He nodded.
Norma pulled him down and gave him her lips. Then as he stood up again,
he saw that her eyes were filled with tears.
"Norma--?" he said plaintively.
"Charles, it wouldn't work."
"But--"
Norma smiled gently through her tears. "Not that, Charles," she said.
"You were thinking about Frank, and the years of hate. Since then I've
come to know you and admire you, but I can't really love you. I--"
He saw something glow momentarily in her eyes and he waited patiently.
"Howard is a strong man," she said simply. "He used Frank, and then he
used me, and finally he used you. And hellflowers took me away from
Howard, and then they took Howard. And you brought me back and now
you've brought Howard back to me, and--"
Farradyne interrupted her: "Be happy, baby!" He bent down and kissed
her. Then he turned on his heel and left the room. He paused long
enough in the corridor to shake the vacuum out of his feelings and then
went down to the waiting room.
"Howard? She's awake and feeling fit, even though weak. A bit of the
sight and touch of you would work wonders. She wants you."
* * * * *
Clevis nodded and started for the door. Farradyne caught him by the arm
and turned him around. "Look," he said with a crookedly amused grin, "I
want to be second-best man."
"Any damned day in the week, Charley," said Howard Clevis.
Farradyne sat down in a chair and waited. He lit a cigarette and blew
smoke at his toes. Somehow he felt disappointed in himself; he should
have been despondent instead of content.
And then the plume of smoke curled around a pair of slender ankles and
Farradyne realized what his unfinished business was.
The waiting room resounded gently with a delicate musical chord,
operatic in quality like a trio of angel, hoyden, and devil singing
a bacchanal. He smiled and looked up at her. "Any damned day in the
week," he promised, getting to his feet.
Against his face, softly, Carolyn laughed. "But you don't even know my
name!"
"I'll find out," he promised. "Later."