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“Rolling,” the cameraman said.
Je
“Attorney Marc LaRoche?” Je
Someone muttered something from behind the slightly open door.
“Cha
Another mumble.
“No, sir,” Je
There was something inaudible from behind the open door and then the door slammed shut. Je
“Attorney LaRoche,” she shouted. “Why won’t you address this issue? Attorney LaRoche?”
Je
“Perhaps Attorney LaRoche has something to hide,” Je
The cameraman pulled back for a wide shot that showed a sign in the window: ATTORNEY MARC LAROCHE. Je
“You go
Je
“No. John will do the lead-in from the anchor desk.”
“Okay,” the cameraman said, “then let’s go home.”
Back at the station, Je
“We’ll edit this afternoon,” she said to Su
Su
“I almost always need lunch,” she said.
As they walked across the vast brick plaza in front of City Hall, Su
Je
“Does he show up some places more than others?” Su
“No,” Je
As they walked, Su
In the Parker House they sat at a window in the restaurant. When they had ordered, Je
“We need to talk about Jesse and us,” Je
Su
“Do you love Jesse?” Je
Su
“When I’m with him,” Su
“And when you’re not?”
“I don’t miss him as much as I would expect to.”
“How much would you expect to?” Je
Surprise, surprise, Su
“As much, I guess, as I miss my ex-husband,” Su
“Do you see him much?” Je
“He’s remarried.”
“Doesn’t mean you can’t see him,” Je
“We share a dog,” Su
“Why did you get divorced?” Je
“I’m not sure, I’m working on it.”
“No, I meant your idea or his?” Je
“I guess it was mine.”
Through the window Su
“Could that be our stalker?” she said to Je
Je
“No,” she said, “that’s not him.”
“You’re sure?” Su
Je
“If it was him, I’d have that awful feeling.”
The waitress brought their salads. Je
“I guess it was my idea, too,” Je
“To leave Jesse?”
“I left him.”
“Why?”
“I always say it was his drinking, but it wasn’t. His drinking got worse after I left.”
“So what was it?”
Je
“I was an actress,” she said. “I had an affair with a producer.”
“Was he going to make you a star?” Su
Je
“Something like that,” she said. “When Jesse found out, he said he could forgive anything once.”
“You promised never to do it again,” Su
“Yes.”
“But you did it again.”
“Jesse couldn’t really forgive it. He didn’t rant and rave or anything. But…his drinking got away from him, I guess.”
“So you divorced him.”
“Actually, he divorced me. But it was my fault. By the time we divorced, he had no other choice.”
“Do you know why you continued to cheat on him?”
“Yes, I’ve talked with shrinks about it until my tongue hurts. It’s too boring to try and explain.”
“I don’t need to know,” Su
Je
“Fucking my way to the top?” she said.
Su
“It’s worked great,” Je
Su
“Show-business opportunities are not unlimited in this market,” she said.
“For sure,” Je
“Did you come here because Jesse was here?” she said.
“Yes.”
“You still love him?”
“I think so.”
“But you still…”
“I’m still trying to fuck my way to the top,” Je
“But…” Su
“Jesse is like your ex-husband, you know? I can’t imagine life without him in it.”
“But…”
“Almost anything I know that matters, I learned from him,” Je
Su
“I always needed to be somebody, and I always thought that what I had to offer was that I looked good and I could fuck,” Je
Su
“Most of us can,” Su
“But I do,” Je
“Except for you and drinking,” Su
“Yes,” Je
“And you?”
Je
“I thought that was a weakness, too,” Je
“Yes.”
“One of my shrinks said if it weren’t for his weaknesses,” Je
“Of which you were one,” Su
Je
“Of which I was one,” she said. “Without those weaknesses, I probably couldn’t have loved him.”
Je
“How about you?” Je
Su
“Richie didn’t have any weaknesses,” she said.
21
Being out of uniform,” Suit said. “Does this mean I’m a detective?”
“No,” Jesse said.
“If I was out of uniform and got a significant raise?” Suit said.
“Might,” Jesse said.
They were in New York, walking up West 57th Street.
“We’re going to see Walton Weeks’s manager,” Suit said.
“Tom Nolan,” Jesse said.
“In hopes of detecting who killed Walton,” Suit said.
“Yes.”
“So how come, if I’m detecting, I’m not a detective?”
They crossed Sixth Avenue with the light.
“Department’s not big enough to have detectives,” Jesse said.
“So I do detective work for patrolman’s pay,” Suit said.
“Exactly,” Jesse said.
They passed the back entrance to the Parker Meridien hotel across 57th Street.
“Who’s going to be there?” Suit said.
“With Nolan? The widow, and as much of the staff as he can get together.”
“Current widow.”
“Yes.”
“We going to talk about the broad being pregnant?” Suit said.
“We won’t introduce the topic.”