Mortal Friends Read Free

Grant’s bank.”
    “Aha!”
    “And Miss Cynical, I’m thinking of you ,” she quickly added. “Wouldn’t it be nice if Cynthia bought a house and wanted you to decorate it? Last time I heard you could use the business. So just like her and zip it for your own good!”
    As I watched her trip off to her table, confident in her own quiet way that she was in complete control of her world, I thought—not for the first time—how lucky I was to have Violet for a friend.
    But that was the last night when all was what it seemed to be.

Chapter 2
    A t dinner I found myself seated between an empty chair and Bob Poll. Bob was one of those ageless rakes with thick salt-and-pepper hair, a military bearing, and a decade-defying face with a lot of traction on it. He could have been forty; he could have been sixty. It was impossible to tell. But judging from his success and the length of time he’d been a prominent figure in Washington, he was probably closer to sixty. Poll had made a fortune in local real estate, then parlayed his wealth into high social standing by donating often and generously to the city’s most prestigious institutions. He was on the board of the Kennedy Center and the opera, but he also advised and funded other, less well-known charities, which made people inclined to respect him. He was good company, and he had a smooth way about him. The rumors of a dark side made him even more intriguing.
    “What a nice surprise,” Bob said as I sat down, giving me a whiff of his musky whisky breath.
    Bob passed for an eligible bachelor even though he’d been involved for a number of years with Melody Hartford, an attractive lobbyist. Everyone assumed that Bob and Melody would eventually marry, but that didn’t prevent him from flirting with other women, and occasionally stepping out with them.
    “Hey, Bob, how’re you doing?”
    “Actually, better than expected.” He paused to unfurl his napkin.
    “Oh? What’s wrong?”
    He cleared his throat. “Well, I’ve been involved with a woman fora while…” He said this like I was the only person in the Western world who didn’t know who he was dating.
    “Melody Hartford,” I interjected.
    “Right. I forget that everybody knows everybody’s business here.”
    “No, just everybody’s pleasure,” I said with an insincere smile.
    “Well, my pleasure and I just broke up.”
    “You broke up with Melody?” I was genuinely surprised. “But she’s here tonight. I saw her.”
    “Not with me.”
    “Wow. You guys were together a long time.”
    “On and off.”
    “You’ll get back together,” I said with conviction.
    He looked at me askance. “What makes you say that?”
    “How many times have you broken up before?”
    “Too many.”
    “People always break up more than once. In fact, a lot of people break up right before they decide to get married,” I said.
    “Right. And those are the people who get married when they should get divorced. We got divorced first and saved ourselves a prenup.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that.” I was actually being quite earnest.
    “Don’t be too sorry,” he said.
    I could see why Bob was catnip to women. He was flirtatious. Yet he gave the impression of always being slightly amused, as if he understood it was all a game and he was inviting me to play.
    He glanced over to my right, where there was an empty seat. “Who’s your date?”
    I handed him the place card. “Senator Grider. He’s not my date.”
    “Zack Grider. Powerful man.”
    “Is he? I don’t know him. But then, I’m so pathetically apolitical.”
    “Grider’s chairman of the Finance Committee.”
    “That’s nice. What does the Finance Committee do?”
    Bob looked at me askance. I couldn’t figure out whether he found my naïveté charming or just plain stupid.
    “It’s basically like the Ways and Means Committee—maybe a little less powerful.” I stared at him blankly, waiting for him to elaborate. “It looks after tax, trade, and health