Page 118 of We Met Like This
My teeth started chattering from the cold or shock or embarrassment. “Rob,sheapproached me, hired me for research. And you won’t sue me. Because if you do, I will tell everyone that we had a sexual relationship for years and you will lose a lot more than just one client.”
There was a gasp to my left and I looked over to see my sister standing there holding a towel. “Maybe take this more than ten feet from the back fence, Maggie?” She tossed the towel in my direction and left.
I was quiet for several deep breaths, tears burning hotbehind my eyes. I didn’t want to let them out because I didn’t want Rob to think they had anything to do with him. I picked up the towel and wrapped it tightly around me. “Leave,” I was finally able to say.
He didn’t leave, just nodded to where my sister had disappeared. “Is she going to go public with this?” He knew my sister had a popular channel. He knew a lot about my family. I wished I’d told him nothing over the years because then he wouldn’t be standing here now, overstepping huge boundaries. I shouldn’t have been surprised. He was really good at stepping over boundaries.
“Leave,” I repeated.
Again, he stayed where he was.
“She said leave.” That was Oliver’s voice, and both Rob and I turned toward it.
He was standing on the sidewalk, his car, I could now see, parked across the street. In his hand he held a fruit tray, a nice one. He must’ve realized I’d forgotten it at the same time I had.
Rob let out a grunt. “This isn’t some lover’s quarrel, so no need to come up here in a jealous rage. You can have her. This is strictly business.”
Oliver took three large steps forward and Rob squared off with him, as if daring him to do his best. Oliver’s free fist was clenched tight and his eyes were full of rage.
“Don’t!” I screamed, stepping in between them. “Don’t.”
Oliver stopped, his hand going limp at his side.
“Leave,” I said to Rob again. “Now.”
He let out a huff, but headed to his car. “This isn’t over,” he said.
“It is,” Oliver replied.
To that, Rob didn’t respond. He got in his car and drove away.
The tears that had been burning behind my eyes ran hot down my cheeks. Oliver took a step toward me but I took a step back, clutching the top of my towel tightly.
“You dated my sister? She was the one who cheated on you in college?” I pointed toward the backyard even though she was no longer standing there.
I wanted him to deny it. To say,Who’s your sister again?And realize in real time the horror of our shared past. But the look on his face let me know that he already knew this fact.
“You can leave too,” I said, my blood running cold.
He didn’t move. “Can I explain?”
“Now!” I screamed.
He held out the fruit and I took another step back. He hung his head, turned, and walked to his car. If it weren’t for the fact that I didn’t have a car here, I would’ve left too. Fled the scene. Not had to face my family. Had they all heard me? What was my life?
My sister was waiting in the side yard, out of view of the rest of the party, which meant she heard not only my interaction with Rob but also with Oliver.
“I didn’t know,” I said. What else was there to say? I felt empty. Defeated.
“Are you… are youdatinghim?”
I wasn’t sure if she was talking about Rob or Oliver, but the answer for both was a most definitive “No.”
“How could you not know it was him? You saw pictures! I posted him online.” She was talking about Oliver, then.
“For what, like, six months? Eight or nine years ago?” I said, remembering that Oliver had said he hadn’t been withhis college girlfriend long but how it still hurt when she was unfaithful. The lies and secrets were the most hurtful, he had said. How could he have said that all while lying to me? The lump in my throat grew even bigger. “I was eighteen or nineteen. You weren’t living at home. I didn’t pay attention to who you were dating.”
“Not surprising,” she said.
