You were visiting. Waiting for her inside. Remember?”
“Sure. Now I do.”
He adjusted an elastic sweatband on his right wrist. It was blue and white, lettered YANKEES. “I told you my name, but you forgot to introduce yourself.”
“I’m, uh, sorry.”
“Anyway,” he said, “I think it’s great Allie’s got a close friend like you. Wear each other’s clothes, that sorta thing. New York’s not the kinda place where you usually have somebody close.”
Allie’d heard enough. “Sam, we’re in kind of a hurry.”
“Oh?”
“I thought you were out jogging.”
“On my way to run in the park, actually. So I thought I’d drop by. But you weren’t home. You are now.”
“Not quite, Sam, but I’d like to be. Nice seeing you.”
She moved around him and started up the steps.
Suddenly he had her elbow in a firm grip. Desperation flowed like electricity through him into her. “Allie, listen, please!”
Hedra said, “I’ll just run on upstairs.”
Sam said, “Pleasure meeting you, Hedra. I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”
Allie yanked her elbow free, sending a jolt of pain up her crazy bone. She wasn’t the crazy one here. “I’m going with her, Sam.”
He shuffled in a half-circle and blocked her way. There was an agonized look on his face. “Allie, I only wanna talk.”
“And I don’t. ” But she knew she did. Goddamnit, she did! “Wait for me, Hedra.”
Hedra was standing at the top of the steps, a confused expression on her face. In the beige dress and high heels, her legs looked very shapely from the sidewalk. Sam stared at her for a moment, as if he were seeing Allie in the dress. His teeth were clenched and his breath hissed like steam escaping under great pressure. Allie could smell liquor on his breath. Had he seen them in the bar? Beaten them back to the Cody and set up this scene?
No, she decided, it was possible but unlikely.
It began to rain then, slanting under the entrance canopy. Not hard, but steadily enough so another few minutes of standing outside and they’d all be soaked. Windshield wipers on passing cars started their metronome action. Some of them had their headlights on, wary yellow eyes lessening the chance of collision in the lowering gloom. The wet street became opaque glass, reflecting the late-afternoon traffic in muted colors.
A trickle of rainwater broke from Sam’s hair and ran down his forehead. Finally he stood aside and gave Allie room to go up the steps. She moved past, barely brushing his arm.
She took each step with deliberation, keeping the sway of her hips to a minimum, knowing he was watching. Behind her, the swish of tires on wet pavement was like harsh and secret whispering. Hedra reached out a firm hand as if to help her achieve the final push of a climb up a mountain. And maybe that’s what it was—climbing up out of Sam’s influence. Maybe.
She grasped Hedra’s hand, squeezed it as if to say “Thank you,” and pushed ahead of her, through the door into the cool, dry lobby. Sanctuary.
“We’ll talk later, Allie!” Sam called up the steps.
She didn’t answer. A raindrop clung to her eyelash; she brushed it away impatiently with the back of her hand.
As they were rising in the elevator, Hedra said, “An awkward situation, but you handled it fine, Allie.”
Fine? Allie interpreted it differently. “Did I?”
“I mean, you seemed so calm. So in control. More so than I coulda been; that’s for sure.”
“Didn’t seem that way to me, Hedra. I wasn’t so calm on the inside.”
“That doesn’t matter. You’re here, and you and Sam aren’t having the conversation he was demanding. You didn’t let yourself get bullied. That’s the important thing.”
“No, it isn’t,” Allie said. “The important thing is that now Sam’s sure we’re living together.”
“Huh? How could he be? He only saw me in the apartment that one time, and he supposed I was a friend waiting for you to get home.”
“Don’t
“Sure. Now I do.”
He adjusted an elastic sweatband on his right wrist. It was blue and white, lettered YANKEES. “I told you my name, but you forgot to introduce yourself.”
“I’m, uh, sorry.”
“Anyway,” he said, “I think it’s great Allie’s got a close friend like you. Wear each other’s clothes, that sorta thing. New York’s not the kinda place where you usually have somebody close.”
Allie’d heard enough. “Sam, we’re in kind of a hurry.”
“Oh?”
“I thought you were out jogging.”
“On my way to run in the park, actually. So I thought I’d drop by. But you weren’t home. You are now.”
“Not quite, Sam, but I’d like to be. Nice seeing you.”
She moved around him and started up the steps.
Suddenly he had her elbow in a firm grip. Desperation flowed like electricity through him into her. “Allie, listen, please!”
Hedra said, “I’ll just run on upstairs.”
Sam said, “Pleasure meeting you, Hedra. I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”
Allie yanked her elbow free, sending a jolt of pain up her crazy bone. She wasn’t the crazy one here. “I’m going with her, Sam.”
He shuffled in a half-circle and blocked her way. There was an agonized look on his face. “Allie, I only wanna talk.”
“And I don’t. ” But she knew she did. Goddamnit, she did! “Wait for me, Hedra.”
Hedra was standing at the top of the steps, a confused expression on her face. In the beige dress and high heels, her legs looked very shapely from the sidewalk. Sam stared at her for a moment, as if he were seeing Allie in the dress. His teeth were clenched and his breath hissed like steam escaping under great pressure. Allie could smell liquor on his breath. Had he seen them in the bar? Beaten them back to the Cody and set up this scene?
No, she decided, it was possible but unlikely.
It began to rain then, slanting under the entrance canopy. Not hard, but steadily enough so another few minutes of standing outside and they’d all be soaked. Windshield wipers on passing cars started their metronome action. Some of them had their headlights on, wary yellow eyes lessening the chance of collision in the lowering gloom. The wet street became opaque glass, reflecting the late-afternoon traffic in muted colors.
A trickle of rainwater broke from Sam’s hair and ran down his forehead. Finally he stood aside and gave Allie room to go up the steps. She moved past, barely brushing his arm.
She took each step with deliberation, keeping the sway of her hips to a minimum, knowing he was watching. Behind her, the swish of tires on wet pavement was like harsh and secret whispering. Hedra reached out a firm hand as if to help her achieve the final push of a climb up a mountain. And maybe that’s what it was—climbing up out of Sam’s influence. Maybe.
She grasped Hedra’s hand, squeezed it as if to say “Thank you,” and pushed ahead of her, through the door into the cool, dry lobby. Sanctuary.
“We’ll talk later, Allie!” Sam called up the steps.
She didn’t answer. A raindrop clung to her eyelash; she brushed it away impatiently with the back of her hand.
As they were rising in the elevator, Hedra said, “An awkward situation, but you handled it fine, Allie.”
Fine? Allie interpreted it differently. “Did I?”
“I mean, you seemed so calm. So in control. More so than I coulda been; that’s for sure.”
“Didn’t seem that way to me, Hedra. I wasn’t so calm on the inside.”
“That doesn’t matter. You’re here, and you and Sam aren’t having the conversation he was demanding. You didn’t let yourself get bullied. That’s the important thing.”
“No, it isn’t,” Allie said. “The important thing is that now Sam’s sure we’re living together.”
“Huh? How could he be? He only saw me in the apartment that one time, and he supposed I was a friend waiting for you to get home.”
“Don’t
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