Chapter 4 - The Return of the Beggar
Five days later,
there was a frantic,
unsteady knocking at my front door.
I checked the security camera.
David was standing in the hallway,
looking like a ghost of the man I had driven to JFK.
His linen suit was stained and wrinkled,
his hair was unwashed,
and he was carrying a single,
battered duffel bag.
Chloe was nowhere to be seen.
I opened the door,
keeping the security chain in place.
"Tokyo looks different this time of year,"
I said,
leaning against the doorframe.
"Did you get a tan?"
"Eleanor,
please,"
he rasped,
his voice sounding like it had been scraped across sandpaper.
"Let me in."
"She... she left me."
"The moment the cards were declined,"
"she called her father."
"He flew her home on a private jet,"
"and he sent two security guards to toss me out of the hotel."
"I’ve been sleeping in the airport,
Eleanor."
"I had to sell my watch just to buy a coach ticket back."
I looked at his wrist,
where his five-thousand-dollar Rolex used to sit.
It was bare and pale.
"That’s a shame,"
I said.
"I always liked that watch."
"I'm sorry!"
he sobbed,
collapsing to his knees in the hallway.
"I was stupid!
I was greedy!"
"I'll do anything!
I'll take care of my parents!"
"I'll work for free at the company!"
"Please,
don't leave me with nothing!"
"You don't have a company to work for,
David,"
I said,
looking down at him with pure indifference.
"Your boss received my letter."
"You were fired three days ago for gross misconduct and embezzlement."
"They’re currently conducting a forensic audit of your department."
"I suspect the police will be calling you soon."
David’s eyes went wide,
his mouth falling open in horror.
"The police?"
"But I... I was going to pay it back!"
"With what?"
"You have no assets,
David."
"The apartment is mine."
"The cars are sold."
"The accounts are drained."
"Even your parents have disowned you."
"They called me yesterday from Ohio,"
"cursing your name for leaving them with no money."
"Eleanor,
you can't do this!"
"We’ve been married for ten years!"
"Ten years of lies,
David."
"Ten years of you pretending to love me while you robbed me blind."
"The only thing I owe you is a reality check."
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a single twenty-dollar bill.
I dropped it through the crack in the door.
"This is for a cab to the nearest precinct,"
I said.
"You should probably turn yourself in before they come looking for you."
"It looks better in front of a judge."
I closed the door and locked all three bolts.
I heard him screaming in the hallway,
pounding his fists against the wood until his hands must have bled.
I didn't flinch.
I didn't cry.
I walked into the kitchen and made myself a cup of tea.
The sound of his screaming eventually faded,
replaced by the silence of a life restored.
He thought he had trapped me.
May you like
But he had only built a cage for himself.
And I was the one who held the key.
