"So you did come. I wasn't sure if you had the nerve to meet me face to face." Alice kept her voice steady as she sat down across the table. Her mind screamed one epithet after another as she looked into the other woman's dark-blue eyes.
"You wanted to talk, so I am here." Elsie's voice was quiet.
Alice flinched at the sound of the hardened r, the Scottish lilt. She disguised it by setting her purse next to her. She folded her hands, her wedding ring showing.
"It's quite simple, really." She forced herself to look Elsie in the eye. "If you care at all about anyone other than yourself, you will leave town. Go back to Lexington to your sister's, or somewhere else. I don't care. But leave us alone. If you claim to care for Charlie, you need to leave. For his sake." And mine.
"I understand why you say that," Elsie replied in that maddeningly calm tone. "But you cannot force me to leave."
"I'm not trying to force you. I'm trying to persuade you to do the right thing." Alice tugged on her coat. The waitress set down a cup of ice water in front of her.
"And you know what the right thing is for me?" Elsie tucked a strand of auburn hair behind her ear.
"Yes," Alice said. "I think everyone would be better off if you were gone." Secretly, she felt rather proud of her ability to be so blunt to Elsie's face.
Elsie raised an eyebrow. "Everyone? You presume to speak for the whole town, including-"
"She was fine before you came, she would be fine after you left." Alice moved the straw in her glass up and down.
"If she was fine before, why did she call me to come help her? She needed me, you know that!" A red spot appeared on Elsie's face.
Alice clenched her teeth. "Forget her, then. Everyone else, yes. Have you forgotten I've lived here my whole life? As has Charlie. We carried on for many years without you, and we can do so again."
"I'm not leaving just because you tell me to," Elsie said, her fingers tightening around her cup. A dangerous gleam glinted in her eye. "I've grown to love this place. I have friends here, a life. Why should I leave?" She opened her mouth to speak again, but closed it, as though cutting off a thought.
"Why? Everyone in the county knows about you and Charlie! People don't just forget about things like that here! He told me it's over between you," Alice snapped. "But if you stay, there's no chance anyone will forget. If you leave, we might be able to move on." In the back of her mind, she quietly admonished herself over her choice of words. She might have to eat them later.
"Yes, it's over," Elsie said quietly, spinning her coffee cup. She rubbed at the shadows under her eyes. "But I do find it ironic that you, of all people, are trying to get me to leave. After you left-"
"Oh, that didn't take long," Alice slapped her hand on the table. You set yourself up for that one. "Let me guess – that's how you justify your affair! Because Charlie and I were separated, that gave you the right to waltz in and cheat with him!"
"I would never try to justify it, I know it was wrong." Elsie said, biting her lip. "But I am gobsmacked at the way you have acted. The way you've treated him over the years is appalling."
Her withering tone rubbed Alice like sandpaper. "How dare you," she whispered, clenching her fist. Outside, the thunder rumbled again. The night threatened more rain. "You don't know us, the way we are. We've had separations over the years, I won't deny it-"
"Oh, I'm glad of that," Elsie snapped, rolling her eyes. In a perverse way, Alice felt happy to watch her lose her composure, even a little bit.
"But," Alice emphasized the word, drawing out the t. "Never, in our past, have I ever cheated on him. I never would, and I never could. And he never cheated on me." Her voice cracked. "Until this last time." Her chin wobbled, and she fought to keep her emotion in check. "Charlie is to blame for some of it, but this is mostly on you, Elsie Hughes."
I should have been a better wife. Maybe if we had gone another way when we were young, pursued our dreams, I wouldn't feel so claustrophobic at times. My Charlie knows me well, far better than he knows you. When I feel trapped, he lets me go. He knows I will always come back, and I always have. And he's always been here for me. Waiting with open arms.
Except this last time, when he preferred to have you in his arms.
Her heart swelled with regret and repressed anger. She drank the icy water, keeping her eyes on the table. She did not speak again until she felt she could do so without crying.
"You say you will not leave just because I say so. Fine. If you need extra persuasion, I am prepared to help you financially."
Elsie's mouth was pressed in a thin line. She was obviously offended by the offer of a bribe. "You don't know me very well. Money has its uses, but I will not be moved by them."
"Just think about it," Alice said. She picked up her purse and stood up. "And I will only say one more thing." Her breath hitched. "I've loved Charlie for my entire life, almost half a century. If I lost him, there would be no one else. Could you say the same?"
She left. She was barely a mile down the road when she had to pull over. She hated to feel out of control, but she knew her happiness depended on what Elsie would do.