Part 7 (1/2)
”So??!!”
”I ummmm, yeah,yes Ihave, I? hestammers
”He-llo! Are you ever not speechless?” I attempt to shi+mmy so that I can face the wall Of course, in thisfive-by-seven boxI reesawayfromhiht Souys canberealassholes when theydrinkI knowthat's no excuse,but,I hschool?
”And?” I saytothewall
”And ” HeseehtatDorrian's”
I shi+ht when your buddies fro out with friends whose politics I don't agree with, but onlyup to apoint If,oh, say, gangrapewere ontheagendafortheevening, I wouldspeakup!”
”Well!”
”Well?”
”Well, for soments were eh” I take a deep breath and try to straighten toyouonthefactthatyoudidn't step intoshutthemup”
He looks back at ot so out of hand” He tucks his hair behindhis ear ”Listen, coout with soe friends t's a whole different crowd, I promise” The door slides open and both a wolare with annoyance because there is no room for themaroundmycostume ThedoorslidesclosedI realizeI haveonlytwomorefloorstoacquiesce
”Obviously, I have a really decadent affair ahead of ered hand to my purpletorso ”ButI cantrytostop byaroundten”
”Great! I' of Chaos, or The Next Thing, but we'll definitely beatNightingale's till eleven”
THE NANNY DIARIES ”Well, I'll try to make it” Despite the fact that I am not completely clear where, in his list of destinations, I should aim to make it toThe doors open to the lobby and I attetoremember toleadwith myhips
I wait until H H is safely around the corner and then, after one last ass-push from the doormen, we are on our way I take a little bit of pleasure from the fact that Mrs X is forced to lean across and pin the cardonGrayer herselfasshehastheuseof all tenofherfingers
”Honey, 1 finally found out who the Brightestures to the phone and shakes his head Not to be outdone she pulls her Startac out of her Judith Leiberpumpkinclutch anddials Thepuffy,priedsilence
” I don't thinkher decoratordid averygoodjob”
” takeanotherhardlookatthosenumbers?
” andmauve?”
” atthatAPR?Is henuts?”
” bamboofor akitchen!”
” buybacktenbillionover thenextthreeyears”
I lookdownatGrayerandpokehisyellow tuer Helooksup andpokesme back
I squeezehis feltchub,he squeezesmine
”So” Mr X flips his phone closed with a loud click and looks at me ”Do they have Halloween in Australia?”
”U calledAll Souls' Day, but, um, 1 don't think people dress up or, uh,trick-or-treat,traditionally,”1 answer
”Honey,”Mrs X intercedes ”ThisisNannyShetookover froht,of courseYou're prelaw?”
”I wanttositnexttoMommy!” Grayer suddenlybursts out
”Grove,staynextto down
”No!I wanttositnexttoMommy now”
Mrs X looks over at Mr X, who has retreated back behind his paper ”We don't want to get your fun makeup onMommy's coat?staywith Nanny,sweetie”
After a few more rounds,he finally tuckersout andthefour of ussit insilenceas thecarglides down to the very bottom of the city, where the dense, narrow streets of Lower Manhattan give way to the ihborhood appears deserted, except for the funereal lineoftowncarsforoutside Mr X's company
Mr and Mrs X slide out andGrayer and me unassisted to maneuveroursphericalbodiesoutofthecarandontothesidewalk
”Nanny,saythreeand I'll push!+Saythree,Nanny! SAY IT!”
With his little feet in my backside and my face nearly on the sidewalk it's no wonder he can't hear me whenI scream, ”Three!”
I s his lips out the crack in the”Didja say it, Nanny?Didja?”
I can sense a flurry of activity behind my enormous haunches, accompanied by snippets of the mastermind atwork ”Okay, nowI'm Rabbit and youyou're Poohandare youcounting? andafter all the honeystuck in the tree HAT'S THREE, NANNY, on THREE!” He could be constructing acatapult outofcocktailnapkinsbacktherefor all I know?
WHOMP!
”I didit!Nanny,I didit!”
I right ered hand for his, and addle with pride toward the entrance Mr andMrs X havekindly heldtheelevator forusandwe rideup totheforty-fifthfloorwith anothercouplewhosechildrencouldn't attend ”Homework”