Rina had busted Alicia one day when Rina dropped by unexpectedly and had been in on Alicia’s little secret ever since. But she was aware of Rina’s own secret vice that she kept from David, her husband, so they were even.
“That’s the thanks I get for being so generous, huh?” Rina said. “I should take them back with me.”
“No!” Alicia objected and pulled the box toward her, away from Rina, in case she carried out her threat and took them back.
“I thought so,” Rina said with a devious grin.
“What’s new?” Alicia asked.
“I’m bored. Needed a change of scenery and some adult company.”
Boredom followed Rina at every turn. Alicia guessed she missed her old job. Rina had worked as a product management director for a software company in Waltham until she fell in love with the CEO, David Stark. David was still technically married and in the middle of divorcing his first wife at the time. It had caused a huge scandal within SummitTec and with Rina’s conservative Indian family who had briefly disowned her.
Once their first son, Jacob, was born, Rina had taken a break from work. It lasted two years, and two more sons followed. Now both motherhood and marriage had lost their luster for Rina.
“Why don’t you just tell David you want to go back to work, even if it’s part-time?” Alicia asked, finishing off her first donut and reaching for another.
Rina evaded the question by asking, “Can we sit outside?”
Taking the quickly depleting box of donuts with them, the women walked to the patio and flopped down on the white sectional seating adorned with yellow and blue cushions. The Mediterranean-style outdoor patio was the perfect place to laze away a suburban morning. A large clump of purple and pink allium, sweet-scented globe-like flowers, created a stunning yet calming effect in the surrounding garden.
Rina reached into the front pocket of her jeans and pulled out a single cigarette and a lighter. She lit the cigarette, took a long drag, and then exhaled.
“How long are you going to get away with that before David finds out?” Alicia asked, watching Rina relax into the cushion as the nicotine hit.
“What David doesn’t know won’t hurt him. I quit for him and the kids. Besides, I only do it once in a while. No big deal.”
Rina continued to puff on her cigarette, swatting the smoke with her free hand. She stared at a flowerpot for a while, as if thinking deep. Then she said, “If I go back to work, it can’t be at SummitTec. It’s been almost ten years since David and I got together, but I’m sure some members of the old guard are still there who’d love to make things awkward.”
“Oh, Rina. It’s all in the past. Besides, you were already a successful woman in tech before you met David. You will be again, wherever you go.”
“Yeah, but I’ve been out of the game for so long. There are new platforms now, new ways to develop software. A lot has changed. It will be like starting all over again. I don’t want to go through all that, with three kids in the mix.”
“Why not take a few refresher courses? There are tons of online classes now,” Alicia said. “You just need to brush up, that’s all—give yourself a little confidence boost.”
Rina sighed and took another drag on her cigarette, staring out into the garden this time.
Alicia watched her friend. Despite Rina’s honesty about her work-related anxiety, Alicia sensed there was something else on her friend’s mind. She had clearly brought the donuts to butter up Alicia and the cigarettes to calm herself. From experience Alicia knew that it was only a matter of time before Rina’s real reason for visiting would make itself known.
Rina blew out a puff of smoke. “Are you coming to book club tomorrow?”
“I can’t. Eliot is taking me to Paris in the morning. We’re celebrating our twentieth wedding anniversary.”
“Oh, Paris in April! That’ll be wonderful,” Rina gushed, tapping Alicia on the knee. “I’m so jealous. David is always working. It’s hard to plan anything, and with three little kids, almost impossible. Ugh.”
“Eliot’s going for business, and it happened to coincide with our anniversary, so we’re mixing business with pleasure.”
“I hope you’re packing something naughty that will blow his mind. And promise me you will do tons of shopping. Bring something back for poor Rina?”
Alicia laughed. “I’m sure I’ll find ways to occupy myself while Eliot’s working.”
“Are the girls staying with the DeLucases?” she asked.
Ah, here we go. The innocent question wasn’t so innocent. The real reason for Rina’s visit. Kat. Rina never liked Kat from the moment she moved into the neighborhood. Rina thought Kat was too flashy, brash, and overtly sexual. Trying too hard, Rina called it. Kat didn’t think much of Rina, either; the two women despised each other, and Rina never missed an opportunity to bash Kat.
“No. Lily will stay over at Colby’s house, and Marston over at Veliane’s. I think they would rather hang out with friends while we’re away.”
“I don’t blame them for avoiding the DeLucases.”
Alicia inwardly rolled her eyes but leaned forward in anticipation of what Rina’s latest stab at Kat would be. “Why’s that, Rina?”
With an insincere apologetic glance, Rina stumped out her cigarette in an ashtray on the table. “Maxim has been getting into trouble at school. Makes you wonder what’s going on in that house.”
Usually the stuff that Rina came out with was petty tittle-tattle, but after Alicia’s conversation with Kat the other day, this new revelation was jolting. Alicia worried at the speed with which the news had reached Rina already.
“What kind of trouble?” Alicia probed.
“Like you don’t know.”
Alicia didn’t want to betray Kat’s confidence that Maxim had been giving her a hard time lately. Why hadn’t Kat said anything about it during their conversation? And how did Rina find out? Her kids were eight, five, and three years
