Love in E Flat by Kate Sweeney Page A

“I’m just curious. She looked a little sad while she talked on the phone.”
    “Who was it?” Edie checked her lipstick. She looked at John. “How’s my makeup? I was rushed.”
    John smiled and winked. “Beautiful.”
    “I’m gonna be sick.” Lou groaned. “Anyway, I don’t know who Aggie was talking to…”
    “Aggie?” John and Edie asked with raised eyebrows.
    Lou ignored them and continued, “All I heard her say was her appointment was changed to four o’clock. And when Nick offered to drive her, she said no far too quickly.”
    Edie looked at Nick, who nodded. “I think she did, too.”
    “Well, the woman has a private life, Lou.”
    “I know. But she’s in Chicago for her concerts. This sounded…” Lou shrugged. “I dunno. It sounded…”
    “Private, you dope.”
    Nick grunted his agreement from the front seat.
    “Well, let’s stop and get coffee or something, I’m freezing. Though I don’t know why with all the hot air back here. Then we just wait and see,” Lou said.
    After Nick left the drive-thru at Starbucks, they sat across the street from the Four Seasons Hotel. Nick doled out the coffee and hot chocolate, which Lou asked for. They sat in silence as they watched the front entrance of the hotel.
    “Here she is,” Lou said. Agata walked out of the hotel. “She looks so sexy.” Lou suddenly realized she said this for all to hear; she glanced at Edie’s incredulous look, then concentrated on Agata, watching her as she hailed a cab.
    Edie eagerly sat forward. “Follow that cab!” She looked at Lou, while John laughed. “What? Tell me you haven’t wanted that chance.”
    Nick laughed as he followed the Yellow Cab onto Michigan Avenue.
    “Don’t let them see you, Nick.”
    “Lou.” Nick looked in the rearview mirror. “There are a dozen taxis on Michigan Avenue. I think we’ll blend.”
    After a few minutes of downtown traffic, Agata’s cab pulled over on Clark Street. Lou read the address of 230 South Clark Street. In a moment, Agata stepped out and walked into the building.
    “What building is this?” John asked.
    Edie looked and shook her head. “I don’t know, but I can find out quick. Sweetie, get your phone.”
    John struggled. “I can’t move back here.”
    Lou silently looked out the window once again, listening to her friends.
    “Oh, good grief.” Edie took out her phone while Lou waited for her to go online and find the address. “If you’d stop eating chocolate brownie ice cream every night…” Edie said absently; she raised an eyebrow and looked at Lou.
    “What?” Lou asked, her stomach suddenly doing flip-flops.
    “It’s for obtaining Russian passports or renewing them and all that red tape, I guess,” Edie said.
    Nick looked at the building. “Is it the Russian Embassy?”
    “Chicago doesn’t have an embassy or consulate office,” John said.
    “How do you know?” Lou asked.
    “The parents of a colleague of mine needed to talk to someone. They found out then. Only in Washington.”
    Lou nodded and watched Edie as she frowned and put the phone in her purse.
    “What’s wrong? Why are you frowning?” Lou asked.
    “Why is she here? Doesn’t she have a passport? She’d have to have one to get into the country.”
    “Maybe she’s just getting it renewed?” Nick offered, turning around to see them. “Ya know, if it’s gonna expire, then…”
    “But someone as famous as Agata Karetnikov would have a publicist or some type of assistant to take care of all that. Wouldn’t you think?” John asked.
    “I would think so,” Lou said thoughtfully. “So why is she here? Do you think she’s trying to leave Russia and they won’t let her?”
    Nick quickly turned in his seat to face them. “ Comrade X .”
    “Who?” Lou asked.
    “The movie with Clark Gable and Hedy Lamarr.”
    “What…?” Lou shook her head.
    “Oh, I remember,” Edie said eagerly and sat forward. “He was an American reporter, she was a Communist. Gable tried