Then a suit.
And finally, tonight, this room key.
I stood at the elevator, and behind me the door to the private room eased open a crack.
Roy's voice drifted out.
"Cecily, does Ernest hate me now?"
"I really only wanted to help him keep an eye on you."
Cecily's voice dropped a little.
"Don't read too much into it."
"He's just spoiled. I spoiled him."
A small laugh slipped out of me.
She used to say no one would ever dare look down on me.
And now.
The first person to look down on me was her.
The elevator doors opened, and I reached the penthouse suite.
Inside there was none of the decadence I'd pictured.
Only a single floor lamp burned.
Marina Gilbert sat by the floor-to-ceiling window in a long black dress, half a cigarette resting between her fingers.
Hearing me, she raised her eyes lazily.
Her gaze fell on the room key in my hand.
Then on how pale my face had gone.
She tugged at the corner of her lips.
"Since a marriage of convenience is the same with anyone."
"Ernest, why not try the Gilberts?"
She stubbed out the cigarette without hurry and lifted her eyes to me.
"Whatever the Hensons can give you, I'll double it."
"And whatever Cecily won't give you, I'll give that too."
Before I could answer, my phone rang.
It was Cecily.
On the other end there was the sound of running water, and Roy's soft laugh.
"Come down here."
Her tone took it for granted.
"Roy's stomach is bothering him. His medicine's in your bag."
I froze.
Before we left this afternoon, Roy had said things stuffed in a suit pocket ruined the line of it, and asked me to carry his medicine for him.
At the time I'd laughed at how particular he was.
Only now did I realize he could turn even feeling unwell into a reason to give me a hard time.
I said quietly, "Have a server bring it up."
Cecily's voice went cold.
"He can't stomach the stuff they'd have out there."
"Ernest, don't be so cold-hearted."
On the other end, Roy said in a low voice,
"Cecily, forget it."
"Ernest probably doesn't want to see me right now. I can tough it out."
Cecily softened at once.
"Don't tough it out."
Then, cold again, she said to me,
"Five minutes. Bring it to my room."
When I reached their suite door with the medicine, it wasn't fully shut.
Roy sat on the edge of the bed in a bathrobe, hair dripping, a flush still on his face like he'd just pulled back from something intimate.
I handed over the medicine and turned to leave.
Cecily walked to Roy's side and passed him a glass of water.
"Take your medicine first."
The motion was practiced, as if they were the couple who'd been together for years.
I stood in the doorway like a spare part, an outsider.
The next second, Cecily called after me again.
"Wait."
She picked up an empty box from the nightstand, her tone even.
"Go buy me one from the vending machine downstairs."
At first it didn't register.
Not until I read the words on the box.
Condoms.
My whole body went rigid.
Roy's face flushed red in an instant, and he ducked his head, murmuring,
"Cecily, how can you send Ernest to buy that…"
But Cecily saw nothing wrong with it.
"He's my fiancé."
"He knows my habits better than anyone."
When she finished, she looked at me.
"Same brand as always. Don't get the wrong one."
In that instant, the disgust rose so hard I nearly threw up.
"Cecily, do you hear what you're saying?"
She frowned.
"Ernest, don't twist things again."
"It's just a backup."
"Roy and I are completely innocent. If there were really anything going on, I wouldn't need to send you for it."
Roy nodded quickly too.
