Page 67 of Lucky Night

She turns from the window.

A man, Nick. A man who was just here with us is almost certainly dead. Maybe a lot of other people are, too. That’s not agood sign,of anything.

We don’t know if he actually tried to leave, he points out. He could have found a room down the hall where a nice, nonadulterous couple is roosting. Maybe they’re all holed up in there right now, drinking overpriced wine and discussing the blessings of compulsory monogamy.

Goddammit! she cries. Stop fucking joking!

Sorry. He rises and comes to her. I’m sorry. It’s a bad habit. When things get stressful, I tend to make jokes, rather than—

What, have feelings? Be genuine?

Hey. He takes her hands. Let’s not attack each other again, okay? It’s important to stay united. We’ve never faced a situation like this before.

A crisis, she says.

Okay, a crisis. And I think that’s why it’s been rocky. We needed some time to adjust to how we each deal with this sort of thing. Now, we need to be a team.

A team? We barely know each other.

What? We’ve known each other for years.

Really, Nick? What’s my middle name?

She watches him struggle. He can’t admit that he doesn’t know.

It’s Grace, she says. Where was I born? What’s my favorite movie?

Those are random facts, Jenny, they’re not important,or—

Racine, Wisconsin, she says. AndMoonstruck.But we’ve never talked about the important stuff, either. Not much. Which is fine, we spend our time doing other things. But it means we don’t really know each other. Do you even know why I started sleeping with you?

Because of my ferocious cock and my magnetic sorry sorry sorry! He grabs at her hands as she pulls away. I told you, it’s a reflex. But what is it you want? Opening up, sharing our secrets—that hasn’t gone so well for us tonight.

Why are you so against talking about real things? she demands. Why are you so typically, tiredly male about not sharing your feelings?

Jesus, Jenny,I—

It’s so boring, she says. Aren’t you bored?

The room phone rings.

Eleven

It rings again. He moves swiftly towardit.

Hello?

Please. Please please please let this be good news.

Okay, sir? he says. Let me stop you right there. Should we be evacuating?

He listens. Their eyes meet.

He shakes his head.

Understood, he says. No, we won’t…we did, but we won’t try again.

She watches him listening. Is someone coming to get them? Is there a plan?

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