Tales of the City 04 - Babycakes

subsided.
“Take your medicine,” Simon said. And there was something faintly resentful about his tone.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Good. So am I.” She polished off the brandy and set down the glass. “Could we … uh … go to the bedroom?”
He shrugged. “What’s wrong with here?”
“I don’t know.” She cast a quick glance at the chrome-framed poster across the room. “Bette Midler is watching.”
Simon smiled at her. “Christopher Isherwood is watching in the bedroom.”
She grinned. “You’ve had this discussion before.”
“A few times.” His eyes were half-lidded and playful.
“I’ll just bet.”
He looked at her a moment longer, then took her by the hand and led her into the bedroom. When they were naked on the bed and Simon was upon her, she cupped her hands against the small marble mounds of his ass and tried like hell to think of Brian. It seemed the very least she could do.

Mo
A S USUAL, THE KITCHEN WAS COLD AS A TOMB, SO Mona lit the butane heater and rolled it over to the corner nearest the sink. She could see blue sky through the diamond-shaped panes above the draining board, but the unexpected sunshine was no match for the marrow-chilling damp of Easley House.
She found two chipped bowls amongst Teddy’s motley collection of china and filled them with cereal. Opening the refrigerator, she came face to face with a bowl of greenish kidneys growing fuzz. She winced and dumped them into the trash, then doused the cereal with milk and arranged four pieces of toast in Teddy’s tarnished silver toast rack. She shifted everything onto a Chinese lacquer tray—along with marmalade, teacups and a pot of tea—and climbed the stairs to the second floor.
Finding the right door, she set down the tray and knocked three times.
“It’s not locked,” was the petulant response.
She opened the door, picked up the tray and went in. Mouse was propped up in bed like a pasha awaiting his concubine. Seeing his surly expression, she did her best to keep her own anger under control. “Happy Easter,” she mumbled, laying the tray on the chest at the foot of his bed.
“Thanks,” he answered blandly.
She walked to the window. “It’s a nice one. At least the rain has stopped.”
All she got was a grunt.
“Look, Mouse.” She turned around and faced him. “I’m sorry I yelled at you last night.”
He wouldn’t look at her. “If I’d known you would take it like this …”
“But you didn’t,” she said as calmly as possible. “You didn’t know anything and … you thought it would be a lark to come here. I understand that.”
He fiddled with a loose thread on his quilt.
“What I’m trying to make you understand is … I’m a guest here too. Not even that, really. I’m here on business. I’m flying back to Seattle day after tomorrow. I can’t have friends just … showing up. Defecting from a tour, for Christ’s sake.”
He shrugged. “We could have left last night.”
“Mouse … there’s one cab in the whole fucking county.”
“What about that car?”
“What car?”
“That yellow Honda in the courtyard.”
She jerked her head toward the window. He was right. Teddy was back from London. “That’s … uh … that came in during the night.”
“Oh, really?” he said archly. “Was anybody driving it?”
She gave him a dirty look. “I’ll see if I can make arrangements to drive you to Moreton-in-Marsh. The trains to London are fairly regular.”
“Is that Lord Roughton?”
She weighed that one for a moment, then nodded. “And he’s your client?”
She headed for the door. “I’ll pick up the tray later. Don’t bother to bring it down.”
“Am I allowed to leave my room?”
“If you want to. That food is for Wilfred too.”
“He’s out exploring,” said Michael.
That made her nervous. “Uh … what is he, by the way?”
“What do you mean, what is he?”
“C’mon, Mouse … his ethnic origin.”
“Aborigine,” he answered, seeming rather pleased with himself. “With a little Dutch and English thrown in.”
“He seems very nice,” she said.
“He is nice.”
“Are you shtupping him?”
He shot daggers at her.
“O.K., O.K. I’ll see about the car.”
She returned to the kitchen. It had warmed up considerably, so she sat there for a while, sipping her tea and collecting her thoughts. The raisin bread had moved from the top of the refrigerator to the counter next to the sink. Teddy, obviously, had fixed a quick breakfast and