The Arrangement 1

Chapter 2

She had set the table earlier and the only thing left to do was light the candles. Walter was doing so now with a gold-plated lighter his father had given him when he got out of the army. The girls were sitting quietly in their places and she loved them for it. They were such good children. They were four and six and she was sure when she was their age she hadn’t been so obedient. 

But then, her childhood had been quite different. It was nothing like this. There were no china plates and silver candlesticks, no after school tennis and horse riding lessons, no new dresses and shoes from the mall every weekend. She’d grown up moving from place to place, her mother always worrying about where they would spend the night or where their next meal would come from. Often they would end up in a boarding house or on the doors of some charitable institution. April could hardly bear to think of some of the men her mother had taken up with just so that they could all live together under his roof.

She went to the record player and put on the Christmas with Patti Page album Walter had given her. Then she poured him a glass of wine and went into the kitchen. She quickly made gravy from the juices in the roasting dish and put a thick wad of butter on the potatoes and some freshly cut parsley. She brought in the roast and a carving knife for Walter and set out the food. He stood over the table with the knife in his hand and looked pleased with himself. Everything was just as he wanted, and that’s what April always strove for. As long as he was happy, she believed, her life was secure.

She waited to see if he would offer her some wine but he did not. She served the children and herself. Walter began eating. She let him enjoy the food before breaking the silence.

–Your news, honey? she said.

He raised his fork while he finished chewing. She thought he looked like the president during a press conference, choosing his words.

–I made it, he said after swallowing a mouthful of beef.

He looked at her expectantly while she tried to guess what he was referring to.

–Partner, honey. I made partner.

–Oh my God, she said. Walt, that’s wonderful. This was big news indeed. 

She got up from her seat and went around the table and kissed him on the cheek. He’d been aiming for partner since his first day at the firm. She didn’t know much about the firm but she knew this would mean big changes for them all. The firm was one of those places with powerful clients who had terrible secrets. The more years she spent in DC, the more she learned about that. While she knew next to nothing about what the firm exactly did for these people, she understood that they paid highly to have their affairs taken care of discreetly, and it was the partners who were let in on the information and trusted to deal with it.

–Just got the news today. Herb called me into the boardroom and I thought maybe I was in trouble. Things haven’t been easy with one of our accounts and I could see Frank and Pete were already in there.

–Oh my gosh, Walt.

–I know. So in I go, practically trembling, and they tell me to have a seat.

–What did you do?

–I sat. What else could I do?

April watched him eat. He’d drag this story out as far as he could. She waited. The girls were eating quietly and watching the conversation.

–Your daddy’s a very successful man, she said to them and they smiled. 

–So there I was, facing the three of them, and none of them said anything. I was absolutely dying. I thought, this is the end for sure.

April nodded, the smile on her face could have been painted, she knew to always smile at the table, but it was times like this when she almost felt like it was real.

–And then they shook my hand. Told me, congratulations.

–Oh, honey.

–This is big, April. This will mean a whole new life for us. No more salary. I’m to be cut in on a percentage of the fees I take in. They’ve even picked us out a new house.

April’s smile faltered. She almost dropped her fork before she regained some of her composure.

–What? she said. There was a strain in her voice and she knew it.

–You didn’t think we’d be in this dump forever did you?

The smile was back in its place but it took all her effort to keep it there. 

–Of course not, honey, but I thought–

–None of that sentimentality from you. Stop worrying about things. This is great news.

–Oh honey, I know it is.

–The best news.

–You’re right of course.

–Every time I come to you with something good in my life you try to sour it.

–Oh, Walter. Please don’t be angry.

She looked around the room. She felt like it was spinning. Things always changed so suddenly. She was never ready for them. It wasn’t his fault, it was hers. She knew it was.

–You’ll have to start packing immediately. The firm will send movers of course, but you’ll have to orchestrate everything.

She looked at the drapes by the balcony, flowing elegantly in the breeze. She looked through to the kitchen and the formica countertops she had chosen herself from the Westing catalogue. Silently, she began to say goodbye to her little home, the only place she had ever truly felt safe in the world.

Then she looked at Walter and the girls and reminded herself that none of the important things were changing. She would be just as happy in the new home once her family was safe inside it.