Heloise and Bellinis Read Free Page A

whether the noise that could even be heard in the lobby of the Sole Hotel a mile away was the South American woman cooing with love or a hefty contralto warming up her vocal cords.
    They came rather often, and soon the whole town knew about their audio performance. When they came through the door of the hotel, the bar would already be full of fans hoping to make a night of it with a cup of coffee. After a few minutes of silent preliminaries, the sounds would start up. One listener was an elderly Greek teacher and a music lover, and when the couple upstairs started their concertizing, he would exclaim to himself: “Sublime, marvelous. What resonance!”
    The first act usually lasted about an hour, and then the audience would take a stroll in the garden and comment on the performance. When the Milanese nobleman made his rather bewildered way down the stairs after the second act, he would often be greeted by applause and congratulations. One afternoon old Signora Noemi, a charming centenarian accompanied by her eighty-year-old daughter, even tried to give him a kiss.
    There must have been a terrific struggle in that room—I mean the room that George and Heloise shared—because Harry told me it took two architects, seventeen carpenters, a plumber, and an electrician more than two months to get everything back in order. Which made George’s bill that much higher.
    END OF THE INTERMEZZO BETWEEN CHAPTERS THREE AND FOUR

CHAPTER FOUR
In which George and Heloise finally leave the room and go out into the world
.
    About ten o’clock one morning, exactly two weeks after George rented the room, the two of them came down the stairs and walked into the bar. Harry greeted them quite naturally and asked if they would like some coffee. George ordered double coffee for two.
    George and Heloise seemed perfectly happy, to judge by their incredibly radiant glances. They didn’t utter a word the whole time they sat in the bar; they were absorbed in thought.
    Heloise had lost a bit of her tan, and George’s face seemed drawn but rested, Harry continued in silence to polish his gleaming counter. He lifted the bottles one by one, dusted them, and put them back.
    George got up^ and said, “Harry, we’re leaving. Would you get me the bill?”
    “Here it is. 1 drew it up in advance.” He set the bill in front of George.
    George signed it and told Harry to send it to his wealthy aunt in Alabama. “Ill write down the address for you.”
    Harry said that he already had the address. He didn’t think it proper to forward the bill. He didn’t even have the heart to tell George that he had been reported killed in action.
    “Thanks for everything, Harry See you soon.”
    “Good-bye, Private Smith. Good-bye, madam.” Harry held the door for them, and there was a sudden gust of very dry torrid air.
    George and Heloise stepped out into the dusty street. There was an unearthly calm, as if the city had suddenly died. The only sound was a car horn in the distance, and then silence. George put his arm around Heloise’s waist, and the two of them slowly ambled down the street. When they got to the corner, George noticed a jeep parked across the street. There was an American soldier at the wheel. George went over to him and said, “Hi, Tom.”
    “Hi, George,” the soldier replied.
    “Do you mind if I take the jeep, buddy?”
    “When will 1 get it back?”
    “Maybe never.”
    “OK.” Tom owed George a lot of favors. “Whenever you like.”
    Tom got out of the jeep, bowed to George, and helped Heloise get in.
    “She’s beautiful,” Tom said.
    “Forget it.” George smiled.
    “See you soon.”
    George turned the key and the engine started to belch. He put it into first gear, and the jeep moved forward, raising a cloud of dust behind. They took the first right and headed for the hills. Tom ran to the corner and watched them drive away until the cloud of dust behind them disappeared on the far horizon.
    END OF CHAPTER FOUR
INTERMEZZO
BETWEEN