A noise. Bobby turns to see Gina walking in, Nick and Alice behind her. His heart leaps in his chest. Is Gina here for him? He tries to catch her eye, but she’s looking at Tish, her mouth agape. What will he do if she doesn’t forgive him? Her presence shifts the gravitational pull in the room. For a moment, Bobby forgets his mother is there, that she is obviously in pain. Gina’s voice reminds him.
“You know?” Gina asks Tish. “About Eva?”
Tish lowers her head and brings a hand to her mouth. Her nod is quick, as though the admission is painful. It probably is.
In a flash, Gina is beside Tish, enveloping her in a hug. His mother is a tall woman, certainly taller than Gina, but in that moment, she looks petite, fragile. Gina’s embrace is maternal, protective. A reversal of roles. Bobby feels his heart breaking.
“Is he leaving you?” Gina whispers.
A sob from Tish. “He already did. Weeks ago.”
An alarm goes off inside Bobby’s skull. “Mom… you’ve known for weeks?”
Gina glares at him. Bobby meets her gaze, confused. Does Gina not realize Tish has just confessed to knowing about Charles’s affair with Eva for weeks? He thinks back to his interaction with his mother. She’d never doubted him. Had insisted Eva was a liar from the beginning. Bobby had been touched—and more than a little surprised—by her unthinking loyalty. Now it makes sense.
“He’s been living with her,” Tish says.
“But she has a roommate,” Gina says, stroking Tish’s hair. “I was just at her apartment. She made it a point to tell me.”
“Charles is her roommate.” Tish barely moves her lips. She looks defeated. Bobby hadn’t thought his mother was capable of experiencing defeat. “He has ideas about marrying her.”
A blanket of silence falls on the room. No one knows how to react to this.
“I’m so sorry, Tish,” Gina whispers.
Tish releases herself from Gina’s embrace. “I don’t deserve your kindness, my dear. There’s more to this story than you know…”
“They all know about Zofia, mother,” Nick tells her. “It’s all out now.”
At this, Tish’s eyes widen. She scans the faces before her, nodding silently. When she meets Gina’s gaze, she lingers on her for an extra second. “I see. You must have questions, then.”
“It’s late, Mom,” Nick says. “We can do this tomorrow when—”
“There is no we,” Bobby interrupts. “Dad did this to me. To benefit you.”
Bobby knows it’s wrong to snap at his brother, especially when a little over an hour ago he had nearly hit him for something he didn’t do. But the lengths to which his dad has gone to make his favorite son CEO are truly vile. He planted a fake email in his account, for God’s sake. Bobby groans, thinking of the email. Tyrone Peck. As in Tyrone Power and Gregory Peck. Charles’s two favorite movie stars.
“Wake up, Bobby,” Nick snaps. “He did it for himself. Dad wants to be CEO again. He went along with Eva’s plan because it suited him.”
Bobby turns to look at Tish. “Is this true?” He can feel his eyes widen.
“It’s all her fault.” Tish’s voice is soft. “She’s got your father under some sort of spell.”
A scoff from Alice. But it’s Nick who speaks. “Stop making excuses for him, Mom. He doesn’t deserve your loyalty.”
“But Dad was the one who wanted to retire,” Bobby says. A memory surfaces unbidden: his father walking into his old office at Alma Boots to announce it was time for him to step down. You’ll take over for me, son, he’d said. Bobby had been delighted, but mostly he’d been relieved. At the time, Nick had been living in Bali. Now, when he came back, if he came back, Bobby would already be CEO. There would be no way for Nick to take his place. For the first time in his life, Bobby had beat his brother.
“Losing Lawrence was traumatic,” Tish says. “He hasn’t been himself since. The signs were there, I… I should’ve paid more attention. I thought he’d come back. I thought he’d see what he was doing to our family, but…” Tish presses her lips together. It’s like she’s run out of words.
Alice’s voice cuts through the room like a guillotine. “This is not on you, Tish.”
“How long have you known?” Bobby asks.
“Since the beginning,” Tish says. “Go ahead, hate me. I’m about to lose my husband, my family, my place in this town. It can’t get any worse.” Her tone is lifeless, disconnected, like morning dew on an artificial plant.
The words hit him like a punch to the stomach. He thinks back to the day in early September when he first heard of Eva’s allegations against him. Bobby had been stunned. Convinced there was something wrong with her. It wasn’t until he watched the video that he realized Eva’s version of events was eerily similar to his affair with Zofia. Not the characterization—Bobby is entirely convinced that his actions do not constitute sexual misconduct. He was unfaithful to his wife. A jerk to Zofia. But he was not a predator. He hadn’t set out to hurt anyone. But the time frame had been identical. Nine months, from beginning to end. An affair that was physical, but also emotional. A proper relationship. It was then that Bobby became convinced that Eva’s allegations were an act of corporate hostility, a ploy by a competitor—probably Souliers—to take control of Alma Boots. It never occurred to him that Eva’s motivation was emotional. And it certainly never occurred to him that his own father was behind it or that his mother would’ve allowed him to be wrongfully accused for so long.
“Would you talk to him, Bobby?” Tish asks. “Explain to him what this has done to you. To your family.”
“You want me to reason with him?” Bobby asks.
“He’ll listen to you. You’ve always been so responsible—”
“That’s not going to happen, Mom.” Bobby’s tone is firm. “In fact, I’m never speaking to him again. On Monday, I’m calling for an emergency meeting
