That Tuesday, when he called her, she was out; and when he did get her the next night and tried to make a date for Saturday, she was busy. He settled for Friday. They made their arrangements, said goodbye, and did not talk again until they saw each other.

It was as if they had not had the intimacy of the weekend before. She came down to the foyer of the dorm with the same nervous vivaciousness that had attracted him at the party. It was something she used on strangers, and now he knew it. They went to a movie on State Street, sat through it silently, and then stopped at a coffee shop. She talked about what she had done during the week. The date had taken most of his money, but he was not going to admit that to her.

On the sidewalk he took her by the wrist, like a child, and hailed a taxi.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m sending you home.” The taxi stopped in front of them and he opened the door. Perhaps she had not heard him properly, because she got in. He passed two dollars over the front seat. Karen turned to him, frightened. “You’ve been nothing but a pain in the ass tonight,” he said. “I’ll let you figure out why. Maybe when you want to stop kidding—” He let it die, because it would be a confession. He closed the door and gave the cabdriver the address. The cab moved out to the traffic and Joe Leland, who had never done this before, watched it go, so scared he was shaking.

She called the next morning.

“I’m sorry.”

He had to brazen it through. “And?”

“I’d like to see you again.”

“I don’t want a repetition of this week,” he said.

“Can we have lunch today?”

It meant traveling downtown to meet her at the store. “I have work to do.”

“What about tomorrow?”

“All right. There’s a bank on the corner of Franklin and Kenmore. I’ll meet you there at one o’clock.”

“I’ll be there.”

He was there first, wondering if she had outsmarted him, but then the trolley came and he saw that she was on it. He watched her get off, unaware of him. It was a cold, raw day. Bundled up, she looked around for him. He had never seen her by herself, and for a moment, before she saw him, it was a pleasure he could not have imagined. He wanted them to be themselves today. She saw him and waved. He did not know what he was going to say first and he stood there happily watching her as she crossed the street to him.

“God!” she cried. “It’s cold!”

“All we can do is walk. There isn’t a place open for blocks.”

“Then kiss me hello. I need a reason for coming this far.”