atrium. «I'm Cindy,» said the sister in the pink angora sweater with bare midriff. «And I'm Krista,» said the other in green. They looked at each other, smiled, and overstated the obvious: «We're twins!»
«Yeah, yeah.»
He showed them the living room with its suede walls and panoramic windows exposing a constellational view of the city lights below. «Can I fetch you drinks?» he asked, inwardly noting how many times he'd asked this same antique question.
The girls exchanged looks. «Just one,» said Krista.
«That's all we're allowed,» added Cindy. «Jack Daniels if you have it. With maraschino cherries. I just
«Why just one drink?» John asked.
More looks were exchanged: «We've heard you can be demanding,» said Cindy, to which Krista added, «We're going to need our wits here.»
«Wits?» said John. «Oh God,
«That's okay. We get that all the time,» said Krista.
«What — guys who only want to talk?»
«No. More like guys who don't want to feel like they're consorting with hell-bound floozies, who believe that a cozy chat beforehand will absolve them of moral contagion.»
John looked at Krista:
«I'm an educated woman,» said Krista.
Cindy said, «Krista,
«Don't
There was a pause: «Don't be smart.»
«Why not?» John asked.
«It's a turnoff to customers.»
John howled. «You can't be serious!»
Krista said, «Mention politics or use a big word and a guy deflates like a party balloon.»
«Now you've done it,» said Cindy.
«You've done
«I've got a degree in organic chemistry,» said Krista. «That's the study of molecules containing carbon.»
«Thank you, Madame Curie,» said John. «What about you, Cindy, what do you have a degree in?»
«Hot nourishing lunches,» Krista inserted quickly.
«I have a degree in nutrition. Florida State University, class of '97.»
«Phone the Nobel Committee,» said Krista.
«Krista, just can it, okay?»
«So what are you two baccalaureates doing in a fuckhouse like Melody's? There must be test kitchens all over America begging for a team like you two.»
«Very amusing, Mr. Johnson,» said Krista. «We both want to act. In high school I did
«Look,» said John, «you've gotta know that if you hump one of us producer guys, you've humped all of us — which means there's probably all kinds of other junk you've done that the
«We'll take that risk.»
«Okay,» said John. «You guys want to do some acting tonight?»
Cindy winked at Krista: «Sure. And by the way,
«How do you want us to act, Mr. Johnson?»
«Oh Jesus. How about
This remark drew a blank.
«Normal?» Cindy asked. «Like housewives? Like people who live in Ohio or something?»
«No. Be yourselves. Talk to me like I'm a person, not a customer.»
«We can do that,» said Krista, communicating with Cindy in what appeared to be their personal Morse of winks. «Yes — let's.»
And so the three of them sipped drinks and watched the city lights for a moment or two.
«My panties feel too tight,» said Cindy.
«And my sweater's too hot,» added Krista. «I'm so hot. I'm going to have to remove my sweater.»
«Cut!» John was upset. «I don't mean normal dirty talk. I mean
The twins had heard rumors at Melody's about some of John's kinkier scenes. Maybe this was how they started out.
«I'm going to freshen your drinks,» John said, «and then you're going to tell me about yourselves. How you got to where you are now. Your life if it was a movie.»
«More like a beauty pageant,» called Cindy as John jiggled with bottles and crystal glasses.
«I was Miss Dade County,» said Krista.
«And
«And we were
«Tell me,» John said, returning with the drinks.
«Oh! Where to begin?» said Cindy. «At birth, I guess. The important thing is to have a hungry unfulfilled mother who needs a piece of herself up there on the winner's dais being bathed in adulation. There's no such thing as a child star by herself. Child stars exist only in conjunction with a stage mother. Earth and sun.»
«We really lucked out in that department,» said Krista. «In her sophomore year at U. of F., Mom got the heave-ho from
Said Cindy: «You have to have a mother pushing you the whole way from, like, two onward. For most of us show dogs, we're not even aware of how distorted and grimly fucked up we are until it's too late. They have to get you when you're young.»
«And your mom has to buy and make you, like, a thousand little outfits a year,» said Krista, «and your mother has to make you dress like a stripper at the age of, like, five.»
«Some parents will do anything. There's this actress out there — Susan — oh — what's her name, Kris? She's in the Where-Are-They-Now? file — the one who disappeared for a year.»
«Colgate. Susan Colgate,» Krista answered.
«Yeah. In junior high her parents moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, just to improve their chances of being able to represent an entire state in the national competitions. Yeah — Miss Wyoming. Ha!»
«Missed her,» said John. «I don't pay attention to TV. It turned to trash in the eighties. I stopped watching it, period.»
Music then swirled through the room's air — horns and jazz, and the lights dimmed to candle strength. «The lights are on a timer,» John said, but it didn't matter, because the room became smaller, the air charged like summer's eve, and the three of them clinked the ice that remained in their glasses. The sisters began to remove their angoras. «No, don't,» John said. «No. Let's keep it perfect.» And the girls said, «Fine.»
«Come work for me,» he said.
«What?» came the reply in stereo.
«Be my assistants. I need help right now.»
There was a pause. Krista said, «I don't
«No. No. It's not a sex thing. I swear, no sex. You guys are smart and ambitious,» John said.
