She walks up to him.
“What are you doing here?”
He looks up, startled. And then he smiles, his face awash with relief. “I had to make sure you were OK.”
“A superhero coming to my rescue?”
He seems to consider this for a moment. “No. Your sidekick offering backup.”
Malaika laughs. Her first laugh in over twenty-four hours. She knows what will be waiting for her back in Alma: Andy will be furious with her—she’s probably destroyed his credibility with J.T. Alice will fire her. Allegra will be confused. A less than ideal situation, no doubt.
But Calan is here. Her friend, someone who cares about her. Her backup.
And so, for now, Malaika is happy.
Interview with Elise Thompson
Member of the Alma Social Club—Third Generation. Enrolled in 1988
If my Lawrence were still with us, he’d be ashamed of Charles.
That’s really all I have to say.
Fifty-Seven
Zofia
Tuesday, November 12th
Dr. Woodward is wearing an orange tie with tiny green bows. Zofia finds this amusing because, in a sense, it could be said that he is wearing a bow tie. Should this be her very first remark to the good doctor? It would be a bold move, breaking her year of silence with a joke. But perhaps she ought to select a joke that doesn’t come at his expense. Yes, that seems more sensible. Dr. Woodward smiles at her, a distracted look in his eyes, and then proceeds to ask her about the retreat. Zofia watches him lean back, expecting her either to refrain from answering or to pick up her blue notebook and jot down a reply. Instead, Zofia responds, in a clear tone, “I had a breakthrough.” The expression of utter disbelief on Dr. Woodward’s face is priceless. It had been a good decision, after all, not going with the joke.
Fifty-Eight
Alice
Tuesday, November 12th
Bobby walks into the conference room looking the way Alice expects him to: stunned. He shuts the door behind him.
“Thank you for coming,” Gina says. Both her demeanor and her tone are calm, pleasant. But Alice can sense the apprehension buried beneath her words. She’s gotten to know her sister-in-law well over the past weeks.
“What’s going on?” Bobby’s eyes dart from his wife to the three other people seated around the rectangular table: Nick, Tish, and Alice.
“There’s something we need to talk to you about,” Gina says, leaning back on the puffy Wassily chair. “Before the meeting.”
Bobby closes the door behind him and takes a seat next to Gina. This, too, is unsurprising. Bobby will always choose to be near Gina.
Still, Alice doesn’t think Gina’s plan will work—not the part about having Bobby on board, anyway. But Gina had insisted that they meet with Bobby first, that he be given the chance to do the right thing.
Gina turns to him. “We’re here to ask you to resign as CEO of Alma Boots.”
Bobby looks hurt. Alice had expected him to look more like a cornered animal—wild and frantic. She hadn’t expected undiluted pain.
“We want you to issue a public statement saying that you’ve come to understand the gravity of your actions and the damage you’ve inadvertently caused, not just to me, but to the company’s culture, and that you feel it’s best for everyone if you step down,” Gina continues. “After a while, you can come back, if that’s what you want, but in another capacity. In fact, we hope you will.”
A stretch of silence.
“You want to punish me that badly?” Bobby is looking at Gina. It’s as though no one else is in the room.
“This is not about punishment.” Gina rests her hand on his arm. At this, he leans forward and cups her hand. It’s palpable, how much he loves her. Alice feels a tug at her heart. No one’s ever loved her liked that.
“We need to do something,” Gina continues. “What you did, it was wrong…”
“You have no idea how sorry I am.”
“But I do,” Gina says. She looks down. Alice wonders if she’ll cry. “I understand better than anyone, believe me. And I forgive you. Of course I forgive you. We’ve been married for fifteen years. You made a mistake. You didn’t mean to hurt me. I get it. But that’s the thing: you didn’t just hurt me. You hurt her.” The her does not need to be specified. Both Alice and Gina have been corresponding with Zofia. Eva had arranged it. “At first, I didn’t see it, either. I only saw my pain because I thought it was a private matter. But that’s not how I feel anymore. After talking to her, I’ve realized how… irresponsible you were. You took advantage of your position in the company. You abused your power, Bobby.”
“You know I would do anything for you—”
“I don’t want you to do this for me.” Gina squeezes Bobby’s hand. The gesture is strangely intimate, almost uncomfortable to watch. Alice tries to meet Nick’s eye, but he is absorbed in the scene in front of him, no doubt worried for his brother. Twin loyalty. Yet another form of love Alice will never know. “I want you to do it because it’s the right thing. Think of the message you’d be sending to your employees, to the country. You’d be taking responsibility for your actions, leading by example. Inspiring a whole new generation of boys to be better. You have that power.”
Alice feels the corners of her lips curling in a smile. She’s proud of the way Gina is handling herself, not just now, but in general. Alice has seen her correspondence with Zofia: she’s been compassionate, kind. The country doesn’t know about Eva’s lie. To Alice’s relief, Gina wants to keep it that way. Zofia does not want to come forward—she feels she wouldn’t be able to handle the scrutiny, not even with the full support of the Dewar women behind her. Alice wishes she felt differently, but she does not blame her.
