Larry did not return home until late the following afternoon.
“Hi,” he said cheerfully, as he walked into the apartment. He put down his flight bag
and saw her face. “What’s wrong?”
“When did you get back to town?” Catherine asked stiffly.
Larry looked at her, puzzled. “About an hour ago. Why?”
“I saw you in a taxi yesterday with a girl.” It was as simple as that, Catherine
thought. Those are the words that ended my marriage. He’s going to deny it, and I’m
going to call him a liar and leave him and never see him again.”
Larry was standing there staring at her.
“Go ahead,” she said. “Tell me it wasn’t you.”
Larry looked at her, nodding. “Of course it was me.” The sudden sharp pain
Catherine felt at the pit of her stomach made her realize how much she had wanted him to
deny it.
“Christ,” he said, “what have you been thinking?”
She started to speak and her voice trembled with anger. “I—”
Larry held up a hand. “Don’t say anything you’ll be sorry for.”
Catherine looked at him incredulously. “I’ll be sorry for?”
“I flew back to Athens yesterday for fifteen minutes to pick up a girl named Helena
Merelis to fly her to Crete for Demiris. Helena works for him as a stewardess.”
“But…” It was possible. Larry could have been telling the truth; or was it
polymechanos, fertile in devices? “Why didn’t you telephone me?” Catherine asked.
“I did,” Larry said curtly. “There was no answer. You were out, weren’t you?”
Catherine swallowed. “I—I went out shopping for your dinner.”
“I’m not hungry,” Larry snapped. “Nagging always makes me lose my appetite.” He
turned and walked out the door, leaving Catherine standing there, her right hand still
raised, as though it was silently beseeching him to come back.
It was shortly after that that Catherine began to drink. It started in a small, harmless
way. She would be expecting Larry home for dinner at seven o’clock, and when nine
o’clock came and he had not called, Catherine would have a brandy to help kill the time.
By ten o’clock, she would have had several brandies, and by the time he came home, if he
did, the dinner would have been long since ruined, and she would be a little tight. It made
it much easier to face what was happening to her life.
Catherine could no longer hide from herself the fact that Larry was cheating on her
and had probably been cheating from the time they were married. Going through his
uniform trousers one day before sending them to the cleaners, she found a lace
handkerchief with dried semen. There was lipstick on his shorts.