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But then riding down Fifth Avenue in the taxi, they’d colory of One Fifth, and Lola decided the evening had been worth all the trouble Reaching the thirteenth floor, Lola found Enid’s keys, opened her door, and handed Enid back her handbag Enid rewarded her with a kiss on the cheek, soht, dear,” she said “I had such a good time I’ll see you tomorrow”
“Do we have plans?” Lola asked
“No But now that you’re living with Philip, we don’t need plans I’ll knock on your door Maybe we can go for a walk”
Great, Lola thought, going into Philip’s apartrees “Philip?” she called
When she didn’t get an answer, she went through the apart She called his cell phone and heard it ringing in his office He’d probably gone to the deli and would be back in a minute She sat down on the couch, took off her shoes, and kicked theazines were
She stood up, frowning, and began searching for theazines that was particularly fetching—it was beaded and strapless, with a long train that flowed out when you walked, and pooled elegantly around the feet when you stood still If she couldn’t find the ht never find that particular dress, because the bridal es on a website, so prospective brides actually had to buy the publication She looked in the kitchen and then Philip’s office, co to the conclusion that he had accidentally thrown them out She would have to scold hi back into the kitchen, she poured the last of a bottle of white wine into a glass, then opened the garbage chute to dispose of the bottle Philip had repeatedly told her not to put glass down the chute, but she refused to follow his orders Recycling was such a pain, and besides, it was completely useless The planet had already been ruined by previous generations
And lo, stuck in the top of the narrow chute was one of herit on the counter, glared So Philip had thrown out her azines on purpose What did that mean?
Taking the glass of wine into the bathroo a bath She assumed Philip wanted toto pull it off What she’d been telling James Gooch about Philip wasn’t true at all She was perfectly happy to force Philip down the aisle if she had to Everyone knew that men needed to be rateful If necessary, she was even willing to get pregnant Celebrities were always getting pregnant first and married later, and if she had a baby, it could be dressed up like a little bridesmaid and carried down the aisle in a basket by her mother
She was stripped down to her bra and panties when she heard the key turn in the lock Without covering up, she hurried into the foyer Philip ca, and wouldn’t look her in the eye So
“Where were you?” she asked, then adjusted her attitude to make it seem like she didn’t care “I had the best time with Enid at the ballet It was so beautiful I didn’t knoould be like that And ‘Diamonds’ was so cute And Enid said you danced in The Nutcracker when you were a kid Why didn’t you tell me?”
He turned around and closed the door When he turned back, he appeared to register the fact that she wasn’t dressed Usually, this excited him, and he’d put his hand on her breast But now he shook his head “Lola” He sighed
“What is it? What’s wrong?” she asked
“Put on your clothes and let’s talk”
“I can’t,” she said gaily, as if everything were fine “I was just getting into a bath You’ll have to talk to me while I’m under bubbles” Before he could say more, she darted away
Philip went into the kitchen and put his hands in his hair Riding up in the elevator froined this would be easy, or at least straightforward He would tell Lola the truth—that he didn’t think it was a good idea if they lived together after all—and he would offer her money She still had teeks left on the lease of her old apartment, and he would take over the rent for six ular job He would even pay her cell phone bills and take her shopping on Madison Avenue if necessary He considered telling her the whole truth—that he was in love with soht be too cruel Nevertheless, she was going to htly drunk fro consu in need of an extra dose of Dutch courage, he poured hi and went into the bathroom