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Chapter Nineteen
“Okay, calm down,” Sean saysas Olivia paces angrily back and forth in front of him.
They’re in their living room, Sean having ushered his wife inside at the first hint of a raised voice. Outside, the impromptu gathering has dispersed, the adults retreating to their individual domiciles, leaving only the children and Mark to continue playing ball in the street.
“Don’t tell me to calm down,” Olivia counters over the sound of the children’s laughter. “What the hell is this?” She motions toward the bag at her feet. “A jacket from Ferragamo?” she says, answering her own question as she none-too-gently pulls the jacket out of the bag and throws it over the sofa. “For over three thousand fucking dollars?!”
“If you would just give me the chance to explain…”
“By all means,” Olivia says, plopping down in the nearest chair, waving the receipt in the air. “Go ahead. Explain.”
“Okay,” Sean says. “Okay.” His mouth is so dry, he can barely put two words together. God, he could use a drink.
“Well?”
He takes a deep breath. “I bought the jacket.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” Olivia snaps. “Your signature’s on the fucking receipt.”
“Okay.”
“Not okay. What else have you been buying?”
“Nothing. I swear. Look. I get that you’re angry, but I had a good reason….”
“Oh, please, do share. I’m dying to hear it.”
“Do you think you could drop the sarcasm for a minute?”
“Do you think you could speed this up a bit?”
“Maybe if you’d stop interrupting…”
“Maybe if you’d stop stalling.”
She’s right, Sean acknowledges silently, taking another deep breath, hoping to still the wild beating of his heart. Hehasbeen stalling, trying to come up with a plausible explanation, a reason that would justify his spending over three thousand dollars on a jacket when he’s out of a job and they’re barely making ends meet. “You remember the initial interview I had at Advert-X last month?”
“Of course, I remember.”
“Well, I got there early,” he continues, growing more comfortable with the story he’s creating. “And I see all these guys walking around, and they’re young and hip and well dressed. I mean,reallywell dressed. European sports jackets over designer jeans. Hell, their jeans are even ironed, for fuck’s sake. You can tell just by looking at them that everything they have on cost an arm and a leg. And there I am in my black Dockers pants and jacket from Joseph A. Banks, and I know, Iknow,that there’s no way in hell that I’m getting this job. Not looking like that. Not in those clothes.” He pauses, trying to determine if she’s buying this, seeing a brief flicker of understanding flash across her eyes.
“So, I excused myself,” he continues. “Like I said, I was early, and Ms. Pierce in HR was running late, so I had about forty minutes. I headed over to Worth Avenue to see what I could find. First, I went to Brooks Brothers, because you know I’ve always liked their clothes, but I could see right away that their stuff wasn’t going to cut it. And then I saw this jacket in the window at Ferragamo, and it was perfect. I mean, absolutely fucking perfect. So I went in and tried it on, and the damn thing fit like it was made for me—I mean, how often does that happen?—and I said great, I’ll take it, not thinking for a second that it was going to cost anything like three thousand dollars. I mean, I thought, eight hundred maybe. A thousand, tops. It wasn’t until I’m pocketing the damn bill that I glanced at the price, and by then, of course, it was too late.”
“You could have told them…”
“It was too late,” he repeats. “And to be honest,” he says, knowing he’s being anything but, “I was too embarrassed. Then I thought, I’ll just take the damn thing, hide the tags and wear it to the interview, then return it when I’m done.”
“Clearly, you didn’t do that.”
“I tried. But they only do exchanges. The best they could offer was a store credit. So I was screwed.” He pauses, watches her struggling to believe him. “The good news, and I know this doesn’t make up for my stupidity, is that the jacket did the trick.”
She takes a full thirty seconds to respond. “But why didn’t you tell me all this before?”
“Because I knew how angry you’d be, and I felt like such a damn fool.”
Olivia lowers her head. When she lifts it again, he can see that he’s gotten to her.
“What else?” she asks.
