year? Think your country will still be there?”
“Kelly.”
“Talk to Kit. Let me introduce you to my aunt. Go on her show, and talk.”
He pushed his chair back and started to rise. “Please just listen,” I pleaded. “Hear me out. You know who she is, but do you know who her listeners are? There are millions of them. Mostly very conservative, exactly the people who normally mistrust the UN. Most of them are women. Go on her show and tell your story. They’ll all be calling Congress within the hour demanding the payment of the UN pledge.”
“What makes you think that will work?”
“I’ve heard your story. It will touch them. Talk about your sister.”
“No.”
“Kit will be on your side.”
“Not from what I’ve heard.”
“I know her better than anyone. She’ll take one look at you and fall in love. And she’ll listen to me and understand the story, the real story.”
“Let me get this straight: You think I should go on the show, let your aunt the uncontrollable journalist babble about how cute I am, and then her millions of female listeners will fall into line?”
“They aren’t malleable, I’m not saying that. They’re smart, they think, they care. And when my aunt—the very serious journalist—gets them riled up about something, they make noise. And Kit will do it not because you’re so damn cute, but because it’s the right thing.”
“I’m glad you think it’s the right thing, Kelly. But I can’t go meet with your aunt and I can’t be on the show.”
“Why not?”
“My uncle and your vice president and all the others might look to you like old men playing games and messing up, but they are trying. They truly are trying to get it right. I won’t jeopardize their efforts. I will not risk it I’ve already risked so much by spending the night with you.”
He rose and left the table, then returned. He stood stiffly, arms at his sides, cool gaze fixed on me. “Thank you, Kelly, for most everything else. Thank you for feeding me and taking me to the library and to the movies and all of it, I can’t even remember all of it. And yes, thank you for Simone.” He slumped and briefly closed his eyes. When they opened, they were focused on something different. “And when I tell Natalia about the evening, I’ll tell her about you.” He again stood stiffly, and looked at me. “I’ll tell her how, in spite of the lies, in spite of your…game, I’m grateful to you because for a few hours today I felt free again.”
He was pushing open the diner door when I finally found my tongue, when my heart resumed beating. “You don’t know the way back,” I shouted. “Tom, wait!”
He waved me off with a sharp snap of his arm.
I fumbled my wallet as I pulled it out of my pocket. It bounced under the table and I dropped to my knees.
“He’s getting away,” someone said.
I pulled out some bills and threw them on the table.
“Go get him, girl,” someone else said as I rushed past.
“Bye, baby, bye,” Sandi said as I passed the counter. The cops, bless them, didn’t speak or budge an inch.
Tom was headed the wrong way from downtown and his hotel. I ran and caught up, spun him around. “Do you want to know why I did it? Do you want to know why I led you around by a lie, as you so poetically put it?”
He planted his hands on his hips. “This is all getting way too dramatic. I’m exhausted and I want to sleep.”
“Two years ago when I had that worst day of my life, she still didn’t give up on me. So yes, I lied, and led you on, and used you, and had a hell of a lot of fun with you tonight, Prince Tomas. I wanted to give back something to my aunt Kit. I don’t chase stories for the hunt. I went after this one for her. I wanted it for her.”
He’d let his hands drop, and his shoulders had relaxed. But the eyes were still cold. “Don’t expect me to weep over an addict’s guilt or gratitude, Kelly. I won’t play with the fate of a nation, with people’s
“Kelly.”
“Talk to Kit. Let me introduce you to my aunt. Go on her show, and talk.”
He pushed his chair back and started to rise. “Please just listen,” I pleaded. “Hear me out. You know who she is, but do you know who her listeners are? There are millions of them. Mostly very conservative, exactly the people who normally mistrust the UN. Most of them are women. Go on her show and tell your story. They’ll all be calling Congress within the hour demanding the payment of the UN pledge.”
“What makes you think that will work?”
“I’ve heard your story. It will touch them. Talk about your sister.”
“No.”
“Kit will be on your side.”
“Not from what I’ve heard.”
“I know her better than anyone. She’ll take one look at you and fall in love. And she’ll listen to me and understand the story, the real story.”
“Let me get this straight: You think I should go on the show, let your aunt the uncontrollable journalist babble about how cute I am, and then her millions of female listeners will fall into line?”
“They aren’t malleable, I’m not saying that. They’re smart, they think, they care. And when my aunt—the very serious journalist—gets them riled up about something, they make noise. And Kit will do it not because you’re so damn cute, but because it’s the right thing.”
“I’m glad you think it’s the right thing, Kelly. But I can’t go meet with your aunt and I can’t be on the show.”
“Why not?”
“My uncle and your vice president and all the others might look to you like old men playing games and messing up, but they are trying. They truly are trying to get it right. I won’t jeopardize their efforts. I will not risk it I’ve already risked so much by spending the night with you.”
He rose and left the table, then returned. He stood stiffly, arms at his sides, cool gaze fixed on me. “Thank you, Kelly, for most everything else. Thank you for feeding me and taking me to the library and to the movies and all of it, I can’t even remember all of it. And yes, thank you for Simone.” He slumped and briefly closed his eyes. When they opened, they were focused on something different. “And when I tell Natalia about the evening, I’ll tell her about you.” He again stood stiffly, and looked at me. “I’ll tell her how, in spite of the lies, in spite of your…game, I’m grateful to you because for a few hours today I felt free again.”
He was pushing open the diner door when I finally found my tongue, when my heart resumed beating. “You don’t know the way back,” I shouted. “Tom, wait!”
He waved me off with a sharp snap of his arm.
I fumbled my wallet as I pulled it out of my pocket. It bounced under the table and I dropped to my knees.
“He’s getting away,” someone said.
I pulled out some bills and threw them on the table.
“Go get him, girl,” someone else said as I rushed past.
“Bye, baby, bye,” Sandi said as I passed the counter. The cops, bless them, didn’t speak or budge an inch.
Tom was headed the wrong way from downtown and his hotel. I ran and caught up, spun him around. “Do you want to know why I did it? Do you want to know why I led you around by a lie, as you so poetically put it?”
He planted his hands on his hips. “This is all getting way too dramatic. I’m exhausted and I want to sleep.”
“Two years ago when I had that worst day of my life, she still didn’t give up on me. So yes, I lied, and led you on, and used you, and had a hell of a lot of fun with you tonight, Prince Tomas. I wanted to give back something to my aunt Kit. I don’t chase stories for the hunt. I went after this one for her. I wanted it for her.”
He’d let his hands drop, and his shoulders had relaxed. But the eyes were still cold. “Don’t expect me to weep over an addict’s guilt or gratitude, Kelly. I won’t play with the fate of a nation, with people’s
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