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Are they all sleeping with him? I inquired.
Only the ones he asks. Maxine shrugged. They re young and
want to get ahead and, let s face it, he can take them places.
Like the hospital, I thought, but didn t say it. Michael Kaloff had
confided in me earlier in the evening, after enough stiff martinis that
he wouldn t have been able to distinguish me from a Rottweiler, that
Walter had once tried to slam-dunk his girlfriend through a car window.
I spent the evening talking to clients and well-wishers, everyone happily
heralding the beautiful new studios and state-of-the-art postproduction
facilities that spoke to our commitment to our networks. I didn t get
back to the hotel lobby until almost one in the morning, heading for the
elevators to my room.
Hugh slid across the marble lobby floors, skidding to a stop in
front of me. He is in trouble up to his thematic eyeballs.
He he? I said, making sure we were talking about Walter
Puckett.
Yeah. A guy in the hotel has digital pics of Walter in bed with two
hookers maybe double-teaming or, hey, rim shots. They re all naked
from the waist down, but from the waist up they re wearing T-shirts
that say A-Media Entertainment. If one of those photos gets into the
tabloids, it s all over!
I couldn t stop laughing. Omigod, who took the photos?
A disgruntled husband, we think.
Maybe Walter had groped his wife and he was taking revenge. It
wouldn t be hard to get two hookers to trick Walter into putting on the
T-shirt, then arranging for someone to burst into the room. Whoever did
it had struck with the precision of the Israeli army.
But somewhere in the back of my mind was the not-altogether-
unpleasant thought that Anselm had trapped Walter Puckett like a
lizard traps a fly silently outwaiting the Megan Stanford inquisition,
patiently setting the trap at this Hollywood gala then, with the speed
of a lizard s tongue, snatched Walter Puckett right out of his board
seat.
I went to my room giggling over the image of Walter, the two
women in corporate T-shirts having sex with him, and the photographer
in the doorway.
Standing by the bedside table, I stared at the phone, wanting to
call Liz. We d spent so many nights together, been through so much
" 134 "
MISTRESS OF THE RUNES
It s natural that I miss talking to her, and I need to check on Rune and
Hlatur. I nervously dialed her, which I d never done on a business trip.
Suddenly I realized that for Liz it was three a.m., but I wasn t able to
hang up before she answered.
I m sorry, I woke you, I said, somewhat embarrassed over
having done it.
You can wake me any time.
Her voice was so soothing I thought I could fall asleep on it. I
just sat still, enjoying that response. What a contrast to my calls to
Clare. But then my calls to Clare had been an interruption to Clare s
infidelity.
Are you awake? Liz teased the silence.
I am. I called to tell you a funny story. First you must swear it s
off the record, since it would make a great news story, I said, and she
swore.
With every image of Walter and the hookers, Liz laughed
louder and begged me to fill in the details. Who caught him, where,
when, what was said, who d reported it? We fantasized about all the
delicious possibilities that could come as a result: published Internet
photos, blackmail, his having to resign from the board days after being
appointed.
Our prurient interests spent, silence finally ensued.
Isn t this a bizarre way to while away my life watching
assholes like Walter Fuck-it get themselves in trouble for boffing young
women? I sighed, then Liz sighed empathetically. So how are the
horses? I finally asked.
I gave them a big hug for you. They miss you already. Do you
have a nice room?
I do. Room 1111. So weird. I notice that all the time everything
has ones in it. I wish I knew what it meant maybe just that I m
crazy.
What are you doing right now? she asked, ignoring the ones in
favor of just the two of us, her voice changing to sultry.
Getting ready for bed.
If I was there, and you were as mellow as you sound, I m betting
you d be coming on to me right now, she whispered.
I think you have us confused. I was smiling and couldn t help
myself.
Since you re safely a thousand miles out of my reach, is it okay
" 135 "
ANDREWS & AUSTIN
for me to say I ve been thinking of you tonight? Liz s voice was so
soft it was creating twinges of electrical current from my heart down to
my groin and up to my brain, then repeating that circular pathway until
I reverberated.
You haven t been thinking about me. You ve been in bed asleep.
I tried to change her mood.
Especially when I m in bed. Are you still bent on never having a
relationship with me? Because I would love to have you calling me at
night saying sexy things.
Oh, Liz, if we have a relationship, then I lose a lover and a friend.
My track record is four years& that s all. The chase, the catch, the
finding a way to fit into each other s lives, homes, work, the distancing,
the end. I call it finding, fooling, fucking, forgetting, and it s guaranteed
over with in four years.
I have a different program. It s called the wild attraction,
the consummation, the laughter, longing, loving, the merging, the
forever.
I can t have one more relationship that goes south.
Maybe your relationships go south because you pick people
already headed in that direction, Liz said. You don t want to let your
lover in, so you pick a lover who doesn t want to get in. I want in, Brice.
I want to be your lover. I am your lover. You know it in your heart.
I m working on it.
In this lifetime? Liz prodded lightly, then told me good night
and hung up.
I threw myself backward onto the bed moaning. I couldn t
remember any of my other relationships ever driving me to this kind of
distraction. In fact, I hadn t really been physically attracted to anyone
like I was to Liz, and now I was in a state of constant arousal. I loved
her voice, and her looks, and the way she was built, and the way she
smelled, and the way she moved, and even the way she flared up and
got mad at me.
But I would never let Liz see that in me. Just as I d kept corporate
America from ever seeing under my strong veneer. Just as Rune kept
me from ever seeing a soft, loving look in her eye. She and I were all
business.
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