"And then one day and that day was blue

Came someone who didn't ask at all.

And he went and hung his hat on the nail in my little attic,

And what happened, I can't quite recall.

And as he'd got no money,

And was not a nice chap.

With his Sunday shirts not even white as snow,

And as he'd no idea of treating a girl with due respect,

I could not tell him no."

Miss Polly Peachum, after meeting arch-criminal, Mack The Knife/From "The Threepenny Opera" by Kurt Weill and Bertholt Brecht.

1

Adjoining.

Something about the word makes me shiver.

I don't think I've ever stayed in so lovely a place.

It smells expensive.

I turn the key in the lock.

Not just a bed, but couches and chairs and a velvety rug.

Through the patio door, the sound of waves lapping the sand.

On the bed, three dresses.

This is too nice.

2

The white dress is very smart

The green dress is very handsome older woman.

Rather near the knuckle at this point in my life.

The pink dress gives me impossible cleavage.

And not squished-together, armpit-bulging cleavage.

But Rachel Zoe-wielding-duct tape cleavage.

How did Jane guess not only cup size but volume, density, angle of repose and atomic weight?

3

I descend the stairs.

It occurs to me that Pike…uh, Marcus would like the hotel robes.

Jane looks up from the table and smiles.

I'm drawn forward by his tractor beams.

I do not want to think about Pike right now.

Cho and Abbott are there.

Cho looks up from the table.

His eyes scan my outfit.

He grabs Abbott who's nose deep in a glass of Bordeaux and hustles him out the door.

4

Jane has ordered the tasting menu for two.

Eight bite-size courses, each with a matching wine.

I eat an oyster with mignonette sauce.

I seem to like oysters for the first time in my life.

I eat cold foie gras d'oie.

Jane teaches me how to say f-wah grah d-wah.

I say it three times fast and get hiccups.

He scoops an ice cube out of his drink and touches it to my collarbone.

My hiccups stop.

5

His hand rests on the small of my back as we climb the stairs.

We hug good night.

This was a great send-off.

He unlocks his door.

I unlock mine.

We enter and close our doors at the same time.

I stand in the dark in the middle of my room teetering on my platform sandals.

I really ought to call Pike.