Taming a Sea Horse Read Free

eyes and smiled even more brightly and nodded vigorously. She looked around the room some more. Her eyes hesitated at the counter, went on, returned to the counter, and then moved away. I shifted into a more comfortable position in my chair and looked at the counter. It was crowded. I couldn't tell who she was looking at.
    "How have you been?" I said.
    "Oh, it's fun," she said. "It really is. I've met so many people and I have been just everywhere. I went to Nice last year with a client."
    "Ever hear from your parents?"
    "No."
    "You happy?"
    "What's not to be happy?" she said. "I have money, I go out every night. Clothes, fun."
    "You seem to have learned a lot," I said. "Very adult now. Worldly, sort of. Poised."
    "Oh, thank you. Mrs. Utley helped me a lot. She helps all the girls. She really does. I… I'm very grateful you fixed me up with her." Uncle Pandarus. The waiter came by and added coffee to my cup. April's was untouched.
    "How is Mrs. Silverman?" April said. She leaned toward me, her hands clasped, her chin resting on her thumbs.
    "Loving, intelligent, beautiful, funny, the usual stuff."
    April nodded. Her eyes were very green. They hadn't always been. I realized she was wearing tinted contacts. She said, "Boy, are you in love, huh?"
    I nodded. April's eyes moved over the room again and stopped. She was looking at the back of a tall black man sitting at the counter eating a croissant. Her eyes moved on. The waiter brought her eggs and my sandwich.
    "I love eggs Benedict," April said.
    "How come you didn't order them?" I said. "I might have ordered you Raisin Bran or something."
    She giggled. "Oh, you would not."
    We ate a little. The tall black guy at the counter finished his croissant and had a second pot of tea. While he waited for it he looked aimlessly around the room, his eyes passing over us with no flicker of hesitation. He was slender. His hair was cut short and his thin mustache was carefully trimmed. His pale beige linen suit was stylishly loose. His shirt was an off-white, his tie was a shiny beige silk, and his shoes were light tan with pointed toes. His skin was the color of coffee with milk. Talk about color-coordinated.
    "So you still haven't told me," April said, "what you're doing here in town."
    "Patricia Utley called me, told me you'd left and she couldn't find you."
    "She knows where I am," April said. "I talked with Steven."
    "When he found you."
    "I'm a big girl now," April said. "I don't have to tell everybody everything I'm doing."
    "That's true," I said.
    "So why are you here?"
    "Well, at first I came down to find you, in case something bad had happened, but now I get here and you're okay, I just wanted to make sure you'd made a wise career move."
    "I know what I'm doing," April said.
    "That puts you one up on me," I said. "How come you decided to make the change?"
    She poked at her eggs with the points of her fork. She made a small shrugging motion, like a bad habit almost broken.
    "How'd you hear about Tiger Lilies?" I said.
    "A guy I know," April said.
    "And the minute you heard the name you were enthralled," I said.
    She poked at her eggs some more, her shoulders frozen in their semi-shrug.
    "I've got to be a part of it, you said. Tiger Lilies are my life, you said."
    April shook her head. "No," she said. "You don't have to make fun of me. It wasn't like that."
    "So what was it?"
    "Like I told you, it was a guy I knew."
    "He wanted you to work for Tiger Lilies?"
    "He said it would be good for me," April said.
    "Was he right?"
    April nodded vigorously.
    "Will it be good for you next year?"
    April frowned. "Of course," she said.
    "How can you be sure?"
    "He says so."
    "How do you know he's right?"
    "He loves me," April said. She looked straight at me. "And I love him."
    "What could be better," I said.
    "You're in love," she said.
    I nodded.
    "Well, I am too. You think a hooker can't be in love?"
    "With a guy who wants you to keep hooking?" I said.
    "He's a musician. He's studying at