Act of God

you’re beautiful.”
    “The right somebody, anyway.”
    I leaned over and kissed her upside down.
    Nancy let my lips go with the half-smile. “You taste like mimosa.”
    “Is that a veiled request?”
    “It’s a holiday, and you’re making me feel like I don’t have a care in the world.”
    I refilled her cup from the jug. “Save some room for tonight.”
    “The party, you mean?”
    “Buffet and bar both.”
    “That’s not till seven, right?”
    “Right.”
    “And it’s just across the street.”
    I pointed toward the tall, balconied building, then realize“ she couldn’t see me doing it. “Fifty feet from my doorstep-Nancy sat up and twisted at the waist, taking the cup from me, “In that case, we’ll have plenty of time to work off this meal before the next one.”
    “What did you have in mind, counselor?”
    Over the rim she said, “Giddyap, horsey,” and giggled into her drink.

    Being able to walk to the party meant I didn’t have to move the Prelude from behind the building, which was a real advantage. Some of my neighbors were gone, but apparently not for the night, as they left trash cans at the curb-cuts of their spaces. Maybe that would discourage the frustrated who couldn’t find a legal spot to leave a car, maybe not.
    Norm had one of the penthouse units in the skyscraper across Beacon Street . The doorman was prepared for us, his eyes lingering a little less on me and a little more on Nancy in a floppier pair of shorts and a sheer silk blouse that let even the casual observer guess the color of her bra. The guy working the elevator was less discreet, but I was feeling good and let it pass.
    As Nancy and I rode up, she silently mocked the operator’s goggle-eyed look to his back, and I laughed just suddenly enough for the guy to turn and ask if everything was all right. I told him it was.
    The elevator opened onto a large anteroom, with mirrored closets for coats. At the end of the mirrors the living room began, a broad, windowed expanse facing north toward Cambridge . There were already forty or so people in the room, a half dozen more out on the sixty-foot balcony, admiring the sunset. One of them was Elie from the Nautilus club, setting up a tripod camera to take some slow exposures of the western sky.
    From my right came, “John. Glad you could make it.”
    Norm looked like he’d just stepped off the cover of a calypso album. Sandals, white duck pants cut ragged at the shin, and a billowy, double-pocketed white shirt.
    I said, “Where’s the straw hat?”
    “Wind took it. How’s the shoulder?”
    “Much better.”
    “And the knee?”
    “Same. Thanks for the advice.”
    “Nothing you wouldn’t have learned on your own.”
    “The hard way.”
    “The usual way.”
    I introduced him to Nancy .
    Norm said to her, “Let me give you guys the Cook’s tour.”
    With a wave of his big hand, he took in the buffet and liquor tables with catering staff in magenta vests. There was a den, a guest bedroom, and a magnificent master bedroom suite with access to another long but empty balcony looking south over Back Bay . Norm led us back to the bar.
    “I’ve got more folks arriving. Just mill around. Lots of different people and two balconies, no waiting.”
    As Norm moved off, Nancy said, “Nice man.”
    “The ones who make it on their own generally are.”
    I ordered a screwdriver for me, but just a tonic water with lime for Madam Mimosa, whose head wasn’t used to drinking through the afternoon. I saw somebody else from the club, but Nancy tugged on my arm, and we went back through the master bedroom and out onto the empty balcony there. The rooftops in front of us were at least fifteen stories below, giving a perspective of the neighborhood I’d never really had. “Fm surprised there’re so few roof-decks.”
    “I feel like Mary Poppins,” said Nancy .
    “Flying over Victorian chimneys.”
    “Umbrella above my head, other hand on my hat.”
    “So long as you don’t break into song.”
    “Julie Andrews I’m not.”
    I looked at her, the half-smile looking back. “Remember today, when you said I’d laugh if you told me your middle name?”
    “I remember a lot about today that I liked.”
    “Well, if you promise you won’t laugh, I’ll tell you what Hollywood figure you remind me of.”
    “Uh-oh. Do I want to know?”
    “Your choice. But you have to promise not to laugh.”
    “Okay, I promise.”
    I said, “Loni Anderson.”
    “Loni...?” A turn