Page 51 (1/2)
He slowly turned his head and stared at her, and the fact that it took him about a minute to complete this movement made her wonder if she was supposed to be afraid of hiht he could inti
“And what do you do?” he asked,the tone of her question “Don’t tell me you’re an actress”
“I’e to her voice that usually silenced strangers But not this rinned “A researcher, eh?” He laughed “And did I tell you I’m Santa Claus?”
The whole table erupted in laughter, including Philip Sensing this was not a good tiamely, but really, she told herself, it was tootreated this way She would let it go this once but not again Of course, she planned to bring it up with Philip, but would be careful a
bout how she did so In general, it wasn’t a good idea to complain about a s, and then he would associate you with negativity
In the ht, she should find a way to be taken a bit ht silly—in which case, a visit to the library ht not be a bad idea after all
When Philip returned to the apartone back to bed and appeared to be in a deep sleep He went into his office and quickly knocked off five pages Fro She was so natural, he thought Reading through his pages, which were excellent, he decided she was his good-luck charm
The Rices’ apart room now held an ornate table with six Queen Anne chairs that Billy had e bin somewhere on the Upper East Side The table was on loan until a proper (er) table could be found; in thebooks and color swatches, both fabric and paint, and Internet printouts of various pieces of furniture Annalisa looked at the table and s Billy Litchfield had said to her weeks ago
“My dear,” he’d adht, in the future, go back to work as a lawyer, “how do you expect to do two jobs?”
“Excuse me?”
“You already have a job,” he explained “From now on, your life with your husband is your job” He corrected himself “It’s more than a job It’s a career Your husbandto take effort You’ll rise eachand exercise, not simply to look attractive but to build endurance Most ladies prefer yoga Then you will dress You’ll arrange your schedule and send e-, or perhaps visit an art dealer or make a studio visit You’ll have lunch, and then there are s with decorators, caterers, and stylists; you’ll have your hair colored twice a month and blow-dried three times a week You’ll do private tours of museums and read, I hope, three newspapers a day: The New York Times, The New York Post, and The Wall Street Journal At the end of the day, you’ll prepare for an evening out, which may include two or three cocktail parties and a dinner Some will be black-tie charity events where you’ll be expected to wear a gown and never the same dress twice You’ll need to have your hair and s You anize, staff, and decorate You will ht people and court them in a manner both subtle and shameless And then, my dear, there will be children So,” Billy concluded, “let’s get busy”
And busy they had been There were so ether: bathroom tiles handmade in South Carolina to complement the marble floors (the aparts,treatments, even door handles Most of Annalisa’s days were spent in the furniture district in the East and West Twenties, but there were all the antique shops on Madison that had to be explored, as well as the auction houses And then there were the renovations the torn apart, rewired, replastered, and put back together For the first month, Annalisa and Paul had et out of the way of the construction, but now, at least the inning to put together a bit of a closet”
The intercom buzzed exactly at noon “A man is here to see you,” Fritz said from below
“Whichup The intercom was in the kitchen, on the first floor of the apart room and up the stairs to the bedroo
“Maria?” she said, sticking her head out of the bedroo down the hall to the housekeeper, who around in one of the back bedrooms