Genuine Lies

weren’t fired over Priest?”
    “Hmm. That may well have been a part of it. Eve found it difficult to adjust to the fact that she had been wrong about him and I had been right. But there was another man, one who meant a great deal more to her, who indirectly caused the severing of our professional ties.”
    “Victor Flannagan.”
    This time he didn’t bother to hide his surprise. “Eve’s discussed him with you?”
    “Yes. She wants an honest book.”
    “I had no idea how far she meant to go,” he murmured. “Is Victor aware …?”
    “Yes.”
    “Ah. Well then, Eve’s always had an affection for fireworks. Through two marriages, over thirty years, there’s been only one man Eve Benedict really loved. His marriage, his tug-of-war with the church, his guilt over his wife’s condition, made an open relationship with Eve impossible. Most of the time she accepted it. But other times … I remember once finding her sitting alone in the dark. She said: ‘Kenneth, whoever said half a loaf is better than none wasn’t hungry enough.’ That summed up her relationship with Victor. Sometimes Eve got hungry enough to look for sustanence elsewhere.”
    “You disagreed?”
    “With her affairs? I certainly thought she was throwing herself away, often recklessly. Victor loves her as deeply as she loves him. Perhaps that’s why they cause each other so much pain. The last time we discussed him was shortly after her divorce plans became public. Victor came to the house to see her. They argued. I could hear them shouting all the way up in my office. I was working with Nina Soloman. Eve had brought her in, asked me to train her. I remember how embarrassed Nina was, how timid. She was far from the slick, confident woman you know today. At that point Nina was just a stray, a frightened little puppy who’d already felt the boot too many times. The shouting upset her. Her hands shook.
    “After Victor stormed out, or was kicked out, Eve burst into the office. Her temper was far from over. She spewed out orders at Nina until the poor girl raced out of the room in tears. Then Eve and I had it out. I’m afraid I forgot my position long enough to tell her she’d been an idiot for marrying Priest in the first place, that she should stop trying to fill her life with sex instead of taking the love she already had. I said several other,probably unforgivable things, about her life-style, her temperament, and her lack of taste. When it was over, we both were quite calm again, but there was no going back to our former positions. I had said too much, and she had permitted me to say too much. I chose to retire.”
    “And Nina took your place.”
    “I believe Eve softened toward her. She felt tremendous compassion for the girl because of the ghastly things she’d been through. Nina was grateful, understanding that Eve had given her a chance many wouldn’t have. All in all, it’s worked out well for everyone.”
    “She still speaks of you fondly.”
    “Eve isn’t one to bear a grudge against honest words, or honest feelings. I’m proud to say I’ve been her friend for nearly twenty-five years.”
    “I hope you don’t mind, but I have to ask. Looking back, do you regret never being her lover?”
    He smiled over the rim of his glass before he sipped. “I didn’t say I was never her lover, Miss Summers, only that I was never her lover while in her employ.”
    “Oh.” The humor in his eyes had her responding with a laugh. “I don’t suppose you’d like to expand on that.”
    “No. If Eve choses to, that’s her business. But my memories are mine.”
    Julia left feeling sleepy from the wine, relaxed from the company, and pleased with the day’s work. During the brief wait in the terminal while her plane was readied, she labeled the tape and put a fresh one in her recorder.
    A little ashamed of the weakness, she slipped two Dramamine on her tongue and washed the pills down at the water fountain. When she straightened she caught a glimpse of a man across the lobby. For a moment she thought he’d been watching her, but she told herself she was just being self-conscious as he turned a page in a magazine that apparently had his full attention.
    Still, something about him nagged at her. There wassomething familiar about that sun-streaked mop of hair, the glossy tan, the casual beach-boy look.
    She forgot it and him when given the signal to board.
    She settled down, strapping in and gearing up for the short flight back to