The Charm School

showing off one last time for Lisa. Hollis excused himself and left the lounge.
    Alevy and Lisa remained standing. Alevy said, “I’m not happy to see you go. I’m sad to see you go.”
    Lisa didn’t respond.
    Alevy added, “I thought we could give it another try.”
    “I thought about it too. But other things have happened.”
    “I know.” Alevy picked up her glass and drank from it. “Well… maybe our paths will cross again, in some other godforsaken place. This is a strange life we’ve chosen.”
    “The Russians say, ‘To live a life is not as easy as crossing a field.’”
    “The Russians say a lot of things that don’t make any sense. Tartar haiku. You like the place. I don’t.”
    “But you like being the premier spy in the capital of the evil empire.”
    “Oh, yes.”
    “That’s what bothers me. Try to see the evil side of what
you
do.”
    “I don’t have time for moral abstractions. My job is to try to fuck the Soviets, and they respect me for it.”
    “All right, we’ve been through this. I just ask you to try to understand these people. As people. It will help you professionally as well as personally if you understand them.”
    “I try. We all try.”
    “Do we?” She glanced at the door, but there was no sign of Hollis. She put her hand on Alevy’s arm. “Be careful, Seth. I worry about you.”
    “Do you? You be careful yourself. You’re not home yet.” He finished her drink. “Piece of advice, Lady Lisa. His age is not that important. Neither is his present marital status. But if he enters that macho world of jet jockeys again, you’ve got a problem.”
    “I’m not considering marriage. What, by the way, were you two talking about until six A . M .? You both look like hell.”
    “I just needed some Red Air Force stats, and I needed Hollis’ name on the report as a cosigner. They respect him in Langley. Sorry if I intruded on your plans. Won’t happen again.” Alevy glanced at his watch. “I’m going to find Sam and say good-bye. You’ll be all right here.” He looked at her. “Well… there’s more I’d like to say, but they know too much about my personal life already.” He jerked his thumb up at the ceiling. “The evil ones. They get lots of tidbits from this room.”
    She shook her head. “I still never think about that.”
    “You don’t have to anymore. Just watch what you say when Sam returns. When you board the Pan Am 747, you can say whatever you like all the way to Frankfurt and beyond. The free world. I like that old Cold War phrase. The free world.”
    They both stood awkwardly for a moment, then Lisa said, “Write to me.”
    “Of course.”
    “I’ll let you know where I wind up.” She suddenly laughed. “How stupid of me. You’ll probably know before I do. I guess that was part of our problem. A woman likes to have a little privacy and a little mystery about herself. But you knew everything about everyone inside the walls of our castle. You were our Merlin.”
    “I never thought of it quite that way. Maybe that’s why no one asks me to bowl.” He smiled.
    She gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Good-bye, Seth. Thank you for everything—” She wiped her eyes. “We’ll meet again.”
    “I know we will.”
    Alevy suddenly pulled her close to him, put his mouth to her ear, and whispered, “Listen to me. You don’t have to leave on this flight… you have until midnight to leave Russia. There are two more flights to Frankfurt today. Tell Sam you’re not feeling well, and—”
    “Why?”
    “I… I thought we could… spend some time… a proper good-bye.”
    She looked at him. “Is that a proposition?”
    “No. Really, I just… look, what I’m trying to say is that Hollis is a target. I don’t like the idea of you being near him—”
    “I know that. He told me that, and I could figure that out for myself. But I’m not a wilting flower, Seth. I was willing to share any danger with you, and I will give him the same loyalty.”
    Alevy looked at her, and a sad smile came across his face. He nodded. “That’s why I love you.”
    They kissed, and Seth Alevy turned and walked quickly from the waiting room, the Russians and Americans in the room looking at him, then at Lisa.
    She sat down again and dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief as she leafed through an old copy of
Time.
“Damn you, Alevy. Damn men.” She looked at her watch. “Come on, Sam.”
    * * *
    Alevy found Hollis in the narrow corridor that led back to the main