Incident on Ten-Right Road by Randall Silvis

Author:Randall Silvis
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Riverdale Avenue Books
Published: 2019-06-19T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

For the next three hours I watched the clock tick. I was short-tempered with a petulant Fleming, I flirted brazenly with Allison and even with one of the assistant producers, a mousy girl of 22. Allison, married and with two small children, responded with a bemused look, but the assistant producer giggled and blushed and then kept smiling at me every chance she got. In short, I embarrassed myself. Watching myself was like watching an oafish brother but not knowing how to tell him how foolish he looks.

O’Hanlon’s was quiet at 9:00 in the evening, a handful of unmarried or unhappily married businessmen lingering over their drinks, watching the television above the bar. I stepped inside and saw Brady and Michelle at the table farthest from the door. They were sitting side by side facing the door and already smiling when I came in, but it was Michelle on whom the light from the table’s candle fell, her eyes and smile that claimed most of the room’s muted glow, so that Brady appeared almost dark beside her and insubstantial.

He stood and came striding toward me, hand stretched out. “Damn it’s good to see you, Mike. Damn it’s good.” There was something about the way he squeezed my hand, a feverish quality that put me on guard.

He threw an arm around my shoulder and steered me to the table. Michelle smiled up at me but said nothing. She was wearing a white flowered dress with a high collar, the dress peppered with primroses, and her short white gloves. I could smell her perfume and was already lightheaded from it.

By now Brady was rubbing his hand between my shoulders, briskly up and down, too nervous to stand still. “Sweetheart,” he said to her, “this is the man himself, this is my old buddy Mike. My best damn friend in the whole damn world.”

She held out a hand to me. I took it softly and felt the pull of it deep inside my chest, felt my breath snag on her smile. “I’m so glad to finally meet you,” she said. “I’m Adrianna.”

Brady missed my flinch of confusion but she did not. Her smile flickered at the corners. Her eyes laughed.

“Adrianna Morgan,” Brady said. “My Addie. The most beautiful woman in the whole damn world.”

“Damn is his favorite adjective,” she said. “Especially when he’s been drinking.”

I did not know how to react to the name change, whether to consider it a harmless joke or something else. She kept smiling at me and did not look away.

I realized then that I was still holding her hand, and let go of it, and turned to Brady. “You mean to tell me you’ve been drinking? And in a bar, no less?”

He laughed, too loud, and slapped me on the back. “Damn right, and so are you. Sit, sit, I’ll get us some drinks. Beer for you, right? You know they don’t even have table service in this joint? You have to order at the freaking bar.

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