Duplicity - A True Story of Crime and Deceit by Paul Goldman (surface ebook reader txt) 📗

“Yes, of course. I willbe. We’re already looking to buy a house.”

“A house? Together? Youmean she’ll be splitting the down payment with you?” he inquired,his concern now very evident.

“No.” I put the picturedown, and prepared myself for what I knew was coming.

“In that case, I would beeven more careful. You’re not going to put her name on the deed,are you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t even think aboutit.”

“Okay, right. Thanks forthe advice. Bye.” I quickly put down the phone, feeling like I hadno one to share my excitement with. Dave was right though. I reallydidn't know Audrey all that well and we were moving quickly. I mayhave been impulsive in my proposal, but I knew I had to be smart inother ways. I began to think about how I would broach the subjectwith Audrey, but my thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of thephone.

“Paul, I need your help,”the Russian accented voice began. It was Talia.

“Yes, what is it?” And sobegan our nightly conversation about her life, my life, and Johnny.Maybe Talia would be happy for me, so I shared my exciting newswith her.

Her response was disappointing too. “Don't doanything that will jeopardize Johnny's financial future. He is yourfirst priority. It is important that you act responsibly.” Deflatedagain, I agreed with her and said a quick good-bye.

The next day proved to be like any otherafternoon in Florida, with ninety degree heat and ninety percenthumidity. I blasted the air in my car as Dave’s words from thenight before still rang in my ears.

“Don’t even think aboutit.”

And then there were Talia’s words: “Don’t doanything that will jeopardize Johnny’s financial future. He is yourfirst priority. It is important that you act responsibly.”

I knew that both Dave and Talia were right,and speaking out of concern for both Johnny and me. I guess I justwanted everyone to share in my happiness and see this as I wantedto see it: practically perfect.

Arriving at the restaurant ahead of Audrey, Iwaited outside for her, enduring the heat. A few moments later, shepulled her car up beside mine and I walked over to greet her.

“Hi, honey. How are you?”I asked. She greeted me through her open window, obviously unfazedby the temperature.

“Great. Ready for lunch?”she asked, as I opened her door. She was collecting her purse whenI decided to get my concerns out of the way.

“Yeah, but first, I havean important question for you about the house.” She stopped whatshe was doing, and, leaving only one foot out of the car, looked upat me.

“What about it?” sheasked.

“Well,” I began, bendingdown a bit to meet her at eye level. “I’ve been talking with mybrother and Johnny’s mother about the house situation and they’vebeen putting me under a lot of pressure. Really, they’re justlooking out for me, but everybody thinks that in order for yourname to be on the title, you need to contribute half the downpayment. So, honey, I don’t know how to say this, but I have toask. If I buy the house, and if you don’t contribute half of thedown payment, then you’ll sign off on it, right?”

“For how long?” she asked,obviously irritated. In fact, she was clearly angry, and I wasfloored. Her reaction wasn't at all what I had expected. I hadexpected her to tell me it wasn’t necessary, or even consider myperspective, but I didn't expect hostility. I looked back at her indisbelief. Wiping the sweat away from my brow, I found myselfstarting to feel some anger set in. What was this?

“For howlong?” I repeated, revealing my own displeasure. “That’s not theanswer I was looking for. We need to discuss this.” Apparently,Audrey didn't think so. Before I could say any more, she lifted herleg back into the car, slammed the door, rolled up the window,slapped the car in reverse, pulled out of the parking space, anddrove off, leaving me standing there,flabbergasted.

I feared she had driven right out of mylife.

In the next few weeks, I sent Audreycountless emails and left several messages on her voice mail, withno response. I was as confused as I was bewildered. I couldn'tbelieve that my simple suggestion would cause her to abandoneverything. It was absurd. One minute we were planning to spend therest of our lives together, and the next moment she had no problemthrowing it all away on a financial disagreement. And we hadn’teven discussed it. I was absolutely dumbfounded, and, by allaccounts, I should have just let her go.

But, I didn't. In the next two months I lefther several voice messages and sent her several emails, suchas:

Can't we compromise? Can't we work out ourdifferences? My feelings for you have not diminished with thepassage of time. I still think you are wonderful.

I was desperate, and I knew my emailevidenced that. No matter, my pleas finally worked and I got aresponse. Unfortunately, it wasn’t exactly the response I waslooking for:

u r still the "business"man? i don't treat relationshipslike a business... trust is key... i told u thefinancial situation from the start... u said the money wouldn't bean issue & it was... u convinced me to share my body w/ubased on thistrust... u broke the trust... like a true businessman.

My happiness over finallyhearing from her was greatly overshadowed by the content and toneof the email. It just didn’t make sense. Completely devoid of anyemotion or compassion, her primary interest seemed to rest solelyon my abilities as a provider. I found it hard to even believe thatthe message was written by Audrey, since it sounded nothing likeher. And more emails followed. She sent me another message tellingme her monthly expenses were five thousand dollars, which herfamily was paying her for taking care of her grandmother in CocoaBeach. That was news to me. All along I was led to believe thevisits to her grandmother were only motivated by altruism. Inanother email, Audrey challenged my ability to support our largefamily, wanting to know exactly how much my business earned, andwhat financial guarantees I could make to her. She also expressedher doubts about our success as a couple, given the amount of timewe’d be apart while she cared for her ailing grandmother.