“Sure. Sure I do.” He went over and took a seat on the upholstered sofas where husbands sat while their wives tried on clothes. I tallied up my morning’s sales and turned in my sales pad and then I collected Charles William and we rode down the elevator and walked out onto Peachtree Street. It was a beautiful fall day, cool and clear. Dressed up men and women hurried up and down the crowded streets. I had meant it when I said I loved to work. I had never lived in a city. It was wonderful to me to be downtown all day with city life going on around me. We found a small restaurant on a side street and went inside and sat down at a table.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Charles William said. “Are you happy? Do you like it?” He giggled, trying to establish our old repartee, but I would not go into it with him. The things Malcolm had been saying about him frightened me. Still, I could not resist him. He was so funny, so honest, so intelligent, insightful, imaginative, clever, so much fun.

“Oh, Charles William. I’ve missed you so much.”

“He doesn’t like me anymore, does he?”

“No. He told me not to see you. He won’t let me ask you over.”

His face fell. He was quiet for a moment. It was the only secret we ever had between us and it wasn’t a secret really. It was just something that stayed unspoken. I loved him too much to talk of it, to take a chance on hurting his feelings.

“You could come see us. We have a marvelous place. It’s below Putty’s apartment, in the basement. We’ve made a grotto, with sconces everywhere. It’s divine really. You must come and see it. Can’t you slip away? Doesn’t he ever go anywhere?”

“He’s refinishing a cobbler’s bench. He does it every night. If he has to study sometimes he stays at school. He takes my car.”

“We can come and get you.”

“Okay. I’ll come over soon. Maybe I’ll come tonight if he stays at school.” The waiter appeared with our grilled cheese sandwiches. We ate our lunch and Charles William told me stories about people we knew.

“May Garth’s here,” he said. “She’s living with her father and she’s working in a bank.”

“A bank! My God.”