Desmond brought her a steaming cup and she cradled it in her hands, wondering what she was supposed to do with the tea bag and why she’d accepted his offer when she’d never much cared for the subtle, watery pleasures of tea. In an hour and a half, they were meeting with David at the station to pitch their idea and try to wring some money out of him. She’d read the first several chapters of the manuscript of the Pauline Anderton biography, and after discussing it with Desmond a few days earlier, had decided that this was the best place to start. Anderton would make a perfect subject for a twenty-minute pilot they could use to sell the rest of the series. There was TV footage of Anderton, a local connection, and enough falls from grace (or whatever was the appropriate term for Anderton’s career highs) to make it salable.

Desmond hunched over the library table he had set up as a desk and fidgeted with a tape player. It was impossible to be in a room this size, sitting on a stranger’s bed, breathing in the smell of his soap and shaving cream, without feeling a little awkward; the whole setup was just one notch too intimate, even though there was no sexual tension between them. Not that Desmond was unattractive. He had on a pair of slim green pants that were either a thrift shop find or an expensive designer knockoff of the same style, a lime green polyester shirt, and an inch-wide tie. He was a little old for this nerd rock star look, but he pulled it off convincingly enough so that even if it wasn’t flattering, it wasn’t ridiculous. It was quite obvious he was gay—something in his polite, slightly ironic manner gave him away; not effeminate exactly, but self-conscious enough to put it outside the bounds of traditional masculinity—but she wished he’d do her the favor of slipping the information into the conversation so she wouldn’t have to tiptoe around the subject.

“Should I assume you’re single?” she tried.

“Well.” He turned from the tape player with a look of distress. “This usually works fine, but I’m having a little trouble with it right now. The buttons are jamming. I really want you to hear her voice before the meeting. I shouldn’t have opted for the cheapest model.”