to get him back. I don’t want a ghost.’
She took one step into the room.
qhat’s good,’ he said. ‘Because I’m not like him. Hardly at all.
You need to be real clear about that from the start.’
‘I’m clear about it,’ she said. qChe start of what?’ She took
another step into the room and then stood still.
he start of whatever,’ he said. ‘But the end Will turn out the
same, you know. You need to be real clear about that, too. I’ll
leave, just like he did. I always do.’
She came closer. They were a yard apart.
‘Soon?’ she asked.
‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘Maybe not.’
‘I’ll take my chances,’ she said. ‘Nothing lasts for ever.’
‘Doesn’t feel right,’ he said.
She glanced at his face. ‘What doesn’t?’
‘I’m standing here wearing your ex-lover’s clothes.’
‘Not many of them,’ she said. ‘And it’s a situation that can be
easily remedied.’
He paused.
‘Is it?’ he said. ‘Want to show me how?’
He stepped forward again and she put her hands on his waist.
Slipped her fingers under the elastic waistband of his boxers
and remedied the situation. Stepped back a little and raised her
arms above her head. Her nightgown slipped off very easily.
Fell to the floor. They barely made it to the bed.
158
They got three hours’ sleep and woke up at seven when her
alarm started ringing in her own room. It sounded faraway and
faint through the guest room wall. He was on his back and she
was curled under his arm. Her thigh was hooked over his. Her
head was resting against his shoulder. Her hair touched his
face. He felt comfortable in that position. And warm. Warm
and comfortable. And tired. Warm and comfortable and tired
enough to want to ignore the noise and stay put. But she
struggled free and sat up in the bed, dazed and sleepy.
‘Good morning,’ he said.
There was grey light from the window. She smiled and
yawned and pulled her elbows back and stretched. The clock in
the next room kept on making noise. Then it went into a new
mode and got louder. He slid his hand flat against her stomach.
Moved it up to her breasts. She yawned again and smiled again
and twisted round and ducked her head and nuzzled into his
neck.
‘Good morning to you too,’ she said.
The alarm blared on through the wall. It clearly had a feature
that made it get more and more urgent if it was ignored. He
pulled her down on top of him. Smoothed her hair away from
her face and kissed her. The distant clock started chirping and
howling like a cop car. He was glad he wasn’t in the same room
with it.
‘Got to get up,’ she said.
‘We will,’ he said. ‘Soon.’
He held her. She stopped struggling. They made love breathlessly,
like the alarm clock was spurring them on. It sounded
like they were in a nuclear bunker with missile sirens ticking
off the last moments of their lives. They finished, panting, and
she heaved herself out of bed and ran through to her own room
and shut the noise off. The silence was deafening. He lay back
on the pillow and looked up at the ceiling. An oblique bar of
grey light from the window showed some imperfections in the
plaster. She came back, naked, walking slowly-.
‘Come back to bed,’ he said.
‘Can’t,’ she said. ‘Got to go to work.’
‘He’ll be OK for a spell. And if he isn’t, they can always get
159
another one. That Twentieth Anendment thing. They’ll be
lining up around the block.’
‘And I’ll be lining up for a new job. Maybe flipping burgers.’
‘You ever done that?’
‘What, flipped burgers?’
‘Been out of work.’
She shook her head. ‘Never.’
He smiled. ‘I haven’t really worked for five years.’
She smiled back. ‘I know. I checked the computers. But
you’re working today. So get your ass out of bed.’
She gave him a fine view of her own ass as she walked away
to her own bathroom. He lay still for a second longer with Dawn
Penn’s old song coming back at him. You don’t love me, yes I