“Well, to hell with Huxley and metaphysics. Tell me how things went in the shop today.”
“Nicely, darling. I sold your red taffeta.”
“Really? To whom?”
“Mrs. Christopher Polk, no less.”
“Jesus, Gussie, it’s impossible for her!”
“I know. Her ass is far too big. Serena modeled it, however, and Serena’s ass is neither too big nor too small, but intolerably perfect. The moment Polk saw the taffeta on Serena, she assumed, of course, that it would look the same on her. The vanity of some of these bitches is perfectly incredible.”
“It will have to be altered all to hell.”
“I know. The seamstress has it upstairs now.”
“Oh, well, it’s another original sale, anyhow, and everyone will certainly recognize that the gown can’t be blamed for Polk’s tail. Some day, Gussie, nothing but originals will be sold in this shop. Nothing at all.”
“Say, you are feeling good, aren’t you? Are you withholding information by any chance? Did Tyler tell you something over the telephone to bring on this optimism?”
“Tyler? Telephone? What do you mean?”
“He called earlier this afternoon and left word for you to call him back. There’s a memo on the desk in the office. Didn’t you see it?”
“No. I’m sorry. I haven’t been in the office since I got here.”
“Then you’d better go and call him at once.”
“In a minute, Gussie. I don’t suppose there’s any hurry.”
Actually, now that the cure for action had been presented, she was oddly reluctant to commit herself. It was not that she dreaded hearing whatever Tyler had to say, but just the contrary, for she still felt the imminence of something significant and good, of which the call might very well be the beginning. She wanted to savor the expectation for a while, and she decided that she would smoke a cigarette slowly and call Tyler afterward. Lighting the cigarette, she blew out smoke and watched it rise and thin and disappear.
“Did he imply at all what he wants?” she asked.
“No. It wasn’t even him personally. It was a woman. His secretary, I suppose. Why don’t you call him?”
“I’m going to. Just as soon as I finish my cigarette.”
“Well, finish the goddamn thing, will you, darling? I would like to get away from here, if you don’t mind, and I’m damned if I’ll go before I learn what he wants.”
Donna laughed and stood up, bending down to grind the cigarette out in a tray.
“Jesus, Gussie, you’re simply a slave driver. All right, then. I’ll go and call, and afterward we can go out and have a drink together in celebration, or several in mourning.”
She went out of the room and across to the office that had been Aaron’s and was now, at least for the time being, hers. Gussie had written Tyler’s number on the memo pad, and she dialed, leaning with one hip against the desk for the duration of two long rings, after which the voice of Tyler himself came over the wire.
“Hello,” he said.
“Hello, Mr. Tyler. This is Donna Buchanan.”
“Oh, yes. Miss Buchanan. Did you think I had forgotten you?”
“I was beginning to wonder.”
“I assure you that I hadn’t. I would like to talk with you again, but it is a little late in the day for it now, perhaps.”
“It’s not too late for me, if it isn’t for you.”
“Well, let’s see. I’m just preparing to leave here, but I plan to stop for a drink in a small bar I patronize. Would you care to meet me there? We could have a drink together and talk comfortably. Or I could pick you up at the shop, if you prefer.”
“That won’t be necessary. I’ll be happy to meet you.”
“Good. Could you make it in, say, half an hour?”
“If it isn’t too far. What is the name and address of the place?”
He told her where to come, and she hung up, after saying goodby, and returned to her workroom where Gussie was waiting.
“Did you get him?” Gussie said.
“Yes, I got him. He was still in his office. I have a feeling he was there just waiting for me to call.”
“What do we have, a celebration or a wake?”
“Neither, I’m afraid. Do you mind very much if we take a raincheck on it?”
“Oh, God, stood up again! I guess, at my filthy age and in my condition, that it’s to be expected.”
“I’m sorry, Gussie, truly I am. He asked me to have a drink with him, and I had to agree, of course, under the circumstances. You can understand that.”
“Sure, I understand, darling. And never mind the apology. If I had to choose between me and a millionaire, I sure as hell wouldn’t consider it much of a problem, you can bet your sweet chastity on that. And speaking of chastity, I wonder why it just happened to come into my mind at this moment as an appropriate allusion. Do you suppose that my female intuition warns me that yours is under seige?”
“Don’t be a damn fool, Gussie. This is strictly business.”
“Business is what I’m talking about, darling. Your business.”
“I doubt that he’d consider it worth two hundred thousand dollars.”
“Maybe on a long-term lease he would. Two hundred thousand dollars’ worth of business! My God, it would be a career in itself, and it absolutely decimates me to think of it. Oh, hell, darling, I’m just kidding, of course. I wish you luck and all that, and I’ll have a drink to it at the earliest opportunity, which should occur not later than ten minutes from now. Before the evening is over, as a matter of fact, I shall probably have as many as a dozen to it.”
She stood up and walked out of the room, looking somehow graceful and very smart in spite of her slouch and sharp protrusions, and Donna went into the lavatory and washed her hands and repaired her face. Five minutes later, in the street outside, she caught a taxi and gave the driver the address that Tyler had given her. Ten minutes later than that, in another street, she got out of the taxi in front of the bar.
It was a small bar, tucked in between a book dealer and a florist, which didn’t look like much on the outside, and didn’t look much more on the inside. And it certainly didn’t look like the kind of bar a millionaire would patronize or ask a young woman to meet him in. Standing for a moment just inside the door, while her eyes adjusted to the shadows, she wondered if she could have misunderstood the number or the name of the street, but this wasn’t at all likely. And then, she could see Tyler standing and smiling beside a small table in the rear. She went back to him and submitted a hand to his cool, dry touch, and they sat down together at the table, their knees touching for an instant underneath as they settled themselves.
“First,” he said, “I’d like to offer my sympathy. I didn’t know until I called the shop earlier today that you had lost your mother.”
“Thank you,” she said, feeling that she should say more but not knowing what it should be.
“Perhaps it was tactless of me to invite you here. I don’t wish to intrude.”
“Oh, no. It’s quite all right.”
“I’m glad. The truth is, I was most anxious to see you again. I’ve been sitting here like a schoolboy anticipating your coming.”
“You’re very gracious to say so, but I don’t believe it, of course.”
“Why not?”
“If you had been so anxious to see me, it could have been arranged much sooner. As I’ve told you, I was beginning to think that you had forgotten me entirely.”
“You couldn’t have been more wrong. However, here is the waiter for our order. What will you have?”
“I think I’ll have a sidecar.”
“Sidecar? I haven’t had one for ages. It’s brandy, isn’t it?”