'Maybe it would be better if I just left …'
'Maybe it would.'
Her eyes filled with tears as she up at Charles, he stared back at her, his eyes still full of anger, then he turned and walked away. She wanted to call out to him, 'Wait,' like he has so many times but all she could do is watch him walk away. A light rain starts to fall but she continues to watch until he is out of sight. 'Wait,' she finally whispers.
She headed back to the bookstore against her better judgement. She had left her bag so she had to anyway. As she walked through the door her eyes scanned the store for Pauline. Thankfully, there was no sign of her. She isn't sure she can take that conversation tonight.
She found her bag and was almost in the clear when a voice stopped her. 'How long?'
Liza sighed and turned around to find Pauline sitting in a chair near the door, glaring at her. It appears she will be having this conversation tonight.
'Pauline, I'm sorry you…'
'How long have you been screwing my husband?'
'I'm not. We never….'.
'Please.' Pauline scoffed
'You don't have to believe me, it's the truth.'
'I don't believe you and I will be asking Diana to have you stay back from the rest of the tour.'
'You don't have to worry about that, Charles just fired me.' She turned and walked out the door but not before noticing Pauline's mouth drop open in complete shock.
She pulled out her phone and dialed the only person she needed to talk to right now. 'Mags? You home?'
'Yep, in for the night. What's up, do I need to vacate so you can finally consummate with your boss?'
'Nope, quite the opposite. Have a glass of wine ready for me.'
'It will be ready when you get here.'
After a good cry, a hot shower and half a bottle of wine Liza was laying on the couch in her comfy pajamas with her feet on Maggie's lap.
'I don't know Liza, you might be over thinking this, are you really sure he fired you?'
'Yes, I'm sure. God Maggie, if you could have seen how hurt he was, how angry. He hates me.'
'I don't think that is true and I don't think that you do either. I am going to get you a refill and we are going to watch a movie to get your mind off this!'
'Thanks, Maggie, I don't know what I would do without you.'
Kelsey pulled her phone out of her purse as she left the bar where she was meeting Lauren's newest fling. There were two missed calls from Diana in the last 10 minutes. Her phone vibrates. Diana, again.
'Hi Diana.'
'Finally!' Diana huffed. 'Have you spoken with Liza or Charles tonight?'
'No, I haven't. What is going on?'
'I just spoke with Pauline, she told me Charles and Liza had some sort of argument after the book signing tonight and he apparently fired her.'
'What? I can't believe that!'
'I don't know if I do either, especially hearing it from Pauline. But I haven't been able to speak with either of them to find out what is really going on.'
'OK, I will try to get in touch with Liza, you keep trying Charles. We will figure this out.'
After the movie Maggie checked her phone – two missed calls from Kelsey and a text. 'Is Liza with you? I need to talk to her, please have her get in contact with me.'
'Kelsey wants to talk to you.' She showed Liza the text.
'Ugh, can you text her back and tell her I will talk to her tomorrow? I don't want to deal with this anymore tonight.'
'Will do.' She responded to Kelsey: 'Liza is here, she doesn't want to talk to anyone right now, said she will talk to you tomorrow.'
Charles was also talking to the only person he could about this. He and Bob sat at the Carlisle, Charles on his second glass of scotch telling Bob everything about what he found out from LL Moore and his confrontation with Liza.
'Well, as your lawyer, we'll deal with LL Moore on Monday. As your friend I'm sorry, I know you had strong feelings for her.'
'Strong feelings? I am in love with her. I just can't believe she has been lying all this time.' He finished his drink and rubbed his temples. 'Everything has been a lie. I don't know what to do.'
'You need to clear your head, take the girls to Pound Ridge for the weekend and disconnect from everything,'
'Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Thanks Bob.'