Read Online The Arrangement [Box Set] by Abby Weeks - Free Book Online Page B

assure you, and the children grow to love the place very quickly. We’re good to them here.
    —And what about visiting?
    —Well, visits are allowed on Sunday afternoons but we really do recommend you leave it two or three weeks before the first visit.
    —Why? April said. That sounded like an eternity to her.
    —It just allows them to get settled. They settle in more quickly if you leave them to it for a while.
    April looked at Walter. Walter ignored the look. He thanked Ms. Forrester and then brought April back out to the car. Before he’d even started the ignition she was in tears.
    —They’ll be fine, he assured her. We’ll come and visit them in a few weeks.
    April sensed the impatience in Walter’s voice but she just couldn’t stop crying. She let Walter hold her even though she blamed him for all this and on the drive home she spoke even less than she had on the way there.
    She thought about the amount of control she’d allowed Walter to gain over her life. He’d brought her to a new neighborhood, moved her into a house that belonged to the firm, taken away her car, put her under the supervision of servants and drivers, and then allowed his partners to have their way with her sexually. She could not have given up more control over her life than she already had. She was completely under the control of Walter and the other partners now and she was acutely aware of the fact. And as if that wasn’t all enough, now he’d taken away her two little babies so that she would be entirely alone.

III
    O N TUESDAY, APRIL GOT A call from Midge Prentiss. April liked Midge and was glad to take the call. She’d been missing her two girls sorely and had spent all of Monday resisting the urge to call their school. No one at the school had called her and she figured they were probably just trying to get the girls settled. She knew Walter would be upset if she called them first. He’d see it as an interference and interpret it as her going against the wishes of the firm.
    As she took the receiver from the maid she decided to do her best to sound happy. She hadn’t seen Midge since the dinner party and was a little shy to talk to her now because of what had happened in Frank’s den. Surely Midge knew about it. All four husbands having their way with her on the billiard table, eating out her pussy like she was the dessert! Surely Midge knew all about it.
    —Midge, what a pleasant surprise.
    —April, you poor thing, you must be missing your babies terribly.
    April was surprised. She hadn’t expected any sympathy on that point although she couldn’t say why. She had supposed that since the firm had chosen the school and the other partners had all sent their children there, no one would want to hear anything negative about the experience from her. She almost burst into tears as she listened to Midge.
    —I remember when Frank made us put our kids in there. It was the hardest day of my life, April. I kid you not. I must have cried a week.
    —Oh, Midge. I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear you say that.
    —Oh, that’s not the half of it, April. We all understand what you’re going through. It’s not an easy decision to make but take comfort in the fact that none of us regret it a bit.
    —Are you sure?
    —A hundred percent. My kids are still in the senior school. I can vouch for the place personally. They’re as close to me as they could possibly be, we see them all the time. There’s vacations, birthdays, weekend visits. And the education they receive is top notch. It really is. They’re ready for anything. My oldest has already been accepted to Harvard after he graduates.
    —That’s great, Midge. I’m just so worried about sending them away at this age. They’re still so young. I’m afraid they’ll grow distant and forget all about me.
    —Don’t be silly, April. It doesn’t work that way. They’ll be your darlings forever and you’ll be delighted with the education they pick up out there at