Tales of the City 06 - Sure of You

Great.”
    “Yay,” crowed Shawna.
    “See,” said Brian. “I told you he’d do it.”
    The child looked at her father. “Can Michael be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle?”
    “Well, he could …”
    “It’s either that,” said Michael, “or Ann Miller.”
    Brian laughed. “I think your Ann Miller days are over.”
    “Why?” Michael grinned back at him. “Ann Miller’s aren’t.”
    Shawna looked at them both. “Who’s Ann Miller?”
    “Oh, God,” said Michael, laughing. “Don’t ask.”
    “Yeah,” said Brian, letting his eyes dart toward Shawna as a signal to Michael. “Certain undersized personages know too much about lipstick as it is.”
    Michael chuckled, remembering the incident—or at least Brian’s version of Mary Ann’s version of the incident. “Is she still upset about that?”
    “Who’s Ann Miller?” Shawna persisted.
    “She wasn’t really upset,” said Brian.
    The child, Michael was thinking, must have looked uncannily like her natural mother once a stiff’ coat of makeup had been applied. No wonder Mary Ann had freaked. Tacky of Connie Bradshaw, the bane of Mary Ann’s existence, back from the grave to do her embarrassing number all over again.
    “ Who’s Ann Miller ?”
    “She’s a lady who dances,” said Brian. “A woman.”
    “A lady,” said Michael.
    Brian laughed and touched his daughter’s shoulder. “You wanna hit the sack, Puppy?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Kiss Michael good night, then.”
    Shawna gave Michael a peck on the cheek.
    “That’s a cool dress,” said Michael.
    “Thanks,” she replied solemnly.
    “She got that special for tonight,” said Brian.
    “Well, it’s just right,” he told her. “It brings out the blue in your eyes.”
    Shawna basked in the attention for a moment, then looked at her father. “Are you gonna tuck me in?”

    “And anyway,” Mary Ann was saying when Michael returned, “it’s not exactly a state secret. Raquel Welch is absolutely notorious for being difficult…”
    Burke chuckled. “To put it mildly.”
    Thack laughed, apparently enjoying himself. Seeing Michael, he asked: “Have you heard this story?”
    “Oh, God,” said Mary Ann. “Too many times, I’m sure.”
    “A few,” he said. “It’s a good one.”
    “Well, it’s over,” she said, laughing, “so you’re safe. Where’s Brian?”
    “Putting Shawna to bed.”
    “Oh.”
    The phone rang in the guest bedroom. Since Michael was nearest to it, he said: “Shall I?”
    “Leave it,” said Mary Ann. “The machine’s on.”
    “Actually,” said Burke, “I’m halfway expecting a call from some friends. I left your number. I hope that’s all right.”
    “Of course.” Mary Ann hurried toward the ring.
    Burke offered the rest of his explanation to Thack and Michael. “They’re just here for a little while, and they wanted to meet for drinks later. I thought, if no one minded…”
    “Whatever,” said Michael.
    “Yeah,” said Thack.
    Mary Ann reappeared in the doorway. “It’s for you,” she told Burke quietly, almost reverently. “It’s Chloe Rand.”

Desperadoes
    S HE COULDN’T HELP NOTICING HOW PLACIDLY BURKE received this information. He smiled faintly and nodded, but his face betrayed nothing, not the slightest degree of amazement. She might just as well have told him his wife was on the phone.
    When he was out of the room, she turned to find Michael gaping at her. “Not the Chloe Rand?”
    Thack gave Michael a cranky look. “How many Chloe Rands can there be?”
    “They’re in town, you mean?” His expression was truly gratifying.
    “Yeah.” She resolved to remain as nonchalant about this as Burke. “Just for a day or so. They’re doing an AIDS benefit in L.A.”
    This provoked a grunt from Thack, but nothing else. She wasn’t about to ask him what he meant. He was forever grinding his axes in public, and she’d been singed by the sparks once too often.
    Michael gave Thack a peevish glance and seemed on the verge of saying something, when Burke reappeared. “Look,” he told her sheepishly, “my friends have asked us to join them for drinks at Stars. If that’s not O.K….”
    “No,” she said. “It’s fine.”
    “It’s Russell and Chloe Rand. I think you’d like them.”
    “Fine. Whatever.”
    “Guys?” Burke turned to Michael and Thack.
    “Great,” answered Michael, apparently speaking for both of them. She couldn’t tell what Thack was thinking. When he brooded, his face became an infuriating