“Everything all right?” Shelley said to Steve.

“I could use another drink. How about you?” He looked over his shoulder and waved at a waiter.

“I’m fine for the moment,” she replied.

The waiter brought Steve another drink.

“I’ll tell you this,” Rosie was saying to Viv, “even if I could afford it, I wouldn’t wear that designer shit—you know, Armani, Ralph Lauren. It isn’t cut for real women.”

“If I had money, I’d wear nothing else,” Viv replied. She flicked her eyes at the room.

“Don’t do that,” Rosie said. “The boss said not to.”

“I know, but it’s driving me crazy.”

“Look over my shoulder and tell me what the boss is doing,” Rosie said.

Viv looked at Dino for half a second. “He’s leaning on the bar, facing the room. Shelley isn’t here yet.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because he’s still looking for her, and he looks bored.”

“Why would she not show up?”

“Maybe she couldn’t get a table,” Viv said. “The place is jammed.”

“That would be a joke, wouldn’t it? She couldn’t get a table?”

“Wait a minute,” Viv said. “Dino sees something.”

“Stop looking.”

“He didn’t say don’t look at him. Something’s happening.”

SHELLEY FIXED her gaze on Dino now. His eyes were panning the room again, starting from her right. She looked directly into his eyes and flashed a little of her new cosmetic dentistry, which practically glowed in the dark. The eyes came to her and stopped.

Shelley turned back toward Steve. “In just a minute, I’m going to get up and walk toward the bar,” she said.

“What would you like me to do?” he asked.

“If I stop at the bar and talk to a man standing there, pay the check and leave.” She threw a couple of hundreds on the table. “If I keep going and leave the room, follow me upstairs. I’m going to want to fuck you.”

“Anything you want,” Steve said, waving for the waiter again.

DINO’S MOVING gaze was stopped by half a smile and a pair of eyes. A woman he didn’t recognize was staring directly at him. Then she turned back toward the man she was with. That couldn’t be Shelley, he thought—or could it? He couldn’t tell how tall she was, but the nose wasn’t right. The hair was dark, though, maybe an auburn red. He continued to watch her. She glanced at him again.

SHELLEY TOOK her handbag and stood up. Steve stood and pulled the table back for her, and she began picking her way slowly through the tables toward the bar. Then she was aware of another pair of eyes on her, in the mirror behind the bar. One of the two lesbians was watching her.

DINO SLIPPED off the bar stool and stood, unbuttoning his jacket. She was coming slowly, the tables being close together, but she was coming. He remembered he was supposed to give Viv and Rosie some sort of sign. He tilted his head back and let go with a loud sneeze.