Eden. It was late September, we were sure it would be cooling off by then. This beautiful old picturesque monastery hotel was not air conditioned. We knew we were taking a chance, but mostly it was naiveté.”
“You picked the wrong city for a hotel with no air conditioning. Seville’s more humid. Did you really cry?”
“Oh yes, I’m not kidding. I got sick too. Lived on tea and toast for two days. Maybe three. You seem to have traveled a lot.”
“Yeah, bumming it. I think every young person should do that.”
“So do I, if possible.”
“It used to be possible, I guess it’s getting tougher. The way the economy is these days.”
“Everything’s going out of reach. Rents are the worst, of course. My first apartment, I paid $160.”
“Those were the days, my friend.”
“I suppose people will be saying that until the end of time.”
“No doubt. You’ve traveled a lot too, it seems.”
“Quite a bit. Just Europe, not the East or Africa or places like that. I’m for where history was made. I mean, the history I’m interested in. Kings and queens and dynasties, music and art and … you know.”
“Yeah. You’re a romantic. Me too.”
“Glad to hear it. We’re a dying breed.”
“I don’t think we are, no. I really don’t.”
“Is your building quiet, Jack? Any distracting TV sets blaring away at late hours? That kind of thing?”
“Thankfully, no. In the main tranquil and typically shabby genteel. Very comforting. There’s someone in the apartment adjoining mine who wakes me up every morning at precisely seven o’clock. No sooner, no later. Seven on the dot. He sneezes. Just once, but it does the trick, snaps my eyes open as if he pulled a string. This loud, resounding sneeze that may eventually put a crack in my bedroom wall. I don’t need an alarm clock.”
She tittered. “Is that a plus or a minus for the apartment?”
“I would say a plus. There’s a touch of intimacy about it, a kind of long-distance greeting. Friendly, in a way. Neighborly. I’ve never seen him.”
“How do you know it’s a him.”
“My dear girl, no female could possibly unleash such a thunderclap.”
“I don’t know. I imagine Gertrude Stein, for instance, sneezed like a donkey.”
“Possibly. But she wasn’t really a gender, was she?”
“Apparently not. Did you find a shade for your bedroom window? I can’t imagine you with cretonne curtains.”
“I can’t imagine me with cretonne curtains either. Yeah, I did what you told me to, bought a cedar-toned bamboo blind. It looks nice.”
“What do you mean, I told you to? I suggested it, that was all.”
“I knew you’d be right, so I did it.”
She laughed. “Do I seem infallible to you?”
He studied her. “In a way, yes. I think I’d take your advice about almost anything.”
“I’ll have to be careful what I say, then.”
“Oh, please don’t. Anyway, yes, that matter’s taken care of, and some progress in other directions, though storage space is high on the list of necessaries. I’ll have to take some action soon. I have a tendency to think too much and do too little.”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
“I doubt Rodney puts off what he wants done. He seems a determined sort.”
“The English are like that, I find. No flies on them, they forge ahead regardless. Has he tried to get in touch with you?”
“As yet, no. Will he?”
“Yes, I imagine. Right now he’s too taken with his new toy to need bulwarks. He’s happy as a clam. But I suppose he’ll get your number from new listings and hit you with an invitation to survey his castle. He keeps saying, if it weren’t for Jack …”
“Nice to be someone’s savior. How do you happen to know him, Christine?”
“His parents are friends. I’ve known them quite a few years, met them on one of my trips abroad. He’s here only for a year or thereabouts. I’ve enjoyed having him on the scene. It’s given me kind of a boost.”
“Did you need a
“You picked the wrong city for a hotel with no air conditioning. Seville’s more humid. Did you really cry?”
“Oh yes, I’m not kidding. I got sick too. Lived on tea and toast for two days. Maybe three. You seem to have traveled a lot.”
“Yeah, bumming it. I think every young person should do that.”
“So do I, if possible.”
“It used to be possible, I guess it’s getting tougher. The way the economy is these days.”
“Everything’s going out of reach. Rents are the worst, of course. My first apartment, I paid $160.”
“Those were the days, my friend.”
“I suppose people will be saying that until the end of time.”
“No doubt. You’ve traveled a lot too, it seems.”
“Quite a bit. Just Europe, not the East or Africa or places like that. I’m for where history was made. I mean, the history I’m interested in. Kings and queens and dynasties, music and art and … you know.”
“Yeah. You’re a romantic. Me too.”
“Glad to hear it. We’re a dying breed.”
“I don’t think we are, no. I really don’t.”
“Is your building quiet, Jack? Any distracting TV sets blaring away at late hours? That kind of thing?”
“Thankfully, no. In the main tranquil and typically shabby genteel. Very comforting. There’s someone in the apartment adjoining mine who wakes me up every morning at precisely seven o’clock. No sooner, no later. Seven on the dot. He sneezes. Just once, but it does the trick, snaps my eyes open as if he pulled a string. This loud, resounding sneeze that may eventually put a crack in my bedroom wall. I don’t need an alarm clock.”
She tittered. “Is that a plus or a minus for the apartment?”
“I would say a plus. There’s a touch of intimacy about it, a kind of long-distance greeting. Friendly, in a way. Neighborly. I’ve never seen him.”
“How do you know it’s a him.”
“My dear girl, no female could possibly unleash such a thunderclap.”
“I don’t know. I imagine Gertrude Stein, for instance, sneezed like a donkey.”
“Possibly. But she wasn’t really a gender, was she?”
“Apparently not. Did you find a shade for your bedroom window? I can’t imagine you with cretonne curtains.”
“I can’t imagine me with cretonne curtains either. Yeah, I did what you told me to, bought a cedar-toned bamboo blind. It looks nice.”
“What do you mean, I told you to? I suggested it, that was all.”
“I knew you’d be right, so I did it.”
She laughed. “Do I seem infallible to you?”
He studied her. “In a way, yes. I think I’d take your advice about almost anything.”
“I’ll have to be careful what I say, then.”
“Oh, please don’t. Anyway, yes, that matter’s taken care of, and some progress in other directions, though storage space is high on the list of necessaries. I’ll have to take some action soon. I have a tendency to think too much and do too little.”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
“I doubt Rodney puts off what he wants done. He seems a determined sort.”
“The English are like that, I find. No flies on them, they forge ahead regardless. Has he tried to get in touch with you?”
“As yet, no. Will he?”
“Yes, I imagine. Right now he’s too taken with his new toy to need bulwarks. He’s happy as a clam. But I suppose he’ll get your number from new listings and hit you with an invitation to survey his castle. He keeps saying, if it weren’t for Jack …”
“Nice to be someone’s savior. How do you happen to know him, Christine?”
“His parents are friends. I’ve known them quite a few years, met them on one of my trips abroad. He’s here only for a year or thereabouts. I’ve enjoyed having him on the scene. It’s given me kind of a boost.”
“Did you need a
Similar Books
