"Harvey Jacobs - The Retriever" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jacobs Harvey)

Nice seeing you again, Mrs. Platz. And thanks for your business."
"Thank you a dozen times over," Aurora said. She watched Luna retreat
down the hall toward the elevator, wondering if she should at least invite
him in for a cup of coffee. But the elevator was waiting when he got there.
He turned, waved, and stepped quickly into the car.
A month later, Aurora decided to walk home after leaving her office in
the Human Resources division of Wentor Industries. A lingering sunset,
its pink and orange glow a gift of daylight-saving time, lit the
winter-battered city. She could feel the coming of spring and better
weather. Aurora mused fondly about her first and only infidelity. Was it
really infidelity? What happened seemed more a matter of closure, natural
as the change of seasons. She felt a twinge of guilt but only a twinge, vague
as the vibration of the subway train rushing under the street. Nobody had
been hurt; there were no scars. Aurora had been more than nice to her
husband since it happened.
Chuck and Shelly West had been happy to see her at their high school
reunion. Shelly showed pictures of two teenage children, a boy who looked
like his father and a girl who looked like her mother. Central casting.
Henry retaliated with a snapshot of Aurora on a beach in Cancun. They all
got along. Later, Henry danced with Shelly while she danced with Chuck.
He made a remark about her high school cheerleader's sweater. He said he
was amazed that the sweater fit so perfectly, that Aurora had the figure of
a teenager. She said she'd found it tucked away in a trunk and thought it
would be a nice touch, considering, though she was worried about
smelling like a mothball. Chuck said she smelled like cut grass. Then he
commented on her pendant.
He remembered giving it to her. She saw his eyes well when the memory
hit home. Then he asked if they could have lunch or a drink and talk about
old times. Aurora said yes, that Henry would be away on a business trip
next week so she'd have time on her hands.
The night they met, Aurora wore a skirt and blouse she found in the
same trunk that held her old sweater. The skirt took some letting out but
not much. She had her hair done in the style she'd worn at her prom. She
wasn't planning to be seduced but she did wear a new bra and panties
from Victoria's Secret. She and Chuck had their talk, drank a few gin
martinis, and one thing led to another. He reached home plate in the back
of his Lexus in a parking lot outside the school stadium. It was all very
nice, very civilized, very sweet, very loving. Afterward, Chuck told her he
was happy with Shelly and the kids and she told him she was happy with
Henry and their life together and that was the end of their brief encounter.
It was enough. When Henry came home, Aurora wore the Victoria's Secret
underwear, newly washed in Woolite, for him.
Aurora's walk was interrupted by Joe Luna who came up behind her
and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, I'm sorry if I startled you," Luna
said. This time he was smoking a huge cigar, inhaling Cuban fumes. "I
thought I recognized you. That's some neat shape you carry around."
"Mr. Luna," Aurora said. "I'm still amazed about the pendant."
"Hey, it's why they pay me the big bucks," Luna said. "If I may say so,
you look really terrific, Mrs. Platz. Just walking down the street you could
be in a ballet."