Aftertaste - Meredith Mileti [53]
Apart from her pitying gaze and the soft and defeated way in which she’d uttered my name, Mary Ann gives me no indication that she is inclined to view my unfortunate outburst as anything other than what it really is—emotional, careless in the extreme, but perhaps forgivable for having been uttered in the heat of anger and born of overwhelming disappointment. When the class is dismissed, Mary Ann doesn’t meet my eye or make any attempt to detain me, a response, at the time, that I choose to interpret as empathic and merciful.
Perhaps I should have stayed behind, offering some explanation, but I didn’t want to risk changing her mind. I am worried that in my frazzled emotional state I might say something to make things worse. I am so bent on escape that I don’t even stop to retrieve my thermometer from Paolo on the way out, the loss of which, at the time, seems a small thing.
In addition to the disastrous Grappa negotiations, the incident in class gives me one more thing to worry about. I decide to give myself twenty-four hours to properly digest the news before calling Jerry back. So, the next day, when Ellen comes back into the kitchen to tell me that Jerry is in the restaurant and asking for me, I’m only a little surprised. I assume he’s annoyed that I haven’t returned his phone call, although I tell myself he might just as easily be meeting a client for lunch and wanting to make sure he got a good table. But, one look at his face, exhausted and lined, and the way his body seems to deflate once he catches sight of me, and I know the news isn’t good.
“You should have at least told me,” Jerry says, sneaking a glance toward the front door of the restaurant. He then slides a legal-sized manila folder onto the empty plate in front of me.
It seems that Ethan Bowman has filed a contempt petition against me and a warrant has been issued for my arrest. I’m charged with violating the Order of Protection—the evidence of which, Jerry tells me with a small and very tired smile, is two death threats made on the lives of Jake and Nicola, one verbal and the other involving the “willful destruction and mutilation of a black leather couch in the victims’ private office, constituting an obvious threat to the health and well-being of said victims.”
Jerry hands me the papers. The State of New York v. Mirabella Rinaldi. Attached as Exhibit A to the Emergency Contempt Petition is a typed letter from Mary Ann Chambers, MSW, describing, complete with an unfortunately accurate quote, my overheard statement in the hallway. In addition, she notes that in her considered professional opinion I have not demonstrated sufficient effort in the class, as evidenced by my chronic lateness and my previous lack of control.
And that was even before Ethan Bowman had gotten to her.
Ethan received a copy of the letter by messenger early this morning, conveniently timed to coincide with a phone call from Jake and Nicola reporting their discovery of the couch cushion late last night. The substance of Ethan’s follow-up phone conversation with Mary Ann is attached in Ethan’s affirmation (Exhibit B of the petition), wherein she allegedly responds to Ethan’s allegation that I had been stalking Nicola as “consistent with my prior behavior.” She also claims that my behavior and psychological state creates “a significant risk of further injury to said victims.” I wonder whether these are really Mary Ann’s statements or, like Ethan’s tactics in our negotiation session, rococo-style elaborations of the truth.
The letter opener,