Page 76 of Private Pleasures

“No, no, my dear,” he said. “Let Kyle finish what he is doing. I do so enjoy the sight of a beautiful female form. We can talk as he massages you. Carry on, Kyle.” He came around the table and drew up a padded stool, upon which he sat. “Now, tell me, Nora—everything has gone as I promised you?”

“So far,” Nora replied.

“And tonight as Kyle makes love to you, your husband will see it in his dreams. It will be the final straw for him. He has behaved quite badly during his short incarceration, I’m afraid. They have had to restrain him. He had been so unpleasant the judge refused bail. It really doesn’t do to annoy these small-town judges. I actually have come to believe that no one has ever said no to Jeff, or refused him, in his entire life. He seems unable to cope. It will not seem odd therefore that they find him dead in the morning. It will seem the natural result of his choler. And then, my dear, you are a free woman.”

“Thank you,” Nora responded. His feet were very narrow, and he was wearing very well-polished black leather shoes. But then he tipped her face up to his. His fingers were very warm against her chin. Almost hot.

“So now, my dear, we must discuss your repayment of my kindness,” Mr. Nicholas said. He averted his gaze from hers momentarily. “Turn her over, Kyle, so Nora and I may speak on this matter. You can finish the massage when I have gone.”

Kyle turned her over, but as he did he wrapped her in the sheet that had been covering the table, thus preserving her modesty. Their eyes met in silent understanding. Nora sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the massage table.

“Ah, excellent,” Mr. Nicholas said. “Now, my dear, one must always pay the piper, and you have said yourself that you would meet your obligations to me. Is that not so, Nora?”

“Yes,” she answered him. What was he going to ask her? Whatever it was, it was worth it if she could be free of Jeff, and her house and her children were safe.

“I am a man of many and varied interests,” Mr. Nicholas began. “The Channel is just one of them. There are other things requiring my attention now, and I find I must choose someone to be the new administrator of this enterprise. I choose you, my dear Nora. You are exactly the person for whom I have been looking.”

“You want me to be the administrator of The Channel? I can’t!” Nora cried. “I wouldn’t have the faintest idea of what to do. I don’t even know how all of this is even possible. I’ve never held down a job in all of my life. I’ve just learned how to operate a computer. I know nothing of office procedure.”

“You don’t have to, Nora,” he told her calmly. “You will have others to handle the mundane chores of The Channel. But you have what I want in my deputy. You are intelligent, and there is a well of anger deep down inside of you that exists. Your intuitiveness is most promising, my dear Nora.”

She was astounded. She was frightened. “I can’t,” she said.

“Of course you can,” he replied. “And you will. You owe me a great debt, my dear, and I have kept my word. Now you must keep yours. Why is it you humans take so greedily of what I offer and then demur about paying the price? Think, Nora! What would your life have been without The Channel? Without Kyle? Do you want to go back to the way it was? Your husband deserting you for another woman? Throwing you out of your house? Making you a penniless wretch. Your children’s dreams destroyed. I can make it happen if that is your wish, and you will owe me nothing.”

“The Devil and Daniel Webster.” Nora was suddenly reminded. But she couldn’t think of a way to talk herself out of this predicament. She looked directly at Mr. Nicholas. “Can I continue to traverse between these two worlds?” she asked him.

“Of course,” he said. “At least until you are an old woman, and die.”

“Then what happens to me?” Nora queried him, but she already knew the answer.

“You will remain here within The Channel,” he answered her. “Think about it, my dear Nora. You will be forever young! Forever beautiful! Forever desirable!”

“And I will have Kyle?” Why was it you never knew when you were making a bargain with the devil? Nora wondered sadly to herself.

“Of course,” Mr. Nicholas said. “He is yours for as long as you wish him to be. Consider, my dear, you will have the kind of power of which all rulers dream.”

“But I don’t really understand what it is you want of me, expect of me,” Nora said.

“I will teach you everything you need to know, my dear girl,” he promised. “Kyle will open an antique shop in Egret Pointe,” Mr. Nicholas said.

“Kyle is human?” Nora was surprised.

“All too human, I fear, eh, Kyle?” And Mr. Nicholas laughed darkly. Then he continued. “He is quite the expert in seventeenth – and eighteenth-century English and American antique furniture, glass, and china. He will advertise for an assistant. You will answer the ad, and he will hire you. Although you will not need to work, your doing so will be but part of the metamorphosis you undergo in your friends’ and family’s eyes. People will admire you for your grit and determination despite all the tragedy that has befallen you. The shop will be quite successful in part to your presence. I do like an investment to pay off.”

“I do know something about antiques,” Nora said.

He laughed. “Whether you do or not isn’t really important,” Mr. Nicholas told her. “The office upstairs where you will work most days will be where you will manage The Channel for me. You may want to check into the office at The Channel in the evenings occasionally.”

“Will I have Margaret?” Nora said.

“No, no, my dear. Margaret is far too valuable to me. She has been involved for years with my other interests. I shall give you Celia, who works at the desk across from Margaret’s. Edna will remain, moving up to Celia’s position, and I shall give you another girl as well. You and Celia will be in constant touch during the day.”

“Wouldn’t Celia be a good administrator for The Channel?” Nora ventured. “After all, she knows all about it, and how it operates. I don’t.”

“Celia would never aspire to such a position,” Mr. Nicholas said. “Besides, she doesn’t have your intellect, or depth of duplicity.”

“You make it sound as if I am evil,” Nora cried.