"I suppose you're talking about me," James says.
"I don't know what I'm talking about anymore," Winnie says. Lying. She just wants to avoid a fight. James follows Winnie into the kitchen. Winnie takes off her earrings and puts them on the kitchen counter. She opens the refrigerator door and takes out three carrot sticks.
"I think I'm going to do a piece on chimpanzees/' James says.
Winnie says nothing. She raises her eyebrows and bites a carrot stick in half.
"There are all these new theories," James says. "Theories that can apply to humans. For instance, Tanner is an alpha male.”
"Did you talk to Tanner?" Winnie says.
"No," James says. "But I'm going to talk to him. About this theory. I could even write about him. Use him as an example.”
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. If 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
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. (If 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.) Winnie spots Tanner. She waves.
"We're going to say hi and then we're going home," she says to James.
James says nothing. He's waiting for a moment when he can escape.
"Jimmy my boy. Jimmy baby." Tanner grabs James around the neck, swaying him from side to side. Then he pushes James away and puts his hands on either side of Winnie's face. He pulls her toward him and kisses her on the Jips. "I love you guys," he says. "Everybody loves us," Winnie says.
"Yeah, but I especially love you," Tanner says. "Did you have any trouble getting in? Those people at the door are such assholes. I keep telling the publicity people, but it doesn't make any difference.
Jimmy, where's your drink? Somebody get this man a cocktail," Tanner screams. He sits down and leans back. He pulls Winnie onto his lap. "Watch out, Jimmy boy," he says. "I'm going to steal her from you one of these days.”
I wish you would, James thinks.
Winnie giggles, plucks the martini glass out of Tanner's hand, and takes a large gulp. (Winnie is a different person in front of Tanner. She flirts. Disgustingly, James thinks. Does she think Tanner would ever be interested in her?) "Whoa. Go easy, baby, easy," Tanner says, taking his glass back and patting her on the butt. He slides his hand underneath the back of her coat. Winnie doesn't object. (She hates Tanner until she sees him.
And then she can't help herself. She loves him.) "How are you?" Winnie asks. "I mean, really?”
“I'll be right back," James says.
"Hold on, bro," Tanner says. He passes James a vial of cocaine. Turns back to Winnie. "So where's my future wife?" he asks.
James is elated. He feels like a naughty schoolboy who has just run off with the teacher's chalk. (He did run off once with the teacher's chalk, when he was very young. It felt good for three minutes, until he got caught. Then he was sent home from school. It was embarrassing. It was unfair. It was only a tiny piece of chalk.) James runs into Clay Ryan in the bathroom. "Christ," Clay says. "I'm trying to get away from my wife.”
"So am I," James says. He hands Clay the vial of cocaine. Clay sticks in the tip of a key and holds it up to his nose. "So what about Winnie's sister, Evie?" he asks.
"She's hot," James says.
Evie wants to fuck Tanner and she's excited about it. She's met Tanner three times before, and every time, he made a point of putting his hands on her.
If s his way of saying that if she wanted to fuck him, he would.
She tells herself that nothing will come of it (she tells herself that something might come of it, that she might, through some fluke of nature, be "the one"), but she doesn't care. She just wants to fuck him once. To see what it would be like. (She wants to fuck a movie star. She'd like to fuck lots of movie stars. Who wouldn't?) Evie runs into James and Clay outside the bathroom.
They look like they've been up to something. James is wiping his nose. (He is so uncool, Evie thinks. Pathetic, really. How can Winnie sleep with him? He has no hair.) "Have you seen Winnie?" she asks.
James and Clay take Evie into the bathroom. "I never do this," James says.
Evie says, "Oh James, shut up.”
“Don't tell Winnie," James says.