Stayed there drinking and looking out the window.
“Honey, I’m not trying to tough it out,” I said. “I just want to see what Milo comes up with before I shake up our lives completely. Let’s at least give him a day or two to look into it, okay? If he doesn’t, we’ll move to the studio temporarily.”
“A day or two? You’ve got a deal.” The dog padded over to her. She smiled at him, then at me. “Maybe I’m overdoing it. Was the tape that bad?”
“Bizarre,” I said. “Like some kind of sick gag.”
“It’s the sick part that bothers me.”
The dog snorted and jangled his collar. She took some cheese out of the fridge, told him to sit, and rewarded his obedience with small bites. He gobbled noisily and licked his flews.
“What do you call this?” she said. “Operant conditioning?”
“A-plus,” I said. “Next week’s topic is stress management.”
She grinned. The last bit of cheese disappeared amid the soft folds of the dog’s mouth. Robin washed her hands. The dog continued to sit and stare at her. “Shouldn’t we give him a name, Alex?”
“Milo calls him Rover.”
“Figures.”
“I’ve stuck with hey, you’ because I keep expecting someone to call and claim him.”
“True. .. why get attached. .. are you hungry? I can dish something up.”
“Why don’t we go out?”
“Go out?”
“Like normal people.”
“Sure, I’ll go change.”
The sparkle in her eyes made me say, “How about changing into something semi-fancy and we can hit the Bel Air?”
“The Bel Air? What are we celebrating?”
“The new world order.”
“If only there was one. What about him?”
“Milk-Bone en le kitchen,” I said. “I don’t have a suit that fits him.”
She put on a silver crepe de chine blouse and a black skirt and I found a lightweight sportcoat, brown turtleneck, and khaki slacks that looked decent.
I told my service where I’d be and we took Sunset to Stone Canyon Road and drove up the half mile to the Bel Air Hotel. Pink-shirted valets opened our doors and we walked across the covered bridge to the main entrance.
Swans glided below in the still, green pond, cutting through the water with blissful ignorance. A white lattice marriage canopy was being set up on the banks. Huge pine and eucalyptus umbrellaed the grounds, air-conditioning the morning.
We passed through the pink stucco arcade hung with black and-white photos of monarchs gone by. The stone pathways had been freshly watered, the ferns dripped dew, and the azaleas were in bloom. Room service waiters rolled carts to sequestered suites. An emaciated, androgynous, long-haired thing in brown velvet sweats walked past us unsteadily, carrying The Wall Street journal under one atrophied arm.
Death was in its eyes, and Robin bit her lip.
I held her arm tighter and we entered the dining room, exchanged smiles with the hostess, and were seated near the French doors. Several years agosoon after we’d met-we’d lingered right here over dinner and seen Bette Davis through those same doors, gliding across the patio in a long, black gown and coronation-quality diamonds, looking as serene as the swans.
This morning, the room was nearly empty and none of the faces had a measurable Q-rating, though all looked well tended. An Arab in an ice cream suit drank tea, alone, at a corner table. An elderly, dewlapped couple who could have been pretenders to a minor throne whispered to each other and nibbled on toast. In a big booth at the far end, half a dozen dark suits sat listening to a crewcut, white-haired man in a red T-shirt and khakis. He was telling a joke, gesturing expansively with an unlit cigar. The other men’s body language was half humble servant, half lago.
We had coffee and took a long time deciding what to eat. Neither of us felt like talking. After a few moments, the silence began to feel like a luxury and I relaxed.
We finished a couple of fresh grapefruit juices and put in our breakfast order, holding hands until the food came. I’d just taken the first bite of my omelet when I spotted the hostess approaching. Two steps ahead of someone else.