The Sportin' Life (31 page)

“
Sigmund Freud?
”

“
Michael Hamilton. Can you believe it?
”

“
Yeah, great, actually I was on my way out the door.
”

“
Wait hon, I need to ask you something. Could you possibly loan me some money? I need to give that PI…
”
Addie hesitated, mentally calculating, increasing her estimate, and said
“
Another ten thousand dollars
—
but he
’
s sure he can bring Oliver in.
”

“
Are you nuts? Cut your losses, move on, get back to work.
”

Addie
’
s breath caught in her throat. She heard the anger and resentment in her daughter
’
s voice. It never seemed to improve between them.
“
I
’
m planning to reintroduce The Bullshit Program. That
’
s how serious I am, but right now I
’
m in a pretty big hole and it
’
s going to be hard to get out. And I need to get out pronto
—
because
—
and Lissa, don
’
t repeat this to anyone
—
but Mick is coming back to me
—
I
’
m sure of it.
”

“
You never change, do you, Mother.
”

“
You haven
’
t seen me in a while
—
I look older
—
stress.
”

Lissa sounded so exasperated,
“
Five hundred bucks
—
that
’
s it. I
’
ll deposit it later today.
”

“
Listen, forget it. I can
’
t believe you
’
re so ungenerous. I bought you that house.
”

At the same moment, they both slammed down the phone and disconnected from each other, their usual way of saying goodbye.

Addie sat dejectedly at her desk. Lissa was her first child, her only daughter. She was so special, but she had never made Addie her number one. Lissa had preferred her father, then her stepfather, even her father
’
s first wife. Addie barely made it into her top ten. Long ago, Addie believed her mother was her number one. Girls always love their moms, don
’
t they? And Addie thought her mother had loved her too. But Mom had run off, had ruined Addie
’
s life and all her chances, had turned her father into a monster who tried to destroy her.

Why was it always so hard? Why was there so much pain with the people she loved? Why did nobody really love her back? She thought about calling the twins, but knew it would do no good. They hadn
’
t spoken in several years and the boys always sided with their dad instead of her. It was supremely unfair. Addie pressed the first button on her speed dial.

“
Lucie, it
’
s Addie. Do you have time for me?
”
Lucie was the one person to whom Addie would never bounce a check or give a cancelled credit card. Lucie was her psychic.

“
I see many angels around you today, Addie. Have you been meditating more? It
’
s working! Your guides are all over the place, sending so much love to you. You
’
re going to feel their presence much more deeply. And your psychic ability is going to improve. Soon you will be reading for me!
”

Addie laughed, the first time in a long, long while.
“
Do you see anything happening with Oliver? This is killing me.
”

“
Oh honey, do I ever. I see a big release where that is concerned, not sure when though, that looks kinda shady, but I see a lot of relief too. It
’
s going to be completely over between you, I
’
m sure of that.
”

“
And the money?
”

“
You
’
ll make money again, for sure, take a while but you will. Just be patient and stop feeling so blue. Can
’
t heal others when you
’
re so down in the dumps.
”

“
But I want the money Oliver stole from me.
”

“
Karmic debts are complicated. It
’
ll be resolved, though, I promise that.
”

“
And what about Mick?
”
Addie held her breath. Lucie had this way of always being right, so much so that when she had a difficult client, Addie would consult Lucie about what was coming so she knew in which direction to push the client.

“
Mick is very confused. He doesn
’
t know what he wants. His heart is torn. He too has some very big changes coming, some endings and the need to start again.
”

“
Oh Lucie, thank you so much. I feel so much better.
”

Addie had been at the brink of despair, one step away from ending her life, but now she
’
d been given an unexpected second chance. The man she
’
d loved best, loved so much that she married him as a boy, he was coming back and they
’
d find a way at last to make it work
—
for the rest of her life. He would be her number one. And she would finally be his. Her heart would be safe, held closely within his. Life would begin again and all these problems would ultimately turn out to be incidental. Addie knew that if only she could be his number one, the rest of her problems would seem small and easily surmountable.

She showered, dressed, even applied make up, for the first time in weeks. Addie looked ten years younger than her age, thanks to an excellent face lift, quality breast implants, and the nose job she
’
d had when she first came to
Los Angeles
. It was an elegant, cultured, perhaps even beautiful woman who stared back at her from the mirror, and at her age minus ten, it meant there really was only a decade between herself and Mick, and that was easily doable.

It had been quite a while, hadn
’
t it? He should have called. That scheming little bitch was pulling who knew what. Addie should go to him.

In the parking garage, next to her Mercedes, her last asset, stood two men, tall, bulky, intimidating men.
“
Hey,
”
she shouted, indomitable,
“
What are you doing to my car?
”

Wordlessly, the older one thrust a paper toward her. She knew what it was instantly.

“
Look, please, don
’
t do this today. Everything is about to change. I owe so little on this car, please.
”
Could she weep? Would it help?

“
I
’
m sorry, Ma
’
am, we don
’
t have any choice. It
’
s our job. But if you clear up the payments owed, and of course the repo fees, well you
’
ll have the car back. Nothing is set in stone.
”

“
It won
’
t kill you to wait a day, will it? I must go somewhere right now.
”

The younger one was attaching the chains between the car and the tow truck. The older one shook his head politely, but didn
’
t yield.

“
Look, here, take my watch
—
something for your trouble.
”
Addie reached to unfasten her watch but realized she wasn
’
t wearing it. She
’
d sold it weeks ago.

She watched, frustrated and angry, as the two men drove off, her beautiful Mercedes rolling smoothly behind the dented truck. There was a car rental place not too far away, a walk long enough to be brisk, but short enough not to ruin the heels of her sexy pumps.

Soon Addie found herself filling out a rental form and handing her credit card to a distracted counter girl who had to be commanded to hang up the phone and wait on her. The girl handed the form back, indicating items Addie had not filled out, places she had not initialed.

The girl turned from the credit card terminal and said,
“
They want me to call for an approval.
”

“
I
’
ve hardly used this card,
”
said Addie,
“
That
’
s probably why.
”

“
Okay, great, sure,
”
said the girl into the phone.
“
No problem at all.
”

Addie sighed in relief. It sounded fine. It was the card she saved to pay her psychic, and she always paid her bill. There couldn
’
t possibly be a problem.

The girl smirked, reached for some scissors and cut the card in half.
“
Sorry, they told me to do it. Got another card?
”

Her options dwindling, Addie escaped to the street. Her wallet contained seventeen dollars, too little for a taxi. She walked to an ATM, inserted her card and saw that her balance was thirteen dollars, possibly enough extra to pay for a cab to Mick
’
s house. But she couldn
’
t withdraw less than twenty, and when she pressed cancel, the machine refused to return her card. Apparently the total was minus thirteen, not plus.

She withdrew her cell phone from her purse, seemingly the only withdrawal she could make today, and dialed Mick
’
s number.

“
Addie,
”
he answered,
“
How nice of you to check on me.
”

“
I couldn
’
t wait any longer. I was going to drive by there, but had car trouble. Are you still at the house?
”

“
Actually I
’
m at the market
—
we needed some food.
”

Addie scowled. Why would he be shopping for food at a time like this? The stupid bitch couldn
’
t even feed the kids? How typical.

“
You really helped me today, and I want to thank you so much. It really helped me put things into perspective. Things seem much clearer now and I appreciate it so much. No wonder you
’
re such a great therapist.
”

“
And you
’
re leaving her?
”

“
No, why would you think that? We
’
re going to try harder. I
’
m sure it will all work out. Meanwhile, thank you so much. I know I hurt you years back, but you
’
ve always been about the best friend I could ever have. If ever I can do anything for you
—
anything at all, well you always have my shoulder to lean on, you know that.
”

Addie shielded her face, walking guardedly back toward her office, not wanting people on the crowded Beverly Hills street to notice the tears streaming down her cheeks. She spoke carefully, so her voice would sound clear, not muddled.
“
Okay hon, glad you
’
re okay, but when you change your mind, you can always come to me.
”

Back in her office, Addie sat on the couch, weeping violently, and when her sobs became too loud, she muffled them with the back of her hand. Her breath came in jagged gasps, her eyes blurred and swelled until the office was a fuzzy smudge all around her. It all had been just a fantasy, a dream of having the thing that mattered most, the thing that would make life worthwhile. Nothing was left to sustain her and nothing new was coming. No new chance to make things work, no Mick to be her number one. Addie was not only not a number one, she wasn
’
t on the list at all. She was completely and utterly alone.