smiles.
When the stories drew to a close, Paul stood and excused himself.
Laurie looked after him as he headed toward the rest rooms. Turning back to her two old friends, she sighed.
'He's really wonderful, isn't he? ' she asked.
Jack and Lou looked at each other, hoping the other would respond.
'Well? ' Laurie questioned.
Both Jack and Lou started speaking at the same time then hastily deferred to the other.
'What is this, a comedy routine? ' Laurie demanded. Her beatific smile faded. 'What's the matter with you two? '
'This situation has caught us off guard, ' Jack finally admitted. 'We'd both guessed you'd gotten a job offer and were going to move out on us.
We never thought you'd be getting married.'
'And why not! ' Laurie demanded. 'That's almost insulting. What am I, too old? '
'I don't mean it that way, ' Jack said meekly.
'How long have you known this man? ' Lou asked.
'A couple of months, ' Laurie said defensively. 'I know that's not a lot of time, but I don't think that's so important. He's intelligent, warm, generous, confident, and willing and able to make a commitment.
And all those are important characteristics as far as I'm concerned.
Particularly the confidence and the ability to make a commitment.' Both Jack and Lou couldn't help but feel indicted.
'I don't believe this, ' Laurie said. 'You two, of all people I know, I thought would-d be happy for me.'
'What kind of business is he in?'
' Jack asked.
'What kind of a question is that? ' Laurie demanded.
'Just a simple question, ' Jack said timidly.
'To tell you the truth, I don't know, ' Laurie said. 'And I don't really care. It's him I'm interested in, not what he does for a living. You men are impossible.'
'Have your parents met him? ' Lou asked.
'Of course, ' Laurie said. 'I met him through my parents.'
'That's nice, ' Lou said.
Laurie let out a mirthless laugh. 'This is not how I expected this evening to go.' Neither Jack nor Lou knew quite what to say. Luckily they were rescued by Paul's return. He was in an ebullient mood, totally unaware of what had transpired during his brief absence. He started to reclaim his seat, but Laurie stood up.
'I think it's time we go, ' Laurie said.
'No after-dinner drinks at the bar? ' Paul asked.
'I think we've all had enough, ' Laurie said. 'And as Jack is wont to say, it is a school night.' Jack smiled weakly. Sensing that he'd let Laurie down only made him feel worse. He got to his feet.
'Congratulations, you guys, ' he said with manufactured enthusiasm.
'In the spirit of the occasion, Lou and I will take care of the tab.'
'It's all taken care of already, ' Paul said with an air of superiority.
'It's our treat.'
'I'd prefer to pay, ' Jack said. 'It's only fair.
' `, Hogwash, ' Paul said. He reached over and shook Jack's and Lou's hand.
'I've really enjoyed meeting Laurie's two closest friends. I can't tell you how highly she talks of you two and how often. It's enough to make a guy jealous.' He laughed.
'See you tomorrow at the office, ' Laurie said. She turned and started across the crowded dining room.
Paul gave a final wave and hurried after her.
Jack looked at Lou. 'What do you want to do? '
'Go home and shoot myself, ' Lou said.
'You want company? ' Jack asked.
The two men sank into their chairs. Jack felt shell-shocked. Laurie's getting married was worse than her going away. Instead of moving to the West Coast, it was more like her going to Venus. The episode startled him into realizing how much he'd been avoiding thoughts about the future. Guilt about his family still made it difficult for him to justify future happiness. That's why he found making a commitment so difficult.
Lou cradled his head in his hands. He was the picture of dejection.
'I've worried about Laurie getting married, ' he said. 'Especially to you.'
'To me? ' Jack questioned with surprise. 'I actually worried she'd get married to you. I know you two dated before I came on the scene.'
'You shouldn't have worried, ' Lou said. 'It wasn't to be.
It never would have worked. During the brief time we went out on a regular basis, I screwed it up.
Every time there was the slightest blip, I thought she was breaking up with me, and I acted like an ass.
It drove both of us batty, and we ended up having a long talk about it.
Tonight when she mentioned about confidence' being an important personality characteristic for her, she was referring to me.'
'The part about the ability to make a commitment was directed at me, ' Jack said.
'Was that the problem between you two? ' Lou asked. 'I never could figure out what happened. You guys seemed natural for each other. You know, similar backgrounds, fancy schools, and all the rest of that bullshit.'
'It was part of it, ' Jack said. 'But I'm so screwed up I don't even know all the reasons.'
'It's a tragedy! ' Lou complained.
'For you and for me. At least if she tied the knot with you, I could stay friends with both of you. When she marries this twerp, I'm out the door. I mean, I fantasized about Laurie and me staying friends even when they married. But tonight when I saw that rock on her finger, I instantly knew staying the kind of friends I envisioned was out of the question.'
'I guess I was unrealistically hoping the present would never change, ' Jack said.
Lou nodded and thought for a moment before asking, 'What did you think of this guy? '
'A snake in the grass, ' Jack said without hesitation.
'But I don't know how objective I can be. I'm obviously jealous. It bugged me how they kept touching each other.'
'It rubbed me the wrong way as well, ' Lou said with another nod.
'Like puppy love. It was disgusting. But I question my objectivity, too. Yet it all seems too quick to me, like the guy's after her money even though she doesn't have any. Of course that can be the cynical detective talking.' Jack shook his head dejectedly. 'We can sit here and say nasty things about him, but the fact is, he's a lot more spontaneous than we are, and he's got a lot more bucks. I mean, going to Paris for the weekend!
There's no way I could do that. Worrying about how much it was costing would drive me bananas, and I'd be miserable to be with.'
'It makes me mad to think that there are people that can do that sort of thing, ' Lou said. 'What with my alimony payments and raising two kids, I'm lucky to have two nickels to scrape together.'
'Envious might be a better word than mad, ' Jack said.
Lou scraped back his chair and stood up. 'I got to get home to bed before I get too depressed. I've been up for two straight days.'
'I'm with you, ' Jack said.
The two men wormed their way out of the restaurant feeling all the more depressed in light of the festive atmosphere.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 18
10:15 P. M. After Curt and Steve left, Yuri had gone down to his beloved lab. The first thing he did was repair the damage Connie had caused when she'd pried off the padlocks. To be on the safe side he bolted the hasps to the door rather than replace the screws. With that setup, an intruder would most likely need something more powerful than a crowbar to pull them loose.
