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“I stopped growing when I was six.”
“Hahaha. You’re funny.”
And just as the conversation is about to take off, the maître d’ returns with a bottle of white wine. “Your Pouilly-Fuissé, Monsieur Singer.”
“Oh, thanks,” Bernard says, looking sheepish again. This is very odd. The apartment, the restaurant, the wine—surely Bernard is wealthy. Why, then, does he insist on acting like he’s not? Or rather, that it’s all a burden which he must somehow endure?
The wine pouring is yet another ritual. When it’s over, I breathe a sigh of relief.
“It’s annoying, isn’t it?” Bernard says, echoing my thoughts.
“Why do you let them do it, then?”
“It makes them happy. If I didn’t sniff the cork, they’d be very disappointed.”
“You might even lose your special table.”
“I’ve been trying to sit at that table”—he points to an empty table in the back of the room—“for years. But they won’t let me. It’s Siberia,” he adds, in a dramatic whisper.
“Is it colder there?”
“Freezing.”
“And what about this table?”
“Right on the equator.” He pauses. “And you—you’re on the equator too.” He reaches out and takes my hand. “I like your gumption,” he says.
The chef pulls out all the stops for Bernard. After a stomach-numbing meal of seven courses—including soup, a soufflé, two desserts, and some delicious after-dinner wine that tastes like ambrosia—I look at my watch and discover it’s just after midnight. “I ought to go.”
“Why? Will you turn into a pumpkin?”
“Something like that,” I say, thinking about Peggy.
His next move hangs in the air, spinning like a lazy disco ball. “I suppose I should walk you home,” he says finally.
“And ruin all this?” I laugh.
“I haven’t done ‘this’ for a while. What about you?”
“Oh, I’m an expert,” I tease.
We walk back to my building, swinging our hands between us.
“Good night, pussycat,” he says, stopping in front of my door. We stand awkwardly, until he makes his move. He tilts up my chin and leans in for a kiss. It’s gentle and civilized at first, then more and more urgent, ending just before some imaginary line of lust is crossed.
The kiss leaves me swooning. Bernard looks at me longingly, but settles for a gentlemanly peck on the cheek and a squeeze of my hand. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay.” I can barely breathe.
I watch him stroll off into the night. At the corner, he turns and waves. When he’s disappeared completely, I slip inside.
I creep down the hallway to the apartment, brushing my fingers against the pea-green wall for support, wondering why anyone would paint a hallway such an ugly color. At the door, I carefully insert my key into the first lock. The bolt drops with an alarming ping.
I hold my breath, wondering if Peggy has heard the sound, and if so, what she’ll do. But when I don’t hear anything for several seconds, I try the next lock.
It, too, turns easily, which means I should now be able to enter the apartment. I twist the knob and try to ease open the door, but it won’t move.
Huh? Maybe Peggy didn’t lock the door after all and I’ve ended up locking it instead. It doesn’t seem like something Peggy would do, but I try turning the locks in the opposite direction just to make sure.
