Page 11 of Bad Summer People
At a certain point, that tennis pro, Robert, arrived—Jason met him and they’d chatted briefly. He seemed to be a nice guy. Very good-looking. All the women were aflutter. The guys, too. Jason noticed Paul Grobel standing on his tiptoes to seem taller.
Jason eventually saw Jen make her way to the bathroom, which was farther back into Rachel’s first floor, near her kitchen, and away from the gathering. He waited two minutes and then went back that way. The door was still closed, so he knocked; she would surely know who it was. She opened it and came out, looking directly at him, finally.
He knew it was a risk, but he had to touch her, he just had to, so he brushed his hand against hers as she passed, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Let’s meet at the beach,” he whispered. She gave a quick nod and continued back to the party, smoothing her dress as she went.
Jason felt like the rest of the evening was an endless slog of boring conversations and tepid laughter. He was just waiting for it to be over so he could escape Lauren and see Jen. Paul cornered him for half an hour, telling him about some secret dining club that he and Emily belonged to. Jason was tall enough to see the top of Paul’s head, and he noticedthe telltale black dots of an in-process hair transplant. Paulwouldspend thirty grand to hold on to his hair for dear life.
“It’s by the guys who run Carbone,” Paul said, “and you have to fill out this form to apply, then pay a five-thousand-dollar retainer. And they hold the meals in roving locations, like an empty loft in Tribeca or in the basement of a random diner in Queens.”
“Sounds like hell on earth,” said Sam, who’d snuck up next to them. He laughed.
Paul glared at him. It had always been kind of tense between the two of them. Sam was so fun and attractive, and Paul was a ball of insecurity. They just didn’t gel.
Jason chuckled. He loved when Sam bothered Paul. There were moments, still, when Sam reminded him of the five-year-old kid he’d befriended in kindergarten, the one he’d dressed up with in superhero costumes and played endless games of hide-and-seek. He momentarily felt bad that he was sleeping with Sam’s wife. Sam was so guileless, standing there in his stupid white linen outfit. But Jason pushed the thought to the back of his mind. Paul walked away, clearly annoyed at Sam and Jason.
“Paul can be such a tool,” said Sam. He and Jason were alone by the bar. Jen was with Emily and Rachel on the couch. Brian was in the bathroom. Lauren and the tennis pro were deep in conversation.Good,thought Jason.Someone else can listen to her rattle on.
Sam then looked at Jason earnestly, his tanned face turning serious.Oh, shit,thought Jason.He knows.His throat tightened and he felt his mouth go dry.
“I have to speak to you about something,” said Sam, his voice soft.
“Do you want to go outside?” asked Jason.
“No, then people will think something’s up. I just want us to act casual, like we’re talking about the Knicks or something,” said Sam.
Jason nodded.Fuck, fuck, fuck.Sam’s eyes flicked over to Jen. Jason braced for the worst.
“Something happened at work,” said Sam. Sam was still at Sullivan & Cromwell, where he oversaw the entire litigation department. “There was this girl, this associate,” he continued.
Jason caught his breath. This wasn’t about him and Jen; Sam still didn’t know.
“And nothing ever happened between us, I swear. We just worked closely together on a couple of cases. I liked her, but only as a colleague. You have to believe me, Jason,” he said. He looked scared.
Jason wasn’t used to seeing Sam like this.
“She’s now makingaccusations.” Sam was nearly whispering now.
“She’s saying I made advances and that I forced her to kiss me. It’s not true. I would never do that. You know me. But now they’re investigating me—they’ve brought in an outside counsel to do it. And it’s getting intense.”
Jason was shocked. Sam was so straitlaced. Or as straitlaced as a handsome lawyer could be.
“Jen doesn’t know,” Sam went on. “I’m not going to tell her if I don’t have to. But I had to tell someone. I think this girl just wants a payoff from the firm; otherwise, she would have gone to the police. But she doesn’t understand that she’s ruining my life.”
Jason wasn’t sure how to respond. His immediate thoughts went to how and if this information could derail his relationship with Jen.
“So, what’s going to happen?” he asked.
“I’m not sure,” said Sam. “They’re still deliberating on how to handle it. But there are at least a couple of people who aren’t friendly to me on the management committee, and I’m worried I’m going to get fucked. If I lose my job over this, I’ll be ruined. Please don’t say anything to anyone, including Lauren, but especially Jen.”
As if conjured by her name, Jen appeared right then next to Sam, putting her arm through his.
“What are you boys discussing, all secretive?” she said, looking dazzling in the dimmed porchlight. Jason decided right then that he wouldn’t tell her about Sam. He worried it would mess with what they had going, and he wasn’t willing to put that at risk. Just another secret to add to the pile. He would see her later at the beach and act as if nothing had changed.
6Silvia Mabini
Silvia Mabini dreaded summer. It wasn’t the weather; she loved heat. She’d grown up in a small village about an hour outside Manila, and she was used to that sticky, heavy humidity. When it was a hundred degrees in the city, walking through the neighborhood near her apartment in Jamaica, Queens, she felt at home. What she dreaded, what caused her fifty-two-year-old skin to crawl, was the idea of spending two months on Fire Island with her boss’s family.
But here she was, again, in her little room on the first floor of the Parkers’ beach house, bored, lonely, watching soaps on YouTube. The house was nice, of course. Everything about the Parkers’ life was nice. Lauren was very particular, including about what the kids wore—designer dresses for Amelie, no sweatpants on Arlo—and ate—only organic, very little refined sugar, no juiceever.Silvia had learned Lauren’s preferences immediately, as she’d been trained to do. And Lauren was a good boss to Silvia; demanding, but clear with her expectations, generous with Silvia’s pay, absentee in a way that Silvia appreciated. It was always better for the nannies when the moms were out of the house.
