She got herself a cup of milk from the refrigerator to calm her stomach, which always troubled her when, as now, she was unsettled for some reason or another. Then she went through the house, taking her time passing from one room to another, and as she came to the front door she heard the sound of a car coming up the street. She stepped outside, and walked along the front path until she reached the pool of light from the car’s headlights.
“Is that you, Jerry?”
A car door opened.
“Yes, it’s me,” he said. “Was I expected?”
“You were.”
“Well, thank God for that.”
She went to the little gate, and stepped out onto the narrow sidewalk Jerry had got out of the car. He had a barely-suppressed look of shock on his face, seeing her step beyond the bounds of her little dominion for the first time.
“Are we actually going somewhere?” he asked her.
“I certainly hope so,” she said, playing it off lightly. She could not completely conceal her unease, however. It was there in her eyes. But there was also something else in her glance, besides the unease: something far more remarkable. A kind of sweetness, even innocence. She looked like a girl out on her first Prom Night, tip-toeing to the edge of womanhood.
Amazing, Jerry thought. Knowing all that he knew about Katya — all that she’d done and caused to have done — to be able to find that look in her memory banks, and put it up there on her face, so that it looked as real as it did; that was a performance.
“Where will I be taking you tonight, ma’am?” Jerry asked her.
“I’m not exactly sure. You see we’re going to be looking for somebody.”
“Are we indeed? And may I take a guess at who?”
Katya smiled. “Too easy,” she said.
“We’ll find him for you. Don’t you worry.”
“You were the one who got him to come up here in the first place, Jerry. So you’re the match-maker. And thank you. From both of us, thank you. It’s been quite a remarkable time for me, Jerry. I never thought I’d ever fall in love again. And with an actor.” She laughed. “You’d think I’d have learned by now.”
“I hope it’s a happy mistake.”
“Oh it is, Jerry. It’s perfect. He’s perfect.”
“Is he?”
“For me. Yes. Perfect for me.”
“So will you be joining him somewhere?”
“Yes.”
“But you’re not exactly sure where?”
“That’s right.”
“Well, I’m going to hazard a guess and say he’s at Maxine’s, because I know she’s having a big bash tonight. Do you want me to call her, and ask her if he’s there? Maybe tell her I’m bringing a special guest?”
“No, I think it’s best we just do this quietly, don’t you?”
“However you prefer. Tonight’s your night.”
“I don’t want any big hoopla,” Katya said. “I just want to find him.”
For a moment the illusion disappeared completely, and reality showed itself: the desperate hunger of a woman who needed to find the love of her life. Not tomorrow, or the day after, but tonight. She had no time to waste, this woman; no time for error or procrastination.
“Shall we go?” she said.
“Ready when you are.”
She went to the car and started to fumble with the doorhandle.
“Please,” Jerry said. “Allow me.” He came round to the passenger side and opened the door.
“Thank you, Jerry. How nice. Old-fashioned manners,” she said. She got in into the car in one elegant movement. Jerry closed the door and went to the driver’s side. She was trembling, he saw; just the slightest tremor.
“It’s going to be all right,” he reassured her when he was settled in beside her.
“Is it?” she said, with a smile too tentative to survive more than a breath. ”
“Yes. It’s going to be fine.”
“He’s the one, Jerry. Todd is the one. If he were to turn me down — ”
“He’s not going to do that, now is he?” Jerry said. “He’d be a fool to say no to you. And whatever else Todd is, he’s no fool.”