THE LIGHT ON THE LOUNGER
Nadia turned toward the lounger. Her hand dropped from her scarf.
“Is that recording?”
Irene looked from Nadia to the phone. Lily clung to her shoulder, her little hands twisted into the grey knit of her dress.
“Don’t touch it,” I said.
Irene’s head snapped back toward me. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
I stayed on the floor. A sharp edge of stone pressed against my palm, so I moved my hand away.
Nadia stepped toward the lounger.
“Irene,” I said, “please pick it up yourself.”
Nadia stopped. “It’s probably just the camera light. She could have turned it on afterward.”
“The phone was there when I came in,” I said. “I saw it on the cushion.”
Irene’s eyes narrowed. “Why were you in here?”
“I heard Lily crying from the hall.”
“You weren’t assigned to this room.”
“No. I was bringing towels to the room next door.”
Nadia gave a short laugh. “How convenient.”
Irene shifted Lily higher against her shoulder and crossed to the lounger. She picked up the phone, keeping it out of Nadia’s reach. The fountain made its soft, steady sound while she looked at the screen.
“I left it recording,” Irene said. “I wanted a video of Lily playing while I finished at the desk.”
Her thumb hovered over the display.
Nadia smoothed the front of her grey suit. “Then watch it. Tess rushed in and knocked the bowl out of my hands.”
“You said I did it,” I said.
“That’s what I meant.”
Irene tapped the screen. The camera light went out. She stood there holding Lily and looking down at the phone.
I heard the fountain first. Then Lily’s cry came through the speaker, thin and crackling. Nadia’s voice followed.
“Shut up!”
Irene looked up. Nadia’s mouth opened, but no words came out.
On the phone, my voice shouted, “Put her down!” There was a scrape, a crash, and Lily’s cry rising above it.
Irene watched the screen again. She turned the phone slightly, and I saw the edge of the rug, Lily’s pale romper, and Nadia’s grey sleeve lifted above her. The bowl was in Nadia’s hands.
Nadia reached for the phone. Irene stepped back.
“Give me that,” Nadia said.
“No.”
“You’re not seeing what happened before.”
“I can see you holding it over her.”
“She wouldn’t stop screaming. I picked it up to move it.”
“Above her head?”
Nadia’s fingers worked at the knot of her silk scarf. “I didn’t know Tess was going to run at me.”
I got onto my knees. My cheek felt thick and hot, and there was dust on my tunic where Irene had gripped me.
“I didn’t touch Nadia,” I said. “I tried to catch the bowl.”
Irene played those few seconds again. On the small screen, I came into view from the side, both arms reaching out. The bowl dropped before I could get under it.
Lily began to fuss at the sound of her own crying. Irene stopped the video and pressed her lips against Lily’s curls.
I stood carefully, keeping away from the broken pieces.
Nadia moved toward the glass door. “I’m not staying here to be accused in front of your staff.”
I stepped aside to let her through. Irene didn’t.
“You told me she dropped it,” Irene said.
“I told you what I saw.”
“You pointed at her.”
Nadia glanced at me. “I was upset.”
Irene held the phone against Lily’s back. “You watched me hit her.”
Nadia’s gaze dropped to the rug. “I didn’t ask you to do that.”
Irene reached behind her for the door handle. A woman from the front desk was standing in the hallway, peering through the glass.
“Marisol,” Irene said, “call the police. Tell them we need someone here.”
Nadia took a step forward. “That’s unnecessary.”
“Call them,” Irene repeated.
Marisol disappeared down the hall. Nadia looked at me, then at the phone in Irene’s hand. She sat on the edge of a lounger, but only for a moment. When she got up again, she tugged her scarf loose and wound it around her hand.
Irene looked down at Lily’s bare feet. “Did any of it hit her?”
“I don’t think so. It landed beside her.”
“You don’t know?”
“I was reaching for the bowl. I didn’t see every piece.”
Irene knelt outside the scatter of stone and examined Lily’s feet, then her legs and arms. Lily pulled one foot away and let out a squeal. Irene checked the sole and set it gently against her dress.
“I can get the first-aid kit,” I said.
“Please.”
I went to the cabinet outside the lounge. My hands were unsteady enough that the latch slipped under my fingers. I opened it on the second try and brought the kit back.
Irene had moved Lily onto the far lounger, away from the stone. She sat beside her, one arm around her waist. Nadia stood by the fountain, watching us.
There was a red mark on Lily’s calf, but no cut that I could see. Irene touched it lightly.
“She had that this morning,” she said. “She bumped the coffee table.”
Marisol returned with the cordless phone against her ear. “They’re sending someone. They said not to clean anything up yet.”
Nadia folded her arms. “I have an opening at six. I can’t wait here all afternoon.”
“Then call someone at the gallery,” Irene said.
Nadia took her phone from her jacket. She looked at the screen, then put it away without making a call.
Marisol brought a folded towel for the pieces nearest the doorway, so no one would step on them. She laid it across the threshold without disturbing the bowl. The dim lamp light caught the pale, rough edges of the stone.
Irene picked up her own phone again. “How do I save this somewhere else?”
“I can show you,” I said.
She held it toward me, then pulled it back. “Tell me.”
I talked her through sending a copy to herself. She typed with one hand while keeping the other on Lily’s romper. The message went through. Irene checked it, then locked the phone.
Nadia watched every movement.
“You know what this will do to my business,” she said.
Irene put the phone in the pocket of her dress. “You should have thought about that before you blamed Tess.”
Nadia opened her mouth. Irene turned away from her.
A few minutes later, an officer arrived. He paused at the glass door while Marisol explained where the broken bowl was. Irene handed Lily to her, then stepped into the hall with the officer and her phone.
I could hear pieces of their conversation through the door, but not enough to make out every word. Irene played the video. The crash sounded again.
Nadia sat down when the officer came in. He asked her to remain there while he spoke to each of us separately.
I gave my account in the treatment room next door. A stack of clean towels still sat on the counter where I’d left it when I heard Lily crying. I pointed to the doorway and explained where I had been standing.
“Did you see her throw the bowl?” the officer asked.
“I saw it leave her hands. I can’t tell you whether she threw it or let it slip.”
He wrote that down. Then he asked about my cheek.
“Irene hit me after Nadia blamed me,” I said.
“Do you need medical attention?”
“I’d like someone to look at it.”
Marisol brought me a cold pack wrapped in a towel. I held it against my face while the officer asked a few more questions. When we finished, he went back to speak with Nadia.
Irene was waiting in the hall. Lily had fallen asleep against Marisol’s shoulder, her bare feet dangling over Marisol’s arm.
“I called my sister,” Irene said. “She’s coming for Lily.”
I nodded and kept the cold pack against my cheek.
“I shouldn’t have touched you.” Irene’s hands were clasped so tightly that her knuckles had gone pale. “I saw the bowl and Lily crying, and Nadia pointed at you. I didn’t even ask.”
The towel was growing damp in my hand. “You hit me hard.”
“I know. I told the officer.”
From the lounge, Nadia’s voice rose. I couldn’t hear the words. The officer answered, and she went quiet.
Irene took her phone from her pocket. “He said you can tell him what you want to do about the slap. I won’t ask you to drop it.”
I looked through the glass. The officer was standing beside the lounger, his notebook open. Nadia sat with her scarf twisted in her lap.
I handed Irene the cold pack and walked back to the lounge door.
“Officer,” I said, “I want to make a report about Irene hitting me too.”
He turned to a fresh page. I sat down on the lounger opposite Nadia and began with Irene pulling me up from the rug.
