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Winnie gives a short, mean laugh. “You know his publicists would never let you do that.”
“I could change his name.”
“Did you talk to Clay?” Winnie says. (Ignoring him again. She used to suck up to him when he talked to her about his work.)
“I told you I did. How else would I know Tanner was coming to town?”
“How are . . . Clay and Veronica?”
“I don’t know,” James says. Helplessly. Once again, he’s losing control of the conversation.
“Is Veronica still threatening to divorce Clay?”
“Was she threatening to divorce him?”
“That’s what she said. The last time we saw her. When Tanner was in town.”
“Oh yeah. I remember,” James says. He has
to be conciliatory. It’s his only chance now. Somehow Winnie has managed to turn the conversation around to a slippery, potentially unpleasant, topic. In which he is about to lose.
“I wish Clay would wise up,” Winnie says. “She’s going to walk if Clay behaves the way he did the last time Tanner was in town.”
“Have you talked to Veronica?” James asks.
“I only talk to her when Tanner is in town. Really, James, I don’t have time.”
“I know.”
“And she’s not that interesting. At the end of the day, she’s just a housewife.”
“You’re right.”
“Do you mind?” Winnie says. “I’ve still got some calls to make. We had that big Internet meeting today, and they might want me to run it.”
“That’s great,” James says. He goes back to the tiny room he calls his office. He feels relieved. Like he has barely escaped something bad. He sits down in front of his computer.
No matter what happens, he reminds himself that he and Winnie have a better marriage than Clay and Veronica. Veronica is Tanner’s sister, and she’s an even worse bitch than Winnie. (She was once beautiful, but she let herself get fat.) Clay and Veronica have two children. Clay is a sculptor. He’s becoming famous now. He has affairs. (Veronica must be like a millstone around his neck. She doesn’t work and never has. At least if something happened between him and Winnie, Winnie would be able to take care of herself.)
An hour later, Winnie comes into his office.
“I’ve been thinking,” she says. “About that idea of yours.”
“Yes?” James says.
“It has an inherent flaw. If Tanner is an alpha male, what are you, James?”
She smiles and leaves the room.
III
SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS
Tanner Hart is on. Sitting in the back corner of the VIP room at Chaos (a room that can only be reached by private elevator, which can only be accessed by a separate entrance, guarded by two bouncers and a young lady with a list), Tanner Hart is chain-smoking Marlboro reds and drinking martinis. Tanner Hart is laughing. Tanner Hart is frowning. Tanner Hart is nodding, his eyes wide with surprise, mouth open. “Uh-huh, uh-huh, yes I do remember meeting you on the set of Switchblade how have you been since then? You had a dog right and something happened to the dog, something with an elephant? Oh, a cat a cat.” And then to somebody else: “Hey that night that was pretty hot, huh, stick around you going someplace let’s talk later after all this but you’re doing well, right? You look great.”
Tanner Hart looks at his watch. Soon he’ll be bored. (It’s just another movie premiere.) In an hour, he’ll be able to pick up a chick and go back to his hotel room. Then he’ll be bored again. (And he’ll have to do it all over again, which in itself will be boring.)
“Jimmy!” Tanner shouts. James and Winnie Dieke are squeezing through the crowd. They’re still wearing their coats. James looks pained. Winnie looks annoyed. (James has been going downhill, Tanner thinks, ever since he married Winnie and had a child. He looks like a prisoner. Tanner has to free him. Winnie looks like she needs a good fuck. Tanner has to free her too.)
