You Don't Like the Idea (4/10)
Patty and Catherine are never far from Ellen’s thoughts on Saturday, but she resists the temptation to call. Patty will call her. She always has. Sometimes Ellen thinks she’s been waiting for Patty to call these last nine years.
I am offering you my hand, Ellen. I will not offer it again.
Ellen didn’t believe those words at the time, and she doesn’t quite believe them now, either, but it’s been a long wait. Not that she was playing games back then. She was furious with Patty for disregarding her wishes and putting Chris in danger.
But later she became philosophical. She had asked Patty for help with the High Star case - not just financial help, but advice and collaboration. And she had done it knowing exactly what Patty was like. Why had she done that if she didn’t want to try the case Patty’s way? And how could she ever seriously have thought that Patty would back off if Ellen asked her to? Ellen has even wondered guiltily whether she secretly wanted Patty to do exactly what Patty did do - so that Ellen wouldn’t have to.
Whatever resentment she was harboring is pretty nearly forgotten. So now, yes, she does want to be invited to reenter Patty’s life.
At dinner time, she receives a text.
Coffee tomorrow? 10 am?
Ellen is all smiles.
* * *
They meet in the same old café. The layout of the place hasn’t changed, although it seems to Ellen the walls are a different color. She orders a latte and sits at a table.
She sees Patty coming through the window and indulges in watching her. Ellen loves watching Patty, and God, she’s missed it. Everything about Patty takes Ellen’s breath away - her posture, her purposeful stride, the swing of her hips, the set of her jaw. Friday night she looked tousled and exhausted, but still lovely in a soft, domestic way. Today, however, she has dressed to impress in a light grey suit. Yep, the lady is a stunner.
“Hi.”
Patty joins Ellen and surprises her by kissing her cheek. Well. This is different.
“Hi, Patty. How are you? How’s Catherine?”
“Sulking,” Patty says. “She’s grounded.”
“Sorry.”
Patty waves a hand dismissively. “Could be worse.”
Patty settles into her chair and looks at a menu.
Ellen takes a breath. “Patty, I’m really sorry I didn’t call you sooner than I did on Friday. I should have realized that you would be desperate.”
“But you didn’t realize,” Patty says a little sharply. “You must have a pretty poor opinion of me as a guardian.”
She is offended. Ellen swallows.
“I was wrong.”
“Well. I accept your apology.” Patty pauses. “No doubt she told you a litany of horror stories about me,”
“Not really…” Ellen equivocates.
“What did she say?”
“She resents your work. She admitted she acts out to get your attention. She’s very clear about that.”
Patty looks relieved, so Ellen concludes there is more to the rift between Patty and Catherine than just that. She decides to push Patty, just a little.
“Catherine implied something happened between you two. Something she didn’t want to talk about.”
Patty tenses. “We had a spirited discussion, yes.”
“About?”
“She wants me to date,” Patty says.
Ellen chokes on her coffee. She wipes her mouth with her napkin and stares at Patty, bug-eyed.
“Why?”
Patty looks one part amused and two parts exasperated. “She thinks it would be good for me." She spots a waiter. "I'd like a pot of green tea and a brioche."
Ellen looks at her expectantly, and after a minute, Patty continues.
“A boy in Catherine’s class asked her to go to a rock concert with him. I didn’t like the idea, and now Catherine thinks that I’m trying to ruin her social life because I don’t have one.”
Ellen thinks this is pretty funny, but Patty already looks put upon, so she doesn’t dare crack a smile.
“Now,” Patty says, “Catherine is staging a protest. She has decided she won’t do her homework until I go on a date.”
Now Ellen really can’t help it. She guffaws.
“Thank you, you’re very helpful,” Patty snaps.
“I’m sorry,” Ellen gasps. “So on Friday…”
“I yelled at her,” Patty says. “I told her she was unreasonable. She told me I was unreasonable. We were both pretty furious when she left for school.”
“And has the homework strike stopped?”
“No.”
The waiter appears with Patty's order.
When he leaves, Ellen resumes the conversation.
“Why don’t you just go on a date?”
“What?” Patty says. “You can’t be serious. I am not going to concoct a romance to satisfy my granddaughter.”
“One date, though,” Ellen says. “Would that be so terrible? Just so she’d stop giving you a hard time. You must have legions of men who are interested, right, Patty?”
Ellen meant to tease her, but Patty interprets the question seriously. She chews her brioche. “A few.” She grimaces. “Not a very appealing selection.”
Patty thinks for several seconds. Then she says something Ellen almost doesn’t catch, because Patty’s head is turned away.
“What about you?” Patty says.
“What about me? You mean, do I have men interested?”
Patty clears her throat. “No, I mean, would you like to go on a date with me?”
Ellen doesn’t speak because she is convinced she heard wrong.
“You don’t like the idea,” Patty says.
Ellen imagines she feels the room temperature change. “You’re -- not kidding.”
Patty gives Ellen a cool, steely look and waits for an answer.
* * *
Patty’s casual manner is absolutely an act. She was as surprised as Ellen to hear herself make the suggestion. She wonders how long her subconscious has been planning this. Since she saw Ellen in her pajamas Friday night? Since she heard Ellen’s voice on the phone? Or maybe much longer. Patty learned two years ago from a mutual acquaintance that Ellen had broken up with a girlfriend. Did she start scheming back then?
She is hoping that if she stays collected Ellen will somehow fail to notice that the invitation is completely out of left field. It seems to be working, sort of, insofar as Ellen looks puzzled rather than horrified.
“You’ve dated women before,” Patty says. “And besides, you and I have… interests in common.” She smiles ironically.
“What, do you spy on me?” Ellen splutters.
Patty shrugs as if to say, Naturally. “I hear things,” she says.
Patty learned the hard way that she can’t always read Ellen. After all, the girl fooled her for a whole six months while she was working for the Feds. Right now, however, interpreting Ellen’s expressions is almost comically easy.
She’s watched the raised eyebrows (disbelief) turn to a frown (confusion). Now the brows narrow (suspicion). And then Patty sees the flicker of - is it curiosity? - light Ellen’s eyes. And she rejoices. Ellen will say yes.
Back to Part One