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need to keep secret from me? And then, she wrote out a list, including only scary, bad things. 1. Drugs 2. Pornography 3. Botox (other beauty treatment? liposuction not that cheap) 4. Gambling 150 The Not-So-Perfect Man 5. Debt to Mafia 6. Blackmail 7. Hookers 8. An affair He had lost a lot of weight, possibly aided by chemi- cals. But she knew from her own college experiences that Peter hadn t been exhibiting the signs of cocaine use (fidgeting, nonstop talking, smoking cigarettes and fre- quent trips to the bathroom). If he d started smoking pot, he d have gained weight. Heroin? She didn t know much about the drug personally. But, as she understood it, that would cost more than $200 a week. And he seemed en- ergetic lately, not in a morphine-induced stupor. Could be pharmaceuticals. She added Prozac? to the list, and moved on. Porn. Hard to imagine he d spend that much on maga- zines and videos. She scratched that off. Okay, beauty treatments. Men were senselessly embarrassed to admit to getting help from trained Russian facialists. His skin seemed the same. No sign of UVB exposure from tanning booths. No injection marks from Botox. He couldn t very well hide the crackling red burns of a fruit-acid peel. Cel- lulite suction treatment? He couldn t stand the pain. Gambling, Mafia debt, blackmail. Unlikely, she thought. But who really knew about such things? Had Peter hit a kid in the Bronx while driving drunk like in Bonfire of the Vanities been seen, and had to pay off some wise guy? Wouldn t the blackmailer ask for a larger sum, probably lump? 151 V alerie Frankel Debt? On what? Not drugs. Gambling? He d never shown any interest. The one time they d tried roulette on a vacation in the Bahamas, Peter nearly wept when they lost $50. Hookers? Peter would be terrified of catching a disease. Which left an affair. Ilene put down the pad. Two hun- dred, once a week. The price of a two-star hotel room in Manhattan, plus a bottle of cheap champagne. He d paid cash for the same reason she didn t want to use her credit card for holiday gifts. The money was always withdrawn on Thursdays, she realized. Was he, at that very moment, humping some slut at the Waldorf? The weight loss. Wasn t it a predictable clich� that a man got in shape before dis- solving his marriage, or when he took up with a younger woman? Relationships are 90 percent perception. Her marriage, bright as the sun an hour ago, had plunged into a swamp of black gook. Should she feel upset, defensive, belligerent, or hopeless? Or all of the above? Until she sorted out her feelings and gathered information, Ilene had to present a calm exterior. Pretend everything is normal, she in- structed herself. She picked up the phone and dialed Peter s office again. Jane answered. Ilene said, Jane, it s Ilene. I m so sorry I was rude to you before. Don t bother telling Peter I called. Jane said, The message was urgent. This Christmas, you deserve a full day of beauty at Georgette Klinger, said Ilene. For all your hard work and dedication. 152 The Not-So-Perfect Man Jane, who usually received a half day of beauty at Geor- gette Klinger from Ilene, said, I m ripping up the message right now. And you won t mention my little episode? said Ilene. What episode? asked Jane. 153 Chapter 20 Monday, December 23 Midnight I thought you did well, said Frieda to Sam as they lay in bed. Just now? he asked. Yes, she said, but I was referring to the party. The pre-Christmas dinner had been a success. Her guests left a couple of hours ago. Frieda went to work on the dishes and Sam put Justin to bed, as if they were a normal family. Once Justin was sound asleep, Frieda and Sam made love on her four-poster bed, Christmas lights wound around the posts and canopy like a starry ship. They d never had sex on her bed before, or had a whole night sleepover. He d been introduced to her family. As evenings go, this was a significant one for their relationship. They d decided that Sam should leave before Justin woke up. Frieda thought it might upset Justin to wake up and find Sam sleeping in his father s place. Sam was amenable, as always. He d leave at 5 A.M. That gave them 155 y V alerie Frankel five more hours, of which they d make good use. Frieda would have another day on minimal sleep. She was getting used to the REM-deprived buzzing in her brain. The phys- ical demands of her relationship with Sam were like hav- ing a newborn baby. She felt exhausted, with sore breasts and a well-traveled vagina. She said to him, Party postmortem? Okay, said Sam. I like Justin. Justin had appeared to like Sam. Showing up twenty minutes late (a high drama en- trance), Sam had seemed wary at first. Who could blame him, walking into an apartment full of strangers? Frieda rushed to Sam s side immediately, eager to introduce him around. Justin, who d seen Sam s head shot in the Playbill for Oliver!, approached him before her sisters had the chance. He said, You re Sam? And Sam said, And you must be Peter. No? Then you re Betty. Ilene? Wait a minute. I ve got it. You re the butler! Justin giggled appreciatively, and that was that. Sam s arrival had drawn Frieda s sisters, Peter, and Earl into the living room from the kitchen. Frieda made the in- troductions. Sam shook hands around the semicircle of gawking people. Betty invited Sam to sit on the couch. He asked for a Scotch, which Peter supplied. Frieda said she had a turkey to baste. She headed back toward the kitchen. On the walk down the hall, she d heard Justin say, In your [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |