Sex and Rage

All along, since just before she’d come to New York, she’d promised herself that the moment she set foot on the plane back to L.A., she’d order three brandies and get herself back to normal. But after the tea at Sonia’s and New York in general, she was afraid she’d miss something if she wasn’t careful. She’d missed so much already.

Sonia’s voice hushed into a secret between just them.

“I love it here in New York, it is the only city for me. Except Paris. And Venice, of course. But sometimes I miss very much California, I miss those sunsets—you know the ones I mean—but most of all what I miss from California is something one finds nowhere else on earth . . .”

“Taquitos?”

Sonia laughed; her laughter rolled around them like soft pearls.

“Well, that, too,” she said. “But what I really miss is the sea. Are you still by the sea?”

“It’s out my window,” Jacaranda said. “It’s only three blocks from me.”

“Ahhh, very good,” Sonia said. “I remember how I feel the first time I see you there—jealous. So beautiful it was. You go still?”

“Tomorrow,” Jacaranda said, standing now by the threshold about to go home. “Tomorrow morning.”

Jacaranda felt the warmth of Janet Wilton’s tantalizing behind-the-scenes manipulation. She felt that between Wally Moss and Janet, where she sat right then, she was perfectly safe. And if she could only get Shelby in with her, she’d be safe and happy.