Part 21 (1/2)
”Eat your bagel,” says Thalia.
23. Who Jumps to Such a Conclusion?.
HENRY IS TOO POLITE to turn his back on Denise indefinitely. This morning's voice mail-initially ignored from the treadmill across the room-begins with, ”Guess who has a job? But that's all I'm telling. Don't call me for the details.” A laugh. ”How's that for reverse psychology?”
He makes it to the phone just in time. ”Job?” he asks.
”You're there! Yes, a job-I'm in real estate! With Stribling.”
”How is that possible?”
”You mean, how am I employed in real estate without any experience other than going to open houses for the fun of it?”
”Precisely.”
”You know how these things happen-serendipity! Being in the market myself-well, if you can call my pitiful price range the market-I was meeting with an agent and she was apologizing for being late, distracted, phone interruptions, all of that. She said her a.s.sistant hadn't shown up for a week. I said, 'That's outrageous. I would never do that. I'd fire anyone who didn't show up for a week ... Are you hiring?' That was a Tuesday. I started Wednesday. I love it. I'm getting much better on the computer, and I'm learning very practical skills.”
”Such as?”
”I make coffee for the visiting clients. And chai. Do you know what that is? We use instant. I make appointments, I change appointments, I clip our ads from the cla.s.sifieds. I call the newspapers and yell if there are typographical errors, which I now call typos.”
”Are you getting benefits?” Henry asks.
”Don't be a wet blanket! You're supposed to say, 'Congratulations! I knew you'd land on your feet.' No, there aren't any benefit-benefits, but I'm learning a lot, and if I combine my paycheck with my monthly allowance, and I sell my jewelry, I'll get by.”
The last door Henry wanted to open is the one marked ”legal adviser.” But the phrase ”I'll get by” prompts him to ask if she's consulted a matrimonial lawyer or just the attorneys in her social circle.
”I thought you'd never ask!”
”I'm a corporate lawyer, Denise. Pre-nups aren't my bailiwick.”
”But you must have the right kind of lawyer in your firm. Who did your will?”
When Henry merely grunts, ”George,” and nothing more, she asks, ”Are you still mad at me? I get bonus points for Todd, right? If my worst enemy fixed me up with a man I liked, and it developed into a relations.h.i.+p, all would be forgiven.”
Henry says, ”I should have thanked you before this. You did a good thing.”
”He's crazy about you! And Thalia-everyone's favorite human being. How is your stepdaughter-slash-new tenant?”
Henry has prepared for this question. He says, ”She's fine, working on her craft. Going to auditions. All those things that actress-hopefuls do.”
”Do you think I should call and tell her about my job?”
”Up to you.”
”I'm looking for a little guidance here, something in your voice that says she misses me. She feels sorry for me. She misses Glenn. She wants to get past whatever unforgivable thing she thinks I did. Do you know if she's going to be home tonight?”
”I don't know. She's out a lot. Happily, she has many irons in the fire.”
”What kind of irons?”
”Work. Gigs.”
”Does she have a boyfriend?”
Should he say no or should he say several? He is saved from fas.h.i.+oning an answer because her toast pops up. She says, ”I'll call her today and I'm sure one of us will give you a report.”
The phone rings within minutes. Denise, who must have just sat down with her toast and Daily News, shrieks in Henry's ear, ”OhmiG.o.d! Oh. My. G.o.d!”
”What's wrong? Are you okay?”
”You won't believe it! It's Thalia! I was leafing through it and I swear it's her. I almost had a heart attack.”
”What page?” Henry asks.
”What page? Is that all you want to know? It's the gossip reporters, the married ones, Rush and Molloy, their page, with a big picture.”
”Can you read me what it says?”
”It says, 'Horror helmer Leif Dumont haunting Gotham.'”
”What else?”
”It says under the picture, 'Boo, from nineties sitcom Land of Louie, above, with companion, makes a swift exit from chef Thomas Keller's Per Se.'”
”'Companion'? Not her name?”
”No name. She's getting into a limo ahead of him, and she's wearing a very low-cut dress, very low for her. If it isn't Thalia she has a bosomy twin.”
”It is Thalia,” he says. ”I'm just surprised her name's not there.”
”This guy, this Leif, looks like death warmed over. He's old and bald. Or maybe he's not bald. Or old. Maybe it's shaved. He doesn't look like her type at all. Why is she suddenly out on a date with someone who can afford to eat at Per Se?”
”He's an actor,” Henry says. ”She knows him through work. And he's not old. He's under forty.”
”What kind of work? Are they on a project together?”
”Something like that.”
He thinks he hears-please may he be wrong-Denise sniffling. ”Are you crying over a silly photo?” he asks.
”I'm not crying over a silly photo. I'm crying over what it says to the world.”
”Which is what? That she's dating a character actor?”
Denise spits out, ”'Dating'! Look at her. The red dress, the big hair, the f.u.c.k-me shoes! Does the term escort not spring to mind?”