Kisser

19

STONE WOKE SLOWLY in a champagne-induced haze. He was in the middle of his bed, and the women were nowhere to be seen. Then he heard a laugh from his bathroom and heard the shower go on. He drifted off again.

HE AWOKE to a pair of lips attached to each of his cheeks.

“We’re off,” Rita said.

“I’m off, too,” Stone replied sleepily.

“You were just great, Stone,” Mitzi said.

“Yes,” Rita said, “but for a moment I thought you were too shocked to accept our invitation.”

“Only for a moment,” Stone said

“We’ll be in touch,” Mitzi said, and the two women moved toward the stairs. Stone drifted off again.

THE PHONE WOKE him a couple of hours later, and he reached for it.

“Hi, it’s Carrie.”

“Hi, there.”

“You sound sleepy.”

“Yeah, I had an afternoon nap,” he managed to say.

“Will you and Dino be at Elaine’s?”

“Sure, eight thirty.”

“May I join you?”

“Of course.”

“See you then.”

Stone hung up, turned on his side, and went back to sleep. He woke in the dark, switched on the bedside lamp, and stood up. He staggered a little before he caught himself; he felt as if he had just run a marathon. Well, he thought, he had, in a way. The bedside clock said almost eight, and he ran for the shower.

CARRIE WAS ALREADY at the table with Dino when Stone walked in. He waved for a drink and sat down.

“You look different,” Carrie said, kissing him.

“Different?” He didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Completely relaxed,” she said. “It must have been a good nap.”

“It certainly was,” Stone replied.

“I talked to Brian,” Dino said. “Sounds like you got what you wanted.”

“It does, doesn’t it?”

“What is he talking about?” Carrie asked.

“Just a little police operation downtown.”

“Is it a secret?”

“Yes.”

“I hate secrets; tell me.”

“Can’t. Lives are at stake.”

Carrie turned to Dino. “That’s a lie, isn’t it?”

“Nope,” Dino said. “Lives are at stake.”

“Oh,” Stone said, “I met someone who knew you at Agnes Scott College.”

“Who?”

Stone backtracked. “I can’t remember her name; she was from Charleston.”

“Mitzi somebody?”

“That sounds right.”

“She was a year or two ahead of me. She was very pretty.”

“She still is.”

Carrie’s eyes narrowed. “And how did you meet her?”

“I had lunch with a business associate, and she came along.”

“I’d love to see her. Did you get her number?”

“She went back to Charleston this afternoon, I believe.”

“Good.”

So much for changing the subject, Stone thought. He hadn’t seen Carrie jealous before, and it was a little scary. He remembered the straight razor. “How are rehearsals going?”

“I had a little contretemps with the choreographer today,” she said.

“He wanted me to do a move that would have broken my back.”

“And how did you handle that?”

“With a flat refusal, a display of temper, and a couple of bad words.”

“How did that work out?”

“He removed the move from the routine,” she said with some satisfaction. “I mean, I might have managed it when I was eighteen, but I know my body better than he does.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“You know it better than he does,” she said with a sly smile.

“Harrumph,” Dino sputtered. “Too much information.”

“Oh, Dino, you’re sweet,” she said, laughing.

“Was that the only problem?” Stone asked.

“There was an unwelcome twist,” she said. “He asked my understudy to demonstrate the move for me. Her name is Melissa Kelley, and she’s in the chorus, and if he weren’t gay I would suspect something between them.”

“And she was able to do the move?” Dino asked, now fascinated.

“Perfectly,” Carrie said, “the bitch. I could have throttled her.”

“It’s probably better if you don’t throttle anybody,” Dino said. “Then I’d have to get involved.”

Carrie laughed. “It’s okay, Dino; she tried to apologize after rehearsal, but it came out all wrong. I mean, what was she going to say-‘I’m sorry I could do the move and you can’t’?”

“I can see how that could be awkward,” Stone said.

“She watches me all the time,” Carrie said. “It’s unsettling.”

“Maybe she’s just working very hard to learn your part,” Stone offered.

“No, it’s more like All About Eve. You know the movie? The young actress wants everything the star has, including her lover?”

“I remember it well.”

“You’ll meet her eventually,” Carrie said. “When you do, watch yourself.”

“I’ll be very careful,” Stone said solemnly.

“So, what’s Mitzi up to?” Carrie asked.

“She didn’t say a lot.”

“She has a rich daddy, I recall.”

“She said he was in the shrimp business.”

“That sounds right. You’re sure she went back to Charleston?” Stone shrugged. “I believe so. She had to leave lunch early to catch her plane.”

“What did she say about me?”

“She said you were a piece of work.”

“And what did she mean by that?”

“I don’t know, and somebody changed the subject before I could ask.”

“It’s just as well,” Carrie said.

Stone allowed himself to think, just for a moment, about what Carrie might do if she knew how he had spent the afternoon.

Carrie dabbed at his forehead with a cocktail napkin. “You’re perspiring,” she said. She put two fingers on his throat. “And your pulse is up.”

“Isometric ab exercises,” he said. “I do them at dinner sometimes.”

“By the way, I think you can send the young Irish gentlemen home. Not a peep out of Max. I think he’s been subdued.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. In fact, I sent them home when they dropped me off here. They said they would return your car tomorrow morning.”

Stone signaled for a menu, but he had trouble concentrating on it. He was still thinking of all those limbs.