“Try again, please. That’s Lisa Tam-bor.” He supplied the codo number.
A brief pause, then, “I’m sorry, sir, she does not wish to be disturbed.”
“Tell her that I’m not leaving until I see her.”
“As you wish, sir.” Another, longer wait, and the reply, “She requests that you leave, sir. I am not equipped to compel you, but I am to add that she asks this out of concern for your own safety and well-being.”
“Tell her it’s her safety that concerns me right now, not mine. I’m not leaving until she sees me.” Were those shapes milling about just outside the main entrance watching him covertly now, or were they just passersby lingering in the shelter of the drive-up, staying clear of the light drizzle that had begun to fall? He kept his eyes on the doorway.
“She asks me one more time to request that you leave, sir.”
“I will not.”
“Then I am instructed to allow you up.”
“Allow me, then.”
“Very well, sir. The elevators are—”
“I know where they are.”
The decorative grillework parted to admit him. As he waited for the lift, he kept his attention on the entrance. He stepped into the cab without any sign of pursuit, however.
I’ve gotten this far, he told himself tightly. This far. Let me see her again, let me touch her one more time, and nothing, nothing, will put us apart!
What peculiar thoughts for a sober, stable design engineer. He tried to make the cab rise faster, found himself leaning against the doors as it slowed. He peeked out cautiously into the circular lobby chamber, found it deserted. No one was waiting for him.
The doors started to close and he darted out, walked quickly across the thick carpet to touch the chimebell outside Lisa’s home. Again the minutes stretched interminably; again he feared he’d gained this much only to be denied sight of her at the final moment.
He need not have worried. The lock went snick and the door moved aside. He stepped in fast, fearful that even then a hand would reach out to grab his collar and yank him away. The door closed softly behind him.
Immediately he saw the evidence of a profound internal struggle on her exquisite face. She looked drawn, tired, but not angry. Obviously his presence was hard on her. She’d tried very hard to send him away.
“You shouldn’t have come back,” she told him, confirming all his thoughts. “Eric, you shouldn’t have come back.”
Eric, he thought with a surge of pleasure. Still Eric, not Mr. Abbott. Never again, Mr. Abbott.
He followed her into the living room. Through the broad window the far side of the East River was ablaze with light.
“There was no way I could not come back, Lisa.” He reached out to pull her to him. She moved away, agitated, anxious. He forced himself to hold his emotions in check.
He was totally unprepared for the violence of her outburst.
“It’s all wrong! You can’t be in love with me!”
“We’ve been through that before,” he replied quietly. “I am in love with you. And I think you’re in love with me.”
“No! I’m not in love with you! I’m not. It’s not possible. It’s not allowed.”
“It is possible!” he yelled back. “And as far as this business of it’s being ‘allowed’ is concerned, that’s bullshit. There are no slaves anymore. Are you talking,” he said with sudden insight, “about some kind of formal contract?”
“Something like that,” she murmured, lowering her voice and not looking at him.
“Well, if that’s all that’s bothering you, I’ll buy it up. Whatever the amount is, don’t worry. I have a lot of ready credit and an excellent rating. I don’t give a damn how much is involved. We’ll burn it together and scatter the ashes.”
She shook her head sadly. “You don’t have that much money.”
“You’d be surprised at my resources.”
“No, Eric, you don’t have that much money. No one has that much money.”
Her sudden calm resignation unsettled him. “There are other ways. Contracts can be broken in court. Especially if it can be demonstrated that they were signed under duress.”
“But there was no duress involved.”
“Maybe not,” he said reluctantly, refusing to concede the possibility, “but you’re sure living under duress now. Aren’t you?”
“Please don’t quiz me, Eric.” She fell limply onto the couch. “I’m so tired. All this has been very hard on me. I’m so confused. I don’t know what to think anymore. Nothing is making sense, and it always has.”
“Good!” He sat down next to her, took her hands in his. This time she didn’t try to pull away. “You’re tired, confused, don’t know what to do next. You know what that sounds like to me?”
“What?”
“It sounds to me like someone in love.”
“You are impossible. You just won’t listen. I’m trying, to save you and you won’t listen. I suppose you can’t help yourself. But the others always listened to reason. It took longer with some than with others, but never this long.”
He ignored the implications. “I don’t want to help myself. Lisa, I don’t know how well you’ve been sheltered or isolated or protected or what, but it’s pretty clear to me what’s happening here. You’re being manipulated as well as intimidated. You’re entitled to run your own life, and no piece of paper or file can take that away from you. You can do anything you damn well please, and that includes falling in love. No contract can prevent that.”
