She stared at him defiantly.
"Anna..."
"Where's that tramp you let take my son?" She asked rudely, and downed the shot of cognac in one gulp and poured herself another.
"She's not what you said. I know that in the United States that's an offensive reference... Her name is Geiza and she's my girlfriend."
Anna, on hearing this, had the urge to throw the glass at him, but instead took the whole drink in one go, and again poured herself more.
"Anna, be careful. You're not used to it..."
"No more fucking being careful!" She said, knowing it was the first time she'd used that language. But she had to vent her anger at herself somehow. She took another drink and refilled it, already feeling a little dizzy.
"You can't treat a guest of mine like that. And be careful how you treat the nanny, because here, if you mistreat her and she reports it, you'll be prosecuted!" He said angrily, but not as out of it as Anna.
"I'll leave your guests alone, as long as you don't put my son among your whores!" Anna shouted, almost spitting the words at him.
"I'm not a man in the habit of hanging around with whores, and it's only natural that I introduce my son to my girlfriend. She could become my wife... And she'll come back tomorrow and take Ian in her arms again, and you'll respect that!"
"Respect?" She asked debauchedly, finishing off her glass and sipping from the neck of the bottle. "I'll never respect any dirty whore you bring in here. And Ian is my son! And I'm telling you, he's not going back in that woman's arms. You don't know what I'm capable of!"
"I'm learning Anna." He said angrily. "Ian is my son too, don't you dare insinuate otherwise again. And he will live with Geiza."
"I repeat that Ian is my son, and I will not allow him to play in anyone's arms. He could catch diseases... Or lice. I don't know what kind of impurities that woman is carrying!"
"Impurities? Lice? Have you gone mad? Ian is as much my son as your, Anna. Don't defy me, or I'll make sure you don't even have the right to visit him!"
Anna squeezed her eyes shut angrily.
"Are you threatening to take my son away from me? You're just a name on Ian's birth certificate. His real father..."
"Go on, Anna. I want to hear what your definition of a father is."
Anna lowered her eyes. Even drunk, she knew she was being unfair to Maxwell, so she took another drink, emptied the bottle and went in search of another.
"After all, what does this Geiza matter? I've never seen that bitch before... Since when are you two dating?" She asked, opening the bottle and drinking from it.
"We talked about it today, but we already knew each other and communicated through messages. You were very rude, and please don't refer to her that way again." Maxwell said more calmly, and sat down, loosening his tie.
"Oh! Don't you want me to tell you that your girlfriend is a prostitute? A whore? A son of a bitch? A chicken? A slut? Bitch? A whore? BITCH?" Anna said each one slowly and laughed out loud when Maxwell looked at her startled and, seeming to freeze at her vulgarity, even stopped fiddling with his tie.
She no longer cared what he thought of her. She had lost him. Her fear had made her lose the man she loved. Now all she had to do was leave with her son and go back to being a beggar.
"Why are you acting like this Anna? It looks like I or Geiza did something to insult you... Have we?" Maxwell asked annoyed, and stood up, pouring himself some cognac from another bottle, as Anna was holding the one he liked best and seemed determined to finish it all off at once.
"What did you do?" Anna repeated his question, debauched. "You're dating. Here's what you did."
"Anna... I just stayed away from my relationships for a while, for fear of an inspector coming to check what's going on here at home. I'm a judge and I'm watched a lot in this environment. You know we're legally married. I couldn't risk them finding out and deporting you. But now we can say we have an open relationship..."
Anna remembered the day he took her to another judge in the courthouse, and they got married in a hurry, then went back to work, and never spoke of it again. It was as if it hadn't happened. Anna was a bigamist. Of course, the woman married to Maxwell was called Alice, but he was still Anna's husband.
"And did you tell all this to your queer bargirl? Or did you say that I approve of open relationships?" Anna asked, increasingly angry with him and her frustrated feelings.
"I said we're married, and that it was a rash decision..."
"Are you sorry, Your Honor?"
"There's no way I can talk to you now. You're out of your mind..." Maxwell said, sipping the brandy he had poured himself, and placing the glass on the coffee table, turned away and started towards his room. But Anna grabbed him from behind so hard that she ripped his shirt.
She started laughing with the piece of silk in her hands, while Maxwell turned to her with a dark look on his face. He stared at her as she put down the empty bottle and began to reach for another.
"Why are you staring at me? Help me find another bottle."
"Have you gone mad? Why did you tear my shirt?"
"Oh, Maxwell, don't take your torn shirt to heart. You shouldn't go out and leave a woman alone... Didn't your mother teach you that? I'm sure it's in the mothers' handbook somewhere..." Anna said and started laughing at herself.
"What do you want, anyway?" Maxwell asked angrily.
"We haven't finished talking yet..." Anna said, feeling free of something that had previously prevented her from opening up, and loving that freedom. She found another bottle and opened it.
"Say what you have to say, then."
"Are you blind?"
Maxwell took a deep breath, feeling that he wouldn't be able to keep his temper much longer.
"Explain."
"You really don't know what all this... Scandal?"
"I'd love to know..."
"I love you."