Purple helium-filled balloons hugged the ceiling above the chattering five-year-olds in the happy bedlam of Eliza’s apartment’s living room. The young guests gleefully took turns having their faces painted, unaware that their tender skin was being designed and brushed by one of the best makeup artists in New York City.
When, in one of their conversations before going on air, Eliza had mentioned to Doris that Janie was having a birthday party and wondered aloud what she was going to do with the kids for two hours, Doris had volunteered to come over and do some face-painting. While Doris had no children of her own, she was youthful in her sense of wonder and fun.
Like the children at the party, Doris herself looked forward all year to Halloween, spending months in the planning of her annual costume. It was well known at KEY News that the makeup woman spent Halloween disguised in her creative gear and entering every costume contest she could find in New York. She would start the day by going over to the ABC studios and try her luck on LIVE with Regis and Kelly, and then, after work, she would pick her way through carefully selected spots she had found while poring through the pages of New York magazine. The city was full of masquerade parties and contests at clubs and hotels. She called ahead, ascertaining times and locations and carefully charting out her itinerary.
Doris took pains to make her costumes abstract enough so that on the spot she could, with some quick thinking, name her costume to coincide with the sometimes “surprise” themes of the Halloween contests. The first time she had been on what was then LIVE with Regis and Kathie Lee, Doris came decked out in a costume of crystals, sparkles and shimmering Christmas balls. When she learned while waiting outside the studio that the contest theme would be “The Seventies,” she quickly dubbed her costume “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” But the other show-goers waiting in line with her told her she looked like a disco ball. So when her turn came, that’s what Doris told Regis she was. Her “Disco Ball” costume won the $500 first prize and a lava-lamp trophy. That night she went to a benefit ball, christened the same costume “Champagne Bubbles” and won again—this time, bleacher seats for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and $250. Over the years she had won cash, golf trips, theater tickets and seaside vacations. But for Doris it was not so much about the prizes as the fun and satisfaction of being recognized for her creativity.
Doris was flamboyant, talented and had an extremely good heart. Eliza smiled as she watched her, dressed in a form-fitting purple leotard in honor of Janie’s favorite color, her long, dark hair flowing freely as she airbrushed green water-based makeup all over Gregory Leslie’s serious little face. The boy shifted impatiently from one foot to the other as Doris carefully drew the brown-and-black scales on his cheeks, above his eyebrows and around his mouth that would make him into the dinosaur he had requested to be. For good measure, she painted on some silver sprinkles across his forehead. The payoff for Doris was the wide grin on the child’s face as he looked at himself in the large hand mirror she held up for him.
Doris grinned in return. “Want a dinosaur tattoo?” she offered.
But Gregory, thrilled though he was with his new reptile visage, had had enough. He scampered off to show his new face to the other dinosaurs, butterflies and fairy princesses in the room.
As Doris turned to the next child on line and began her new work of art, Eliza felt the strength of Mack’s arm wrap around her waist and the warmth of his lips near her ear.
“Looks like the party’s a success. Janie is clearly loving it,” he said softly.
The smile faded from Eliza’s face as she turned to look up at him. Mack was leaving at the end of the week, going to London to look at the flats that a real-estate agent there had lined up for him to see. Next weekend, she and Janie were moving into their new home in HoHoKus, on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.
Too much was happening at once. Mack going. The move. Getting Janie settled in a new school. Eliza didn’t even want to think about finding a new housekeeper. Just to add a little something extra to the list, she had to buy a car, too. Living in Manhattan, she hadn’t owned one in years. There was no need for it. She took taxis, had the KEY News driver pick her up and bring her home from work, rented a car when she wanted to get out of the city. But living in suburbia, a car was a must.
As she looked wistfully into Mack’s handsome face and reached up to touch the familiar laugh lines that crinkled so appealingly at the corners of his eyes as he smiled down at her, Eliza knew in her heart she would get through the things on her list with the determination and organization that had served her so well in her life and her career. All the things she had to take care of were doable.
But not losing Mack. Not Mack. She didn’t want him to leave.
“Mommy, when are we going to have the birthday cake?” Janie’s question roused Eliza from her reflections. She glanced at her watch.
“Now, my little butterfly,” she answered, picking up her daughter’s hand and kissing it. “We’ll have it now. Your friends’ moms and dads will be coming to pick them up soon.”
Eliza was in the kitchen, putting the violet candles into the ice-cream cake when she heard the buzzer sound from the downstairs lobby. Probably one of the parents arriving a bit early. She called out for Mack to answer it.
As Eliza carried the flickering cake into the dining room to the din of childish singing, she saw, from the corner of her eye, Louise Kendall standing in the doorway with a large, brightly wrapped present in her arms. Louise had called yesterday and asked if she could come into the city to talk to Eliza about the house. When told that Janie was having a birthday party, Louise insisted she bring a gift for the child. But as much as Eliza truly liked Louise, she sensed that Janie’s birthday wasn’t all that high on Louise’s agenda. If she was driving all the way into the city on a Saturday, her prime real-estate selling day, Eliza knew Louise had to have something important on her mind.
When the children were contentedly spooning the vanilla and chocolate ice cream through their painted lips, Eliza made her way over to Louise, giving her a welcoming kiss on the cheek.
“The kids should be gone in about fifteen minutes. Can you wait, and then we can talk in relative quiet?”
“Of course,” she answered amiably. “What can I do to help here?”
Eliza laughed, brushing back a strand of hair that had fallen across her brow. “Believe it or not, I think we have everything pretty well under control.”
God, I hope we do, thought Louise.