Last Night Read Online Free Page A

It was different in those days, she was saying. That was when there were geniuses, great directors, Huston, Billy Wilder, Hitch. You learned a lot from them.
    — You know why? she said. Because they had actually lived, they just didn’t grow up on movies. They’d been in the war.
    — Hitchcock?
    — Huston, Ford.
    — How did you and Nick meet? Keck asked.
    — He saw a photo of me, she said.
    — Is that the truth?
    — In a white bathing suit. No, somebody made that up. They make up all kinds of things. We met at a party at the Bistro. I was eighteen. He asked me to dance. Somehow I lost an earring and was looking for it. He’d find it, he said, call him the next day. Well, you can imagine, he was one of the god kings, it was pretty heady stuff. Anyway, I called. He said to come to his house.
    Keck could see it, eighteen and more or less innocent, everything still ahead of her. If she took off her clothes you would never forget it.
    — So, you did.
    — When I got there, she said, he had a bottle of champagne and the bed turned down.
    — So that was it?
    — Not quite, she said.
    — What happened?
    — I told him, thanks, just the earring, please.
    — That’s the truth?
    — Look, he was forty-five, I was eighteen. I mean, let’s see what’s going on. Let’s not raise the curtain so fast.
    — The curtain?
    — You know what I mean. He’d been quite the ladies’ man. I took care of that, she said.
    She looked at him with knowing eyes.
    — You men get all excited by young girls. You think they’re some kind of erotic toy. You haven’t met a real woman, that’s the difference.
    — The difference.
    Her nostrils flared.
    — With a real woman, the buck stops here, she said.
    — I don’t know what that means.
    — You don’t, eh? I think you do.
    After a while, she said,
    — So, where is your wife this evening?
    — Vancouver. She’s visiting her sister.
    — All the way up in Vancouver.
    — Yeah.
    — That’s a long way from here. You know one of the things I’ve learned? she said.
    — No, what?
    — One never has the human company one longs for. Something else is always offered.
    Perhaps it was a line from a play.
    — Like me, you mean?
    — No, sweetheart, not like you. At least I don’t think so.
    He felt uneasy. What’s wrong, are you afraid of something? she was going to say. No, why? You’re acting afraid.
    There was a knot in his stomach. What is it, your wife? she was going to ask. Oh, yes, I forgot, the wife. There’s always the wife.
    Deborah had gone to the ladies’ room.
    — Hello, Teddy? Keck said. He was talking on his cell phone. I just thought I’d call you.
    — Where are you? What’s happened? Is the dog all right?
    — Yeah, the dog’s OK. We’re at a restaurant.
    — Well, it’s a little late . . .
    — Don’t you even budge. I’m taking care of it. I’ll handle it.
    — Is she behaving?
    — This woman? Let me tell you something: it’s even worse if she likes you.
    — What do you mean?
    — I can’t talk anymore, I see her coming back. You’re lucky you’re not here.
    TEDDY, having hung up the phone, sat by herself. The vodka had left her with a pleasant feeling and the disinclination to wonder where the two of them were. The chair was comfortable. The garden, through the French doors, was dark. She was not thinking of anything in particular. She looked around at the familiar furniture, the flowers, the lamplight. She found herself, for some reason, thinking about her life, a thing she did not do often. She had a nice house, not large but perfect for her. You could even, from a place on the lawn, see a bit of the ocean. There was a maid’s room and a guest room, the closet in the latter filled with her clothes. She had difficulty throwing things away and there were clothes for any occasion, though the occasion may have been long past. Still, she did not like to think of beautifully made things in the trash. But there was no one to give them to, the maid had