Shoes that'd put me on my ass I tried to wear them.
But, man, they looked cool.
"You're busy." Sutton's eyes scanned the desk.
"I was just working on the story."
Rune casually picked up several of the closest paper bags – one Kentucky Fried and two Burger Kings -and dropped them into, well, onto an overflowing wastebasket.
"You want to, like, sit down?"
Sutton looked at a ketchup packet that rested on the one unoccupied chair. "No. I don't." She leaned forward and ejected the tape that was in the Sony player, then read the label. "Brand X," she said. "It's from a competitor. You can't use this footage, you know. I'm not putting a super in any of my news programs that says 'Courtesy of another network.'" She handed the tape back to Rune.
"I know. I'm just using it for background."
"Background." Sutton said the word softly. "I want to talk to you. But not here. Are you doing anything for dinner?"
"I was just going to John's for pizza. They're like real generous with their anchovies."
Sutton walked away. "No. You'll have dinner with me."
"The thing is, there's this person. Can they come with us?"
"I want to talk to you in private."
"Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of her. She's, you know, discreet."
Sutton shrugged, took one last look at the desk and didn't seem to like what she saw. "Whatever." Then she scanned Rune's pink T-shirt and miniskirt and fishnet stockings and ankle boots and she said, "You do have a dress, don't you?"
Rune said defensively, "I've got two, as a matter of fact."
She wondered what she was missing when Sutton laughed. The anchorwoman wrote out an address and handed it to Rune. "That's between Madison and Fifth. Be there at six-thirty. We'll do the pretheater. Don't want to spend more than we need to, do we?"
"That's okay. My friend likes to eat early."
You couldn't call it a tip. It was a bribe.
Jacques, the maitre d', took the money Sutton offered him and slipped it into the pocket of his perfectly pressed black tuxedo. However much it was – Rune didn't see – the cash might have bought them access to the dining room but it did nothing to cheer up the poor, sullen man. He sat them at a table off to the side of the main dining room then surveyed Courtney. He said, "Maybe a phone book."
Rune said, "Yellowand White Pages."
Jacques pursed his unhappy Gallic lips and went off in search of the best child-seating device New York Telephone could offer.
Rune looked around the room. "This is like really, really amazing. I could get into it. Living this way, I mean."
"Uhm."
The theme of L'Escargot seemed to be flowers and – probably as with the food – excess was in. The center of the room was dominated by a twisty vined centerpiece, sprouting orchids and roses and baby's breath. The walls held huge paintings of flowers. Rune liked them. They were what Monet would have done if all he'd used electric-colored Crayolas instead of oil paint. Rune more or less matched the decor. She'd raced home to change into one of the two dresses, a purple-and-white Laura Ashley Floral, which was her spring and summer dress. It was several years old, but had very little mileage on it.
On the table in front of them was a bird of paradise in a tall glass vase and some kinky-looking green thing like a pinecone, which, if you were to see it inNational Geographic, you wouldn't be able to tell whether it was a plant or fish or huge insect. Rune pointed at the bird of paradise. "I love these dudes." She petted it. "I don't think it looks like a bird at all. I think it looks like a dragon."
Courtney said, "I like dragons."
Sutton stared at them blankly. "Dragons?"
The little girl added, "I'm going to be a knight. But I wouldn't kill any dragons. I'd have them for pets. Rune's going to take me to the zoo and we're going to look at dragons."
Through teeth that never separated more than a quarter inch, Sutton said, "How wonderful."
Jacques returned with two bulky phone directories and set them on the third chair at the table. Courtney smiled as he lifted her up and set her on top.
He turned to Sutton. "This really cannot be, uh, habitue I, nonl"
"Jacques, have someone bring the little girl some…" She looked at Rune with a raised eyebrow.
"She loves pizza."
"We are a French restaurant, miss."
"She also likes pickles, clam chowder, smoked oysters, rice, anchovies-"
"Huitres,"Jacques said. "They are poached and served with pesto and beurre blanc."
Sutton said, "Fine. Just have somebody cut them up into little pieces. I don't want to watch her mauling food. And have the sommelier bring me a Puligny-Montrachet." She looked at Rune. "Do you drink wine?"
"I'm over twenty-one."
"I'm not asking for a driver's license. I want to know if an eighty-dollar bottle of wine will be wasted on you."
"Maybe a White Russian would be more my speed."
Sutton nodded to the maitre d' and said, "Find me a half bottle, Jacques. A Mersault if there's no Puligny."
"Oui, Miss Sutton."
Huge menus appeared. Sutton scanned hers. "I don't think we want anything too adventurous. We'll have scallops to start." She asked Rune, "Do you swell up or turn red when you eat seafood?"
"No, I get fish sticks all the time at this Korean deli. And-"
Sutton waved an abrupt hand. "And then the pigeon."
Rune's eyes went wide. Pigeon?
Jacques said,"Salades, after?"
"Please."
Rune's eyes danced around the room then settled on the arsenal of silverware and empty plates in front of her. The procedures here seemed as complicated as Catholic liturgy and the downside if you blew it seemed worse. Be cool, now, she told herself. This's your boss and she already thinks you're damaged.
Rune resisted the fierce impulse to scratch under her bra strap.
The first course arrived, along with the little girl's oysters.
"Gross dudes," Courtney said but she began to eat them eagerly. "Can we buy these for breakfast? I like them."
Rune was thankful Courtney was with them; the girl gave her something to do besides feeling uncomfortable. Picking spoons up off the floor, wiping oyster off her face, keeping the vase vertical.
Sutton watched them and for the first time since Rune had known her the anchorwoman's face softened. "So that's what it's like."
"What?" Rune asked.
"Kids."
"You don't have children?"
"I do. Only I call them ex-husbands. Three of them."
"I'm sorry."
Sutton blinked and stared at Rune for a minute. "Yes, I believe you are." She laughed. "But that's one thing I regret. Children. I-"
"It's not too late."
"No, I think it is. Maybe in my next life."
"That's the worst phrase ever made."
Sutton continued to study her with curiosity. "You just barge right through life, don't you?"
"Pretty much, I guess."
Sutton's eyes settled on Courtney. Then she reached forward and, with a napkin as big as the girl's dress, wiped her cheek. "Messy little things, aren't they?"
"Yeah, that part's kind of a drag. And she isn't really into being sloppy tonight – I told her to behave. For lunch the other day, okay? We're eating bananas and hamburger, all kind of mixed together and-"
Sutton's hand swept across the table. "Enough."
Two waiters brought the main courses. Rune blinked. Oh, God. Little birds.
Sutton saw her face and said, "Don't worry. They're not your kind of pigeons."
My kind?
"They're more like quail."
No, what they were like was little hostages with their hands tied behind their backs.