convinced that the only reason he'd experienced that moment of dread was because he'd thought Prentice might have killed her before Bryce could establish his California alibi, he got up and went to the kitchen and found in the refrigerator an open container of plain yogurt. That would settle his stomach. Lucie hadn't liked it when he'd eat yogurt directly from the carton, then put the carton back in the refrigerator, but there was no one around to complain now.
Back in the entryway, he glanced at the rest of the mail without opening it or caring about it, then at last opened the manila envelope from Wayne Prentice, and there they were, the three copies of the contract, with an extra blank sheet of typing paper that said only, in computer printout:
Enjoy California.
There were things to do, the travel agent to be called, other people, packing to do, Isabelle. Could she come to be with him for a while in California? But instead of doing any of that, he put in a call to lawyer Bob, and was told that he was with a client. 'Would you ask him to call me as soon as he's free? It's sort of urgent.'
She said she would, and he went to the bedroom to lay out the things he'd want to take to Los Angeles with him. Too early to phone people there, and he didn't yet feel like calling the travel agent.
The thing is, what if it wasn't necessary? If this divorce thing were going to end soon, then all he and Wayne would have to do would be wait a few weeks, maybe a month at the outside, and then turn in
Two Faces in the Mirror
without the threat of having to give half the money to Lucie. Once the agreement was signed, everything could work just like before, but without that one dangerous step.
If we don't have to take that one dangerous step, he told himself reasonably, it would be better. For us. For me.
It was almost an hour before lawyer Bob returned the call. His voice was distinctive, deep but rough and raspy, as though he could almost sing bass in a barbershop quartet except he wouldn't be quite musical enough. He said, 'Helen says it's urgent.'
'Well, I don't know about urgent,' Bryce said. 'The thing is, I'm going to LA for a while, possible movie deals—'
'I'd hold them up, if you can.'
'Oh, I know, we can do that,' Bryce assured him. 'The thing is, before I leave, I was wondering, is there any chance at all we're gonna see daylight soon?'
'Daylight?' Lawyer Bob didn't seem to understand the concept.
'I mean, closure,' Bryce said. 'Is there any possibility, in the next few weeks, we'll be signing those papers, getting this thing behind us?'
'Not a chance,' lawyer Bob said. 'Next few weeks? I thought you understood, Bryce, it isn't going to happen this year. Spring, if we're lucky.'
'Oh, Jesus, Bob, it's so—'
'Bryce, we've still got unresolved issues before the court. State of residency, for instance. Your copyrights exist where you are. If you were a Connecticut resident, and Lucie remained a New York resident throughout, can a New York court distribute Connecticut property? In some cases, yes. In this case, it's not so clear-cut.'
'I thought we resolved that,' Bryce said. 'I used the Connecticut house as my residence because Connecticut didn't used to have an income tax, and Lucie kept the New York apartment as her residence because it was in her name and they couldn't go crazy with the rent on us.'
'They're appealing the decision,' lawyer Bob said. 'It's really very dry and dull, Bryce, you don't want to hear every gory detail, but believe me, at the end of the day, we'll prevail.'
'The end of the day.'
'Frankly, I think one reason they're stalling is because they're waiting for your next book to be published.'
'Bastards.'
'At some point, not yet,' lawyer Bob said, 'we can make that argument to the court, and I believe it will be persuasive. Until then, we just have to go through the process, that's all.'
'Not this year.'
'Next year. Almost guaranteed.'
'Almost?' He couldn't believe lawyer Bob was
Back in the entryway, he glanced at the rest of the mail without opening it or caring about it, then at last opened the manila envelope from Wayne Prentice, and there they were, the three copies of the contract, with an extra blank sheet of typing paper that said only, in computer printout:
Enjoy California.
There were things to do, the travel agent to be called, other people, packing to do, Isabelle. Could she come to be with him for a while in California? But instead of doing any of that, he put in a call to lawyer Bob, and was told that he was with a client. 'Would you ask him to call me as soon as he's free? It's sort of urgent.'
She said she would, and he went to the bedroom to lay out the things he'd want to take to Los Angeles with him. Too early to phone people there, and he didn't yet feel like calling the travel agent.
The thing is, what if it wasn't necessary? If this divorce thing were going to end soon, then all he and Wayne would have to do would be wait a few weeks, maybe a month at the outside, and then turn in
Two Faces in the Mirror
without the threat of having to give half the money to Lucie. Once the agreement was signed, everything could work just like before, but without that one dangerous step.
If we don't have to take that one dangerous step, he told himself reasonably, it would be better. For us. For me.
It was almost an hour before lawyer Bob returned the call. His voice was distinctive, deep but rough and raspy, as though he could almost sing bass in a barbershop quartet except he wouldn't be quite musical enough. He said, 'Helen says it's urgent.'
'Well, I don't know about urgent,' Bryce said. 'The thing is, I'm going to LA for a while, possible movie deals—'
'I'd hold them up, if you can.'
'Oh, I know, we can do that,' Bryce assured him. 'The thing is, before I leave, I was wondering, is there any chance at all we're gonna see daylight soon?'
'Daylight?' Lawyer Bob didn't seem to understand the concept.
'I mean, closure,' Bryce said. 'Is there any possibility, in the next few weeks, we'll be signing those papers, getting this thing behind us?'
'Not a chance,' lawyer Bob said. 'Next few weeks? I thought you understood, Bryce, it isn't going to happen this year. Spring, if we're lucky.'
'Oh, Jesus, Bob, it's so—'
'Bryce, we've still got unresolved issues before the court. State of residency, for instance. Your copyrights exist where you are. If you were a Connecticut resident, and Lucie remained a New York resident throughout, can a New York court distribute Connecticut property? In some cases, yes. In this case, it's not so clear-cut.'
'I thought we resolved that,' Bryce said. 'I used the Connecticut house as my residence because Connecticut didn't used to have an income tax, and Lucie kept the New York apartment as her residence because it was in her name and they couldn't go crazy with the rent on us.'
'They're appealing the decision,' lawyer Bob said. 'It's really very dry and dull, Bryce, you don't want to hear every gory detail, but believe me, at the end of the day, we'll prevail.'
'The end of the day.'
'Frankly, I think one reason they're stalling is because they're waiting for your next book to be published.'
'Bastards.'
'At some point, not yet,' lawyer Bob said, 'we can make that argument to the court, and I believe it will be persuasive. Until then, we just have to go through the process, that's all.'
'Not this year.'
'Next year. Almost guaranteed.'
'Almost?' He couldn't believe lawyer Bob was
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