Dalia stepped down two small steps and opened the door to her bedroom. A huge double bed, covered with a yellow satin bedspread, was in the center of the room. Matching drapes covered the windows and the chests and tables in the room were made of bamboo. An oak desk stood catty corner on the far side of the room. On the desk was a photo of Dalia and Ames together, arm in arm, framed in black, jeweled onyx.
Cindy went over, picked up the photo and looked at it carefully. Ames was a tall, very good looking guy, with sandy hair that was windblown, dark eyes and a winning smile. He had his arm around Dalia, who was smiling out brightly for the world to see. They looked wonderful together.
“It’s a great photo,” said Cindy.
“He’s a great guy,” Dalia said. “All our photos are amazing.”
Cindy put the photo down, went to the middle of the room, stood in it and tried to get a feel of their life together. “Can I browse around here?” she asked Dalia.
“Of course.”
Cindy then went to the closet and opened it up. To her amazement, it was half empty. Except for one or two pair of slacks hanging there, most of his things were gone. She then went back to the desk and pulled open the drawers. They, too, were empty. Cindy was shocked.
“This was his desk?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“The drawers are empty,” Cindy said, unsettled. “Not only is the desk -- the closet half empty, too.”
She turned and stared at Dalia.
Dalia shrugged. “There’s plenty of his stuff around. He was always packing his things up, taking them here and there, then bringing them back and unpacking them again. ”
“What do you mean? Where did he take them? ”
“He’d take stuff on trips when he went sailing, even for a day. He’d take his clothes to the tailor to be fitted. Some of his things are stored at Elizabeth’s villa, in the basement. He liked to keep cleaning out his drawers, throwing things out, giving them away. Ames didn’t want to be weighted down. ”
Cindy wasn’t sure what to make of this. She found it to be strange behavior. None of it seemed to bother Dalia much.
“Still, I find it odd,” said Cindy. “Was the closet always this empty?”
Dalia paused, thinking, her brow furrowed. “I supposed not,” she finally said. “But that doesn’t mean he left or anything. I mean, one can’t jump to conclusions. ”
Dalia sat down on the edge of the bed then and ran her hand over the satin bedspread. “Ames doesn’t much like this bedspread,” she said, “thinks it’s too fancy, but he lets me have it anyway. He’s rugged, born in Amsterdam, lived there for a few years and then mostly raised in the US. He’s different, Cindy. He has a mind of his own – lives life the way he sees it. ”
“Interesting,” said Cindy.
“He loves me,” said Dalia.
“I’m sure he does,” Cindy said, went and sat down next to Dalia and put her hand on her arm. “I’m really sorry you have to go through this.”
“Thank you,” said Dalia, “I know you are. You’re the only one here who knows how it feels. You can’t know that unless you’ve been through it yourself. ”
“That’s probably true,” said Cindy.
“Are you okay about Clint?” Dalia asked then. “Does the pain ever go away?”
Cindy realized at that moment that she’d become so absorbed in helping Dalia that this was the first time in a long time that she had not dwelled on the horrible pain of his loss. She couldn’t say that it was easy though, or that the pain would go away completely.
“It takes time,” Cindy said. “Things change. The pain changes too. ”
“But it’s different for me, than for you,” Dalia flipped her head back and tossed her hair to the side. “Because I know Ames is alive. And that he’s coming back. ”
“I hope so,” said Cindy.
“I know so,” Dalia retorted. “And I’m sorry that Clint is gone for good. Truly. ”
“It’s okay,” said Cindy. “I’m down here to help you now. I’m sure Clint would want me to do what I could. ” Then she scraped her throat. She had important questions for Dalia, and knew they might be hard for her to hear.
“Dalia, I have to ask you something important.”
“What?” She looked up at Cindy, a bit shaky now.
“Have you considered that Ames might have just packed and left?”
Dalia’s face flushed and her eyes grew angry.
“That’s ridiculous. There’s no way he would do that. I told you, our marriage is great. He tells me how much he loves me every single day. ”
Cindy remembered how important it was to Dalia, even in high school days, to have a guy she could count on, who would love her and tell her so. And keep nothing from her. She’d been practically obsessed with it.
“I’m happy you had that,” Cindy said.
“Have it -- have it,” Dalia started to shiver a little bit. “He didn’t leave me. He never would. I give him every single thing he wants, and more. Much more. ”
“I’m sure you do,” said Cindy, but couldn’t shake the feeling that it was still a possibility that Ames had left of his own volition. She couldn’t imagine such empty closets, otherwise.