A Time to Mend by Sally John Page B

either had to give up espresso or his one-man boycott against the entire chain.”
    Claire’s stomach tightened again. It was news to her. Max, the eternal supporter of “the little guy,” such as he himself once was, refused to patronize the coffee chain store when she was with him.
    Neva said, “You know how we’d send the newest staff person to get him coffee at that independent café down the road?”
    She nodded.
    “About eight months ago we hired Sarah. Have you met her?”
    Claire hadn’t, but she took a wild guess. “Long blonde hair?”
    “Yeah. She’s different.” Neva’s eyebrows rose. “Kind of flaky but endearing. Save the whales and all that. She reminds me of Lexi. Any-way, Sarah refused to waste gas driving when she could simply walk a few steps to the evil chain store. So she bought coffee here and put it in a thermos mug. Then she’d wait to give it to him, pretending it took her longer than it actually did. One day she forgot to wait long enough, and he caught on. He just laughed and quit the boycott that very day.”
    “Why?”
    “Why what?”
    “Why did he quit?”
    Neva’s smile faded. “He realized how silly he was being, I suppose.”
    “And he realized that because this Sarah called him on it.”
    “Well, we all supported her.”
    “Whatever.” Claire heard the envy in her tone, but she wasn’t about to pull back now. She was always playing second fiddle to the likes of Sarah and Neva. “You know what, Neva? I feel left out of Max’s life. The office is his home; the staff is his family. It’s always been that way.”
    “We’re not. Not really.”
    “Give me a break. I mean, does this not register with you? A stranger named Sarah can call him on something and he flip-flops long-held, die-hard convictions. I finally call him on his marital priorities, but he doesn’t laugh. He doesn’t even consider changing one thing about his lifestyle.”
    “I don’t know how you waited so long.”
    Claire blinked, taken aback.
    “Really. My ex-husband couldn’t even handle it for five years before he moved out.” Abruptly, she lifted her coffee and directed all her attention to taking a drink.
    Another wave of ambivalence rolled through Claire, a churning mix of fondness, respect, envy, and anger. The anger part rose to the top.
    “Is there more to that analogy?” She snapped her words. “Like maybe the agency is your first priority too? That there was no rea-son for you to leave it in order to save your marriage?”
    Neva looked up. “Claire, I didn’t mean it that way. I was over thirty before I married. I should have known better. He didn’t under-stand my lifestyle from the get-go or why I wasn’t interested in having children. He didn’t understand my passion for working with people. You and Max have a long history together.”
    “A long history of me playing second fiddle.”
    “It could look like that. If you think of Max as playing first fiddle, though, it explains why Beaumont Staffing is so great. You two work as a team. You’ve always given him the freedom to succeed.”
    “Right. That was my role—to let him go succeed outside the family. But while he was off being free and happy, our marriage got lost along the way.”
    Neva nodded. “It seems inevitable in this culture, doesn’t it? Oh, Claire. You’ll work it out. You and Max are special.”
    In the warmth of Neva’s concern, Claire’s anger melted. “You don’t think I’m being unreasonable, then?”
    “Let’s just say I’m a woman who can empathize. I’m also his coworker.” She winced. “And the consummate fence-sitter. It’s the best way to urge clients and temps to get along.”
    Claire studied Neva’s unlined face, its delicate features. In it she saw a femininity and an independent streak—qualities she herself did not possess.
    “Neva, you probably wouldn’t put up with a man who gave 99 percent of his attention to another woman.”
    “Max doesn’t—”
    “Yes, he does!