Master of the Game

Peter laughed. "That’s a private matter. I have a feeling you’re a great manipulator, Mrs. Blackwell, but Alex and I are going to live our own lives, and our children – if we have children – will live their lives."

Kate smiled sweetly. "I wouldn’t have it any other way, Peter. I’ve made it a lifelong rule never to interfere in other people’s lives."

Two months later when Alexandra and Peter returned from their honeymoon, Alexandra was pregnant. When Kate heard the news, she thought, Good. It will be a boy.

Eve lay in bed watching Rory walk out of the bathroom naked. He had a beautiful body, lean and trim. Eve adored the way he made love to her. She could not get enough of him. She suspected he might have other bedmates, but she was afraid to ask, afraid to say anything that might upset him. Now, as he reached the bed, he ran his finger along her skin, just below the eyes, and said, "Hey, baby, you’re gettin’ a few wrinkles. They’re cute."

Each word was a stab, a reminder of the age difference between them and the fact that she was twenty-five years old. They made love again, but for the first time Eve’s mind was elsewhere.

It was almost nine o’clock when Eve arrived home. Keith was basting a roast in the oven.

He kissed her on the cheek. "Hello, dear. I’ve made some of your favorite dishes. We’re having – "

"Keith, I want you to remove these wrinkles."

He blinked. "What wrinkles?"

She pointed to the area around her eyes. "These."

"Those are laugh lines, darling. I love them."

"I don’t! I hate them!" she yelled.

"Believe me, Eve, they’re not – "

"For Christ’s sake, just get rid of them. That is what you do for a living, isn’t it?"

"Yes, but – All right," he said placatingly, "if it will make you happy, dear."

"When?"

"In about six weeks. My schedule is full right – "

"I’m not one of your goddamned patients," Eve snapped. "I’m your wife. I want you to do it now – tomorrow."

"The clinic is closed on Saturdays."

"Then open it!" He was so stupid God, she could not wait to get rid of him. And she would. One way or another. And soon.

"Come into the other room for a moment." He took her into the dressing room.

She sat in a chair under a strong light while he carefully examined her face. In an instant he was transformed from a bumbling little milquetoast to a brilliant surgeon, and Eve could sense the transformation. She remembered the miraculous job he had done on her face. This operation might seem unnecessary to Keith, but he was wrong. It was vital. Eve could not bear the thought of losing Rory.

Keith turned off the light. "No problem," he assured her. "I’ll do it in the morning."

The following morning, the two of them went to the clinic. "I usually have a nurse assist me," Keith told her, "but with something as minor as this, it won’t be necessary."

"You might as well do something with this while you’re at it." Eve tugged at a bit of skin at her throat.

"If you wish, dear. I’ll give you something to put you to sleep so you won’t feel any discomfort. I don’t want my darling to have any pain."

Eve watched as he filled a hypodermic and skillfully gave her an injection. She would not have minded if there had been pain. She was doing this for Rory. Darling Rory. She thought of his rock-hard body and the look in his eyes when he was hungry for her… She drifted off to sleep.

She woke up in a bed in the back room of the clinic. Keith was seated in a chair next to the bed.

"How did it go?" Her voice was thick with sleep.

"Beautifully," Keith smiled.

Eve nodded, and was asleep again.

Keith was there when she woke up later. "We’ll leave the bandages on for a few days. I’ll keep you here where you can be properly cared for."

"All right."

He checked her each day, examined her face, nodded. "Perfect."

"When can I look?"

"It should be all healed by Friday," he assured her.

She ordered the head nurse to have a private telephone installed by the bedside. The first call she made was to Rory.

"Hey, baby, where the hell are you?" he asked. "I’m horny."

"So am I, darling. I’m still tied up with his damned medical convention in Florida, but I’ll be back next week."

"You’d better be."

"Have you missed me?"

"Like crazy."

Eve heard whispering in the background. "Is there someone there with you?"

"Yeah. We’re havin’ a little orgy." Rory loved to make jokes. "Gotta go." The line went dead.

Eve telephoned Alexandra and listened, bored, to Alexandra’s excited talk about her pregnancy. "I can’t wait," Eve told her. "I’ve always wanted to be an aunt."

Eve seldom saw her grandmother. A coolness had developed that Eve did not understand. She’ll come around, Eve thought.

Kate never asked about Keith, and Eve did not blame her, for he was a nothing. Perhaps one day Eve would talk to Rory about helping her get rid of Keith. That would tie Rory to her forever. It was incredible to Eve that she could cuckold her husband every day and that he neither suspected nor cared. Well, thank God he had a talent for something. The bandages were coming off on Friday.

Eve awakened early on Friday and waited impatiently for Keith.

"It’s almost noon," she complained. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I’m sorry, darling," he apologized. "I’ve been in surgery all morning and – "

"I don’t give a damn about that. Take these bandages off. I want to see."