Read Online Curious Wine by Katherine V. Forrest - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Katherine V. Forrest
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sweet quiet innocent baby Millie. Is this the first time, Millie? Did I bust your cherry?”
“You hateful bitch!”
“Keep working on it. Maybe someday one man too many’ll play you for a doormat and get his feet bitten off.”
“Stop this, Liz,” Chris slurred. “Stop this right now.”
“I’m not a doormat!” Millie glared at Liz. “You’d think that about any woman who just tries to be nice and please men.”
Liz shrugged contemptuously. “Have it your way. Maybe you like to be fucked and kicked. I’ve seen stranger things. Who’s next?”
Madge sighed heavily. “You are. This isn’t going at all the way it should, but if we just get through it— You make a statement now about Lane.”
“What an interesting opportunity.” Liz looked speculatively at Lane. “Is there any rule that says I can’t skip my turn? I want to think about this.”
Madge looked at Liz, alarmed and uncertain. Liz said, “Besides, I’d like to hear what negative Miss Mar-lane-a Christiansen has to offer about perfect Diana.”
Diana did not look up. Anguished, torn, battered by what she had heard, she sat waiting for another blow to fall, this time from Lane. She stared at the carpet, a deep coldness in her.
“I have nothing negative to say about Diana,” Lane said.
“How noble,” Liz said scornfully. “Come on,” she goaded, “there must be something. Some little thing. How she files her fingernails. Some small thing.”
“There’s nothing. Everything I know about Diana so far I like. There isn’t anything about her I want to see changed.” “Sweet, perfect Diana. How wonderful it must be—to be so sweet and perfect. And attractive along with it. It’s so high- minded of you to watch over her. Very high-minded indeed. Dear Diana is down right now about her friend Jack, but Mar-lane-a isn’t going to kick her.”
Speechless, paralyzed with shock at having her pain exposed in this roomful of strangers, Diana stared helplessly at Liz.
“That’s enough,” Lane said coldly.
“Vivian told me about you, Diana dear. Or at least what she guessed. We have something in common, dear. You walked out on him just like I did, you know just how it feels. You don’t talk about how he hurt you, but the footprints are all over you. You’re much too honest, that’s your trouble, my dear.” Liz’s voice was low and harsh. “You need a little more deceit in you when it comes to men. You need that for survival. Men are such bastards. All we want to do is love them and they’re such bastards. How could he do any better than you? A little younger maybe, but that’s all. Maybe he found somebody who looked like your friend Lane here, all blonde and pretty.”
“I said that’s enough.” Lane’s voice was glacial. “And I mean that’s enough.”
The two women stared in silence. Diana could not see Lane’s face; Liz, eyes fixed burningly on Lane, nostrils flared, wide thick lips twisted in hate, said with quiet malevolence, “All right, let’s talk about you. I’ll take my turn now, Madge. What you need to change is your thinking you’re so bloody superior. Woman with a mission, our fair-haired dedicated young lawyer out to save the world with people like Diana sitting at your feet. Shit,” she spat, “who needs you?”
“Shut up!” Diana’s voice broke from her. She was rigid with fury. “Shut up!”
“It’s all right, Diana,” Lane said, looking at her briefly, her face calm.
“She’s drunk, Lane.” Diana wanted to tear at Liz, pummel her with her fists.
“No, my dear, just stoned,” Liz said. “There’s a world of difference. You piss-ant wine drinkers could take a bath in the amount of bourbon I can put away. George taught me how to drink. Among other things. But George liked me the way I was, too. He married me when he was thirty, after two other marriages and hundreds of other women. For twenty years he wanted me, only me. I know that as sure as I breathe. He used to call me the
“You hateful bitch!”
“Keep working on it. Maybe someday one man too many’ll play you for a doormat and get his feet bitten off.”
“Stop this, Liz,” Chris slurred. “Stop this right now.”
“I’m not a doormat!” Millie glared at Liz. “You’d think that about any woman who just tries to be nice and please men.”
Liz shrugged contemptuously. “Have it your way. Maybe you like to be fucked and kicked. I’ve seen stranger things. Who’s next?”
Madge sighed heavily. “You are. This isn’t going at all the way it should, but if we just get through it— You make a statement now about Lane.”
“What an interesting opportunity.” Liz looked speculatively at Lane. “Is there any rule that says I can’t skip my turn? I want to think about this.”
Madge looked at Liz, alarmed and uncertain. Liz said, “Besides, I’d like to hear what negative Miss Mar-lane-a Christiansen has to offer about perfect Diana.”
Diana did not look up. Anguished, torn, battered by what she had heard, she sat waiting for another blow to fall, this time from Lane. She stared at the carpet, a deep coldness in her.
“I have nothing negative to say about Diana,” Lane said.
“How noble,” Liz said scornfully. “Come on,” she goaded, “there must be something. Some little thing. How she files her fingernails. Some small thing.”
“There’s nothing. Everything I know about Diana so far I like. There isn’t anything about her I want to see changed.” “Sweet, perfect Diana. How wonderful it must be—to be so sweet and perfect. And attractive along with it. It’s so high- minded of you to watch over her. Very high-minded indeed. Dear Diana is down right now about her friend Jack, but Mar-lane-a isn’t going to kick her.”
Speechless, paralyzed with shock at having her pain exposed in this roomful of strangers, Diana stared helplessly at Liz.
“That’s enough,” Lane said coldly.
“Vivian told me about you, Diana dear. Or at least what she guessed. We have something in common, dear. You walked out on him just like I did, you know just how it feels. You don’t talk about how he hurt you, but the footprints are all over you. You’re much too honest, that’s your trouble, my dear.” Liz’s voice was low and harsh. “You need a little more deceit in you when it comes to men. You need that for survival. Men are such bastards. All we want to do is love them and they’re such bastards. How could he do any better than you? A little younger maybe, but that’s all. Maybe he found somebody who looked like your friend Lane here, all blonde and pretty.”
“I said that’s enough.” Lane’s voice was glacial. “And I mean that’s enough.”
The two women stared in silence. Diana could not see Lane’s face; Liz, eyes fixed burningly on Lane, nostrils flared, wide thick lips twisted in hate, said with quiet malevolence, “All right, let’s talk about you. I’ll take my turn now, Madge. What you need to change is your thinking you’re so bloody superior. Woman with a mission, our fair-haired dedicated young lawyer out to save the world with people like Diana sitting at your feet. Shit,” she spat, “who needs you?”
“Shut up!” Diana’s voice broke from her. She was rigid with fury. “Shut up!”
“It’s all right, Diana,” Lane said, looking at her briefly, her face calm.
“She’s drunk, Lane.” Diana wanted to tear at Liz, pummel her with her fists.
“No, my dear, just stoned,” Liz said. “There’s a world of difference. You piss-ant wine drinkers could take a bath in the amount of bourbon I can put away. George taught me how to drink. Among other things. But George liked me the way I was, too. He married me when he was thirty, after two other marriages and hundreds of other women. For twenty years he wanted me, only me. I know that as sure as I breathe. He used to call me the
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