"He’s not haughty………not that I’ve noticed……….Just a little more polished than your average Joe," Maggie answered.
The two ladies sat comfortably near the huge front window in a popular Portland coffeehouse. After Maggie had finished an early shift at Park Palisades, she’d met Elyse for lunch, and then they’d walked down the block to this place, one of Elyse’s favorite hangouts.
She glanced up quickly at Maggie now. "Make a mental note for your own sake – don’t mention ‘Joe’ or anything ‘Joseph’-related to Benjamin………That’s his brother’s name, and the two of them get along almost as well as the Protestants and Catholics do over in Ireland."
Maggie sipped her latte and let this sink in. "Joseph and Benjamin…………biblical siblings in the Old Testament Hebrew history," she mused.
"Ah, so you’re an educated Gentile," Elyse said, raising her eyebrows and smiling across the table.
"I got a degree……..and I still find time to read."
"Good for you. Reading is the important and necessary input of data into the multi-functional computer we refer to as our brain."
"Yeah."
Maggie still found herself surprised and tickled quite often by the things that spewed forth from this new friend’s mouth. Elyse Portman had been introduced to her by Benjamin Katz only a few weeks earlier.
"And this is my lovely lady, Elyse," he had said so eloquently. "She’s a most esteemed psychiatrist with her own very successful downtown practice."
"Nice to meetcha, Elyse……….You got your own half-hour cartoon on Comedy Central too?" Roger had responded, with that soft self-absorbed chuckle of his.
The meeting had occurred in the lobby of Park Palisades, just as Maggie and Roger were leaving. He lightly pressed his hand against the small of her back, and she laughed quickly at what he’d said.
"Hi, Elyse. It is nice to meet you. Please try to overlook my impolite husband. He had a few cocktails with dinner, and now he’s acting up," she said with a playful touch of sarcasm directed, of course, at Roger.
Elyse, however, wasn’t offended. She grinned at both of them and then addressed Roger. "No, I don’t. But I am acquainted with Dr. Kelsey Grammer who has a radio show over in Seattle. Maybe you’ve hear of him?"
Maggie had turned then to watch him get his bluff called. As always, she was staggered by his appearance. He wore black pants, a dark green dress shirt, and a salt-n-pepper tweed sport coat. No tie. Two tiny earrings. Gorgeously casual. She had swallowed instinctively.
Roger smiled for only a second as he looked at Elyse. "No………I don’t believe I have………My wild-child wife usually has her, uh, alternative pop music blaring on the stereo, and we don’t listen to much else." He cut his sharp eyes over to Maggie instantly, causing her to smile.
It had been a light-hearted introduction, she recalled now. And the most memorable portion of the evening had come later – when she slowly removed that dark green shirt, straddling Roger’s body as he lay on the bed. He had waited under her, indulging her, while she lovingly touched his chest and abdomen. His hands rested on her thighs as he watched her every move.
It had been cold and damp outside, but he had felt so warm and firm nestled snugly between her thighs. So comforting……….so what her mind and body needed over and over.
Back in the coffeehouse now, she smiled – at the memory as well as at what Elyse had just said, which was, "Now that other guy……….Mr. Michaels………what’s the deal with you and him?"
"Earl Ray."
"Yes, that one. Now he’s a looker."
Maggie frowned, defensively. "And Roger’s not?"
Shaking her head, Elyse replied, "Roger’s too……..intense………for me. Everything about him screams ‘looming peril or ‘walking too close to the edge’ or something like that………He gives the impression of a big cat waiting to attack an unsuspecting prey………He scares me. Sorry, Maggie."
Maggie was still frowning, and considering. "That’s cool. I’ll keep him. But I never thought of him as spooky before."
"You love him. You see past all that."
"Or maybe I don’t see it at all……….He’s my……soulmate," she said quietly.
Elyse smiled charitably. "Yes, I realized that right away………..Looks like you two live inside each other."
"Yeah. That sounds about right." Maggie felt a little shiver run through her body – that someone relatively new had recognized their bond.
"And Earl Ray……….what a name……..How does he fit in, Maggie?"
"He’s my ex-husband."
Elyse fell backwards in her chair, stunned. "Are you serious?"
"And he’s still a close friend……….It’s all a bit convoluted, to tell ya the truth," Maggie said. It occurred to her that maybe she’d opened a can of worms.
But Elyse was intrigued, to say the least. "Please explain. I’m all ears for the juicy tidbits."
Maggie smirked. "You’re a shrink. Of course you’re all ears……….Is this how you get your patients to talk?"
"They’re clients………And no, I don’t coerce anyone to talk. Don’t misunderstand me." Elyse acted shocked. "I merely wanted to hear more about Earl Ray. He’s so utterly charming."
Maggie laughed to relieve a little tension she suddenly discovered she felt. "He’s an all-around good person. I can vouch for that."
"You loved him?" Elyse was intent on the story again.
"I loved him….. for years…..We were very happy…." Maggie trailed off in memory.
"But then you met Roger?"
"No." Maggie glanced back up. "I already knew Roger……….He was Earl Ray’s best buddy…….I just……….well…….."
"They were best friends?" Elyse acted as if this had never before happened in history.
"Yeah………Am I a bitch or what?"
"Tell me a story, Maggie."
Maggie laughed a little and looked out the window. "I’m talking to a shrink………No offense, Elyse……..I’ve just wondered for a while what it might be like."
"Talk to me as a friend instead." The psychiatrist smiled warmly at her with eyes that begged trust.
Pulling herself away from the window, Maggie studied Elyse’s expression. Then she began.
"Well, Roger was nothing to me except Earl Ray’s friend for years. I owned a restaurant, and he owned a bar in town. We never even saw much of each other ‘cause he was such a loner AND out of town most of the time………..Then, about three years ago I did some refurbishing of his bar’s food menu, and we spent some social time together for that, and—"
"Wait." Elyse stopped her. "You and Earl Ray had no problems then? You were a happy couple?" At that, she thought she noticed a glimmer of pain in Maggie’s eyes.
Maggie continued. "Amazingly enough, yes. We had no real problems. We were happy………….Then I discovered something to compare that life to………" Again, she trailed off. It was more difficult than she would have thought to bring this history out into daylight for someone else.
"So did Roger suddenly transform from a ugly duckling into a graceful swan overnight to make you take notice of him or what?"
Maggie laughed quietly. "He’s always been beautiful. Hell, women all over town woulda killed for his attentions."
"But you were special……..You didn’t have to, huh?"
More pain floating around in Maggie’s eyes. "Yes……I did……..I fatally wounded Earl Ray."
"Ah, Maggie, don’t be overly dramatic………He seems fine now."
She peered across the table at Elyse and wondered if her "shrink mode" was kicking in. "It’s been three years, Elyse, since this little fable occurred. Earl Ray wasn’t very pleased with me or Roger for a very long time………In fact, he and Roger didn’t even communicate ‘til we all moved to Portland a few months ago."
"But now things are rosy again?"
"They’re satisfactory. Tolerable, I guess. We all get along…………as odd as it might seem to outsiders," Maggie said, realizing fully just how "odd" it all probably did seem.
Elyse, who had ordered some alcoholic coffees for them, asked, "And you haven’t regretted your decision?"
Maggie looked up sharply, defensively again. "Absolutely not. Roger’s my soulmate……..I told you."
"It was meant to be."
"Yeah………Unfortunately for Earl Ray."
Elyse raised her eyebrows. "So how’d you all end up in Portland………. together again?"
"You’re really getting a kick outta this, aren’t ya?"
"Oh, it’s exciting real life, Maggie! I hope you don’t mind."
Maggie sighed. "I don’t mind. I haven’t had a female around to talk to since we left that place. It’s kinda nice, actually."
"You’ve been stuck with just your two devoted protectors, hmm?"
"You got it. And sometimes they’re both a pain in the ass."
"Why Portland?"
"Whew! Now that’ll take some explaining," Maggie said. She glanced out the window again reflectively.
"Give me the digest version, why don’t you?"
"Okay……..Let’s see……I’m sure Benjamin told you that Roger used to work for the government in some very secretive, very hazardous law enforcement capacity."
"Yes, he did. He found it terribly thrilling to actually know a ‘spy.’"
"Former spy. He’s promised me he’s totally retired, thank God…..Anyway, a ghost from his past came calling one day back there and kinda held me hostage until Roger got home—"
"Really? Held you hostage? What an action-packed life you lead, Maggie! My word!"
Maggie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. So after Roger almost pummels this fat guy to death, he decides that if one of ‘em found him, then others might be able to track him down too. So we hit the road……….simple as that……….And his safe city of choice turned out to be Portland. Tada! Here we are."
Elyse’s eyes glowed. "How like the movies! How absolutely romantic! And Earl Ray? To what does our fair city owe the pleasure of his presence?"
"You really got the hots for him, huh?" Maggie asked and surprisingly felt only a twinge of the usual jealousy.
"He’s adorable………..that cute accent and everything about him. Just the other day, he said the funniest thing……….something I’d never heard before….……..now how did he put it………..I don’t cotton to hard whiskey, ya know."
Maggie laughed. "Yeah, that IS funny ‘cause it’s a damn lie."
"So he was saying that he doesn’t like hard whiskey then?" Elyse tried to understand.
"That’s what he was trying to make you believe. But he does like it – very much, in fact. Sometimes he and Roger get wasted over at the loft, on hard whiskey no less, and boy, that’s some kind of fun, lemme tell ya."
"I don’t know about Roger, but Earl Ray seems basically harmless," Elyse said, almost questioningly.
"He was a Green Beret in Vietnam. A sergeant."
"Oh, that adds to the appeal…………….And wasn’t Roger over there too? I think Benjamin mentioned that as well."
"Yeah. He was a Marine………..a highly decorated one."
"Really? Oh, they’re both very capable guardians then." Elyse was clearly moved.
"How’d I get so lucky, hmm?" Roger’s sarcasm had ingrained itself into Maggie’s psyche.
"I’m saying! So what’s the rest of the story?"
"Basically………Roger decided it might help me to talk to Earl Ray again since he and I had remained so close after we split, so he looked him up and got me in touch with him. This was after we’d been here a coupla months."
Elyse looked puzzled. "Might help you?"
Maggie hesitated. She’d come to the part of the story that wasn’t as much fun to tell. "I was depressed………going through a bad time."
"Because of the move? Because you guys might be……..found……….again?"
"Yes and yes. And there’s more too………" She glanced out the window again. It was lightly snowing. Before Christmas. She wasn’t accustomed to that.
"Oh, do tell……….that is, if you feel comfortable with it."
Elyse’s voice was reassuring and kind. Maggie looked over at her. "I’ve just………….I’ve just been trying so hard to get past it all and forget it………like Roger said I should."
"I imagine Roger, with all of his intelligence and intuition, would be a most excellent therapist………..if one could accept his harsh bedside manner."
Maggie quickly smiled, remembering his "bedside manner" with her. "He’s been perfect………He always knows exactly what to say to me…….and he’s usually right………He’s been my life jacket………I would have definitely drown without him."
"What happened before you left to create the depression?" Elyse was quiet and serious. The waiter set down two more liqueur-laced coffees.
"This is how you REALLY get those……….how do you say………clients………..talking, right? Serve ‘em up some warm, sweet alcohol?" Maggie sounded skeptical and joking at the same time.
"It doesn’t seem to be getting to you much, Maggie."
She sneered. "I have a high tolerance. I drink a lot……….Always have since I was sixteen……..Guess I’m technically an alcoholic, although I’ve never had a DUI or been in any trouble that was alcohol-related."
"Does Roger know this?"
Maggie laughed, scoffingly. "Elyse, overlook me if I sound worshipful, but Roger knows everything. Besides the fact that he’s a genius, he’s been trained all his life to look for small details."
"And his advice or opinion is?"
"He doesn’t see it as a real problem for me. He says I just use the affects of booze to escape the other noises in my head."
"And what noises would those be, Maggie?"
She sneered again. "My own private demons from hell..………depending on whatever’s bothering me at the time, if anything………Hey, a lot of the time, there’s no noise at all ‘cause I’m not constantly bothered or depressed. It’s not a chronic thing."
"So you aren’t constantly drinking excessively?"
"Correct. I’m not Otis Campbell, the town drunk."
Elyse looked lost again. "I’m sorry. I don’t follow."
"Oh, forget it. Just a reference to the ‘Andy Griffith Show.’"
"Not something I’m familiar with," Elyse said. "Sorry."
"Don’t worry ‘bout it. Not important…………Roger’s words exactly."
"You really love him, don’t you?"
"I really love him." Maggie smiled. "Does it show?"
"So the cause for your recent depression must have involved him……….to effect you so deeply."
"Ahh, you are good, Elyse. Benjamin was right………….It had to do with Roger in the end. But it started off as something else altogether."
"I’m listening." Elyse’s voice remained warm although somber.
"Yeah, I know you’re listening. That’s part of your livelihood, isn’t it?"
"Maggie, we can end this conversation right here if you’d like. By your cynicism, I detect that you may not really want to go into things at this point."
"Oh, we’re almost there now. No sense in pulling out……….If you wanna hear, if you’re not bored, I’ll spill it out on the table for ya. Lemme warn ya, though, it’s not a pretty little picture."
Elyse smiled kindly at her. "Like I said, I’m listening."
"We’ve been hovering in ‘Days of our Lives’ territory up ‘til now, Elyse. This soap opera-ish crap that is my life………But things are about to take a nose dive into ‘Melrose Place’ goings on. You up for it?"
"I’m up for it. Let’s hear it."
Taking a very deep breath, Maggie sighed. "Well, to cut right to the chase, I used to have a very close friend………..Sahndra………"
"Oh, I’ve known Benjamin for six or seven years," Elyse was saying casually. "I lose count………Since before he became a haughty restaurateur."
On to Part II
