esther as she poured some more rosé into Morris’s glass.

“Honestly, I don’t know how you find the time to cook such delicious dishes, make your own curtains, and carry a full-time job. I barely have time to shop for groceries, and I don’t even work.”

“Just takes a little planning. You can probably do the same things, even better, I am sure,” said Esther, returning to her meal.

As Jacob listened to their conversation, he was glad for what he didn’t hear. Nothing was said about the reason Leora was so pressed for time, the twin daughters who were readying for college in a few months. Morris must have informed his wife of the tragedy in Jacob’s life, and although he liked to talk, Morris stayed away from this sensitive subject.

“Morris, why don’t you build me a home like the one Jacob built for his wife?” asked Leora as, after the dining room table had been cleared, they ventured back into the living room with glasses of tea, Esther’s sponge cake, and the box of chocolates.

“Here we go again!” exclaimed Morris, laughing, then sitting down and spreading his knees on the couch.

“Well, I have yet to get an answer from you. It wouldn’t even have to be this big for the two of us; maybe there’s a lot available in this neighborhood. What do you think, Esther?” she pressed, swiveling the beehive in her direction.

“Sure,” said Esther as she chose a strawberry crème from the box of chocolates, and in a lower voice, “That would be nice.”

“Well, Leora, I’m not saying no. But that doesn’t depend on me. That decision is up to Jacob,” Morris said as, with a smile on his face, he turned to his host.