"I still think you're kidding," Heidi said, but she sounded less convinced than she had earlier.
"Look, call the cable company, and ask for The Channel. If I'm joking, they won't know what you're talking about," Carla said. "But if they tell you you've got it from eight p.m. on, then you know I'm not joking."
"It could be something totally different than you say it is. Pets. Or decorating." Heidi shifted her weight nervously.
"And it could be just what I've told you, which it is. If it isn't, and you're unhappy, I'll talk to Rick about letting Jeff put the house on the market sooner. That's fair, isn't it?" Carla gave her companion a little smile.
"I could say I got it and didn't like it, and you'd never know," Heidi replied.
"I don't believe you'd do that," Carla responded. "I think you'd play fair."
Heidi nodded. "Yes, I would. Besides, I really am curious to see if this channel of yours exists."
"What's your fantasy?" Carla probed gently, casually reaching for a bottle of red wine from Long Island.
"I had a boyfriend in college, and we tried erotic-asphyxiation fucking. It was incredible! I've never had an orgasm like that before or after. Jeff isn't into stuff like that," Heidi said. "I love him, but geez, it's tough to get him to be creative in the sack."
The leopard does not change his spots, Carla thought to herself. "So, there's your chance. The Channel."
"Can I get a guy with a fourteen-inch dick too?" Heidi wondered.
"Just think about it, and he'll be there," Carla assured her.
"How do I get from here to there once I get The Channel?" Heidi asked.
"Just touch the screen when you see your fantasy coming up. You'll figure it out, honey. Let me know how you liked it. I gotta go now. Pizza night, and my pie should be waiting at Tony's."
"What goes with Chinese takeout?" Heidi wondered.
"I'd try a domestic Chardonnay or white zinfandel," Carla suggested. "See ya around, honey." And she was quickly gone to pay for her wine and pick up her pizza.
Heidi Millar purchased the Chardonnay. Jeff didn't like pink wine, although she did prefer a zinfandel herself. She picked up the takeout at Wo Fat's and drove back to Ansley Court. Was Carla Johnson kidding her? How was such a thing as this channel possible? Still, would it hurt to try it? If it existed. And if it didn't, who was going to know? She just would say she didn't do it. Fourteen inches of meat, she thought. Jeff had been so preoccupied lately with the divorce, the house, and how the whole thing was appearing to the partners and the clients that he had really neglected her. They used to have sex every night. Now she was lucky if she could get him to get it up twice a week. She needed a good fuck, and she knew damned well she wasn't going to get it from Jeff tonight, or tomorrow night after they had driven back to the city, or any night soon. So why not try The Channel and hope it really did exist? Fourteen inches. Two and a half inches in circumference. A cock like that shoved up her would really feel good right now. She wanted some hot sex. And she wanted it rough. Thinking about her college boyfriend's hands about her neck squeezing, about her coming and coming, almost made Heidi drive off the road.
"Where have you been?" Jeff demanded in surly tones when she got to the house.
"Out picking us up a bottle of wine," she answered, going into the kitchen and setting down the bags. She could smell the Chinese, and her stomach rumbled in anticipation.
"How long does it take to pick out a bottle of wine in this town?" he demanded.
"Hey, the wine shop here is cool. It's got everything. I found that nice Australian white you like," she wheedled him. She held up the bottle as if it were a trophy, and gave him a quick kiss. "Now stop being so grumpy," she told him.
"What's this?" he demanded to know, holding up a narrow box.
Heidi flushed. "It's an e.p.t. test. Relax, I'm not pregnant. I was late, and I got nervous, but I got my period last week. I had it here so I could check this weekend if nothing happened."
"I told you no more kids!" he shouted, and then he slapped her. "Don't I have enough trouble without that? I don't want any more kids."
Stunned, Heidi's hand went to her face. Her eyes filled with tears. "Well, maybe I want a kid. Just one. Your kids hate me, and besides, they're grown."
"No kids," he told her firmly.
"You didn't have to hit me, Jeff," she quavered.
"Baby, I'm sorry." He gave her a quick hug. "It's this damned house! I hate it! I thought having her clothes packed away would do it, but Nora is everywhere in this house. I can't wait to sell the place, and be done with it."
"We don't have to come out here every weekend," Heidi said. "We're missing all the good parties now, you know. And we were invited to the preview of that new show last night. And there are at least two concerts coming up that I wanted to go to, Jeff."
"I can't leave the house alone on a weekend. It's safe during the week, but on the weekends the kids around here run wild," he told her. "There's nothing else for them to do but break into empty houses, drink the liquor, and trash the place. No, until I sell it, we're coming out on the weekends. Now, could we eat? I'm beat, and I want to go to bed. Jesus, that new toothpaste account is giving me fits. The music for the commercial just isn't right yet, and I can't figure it out."
"You will," Heidi soothed him as she filled their plates with the Chinese takeout. Carla Johnson had damned well better not be kidding about this channel thing. Jeff was beginning to look less and less like Prince Charming. Maybe after she'd had a good fuck she'd feel better. After all he was a partner, and he had bought the co-op, even if she was paying the bridge loan herself. She had made him put the co-op in her name. He really did love her. Well, as much as Jeff could love anything, but then, they made a great team. Creatively they were terrific together. And he usually looked good on her arm. Eye candy, she thought, smiling to herself. Until recently. The divorce was really wearing him out.
When they had finished dinner, Heidi put their dishes in the dishwasher, realizing that it was now full after three weekends. Pouring soap into the soap container, she turned it on. She'd unload it next weekend when they ran out of dishes. Housekeeping was not her forte. It never had been. But judging from Nora Buckley's well-kept, well-stocked kitchen, she was a Martha Stewart. I'll bet she cooks well too, Heidi thought. Jeff didn't seem to mind that Heidi didn't cook. She defrosted, and she reheated, and she ordered out, but cook? Who had time?
"Any dessert?" he asked.
"Fortune and almond cookies," Heidi said.
"Give me two almond cookies, and I'll finish the wine," he told her, pouring the remainder of it into his glass. "I'm going to bed. Sorry to leave you alone, baby, but I know you like The District." He put an arm about Heidi and gave her a kiss. "Night."
Heidi finished cleaning up, and then she went upstairs to shower. By the time she was in the black silk nightgown that looked as if it had been painted on her, Jeff was already snoring. Picking up the empty wineglass, she returned downstairs. Going into the den, she picked up the handset of the telephone. For a long moment she hesitated, and then she realized she didn't know the cable company's number. Looking around, she found the cable listing and dialed the number. She asked for The Channel, and other than her slight start when the operator called her Mrs. Buckley, it all went smoothly. Channel sixty-nine. Well, that was subtle, wasn't it? It was after eight o'clock. She turned on the television. The screen was dark, and then it lightened to show her a bedroom, dimly lit, with a large round bed in the center of it. Not at all hesitant, Heidi put her hand on the screen, and to both her surprise and delight, she found herself in that bedroom. Upon closer examination she saw the sheets were red satin. There was a mirrored ceiling above the bed. Heidi giggled. She had always imagined a room like this. There was something a little nasty, a little smutty, and very sordid about a room with a king-sized round bed with a mirror above it and red satin sheets.