They made love again and again, and each time was an ecstasy that was almost unbearable.
Hours later, as they lay there quietly, Adam said, “I feel as though I’m alive for the first time in my life.”
Jennifer gently stroked his chest and laughed aloud.
Adam looked at her quizzically. “What’s so funny?”
“Do you know what I told myself? That if I went to bed with you once, I could get you out of my system.”
He twisted around and looked down at her. “And—?”
“I was wrong. I feel as though you’re a part of me. At least”—she hesitated—“part of you is a part of me.”
He knew what she was thinking.
“We’ll work something out,” Adam said. “Mary Beth is leaving Monday for Europe with her aunt for a month.”
14
Jennifer and Adam Warner were together almost every night.
He spent the first night at her uncomfortable little apartment and in the morning he declared, “We’re taking the day off to find you a decent place to live.”
They went apartment hunting together, and late that afternoon Jennifer signed a lease in a new high-rise building off Sutton Place, called The Belmont Towers. The sign in front of the building had read Sold Out.
“Why are we going in?” Jennifer asked.
“You’ll see.”
The apartment they looked at was a lovely five-room duplex, beautifully furnished. It was the most luxurious apartment Jennifer had ever seen. There was a master bedroom and bath upstairs, and downstairs a guest bedroom with its own bath and a living room that had a spectacular view of the East River and the city. There was a large terrace, a kitchen and a dining room.
“How do you like it?” Adam asked.
“Like it? I love it,” Jennifer exclaimed, “but there are two problems, darling. First of all, I couldn’t possibly afford it. And secondly, even if I could, it belongs to someone else.”
“It belongs to our law firm. We leased it for visiting VIP’s. I’ll have them find another place.”
“What about the rent?”
“I’ll take care of that. I—”
“No.”
“That’s crazy, darling. I can easily afford it and—”
She shook her head. “You don’t understand, Adam. I have nothing to give you except me. I want that to be a gift.”
He took her in his arms and Jennifer snuggled against him and said, “I know what—I’ll work nights.”
Saturday they went on a shopping spree. Adam bought Jennifer a beautiful silk nightgown and robe at Bonwit Teller, and Jennifer bought Adam a Turnbull & Asser shirt. They purchased a chess game at Gimbel’s and cheesecake in Junior’s near Abraham & Straus. They bought a Fortnum & Mason plum pudding at Altman’s, and books at Doubleday. They visited the Gammon Shop and Caswell-Massey, where Adam bought Jennifer enough potpourri to last for ten years. They had dinner around the corner from the apartment.
They would meet at the apartment in the evening after work and discuss the day’s events, and Jennifer would cook dinner while Adam set the table. Afterward, they read or watched television or played gin rummy or chess. Jennifer prepared Adam’s favorite dishes.
“I’m shameless,” she told him. “I won’t stop at anything.”
He held her close. “Please don’t.”
It was strange, Jennifer thought. Before they began their affair they saw each other openly. But now that they were lovers, they dared not appear in public together, so they went to places where they were not apt to run into friends: small family restaurants downtown, a chamber music concert at the Third Street Music School Settlement. They went to see a new play at the Omni Theatre Club on 18th Street and had dinner at the Grotta Azzurra on Broome Street, and ate so much that they swore off Italian food for a month. Only we don’t have a month, Jennifer thought. Mary Beth was returning in fourteen days.
They went to The Half Note to hear avant-garde jazz in the Village, and peeked into the windows of the small art galleries.
Adam loved sports. He took Jennifer to watch the Knicks play, and Jennifer got so caught up in the game she cheered until she was hoarse.