Chapter 8
God, I hope we never have to do that again
Copyright @ calibeachgirl
All rights reserved, 2011
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Monday, January 4th, 1932
Eliza pushed the vacuum across the rug. The noise was enough to wake the dead, as far as she was concerned, but it made cleaning the house so much easier she was willing to put up with noise.
She was worried. James had not come out of his room for two days, now. There had been several calls from the different stores asking to speak to him, almost demanding to speak with him. She could only tell them he was sick.
'Yes,' she thought, 'sick in his heart.' It was bothering her more than it seemed possible. She knew she liked him but didn't realize how much until Bethany had broken his heart. There was no chance for her, she knew, resigned to her own foolish dreams.
She glanced at Bethany Rose, sitting quietly at the kitchen table, reading the morning paper as if life were normal, at least, normal for what had been happening the last few weeks. Every now and then the rustle of the turning page would disrupt the quiet.
Eliza wished Bethany would go somewhere else. Her anger with her younger sister was indescribable. How could Bethany do that to him? She just could not understand her sister, not matter how hard she tried.
While it seemed he had no intention of asking them to leave, at least she didn't think so; his lack of interest in anything frightened her more than anything else. What had Bethany told him, standing there in her bedroom? It just made no sense to Eliza, wishing her sister would just read the paper somewhere else.
Once again, Eliza took a tray of food up to his room, if for no other reason than to flee the presence of her sister. This time, she found the door open and the room empty. It was surprisingly neat and fresh. He had moved everything around and the bed now was on the opposite wall. The bedding had been changed. The windows were wide open and the fresh sea breeze wafted through removing the last traces of sex still lingering.
She carefully carried the food down the stairs to the library.
"James? Please, open the door, James. I'm worried about you; you have to eat, James." Taking matters into her own hands, she opened the door and walked in.
Sitting behind his desk, he was writing something and listening to the radio. The Japanese, moving further into China, were using any pretense possible no matter how unbelievable. They seemed to know America wouldn't do anything about it, wrapped up in its own problems. Besides, what happened on the other side of the Pacific... it would never affect the United States.
He looked up, glad that it was her and not her sister. He couldn't face Bethany. "Ah, good morning, Eliza, I'm sorry for not getting up sooner, I have just... well, you know."
He smiled at her, something he always did but this time, but this time, she thought she saw something more. It was just her imagination; wasn't it?
She nodded her head. He was shaved, showered and dressed well but casually. She had ironed the very shirt he was now wearing, a nice light blue 'Sanforized' Arrow shirt. The pre-shrunk process made it so much easier for her to iron his Arrow shirts.
"I, uh, brought you, well, lunch, now, I guess."
James cleared his writing and she set the tray down. He motioned her to sit and she nervously did. It was the first time she ever actually sat down in the room. She ran her hand over the leather, so soft, so supple.
"Eliza, how are you? I'm sorry. I know you've come up several times with food but I just wasn't... let's say I wasn't very hungry and let it go at that." He bit into the egg-salad sandwich. "Mmm, this is really good."
He hungrily took another bite and then drank some coffee. "You sure know how to cook. I am so glad you're here. Ah, good, Jello." He spooned the cherry gelatin from the plate, enjoying the wiggling dessert.
When he finished, he pulled open the bottom drawer and pulled out two Baby Ruth candy bars and two O Henrys. Giving one each to Eliza, he tore open the wrapping open and bit into the nutty chocolate.
"C'mon, Eliza, have some chocolate. Shhh. It'll be our secret." He smiled at her, trying to put her at ease. He could tell she was nervous but if the two women were going to continue living in his house, at least Eliza had to be easy to approach.
She bit into the Baby Ruth. "Mmmm," she said, chewing the caramel. "Thank you, James." A little secret wouldn't hurt. She acknowledged that he was trying to make calm her down from the sharp edge she was sitting on. She thought, however, that it would take more than a few candy bars.
"They're here, anytime you want one. I'll just remember to bring more home from the store. I'll bring some others that you can try." He was already thinking of the Hershey kisses. Those things were addictive. Eat one... then another... well, another wouldn't hurt, after all, it's small and it's just one.
He ticked off in his mind the other candy bars the market carried: Milky Way, Butterfinger, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Bit-O-Honey, Butterfinger. Might as well get a box of each. No sense in running out, after all. Of course, the possibility that Eliza would gain weight never occurred to him, just like a typical man unaware of the love affair between women and chocolate.
Now that every waking minute wasn't preoccupied with Bethany, he had resumed other interests in life. "I've been writing my own history of the War... might as well, I suppose." He pointed to a stack of papers covered with his tight, precise handwriting. Nearby were some photographs of a younger man and his plane. It had been taken just after he had arrived from America. He soon lost the smile and the naiveté everyone had at first.
Uneasily, almost painfully, she waited for him to ask about Bethany Rose but he said nothing. The silence of the room was only broken by the sound of the coffee cup settling back down on its saucer and the chewing of caramel.
She really wanted to leave but knew it was impossible. Regardless of what relationship he had had with Bethany Rose, he was still her employer.
He watched her sitting there as she squirmed a little on the chair. He knew she was ill at ease but needed her to stay with him. As much as he did not want to see Bethany any time soon, he still wanted someone to keep him company. His two day self-imposed exile had finally gotten to him.
"James," she started to say, but his look stopped her. She had never seen him this way. There was a darkness to his eyes and she felt he could look right into her lonely heart.
"Eliza, just relax. I'm sure you're worried about a great many things right now. Your family can stay here as long as you want, just like you're doing now. Everything can stay the same.
"Well, most things... Bethany, too. I don't hate her; I just can't deal with her right now.
"You know, she didn't say a word... not a goddamn word. Just stood there, you know, like there wasn't anything to say to me. Even after I held her... after all that's happened, you'd think I'd have at least deserved an explanation... something.
