implants) are the best way to a Kardashian derriere.
Eliza pulled her by the hand.
“I have to show you what’s been going on. We have scandals in the boring suburbs, too!”
CHAPTER 17
Alison & Olivia
Alison and Olivia took the 11:00 a.m. train into the city without their babies in tow. It was a first for both of them.
“I’m nervous. I’ve never left Lily for the whole day,” Olivia said as they boarded the train. Alison suppressed a laugh because Olivia had been the one to convince Alison to leave the babies home with her “overly capable” sitter.
“Two babies are a walk in the park!” Olivia’s babysitter, Colleen, had assured Alison in response to her long list of instructions regarding Zach.
In contrast, Alison felt fine as soon as they left. More than fine, actually. She was amazed at how quickly she adapted to the freedom of not being bound to an infant. She was feeling a bit giddy about it, and it was not a very familiar emotion. She controlled herself; after all, this trip was not exactly sold as a fun outing. She correctly assumed that leaving Lily was not at the root of Olivia’s anxiety.
As they stepped off the train at Grand Central Station, Alison felt her inner New Yorker come alive. She couldn’t keep her focus on one thing; her eyes darted from left to right, taking it all in. Her pace picked up considerably, and she noticed that Olivia was right in step. This is what I’ve been missing in the suburbs, she thought with a sigh. She wondered if Olivia felt the same.
“It feels good to be back, doesn’t it?” Alison asked.
Olivia nodded in agreement, followed by an uneasy smile.
She knew that, for Alison, the “country” was a means to an end, that end being a return to the city at some point in her future. But, Olivia thought, she herself had closed that chapter of her life. Just that morning, when she had looked out the window at the ever-changing landscape, she’d been filled with excitement at the thought of their first snowfall in the country. She pictured reading by a roaring fire, the current red-hued panorama dipped in white. She could tell that it didn’t mean as much to Alison. As if to prove it, when they stepped out of the station, Alison dramatically breathed in the distinct smells of hosed-down pavement and food cart falafel and sighed, as if they were the smells of heaven.
“Want to walk?” she asked eagerly. “It’s just twenty blocks.”
“Sure,” Olivia agreed. She did love a good walk up Madison Avenue.
As they window-shopped and chatted their way uptown, Alison marveled at how talkative Olivia became. She seemed to have forgotten where they were headed and why, and Alison had no intention of reminding her. The familiarity of every step sparked Olivia’s memories of growing up on the Upper East Side.
“We used to eat french fries and gravy in that coffee shop nearly every day after school,” she said, “and that’s where I got my prom dress!”
Alison had bought her own prom dress at a resale shop on Astoria Boulevard. Some Manhattan girl, like Olivia, had probably worn it to prom the year before, she thought. This little sabbatical in the suburbs aside, Alison was convinced that she would be bringing up Zach in the city. She was very interested in hearing about the schools and lifestyles of city kids. There had been plenty of Olivia’s type at Wesleyan. They had a quiet sophistication about them, especially the private school kids, who were so meticulously educated that college classes seemed to be a breeze for them. She had already begun worrying about school admissions for Zachary.
“I hear the private school admission process is a real nightmare,” she said. “I’m not looking forward to it.”
Olivia grew quiet.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Alison inquired.
“If this is all true, my whole life will be uprooted. I mean, I thought I was set for the next twenty years with my modern house, loyal husband, and two-point-three kids attending one of the top-ranking schools in the county. But that county is Spencer’s. I’m the city girl. I think Lily and I would be expected to move back to the city, right? Then I will have to go through all of that school stuff alone.”
“Well, not really. Spencer will always be her father.”
Olivia’s eyes filled with fear. Alison’s expertise in recognizing the subtle changes in people’s emotions was not needed here. Olivia rushed to the corner garbage pail,