Wetware by Craig Nova

Author:Craig Nova
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9780307430151
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2007-12-17T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 6

April 5, 2029

KAY AND JACK walked across the bridge into the haze of lights, and up to a window in which the mannequins moved, their clothes changing, and behind them the weather of the window turned from a clear day in spring to a snowy one in winter, short skirts and sleeveless tops morphing into coats and boots that were worn in the midst of a storm of perfect flakes.

Kay took in every detail of the store’s luxury: the polished metal, the wooden banisters, the brass plates that had small, graceful lettering, all imbued with an opulent mixture of sizing, furniture polish, and the lingering ozone that came from the work of machines that cleaned the carpets. She picked out underwear, which she tried on in front of a mirror, and then in front of Jack, who tried to say just what it was that each article did for her, or didn’t. Peach or gray? Red? Black net? He liked the sheer things she stood in, garter belt, brassiere, stockings. She picked out silk dresses, and some made from other materials, too, that hung from her shoulders and hips, breasts, over her arm in such a way that suggested fluid grace and a perfection of figure. She didn’t know how she knew a line of poetry, but she did, and she said out loud, “Wherever Julia goes I see the quiet liquefaction of her clothes . . . ”

“Herbert,” said Jack. “Or is it Crashaw?”

“I thought it was Lovelace,” said Kay.

“Naw,” said Jack. “Not Lovelace. Lovelace is a dog.”

“Well, who’s good, if you know so much?” said Kay.

“Yeats,” said Jack. “Hardy. Eliot.”

She bought some skirts, blouses, a sweater, and an overcoat. When she tried on the coat, she put her hand into one of its pockets a couple of times to see how fast she could do it

Upstairs in the hotel, the bags from the stores seemed to exist as a cloud of tissue paper and a miasma from the cosmetics counters. Kay held up one thing and then another, looking at herself in the mirror, letting a skirt fall across her legs. Then she went into the bathroom and ran the water, the steam filling the room like white smoke. She got into the tub and let the water creep up her sides. Jack came in and sat on the toilet seat. She shaved her legs and underarms. Then he said, “So, are you going to go out?”

“Just for a little,” she said.

“Oh,” he said. “Do you want me to come along?”

“No,” she said.

He sat there.

“You want to be careful,” he said.

“Sure,” she said. “I know that.”

“Maybe I should come along,” he said.

She shook her head.

“Hand me a towel, will you?” she said.

He handed her a towel, which she wrapped around herself. In the other room he sat and watched as she tried on some of the clothes she had bought. Then she put on her trench coat, and as she stood by the door, Jack said, “You better take this.

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