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“We hit it off, of course. He told us about the failure of his athletic career, and that he’s made the most of it.”
Athletic career? What athletic career?
“You see Ava, when George and I started having trouble getting around, Ethan took us to visit places like this all over the tri-state area. We drove around for weeks, trying to make a decision. He never got frustrated or anything,” she says with a grateful sigh.
Holy crap. And I thought this guy was nothing more than a bottom-dweller.
“Honey, what do you do? You know, for work?” Trudy asks, her eyes wide with interest.
Shit. I’m normally open about what I do. But can this sweet old lady handle the truth?
Oh, fuck it. “I… I write the sex column forGlistenMagazine.”
She bends closer to me, tilting an ear in my direction. “Speak up, honey, my hearing isn’t what it used to be.”
Ugh.
I lean closer. “I am a journalist, Trudy. I write a sex column.”
She stays bent in her position for a moment, and I wait for her to call me a Jezebel and kick my ass out of her party. But when she straightens back up, she has a naughty glint in her eye.
“A sex column,” she exclaims. “Oh, I should read that. It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but I’d like to spice things up with George a little, although he’s still an animal in bed. Say, if you’re ever doing a story on octogenarian sex, I’m happy to be your interview subject.”
For a moment I can’t say anything, and when I do gather my thoughts, it’s still hard to speak.
“Of course. What a great idea, Trudy.”
* * *
16
LEO
“Where’s Ava tonight?”I ask, looking around Jasper’s apartment as if his assuring me she’s out for the evening is not good enough. I don’t want to full-on snoop, but from where I am in his kitchen, with a decent view to most corners of the place save for the bedrooms, the coast looks clear, as I’m hoping.
Call me paranoid, but I know we’ll be talking about her, and I need to make sure she’s nowhere nearby.
“Relax, Leo, she’s at the ballet with her aunt. The one who hooked me up with this place.”
Ethan looks over his shoulder from where he’s sitting on the sofa, surfing TV channels, looking for something sports, even though Jas and I already told him there’s nothing on. “I thought it was Ava’s brother who got you into this place.”
Whatever method Jasper used to land this apartment, he got a sweet deal. The place is sprawling, at least by New York standards. Each bedroom has its own bath, which would sell me right there. Sharing bathrooms is a dealbreaker for me, especially if you have to with someone of the opposite sex.
I have big apartment envy, especially as compared to the tiny fourth-floor walkup I live in. Jasper’s place has hardwood floors, well-maintained and polished, and a fairly modern kitchen, with the exception of an avocado green refrigerator no one wants to replace. As Jasper points out, the color is so old, so sixties and seventies, it will probably be ‘in’ again someday.
But the best part of the apartment is the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the street. They are majestic, curved at the top, and open in the middle, just enough to let in a nice breeze.
“Ava’s brother did help me get this place,” Jasper said, “by connecting me with his aunt who moved Ava in. The woman seems to have connections all over the city.”
Ethan nods, his attention already back on the TV. “Gotcha.”
Yeah, he couldn’t give a shit.
“Guys, can we get the party started here? I gotta get back to work in a bit.”
Both Jasper and Ethan shake their heads. They don’t get it.
Whatever.
