Page 58 of Fade Out
“Well, of course not. Don’t be ridiculous—Oh, here’s our table.”
We were in the center of the room, very far from the front. Gloria stood a little straighter—hard to tell, as she was buried in flounces, but she managed. Then she waved the Buckmans over.
They were small and a little chubby. They both dyed their hair a shade too dark and spent too little time in the sun. He was dressed in a dusty tux, while she wore a sheath dress that was unflattering and years out of style.
“Elliot! Diane!” Gloria called out to get their attention. They immediately walked over and huddled around Gloria. Diane kissed her on the cheek. “I want you to meet a fr—someone I know. Nick Nowak.”
They said hello to me. Elliot held out a hand for me to shake. I shook it.
“Do you know where you’re sitting?” Gloria asked.
“Back that way,” Elliott said.
Gloria took two place cards off the table and handed them to Elliot. “Quick like a bunny, switch these for yours and come sit with us.” Elliot took the cards and went away, though not quite as quickly as a bunny would have.
Gloria looked at Diane Buckman and said, “It’s so good to see you!”
“It’s good to see you too, Gloria.” She seemed a bit wary, though many people were with Gloria. “We saw each other last night—”
“How is Hilly?”
“Oh, you know how girls are these days.”
“I do. My Danielle is at Northwestern. You’d think it was another planet as much as I see her. Do you see Hilly often?”
Diane shook her head, clearly uncomfortable. Then to me, she said, “I love Gloria’s column. Sometimes it’s the highlight of my day.”
“Oh, what a charming thing to say. I do my best to bring a little sunshine into people’s lives.” With a glance to me she added, “And the occasional thunderstorm.”
Diane smiled weakly.
“We should sit down,” Gloria said. We all did, just as Elliot came back with their place cards. “Thank you Elliot. I was just about to ask, Hilly’s skipping college, is that right?”
“She hates school,” Elliot said.
“It was a struggle getting her through high school,” Diane said.
“You’d think they’d do a better job, given what we paid,” her husband added.He must mean private high school, I thought. Otherwise he’d be complaining about taxes.
Given what Gloria had told me about their finances, I wondered if that didn’t have something to do with their daughter’s skipping college.
“Hilly is such a sweet girl though,” her mother said. “Not everyone needs to be book smart.”
“Is she working?”
Diane shook her head. Then she tried again to change the subject. “We heard Jane Byrne is going to be here…andthe mayor. Do you think there will be fireworks?”
Just then, another couple sat at the table with us. They were younger and very chic. They looked like the couple whose photo came in the frame when you bought it: perfect and bland at the same time.
“Hello. We’re the Whitmores,” he said.
“Kyle and Kelly,” she added. It gave me the feeling they did this a lot.
The Buckmans introduced themselves. I did too, though I just gave them my first name. “Nick.”
They glanced at Gloria, waiting. I don’t think she introduced herself often at these things.
“Oh. Gloria Silver. I write ‘The Silver Spoon.’”
