“You won’t. I won’t be living with my kids. She will. But she’s gone for three months.”
“Why the hell did you agree to it, and to take her place?”
“Because I’m their father.”
They spent two hours arguing and then he had to drive to Greenwich. He got home at nine-thirty, and Seth’s math tutor was just leaving. Pennie came in right behind him, dropped off by a friend.
“Where have you been?” he asked her.
“Yearbook meeting. I’m chairman of the yearbook committee. It looked good on my applications. We meet at night, and we’re way behind. I’m doing it tomorrow too.”
Seth said he had a headache after the math tutor left, and Paul gave him two Tylenol. They were all in their rooms by ten-thirty, and Paul hadn’t eaten yet. When he opened the fridge, there was nothing left of what Tina had cooked for dinner. He found a slice of leftover pizza from the night before and ate it cold, sitting at the kitchen table, and wondering how he was going to get through the next three months. Just keeping the kids’ schedules straight was a full-time job, and he hadn’t had to do homework yet, or cook a meal. And he had to keep a twenty-seven-year-old woman happy too, one who didn’t give a damn about his kids and everything there was to do. It seemed like too much for just one person. It needed a team. And Paul wondered how Eileen was going to do it when she started her catering business.
She sent him a text at midnight, six A.M. in Paris, when she got up. She had to be at her first class at seven-thirty. She was making sure that everything was going smoothly, and he texted back that it was, and added, “I don’t know how you do it.”
“You just keep moving and it all falls into place,” she said. Her first class that morning was on pans, and the afternoon class was sauces. She could hardly wait.
Paul tried to call Olivia when he got to bed, but she didn’t pick up. He had some papers to read for work, turned off the light at one A.M. and set the alarm for six. He wanted to dress and get a grip on things before he made breakfast. He never knew what Eileen did in the morning after he left for work, and never cared. He suddenly realized he had a lot to learn, and a short time to do it.
He got to the office at ten, and was late for a meeting. He called Olivia afterwards, as soon as he got back to his office.
“Six o’clock?” he suggested.
“Can we make it seven? I have a five o’clock meeting and I won’t be finished till then.” Gone were the days of the past three months when they could meet up at the end of their day, whenever it was, and have a leisurely evening ahead of them to relax and make love. She was a pit stop now on his way home. This was actually worse than before he left Eileen, because she was there for the kids then. Now he had to be.
“I can’t do seven,” he said apologetically. “If I do that, I won’t get home till ten, which is really too late.”
“Fine, then forget it,” she snapped at him.
“Olivia, please, cut me a little slack here. I’m trying to fit it all in.”
“Well, you’re not trying very hard to fit me in.”
“I am, but I have to get home in time to see the kids. I wish you could stay there with me.” But they both knew she couldn’t. Even if they liked her, it wouldn’t be appropriate, and he wasn’t going to shack up with his girlfriend while living with his kids.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, annoyed with him. She complained about it to her mother when she stopped by for a visit the next day. Gwen was painting when Olivia got there.
“How’s Paul?” Gwen asked casually, as she dabbed at the canvas and stood back to squint at it. It was coming together.
“Our relationship has turned to shit. His wife is taking a class in Paris for three months, and he’s staying in Greenwich with the kids. He has to get home at night, and I have a feeling we’re hardly going to see each other for the next three months.”
“Maybe that’s a good thing,” her mother suggested, and Olivia nodded.
“I thought that too, but it sure isn’t fun.”
“Welcome to real life,” her mother said to her.
“Whose real life? Not mine. I don’t have kids, and I don’t live in the suburbs.”
“No, but he does, and right now that’s the same thing. You’ll get through it.”
“Will I? Will we? I’m beginning to wonder and it’s only been three days.”
“It must be hard on him,” Gwen said, and set her brush down. “If you add a lot of pressure, it will just make it more difficult for him.”
“Why is it always about his schedule and his constraints?”
“Because he’s a married man with three kids. And right now his wife is away.”
“And I have to pay the price for it.” She looked seriously annoyed. Her mother didn’t think she was mature enough to put up with it and make allowances for him. But if she loved him enough, she would. It was a test of sorts, for both of them. “This is a lot more challenging than it originally looked. I thought his wife was the problem, having expectations of him. But it’s his life.”
“I told you, married men are complicated.”
“It’s messy.” Olivia smiled at her. Her mother had said that too, and she was right.
“And you’re still in love with him?” Gwen asked her.
“I think so. I’d give my right arm for his wife to come back, though, and deal with the kids.”
“Three months is better than forever. Imagine if he had custody of the kids.”
Olivia looked horrified. “Don’t even think it. God forbid.”
Paul managed to see Olivia for two hours that night and get home at nine-thirty. He didn’t get dinner, but the children had eaten, been tutored, and done their homework.
He didn’t see Olivia on Thursday, and he had to go to college prep night at school with Pennie on Friday, but he had organized all three children for the weekend so they were staying with friends. He had two full days with Olivia, and everything was on track again by Sunday night. Tina had agreed to stay on Monday and Wednesday nights too. He felt like he was running relay races. Every time he got a text from Eileen he told her they were doing great.
Everything fell apart again on Monday. Tina called him at the office to tell him that Mark threw up at school. She had gone to pick him up and he had a fever, and Seth texted him that he had a science project due and needed help that night. So his night with Olivia went out the window.
“Is it always going to be like this?” she commented, sounding exasperated when he called to tell her he couldn’t spend the night because he had to go home for a sick child and a science project.