"Oh. Well, yes. All right, let me straighten it out. It will take awhile."
"So would the FBI thing," said Yamada.
"That's true. Now about transportation- When were you planning to go back to New York, Ed?"
"Tomorrow morning. "
"Well, if you'll check into the federal lounge when you get to the airport, we've got a little surprise for you."
"Call from Mr. Stone," said the computer.
"Who-? Oh. Put him on."
Ed's face appeared in the holo. "Hey there, how are you?"
"Okay, and you?"
"I'm feeling great. Listen, they gave me an airplane. You want to take a ride in it?"
"They gave you an airplane?"
"Yeah, so I can go anywhere I want without worrying about commercial flights. It sleeps eighteen, not counting the crew. "
"You've got to be kidding. Where are you?"
"I'm in the plane. Take a look." He moved away from the pickup, and she saw gray watered-silk walls, the top of a blue couch. His head reappeared. "I'm landing at Reagan about five o'clock. I thought we could have dinner tonight or tomorrow, and then I could take you out to see the plane and take a spin."
"I don't fly in airplanes, they scare me."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. So what do you think, is tonight okay?"
She shuffled some memocubes on her desk. "You could have given me a little warning."
"I know, but I was tied up all day in Washington, and I didn't have your home number. "
"All right. I had another date, but I guess I can break it. Where are you staying?"
"The UN Plaza."
"Okay, there's a nice Italian restaurant just a block from there. I'll see if I can make a reservation and call you back. What's your number?"
"Triple 0 five nine five, but listen, let me make the reservation, okay? You wouldn't believe how much respect I get now. What's the name of the restaurant?"
"La Cucina."
"Okay, I'll meet you there at seven-thirty, and if there's any problem with the reservation I'll call you. "
Sylvia was already in the kitchen when Lavalle got home after work. "Hi, how was your day?"
"Not bad. Ed called me for another date." She dropped her bag on the table, sat down and took off her shoes.
"For tonight?"
"Yes."
"Is he the one I saw on holo today?"
"Yes."
Sylvia whistled. "Does Julian know about this?"
"I talked to him this afternoon."
"What did you say?"
"Well, I said, Julian, I'm very confused."
"Uh-huh." Sylvia drew a finger across her throat, put out her tongue and rolled her eyes.
"What am I supposed to do, stick toJulian until death do us part? We're not even married. Is there any gin in the fridge?"
Sylvia opened the refrigerator, took out the gin bottle and the cocktail onions. "I just feel sorry for the poor saps sometimes."
''Julian isn't a sap."
"No, but he's a poindexter."
"You never told me that before."
"Well, you never broke up with him before."
"I haven't broken up with him."
"Not yet, but how about Monday morning?"
CHAPTER 17
The maitre d' led Lavalle to Stone's table. He was still wearing the same brown suit, except that when she looked closer it wasn't: it was a new suit, almost the same color, but it was better material and the tailoring was better. Stone himself looked clean and well barbered, like an upper-level zec.
"Hi, did you miss me?" he said.
"Sure. I saw you on the news last night. You've had a busy week, haven't you?" They sat down. She took out a cigarette but did not light it. Stone was studying the menu.
"Did you really quit smoking?"
"Yeah."
"Will it bother you if I do?"
"No. I see people smoking all the time. It hasn't been tough, I never inhaled anyway."
"You don't inhale? Then the only thing you can get is lip cancer. That isn't fun, but it isn't fatal."
"No kidding?" He looked at her cigarette, and she handed it to him. He rolled the white cylinder between his fingers for a moment, then gave it back. "Guess I'd better not-I couldn't do my job if I was in the hospital."
"You could get in the hospital if you tripped over a personhole cover and broke your leg."
"No, I'm careful."
"You fly in airplanes."
"Sure, but I have to do that, and I don't have to smoke cigarettes."
After dinner and the show, a hit musical which Lavalle enjoyed more than Stone did, he said, "Anything else you'd like to do?"
"Not especially. It's been a great evening."
"Okay, let's go up to my room for a nightcap."
The cab let them off in front of the hotel. While they were at the theater, it seemed, part of the East Side dome had been opened to input precipitation; the night air was scented with gasoline fumes and wet concrete. Halfway down the block, something funereal and shapeless was flapping in the gutters.
When they entered the lobby, Lavalle said, "At least you're not staying in a fleabag now."
"No, I'm living high. I feel funny about it, but I guess it's only money."
"That's the way to look at it."
She went into the elevator with him, then down the carpeted hall. Stone opened the door with his card, turned on the lights. They entered a wide living room decorated in forest green and gold; there were mirrors, chandeliers, sconces, a wraparound sofa, a love seat, four or five armchairs with spindly legs.
"Throw your coat anywhere," Stone said. He tossed his coat on the cocktail table, went to the bar and opened it. "What's your pleasure? Rye, Scotch, gin, Irish? Cream de menthy?"
She took off her coat and moved near him, pretending to examine the bottles. After a moment she put her hand on his hip and scratched him gently through the cloth. "Hey," he said, turning.
She grinned at him. "Yes?" She put her hand on his belt and pulled him in until his thighs were pressed against hers. All of a sudden it was hard to keep the smile, because she was incredibly horny.
His hands went to her body, but he said, "Listen, I don't know about this. If it's because I touched you with the ring-"
"Well, what am I supposed to do, go home and take a cold shower, just to make you feel better?" She stood on tiptoe to kiss him, first teasingly, then with considerable earnestness, and his arms came around her hard.
After a few minutes she said, "You have buttons on your fly! Oh, wow!"
The bedroom, it turned out, had a fairy-tale motif; there were Hansel and Gretel pictures on the walls, and the bedspreads were textured to look like a carpet of leaves. Lavalle and Stone lay side by side looking at the bird patterns drifting across the ceiling.
"Did you know you were going to come up here with me tonight?" he asked.
"Yes."
"What about the other guy?"
"I told him I was going to go to bed with you, and then we'd see."
"And he took it, just like that?"
"Well, he didn't like it."
"What's his name?"
"Julian. He's a securities analyst for Brown & Thorpe."
"You told him you were going to try me out and then decide, huh?"
"Don't make it sound worse than it is."
"Well, did you decide?"
She rolled over and kissed him on the eyelid. "What do you think?"
When she opened her eyes in the morning, there was a glow of daylight behind the virtual draperies. That was funny, because she knew she had dialed the windows to full opaque. Come to think of it, the window was on the wrong side of the bed, too. Then she remembered what had happened.