The Good Life (47 page)

“So do I. Do that, honey. I've missed it.”

“Not anymore if I have my way. I can't keep my hands off it — in case you haven't noticed.”

She let herself in just before midnight, and they had coffee together before he went to work. It was almost like living together.

“Living a secret life is going to be easy,” she said contentedly, “but I'd still like to get married. I could forget about the gadget. We got away with it once, but it would be silly to risk it again. I don't suppose we want a baby quite yet anyway.”

“You're probably still a bit young to be a mother.”

“It sounds quite absurd when you say it. I told Mummy that I'd talked to you on the phone and that we had a date for tomorrow night. She didn't have a nervous breakdown. How funny to be living in New York with you.”

“I want you to meet Madge. I'll ask her to come in for a drink this evening with Johnny Jardine. They're my only real friends here. Both queer, oddly enough. She may fall for you.”

“I went through all that at school. I'm not as adaptable as you. Is he a boyfriend?”

“No. He didn't try very hard. You may've ruined me for guys anyway. Timmy hasn't been back, so I haven't had much of a chance to find out. The nightlife of New York seems pretty straight.”

“I hope you hear from Timmy again. He sounded sweet.”

“Oh, we write. I told him all about you. He's dying to meet you. He'll be back. May be when he hears you're back he'll make a big effort.”

When he picked her up at the hotel to take her to the Rainbow Room, she was looking stunning in a rusty gold dress of classic simplicity. Heads turned when she made her entrance through the multi-tiered restaurant, a glittering glass cage hung in the sky with all of New York glittering below them. He was confident that his London dinner jacket made him a worthy escort.

“This place is extraordinary,” Bet said as they were seated at a table overlooking the dance floor. Ray Noble and his band were playing English jazz. “All those buildings below us — it makes me giddy.”

“I don't think it'll become our favorite place, but you had to see it. It's one of the city's showplaces. Shall we have champagne? No, we're Americans tonight. We'll have martinis. You can have a good dinner if you stick to simple things — oysters and steaks and things like that. You can probably unearth a decent wine. I'll leave it to you.”

Sherman Billingsley was expecting them and gave them a big reception at the Stork. Perry was able to introduce her to enough people on the way to their table to show her that he was known, and she was flatteringly impressed. A bottle of scotch was opened in front of them and put on their table.

He introduced her to Leonard Lyons and Maurey Paul, the columnists. He didn't want to appear in the papers with her but knew that she would love it.

She reached across the small table and squeezed his hand when they were alone. “I can hardly believe it,” she exclaimed. “I'm actually in New York — at the Stork Club with you. I never thought it would really happen. You said you hardly knew New York, but you act as if you'd lived here all your life. You know so many people.”

“You know how it is with single guys, honey. We're always welcome. Now that you're here, I'll be dropped.”

“We shall soon see.”

Everything he wanted was falling into place. He was crazy about a girl with connections that made her a prize catch. Men turned to look at her. Bet was a star. He didn't have to worry about money anymore. He had a job that fascinated him and was qualifying him for well-paid work in the future. He knew plenty of people who counted in the city.

He made a deal with fate not to ask for anything more; it was bad luck to be greedy. He could accept the drawbacks. He didn't mind staying in the background and letting Arlene dig up all the promising husbands she could find for her daughter. Their separation had acted in his favor. Bet seemed to accept their being together as a permanent fact of life; it was no longer the sexual diversion she had made of it in Saint-Tropez.

They danced a lot and shared their scotch with others and enjoyed themselves enormously.

“Do you want to go on somewhere?” he asked after a couple of hours had vanished. “It's probably my duty to show you El Morocco.”

“I love it here if you're happy.”

“You don't have to ask me that, sweetheart. You're here. I'll take you to El Morocco next time.”

They stayed another hour or two without noticing how late it was getting. When Perry was finally paying the modest bill, Sherman Billingsley came to say good night and to urge them to come often. Outside they discovered that it had been snowing and had turned cold. They ran through the streets shouting like kids, and as soon as they got home they jumped into bed to get warm.

“I've had such fun,” Bet exclaimed, snuggling in against him. “Tomorrow Mum assumes her heavy responsibilities as social director. I'm going to be presented with a new Prince Charming every night for a week. Don't you envy me? What a ridiculous rigmarole to go through.”

“Be patient, honey. It doesn't do you any harm to meet people. You might even find a few you like. She's bound to run out of possibilities eventually. Feel that, honey? Is there anything in particular you'd like me to do with it?”

“You'll think of something, I'm sure. Mmm, yes, that's it. You have the right idea. How glorious. I'll bet Mummy doesn't find me anything equal to that.”

“You'd better take it for granted that she won't. I don't want you to try them all.”

“Don't worry. I won't get the chance even if I wanted to. They wouldn't dream of doing anything improper with a nice girl.”

“Thank God I don't mind being improper. You're lovely when you're being improper. Mummy doesn't realize how improper we can be at all hours of the day and night.”

A few days later he heard from Timmy again, finally proposing a weekend the following week. Perry wrote back urging him to come and told Bet to expect him.

“I'm dying to meet him. Will you go on with your affair?”

“I doubt it. He's probably lost interest. Guys are like that. As soon as it happens, they're ready for the next one. They don't usually expect anything to last.”

Timmy was a revelation. In the six or eight months since they had seen each other, he had lost his delicate, slightly girlish look and had filled out to become a strikingly attractive, athletic-looking young man. Perry held him in front of him in the living room and looked him over admiringly.

“You're transformed,” he concluded. “What have you done to yourself? You've turned into a raving beauty.”

Timmy's blushes were as engaging as ever. “I've been working out like a fiend. I couldn't face you while I still looked like a string bean. I'll never have a body like yours, but it's better than I ever thought it would be. I'm trying for the junior crew.”

Perry ran his hands over unfamiliar muscles and chuckled when they found the familiar man-size erection. “That big thing hasn't changed, though. Come on. We'll put your bag in the bedroom, and I'll get us drinks. You haven't given that up, have you?”

“I'm supposed to when I'm in training, but I'm allowing myself to cheat this weekend.”

“I'm glad. I feel like celebrating. It's wonderful to see you looking so great. Here's the bed. It's bigger than the one on the boat.”

“Are we going to share it?”

“Did you think I was going to put you on the floor?”

“Well, now that you have Bet and all, I thought you might not want anything to happen with us.”

“If it hadn't already happened, I probably wouldn't, but I don't see how getting to know the new you can do anybody any harm. I told her about our crossing. She doesn't think that what can happen with guys has any connection with the real thing. May be she's right for most people, except that for homosexuals it is the real thing, isn't it?”

“Of course. You may think it's silly, but I'm still in love with you, and I guess I always will be.”

Timmy spoke with a quiet intensity that gripped Perry's attention and touched him. He put the bag on a chair and went to him. The boy didn't meet his eyes. He even looked as if he might cry. Perry put his hand on his shoulders — now unexpectedly sturdy — and exerted affectionate pressure. He could feel Timmy's well-developed body yearning to be taken again.

“I may've thought you were a bit silly on the boat, but I don't anymore,” Perry said. “You seemed so young, and nobody had ever said the things you said to me. I didn't know what to make of you. You seem old enough now to mean what you say. Unpack whatever you want. I'll get those drinks.”

“Can I have a quick shower?”

“Of course, baby. It's right there. I put a towel out for you.”

“I was scared of coming to see you. I was afraid of making a fool of myself and being a nuisance. I think I'm going to be all right after all.”

“You certainly look all right. Go ahead. I'll be waiting here with a drink when you come out.” He mixed drinks in the little cupboard-kitchen and made a start on his while he wondered about the next step. He'd certainly been wrong about Timmy's losing interest. There would obviously be a slight tension between them until they'd been to bed. Why wait? He carried the glasses into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed to take his shoes off. He heard the water go off, followed by a silence. He stood to finish undressing.

“Should I be getting ready for a shock?” he called out.

“A pleasant one, I hope,” Timmy called back.

In a moment the door was thrown open, and Timmy stood naked in front of him, trying to cover his very visible erection with an inadequate towel. A shy, expectant little smile lurked around his lips. “It happens when I'm with you. I can't help it,” he said.

Perry chuckled as he dropped back to the edge of the bed. “We know all about it. You don't have to cover it unless you want to. Mine's coming along nicely. Here's your drink. Come let me see if you feel as good as you look.”

Timmy crossed the room, casually dispensed with the towel, and moved to him with a proud new confidence. “I'm not really shy anymore. It's just habit. Have I made a step in the right direction?”

“A huge one.”

Perry lifted his hands to his and held Timmy in front of him to admire the man's new development. Timmy had a well-formed body that was emerging into manhood, with enough weight and muscle to eliminate the coltish angularity of adolescence. Perry had nothing against a beautiful boy, but he wasn't apt to fall in love with one.

Perry flicked his tongue over Timmy's eye-catching erection. Timmy sank to Perry's knees, between his legs, and, with a contented little moan, held him close.

“God, I hoped this would happen again,” Timmy said. “I thought about it so much that I almost talked myself into not coming.”

“That would've been really silly. Bet never would've forgiven me.”

“Why should she care?”

“You'll find out. Let's have our drinks in bed. It's early for dinner.” They opened the covers and made themselves comfortable under them. They stretched into each other's arms. “I like feeling your body in here with me. That feels good.”

“I'll say.”

“Enjoy it. We have all night.”

“What did you mean about Bet not forgiving you?”

“I don't know exactly. She's full of surprises. We'll find out.”

Perry suspected that she was planning to join them, and to his surprise he didn't think he would mind. Her theory about sharing openly might work with Timmy. Seeing Bet enjoying herself with Timmy might give him some sort of depraved vicarious pleasure. The radiant devotion of his face was an assurance that he knew at least one person who didn't represent a threat. He hoped Bet didn't shock him.

By the time they were dressed again and were ready for dinner, they had begun to trade stories about the summer and felt like old friends. Perry was aware that Timmy wasn't interested in the gossip columnists' New York, the New York that Bet wanted to know, so they talked about what would happen to them if they were drafted.

“Registration is just so that they'll be ready to take us,” Timmy explained.

“And know how to find us,” Perry said, realizing for the first time that the possibility of having to go into the Army was becoming more real every day.

“Everybody says that we'll be able to finish school, and if you and Bet get married, you'll be deferred. Especially if you have a baby.”

“May be we should both get married.”

“To each other,” Timmy laughed. “That'd really throw the draft board for a loop.”

By the time they were back in bed together, Perry's genuine affection for the boy had deepened, erasing the heavy infatuation that had struck him during the crossing. Being in bed next to this beautiful young man seemed friendly and natural. He was sure that Bet would like him in the same way. He went to sleep with Timmy's arms around him and looked forward to Bet's meeting him.

“Bet?” Perry sat up. There was somebody moving around in the room. “Bet? Is that you?” he whispered. He snapped on the light beside the bed and saw that she was almost undressed.

“Are you coming to bed?” he asked, quickly checking to see that Timmy was asleep and covered up. “What time is it?”

“Late,” she whispered. She approached the bed, looking down at Timmy. “He's adorable.” She grinned mischievously as she slipped off her panties and unsnapped her bra. “I'm cold. Is there room for me?”

“Of course. Let me wake him up first, though, so we don't give him a shock.”

Perry winked at her, reached under the covers, and stroked Timmy's erection until he stirred, muttering something incoherent. Timmy blinked vacant eyes.