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“You hated when I tried to give you a clearer perspective,” Ninasaid.
Karen laughed. “Fair point. But I still counted on it, and I’m sorry if I never thanked you forit.”
They waited to cross the street. “So what’s yourperspective?”
“Do you really want to know?” Karenasked.
“I really do.” She wasn’t going to figure things out, to have any peace or happiness, by hiding from uncomfortablethings.
“I think it was a mistake to get back together with Jack, not because there’s anything wrong with him, but because he was too inexorably intertwined to your relationship withLiam.”
“Wow… inexorably,” Nina said as they crossed the street. “Pulling out the bigguns.”
Karen shrugged. “What can I say? I’m an editor. And I have more to say if you wantit.”
“Hit me,” Ninasaid.
“I know Jack fucked up in Paris, and you know me: I don’t have a single problem withkink.”
“But?”
“But he was telling you who he was even then, and even though he’s followed the rules this time around, it might have been a warning sign back then that you weren’t on the same kinkwavelength.”
“Just so we’re clear,” Nina said, “what is the kink wavelength? Is it a one to ten kind of thing? One to five stars, one being vanilla sex and five being groupsex?”
“Group sex would not be a five,” Karensaid.
“Don’t actually want to know,” Nina said. “Was justkidding.”
Karen grinned at her. “Iknow.”
“So you think it’s not going to work with Jack,” Nina said. “That we’re not…compatible.”
“I think you’re looking a little too thin and a little too pale, Nina. I think you don’t seem entirely there. I think you might be thinking about Liam because you miss his emotional availability and the ease of being with him, and it’s hard to remember the city is full of singlemen.”
“You said none of them were emotionally available,” Nina remindedher.
“I was exaggerating when I said that, but the point is, your choices aren’t limited to Jack or Liam, and it’s entirely possible that they were both just appetizers for your newlife.”
Nina sighed. “I do like a goodstarter.”
Karen laughed. “You’ve gotten to be such a smartass.”
Nina squeezed Karen’s arm. “I learned from thebest.”
“I’m just saying that you won’t be able to trust any decision you make about Jack while thinking about Liam,” Karen said. “And the fact that you only started really missing Liam after you saw him with Blondie doesn’t lend a lot of credibility to your feelings, youknow?”
They came to Karen’s subway and stopped at the top of therailing.
“I missed him before that,” Ninasaid.
“I can’t speak to that,” Karen said. “But you’re already in deep with Jack, and Liam isn’t here anyway. We don’t always get a second chance, and sometimes that’s a good thing, even when ithurts.”
“What do I do now?" Ninaasked.
“I’m going to ask you a question, and I want you to think a minute before you answer, and I want you to swear you’ll tell me the truth,” Karensaid.
“Okay.”
