“When will I hear from you?”

“I have to see my partner first. Then there may be the problem of finding a place to talk. I’ll call you when I can.”

She looked at the kitchen clock. “You have plenty of time before the plane arrives. If you want to lie down for a while, I’ll wake you.”

“I’ve been up too long for that. I’m too awake.”

“I don’t want you to think about last night,” she said. “I don’t want you to be upset.”

He said nothing.

“If you have time when you get to the airport, I wish you would call me.”

“All right.”

She got up to get the coffeepot. “What do you think you’ll be doing about tonight?”

“I don’t know.”

“His parties start about eight-thirty, but he invites so many that sometimes people are still coming in at ten and eleven. There will be a crush, I promise you.”

“I don’t even want to think about it,” he said. He sat back: the words had come out of him automatically. “Will you need your car?”

“Oh, no. I’ll see you today, won’t I?”

“That’s right. Yes, you’ll see me.”