The Stranger in the Mirror(22)

I feel on much more solid ground as we talk all through dinner about the art fair and all the galleries we would get to visit then. I’m learning so much about art from Gabriel. I hang on every word, trying to concentrate, but every now and then my eyes wander to a man sitting at a big group table near us who keeps staring at me. It’s disconcerting, but I make up my mind to ignore him. I shift position to get him out of my sight line.

“This has been such a great day, Gabriel,” I say. “I’ve loved every minute of it.”

He reaches across the table and takes my hand in his. “Me too. And we have so much more ahead of us. I love you, and I always will.”

Always. What do any of us know about always? “I hope so,” I say.

“You think I’m in deep and don’t know what I’m doing, but you’re wrong. You can wonder about who you are all you like, Addy, but I don’t need to know your past to know the kind of woman you are. I want to spend my life with you, whether you ever remember anything or not.”

His words hit me in a powerful way, and I feel like I’m going to cry. I don’t deserve him. I can’t continue to sit in these feelings, so I rise from my seat. “I have to use the ladies’ room. I’ll be right back.”

I go in and take a few deep breaths, then walk back out. I have to stop questioning whether or not I’m good enough to have this remarkable man in my life.

There’s a man standing a few feet outside the door, the man who has been watching me throughout dinner. His stomach hangs over his pants, and his face is pockmarked. He could be anywhere from thirty to forty-five. I try to pass, but he puts a hand out to stop me.

“Hey, babe, it’s been a long time,” he says with a lecherous smile. “Still dancing somewhere? Let me know, ’cause I’d pay a lot to get a look at that hot body again.”

I recoil from him in revulsion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He laughs. “Okay, I get it. Mr. Suave doesn’t know you dance naked?” He takes a card from his inside jacket pocket and hands it to me. “Here’s my number. Call me sometime.” He pats my backside and walks away, leaving me openmouthed and shaking.

When I return to our table, I see that Gabriel has settled the bill and ordered two after-dinner drinks, Kahlua and coffee. I down mine in one long gulp, feeling a slight burn as the liquid glides down my throat.

“Let’s head back to the house and finish what we started,” Gabriel says.

We stand to leave, and I notice that the table where the man and his friends were sitting is now empty. Gabriel and I leave the restaurant hand in hand, the card burning a hole in my pocket.





??18??

Julian




Julian’s cell phone rang just as he pulled into his marked parking spot at the hospital. He hurried to answer when he saw that the call was from Valentina’s school.

“Dr. Hunter speaking, is Valentina all right?” It all came out in a rush.

“Yes, yes. This is Dr. Sommerville. Valentina’s fine, but there’s been an incident. Can you come to the school?”

He was already reversing his Jaguar and heading back on Storrow Drive. “Of course. What kind of incident?”

“I’d rather discuss it in person. I can assure you, there is no need to panic.”

His mind raced as he drove the twenty minutes from the hospital to his daughter’s private school in Brookline. What kind of trouble could a second-grader get into? He parked the car and sprinted up to the school entrance, hitting the door intercom impatiently. A guard buzzed him in and, after looking at his license, pulled him up on the computer and printed out a visitor’s badge.

The woman at the reception desk was on the phone; he tapped his foot while waiting for her to finish. She hung up and looked at him.

“May I help you?”

“Yes, I’m Dr. Hunter. Here to see the headmistress.”

She lifted her phone and spoke quietly, then looked back at him. “Have a seat, she’ll be right out.”

He sighed and sat in one of the pleather chairs, his impatience getting the better of him. After a few more minutes, the headmistress came out and shook his hand. She led him back to her office, where she closed the door, took a seat behind her desk, and folded her hands.

“Dr. Hunter, I want you to know that we’re sympathetic to Valentina’s situation. We thought that she was adjusting finally, doing better. But today she hit another child.”

“What?” Valentina was such a sweet child, he couldn’t imagine what would prompt her to become violent. “Why? What happened?”

“According to her teacher, they were outside for recess, and one of the children asked her who she was going to bring for the mother/daughter breakfast next week.”

Julian felt the heat rise to his face. “Do you think her teacher might have alerted me to the fact that this breakfast was taking place? How insensitive can she be?”

She put a hand up. “Let me finish, please. A note was going home today, and it’s actually a female empowerment day, so the children can bring any woman they look up to. Many are bringing their mothers, and so Emma phrased it that way to Valentina.”

“Okay, so what did my daughter say?”

“Valentina told her she was going to bring you, and Emma said she couldn’t because you’re not a woman.” Dr. Sommerville paused. “And then she said that Valentina was stupid, and that was probably why her mother left. That’s when Valentina slapped her in the face.”