an hour.”
Max turned toward Charlie in exaggerated amazement. He said, “Zoe Cunningham has walked through that door thousands of times, and you were here for some of them, so what does that mean?”
“I don’t know. I mean, yes, Max, Zoe was your wife and my friend, but that was twenty years ago. Now—”
“Now you’re separated.”
“I don’t think that’s a factor. I mean—”
“Face it, Chaz. Here you are almost sixty and you have to make up for lost time.” He turned to the group. “You should see Charlie’s suitcase.”
“It’s a sample case.”
Max said, “Charlie decided to live his life backward. He got married at twenty and had five kids. Now the kids are all married and he has twelve grandkids, and he’s decided to live a little.”
“You laugh, but taking advantage of your best reproductive potential and highest fertility is the responsible thing to do. You pass on the optimum genetic material, for one thing. Pregnancies tend to be more trouble-free, and the likelihood of producing a child with problems is less—”
“Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Charlie Mannheim has been boning up on the latest research by the Cato Institute, or is it that Richard Mellon Scaife thing, what’s it called?”
“Fertility decline in women of European descent is—” He coughed and glanced around, then smiled. “Anyway, I’ll be happy to see Zoe. I hope she remembers me positively. I was a little self-centered in those days, I admit. The separation has been a real growth experience for me.”
“What about your wife?” said Cassie.
“Well, in the end she’s glad to get rid of me, she says now.”
“And he is giving her everything,” said Max. “That softened the blow. She gets the house and the money, and he gets the nutritional supplements.”
“Who gets the kids?” said Cassie.
“I know just what you mean!” exclaimed Charlie. “Everyone is in their thirties and married and has kids of their own and all, but every single one of them has an opinion, including my two sons-in-law.”
“Charlie is an outcast,” said Max.
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far. But there hasn’t been a lot of sympathy for my point of view.”
“You vacated your fancy job at PepsiCo just when you hit your earning peak, so I’m sure part of it is that they see their inheritance flying out the window.”
“That wasn’t completely part of the separation. That was more of a health issue. But I’m telling you, these supplements are a growth industry. Junk food is going to level off. Anything geriatric? Hunh! Out of this world. I mean, look at it this way. My grandkids aren’t allowed to drink soda, much less energy drinks. My kids drank free soda all their lives, and now they put soda down in the basement like it’s booze or something. All investments are ultimately driven by demographics. The soft-drink market seems permanent to outsiders, but it isn’t. There’s no telling what the Chinese market is going to do. The days when you put up a Pepsi sign and they all came running are gone. The market is too splintered. I mean, I told them—” Everyone was picking up plates and evidently beginning to think about other things. Charlie looked around the room for the rest of his audience, Elena thought. “Anyway,” he said, “I’m here. I’ll be glad to see Zoe again.” He glanced at Elena. “Of course, it’s wonderful to see you again, Elena.”
“Thank you, Charlie,” said Elena, picking up her own plate. That was the correct reply. She didn’t say that Simon had only had access to fresh, filtered water and organic low-fat milk. She had met Charlie once, the previous summer, when he and Max had happened to be in San Francisco at the same time. They had all gone to Postrio, and Charlie had talked about his separation for three and a half hours. She said, “You seem happier.”
“You know, I’m glad you said that, because I am—”
She smiled warmly and turned away from the island
Max turned toward Charlie in exaggerated amazement. He said, “Zoe Cunningham has walked through that door thousands of times, and you were here for some of them, so what does that mean?”
“I don’t know. I mean, yes, Max, Zoe was your wife and my friend, but that was twenty years ago. Now—”
“Now you’re separated.”
“I don’t think that’s a factor. I mean—”
“Face it, Chaz. Here you are almost sixty and you have to make up for lost time.” He turned to the group. “You should see Charlie’s suitcase.”
“It’s a sample case.”
Max said, “Charlie decided to live his life backward. He got married at twenty and had five kids. Now the kids are all married and he has twelve grandkids, and he’s decided to live a little.”
“You laugh, but taking advantage of your best reproductive potential and highest fertility is the responsible thing to do. You pass on the optimum genetic material, for one thing. Pregnancies tend to be more trouble-free, and the likelihood of producing a child with problems is less—”
“Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Charlie Mannheim has been boning up on the latest research by the Cato Institute, or is it that Richard Mellon Scaife thing, what’s it called?”
“Fertility decline in women of European descent is—” He coughed and glanced around, then smiled. “Anyway, I’ll be happy to see Zoe. I hope she remembers me positively. I was a little self-centered in those days, I admit. The separation has been a real growth experience for me.”
“What about your wife?” said Cassie.
“Well, in the end she’s glad to get rid of me, she says now.”
“And he is giving her everything,” said Max. “That softened the blow. She gets the house and the money, and he gets the nutritional supplements.”
“Who gets the kids?” said Cassie.
“I know just what you mean!” exclaimed Charlie. “Everyone is in their thirties and married and has kids of their own and all, but every single one of them has an opinion, including my two sons-in-law.”
“Charlie is an outcast,” said Max.
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far. But there hasn’t been a lot of sympathy for my point of view.”
“You vacated your fancy job at PepsiCo just when you hit your earning peak, so I’m sure part of it is that they see their inheritance flying out the window.”
“That wasn’t completely part of the separation. That was more of a health issue. But I’m telling you, these supplements are a growth industry. Junk food is going to level off. Anything geriatric? Hunh! Out of this world. I mean, look at it this way. My grandkids aren’t allowed to drink soda, much less energy drinks. My kids drank free soda all their lives, and now they put soda down in the basement like it’s booze or something. All investments are ultimately driven by demographics. The soft-drink market seems permanent to outsiders, but it isn’t. There’s no telling what the Chinese market is going to do. The days when you put up a Pepsi sign and they all came running are gone. The market is too splintered. I mean, I told them—” Everyone was picking up plates and evidently beginning to think about other things. Charlie looked around the room for the rest of his audience, Elena thought. “Anyway,” he said, “I’m here. I’ll be glad to see Zoe again.” He glanced at Elena. “Of course, it’s wonderful to see you again, Elena.”
“Thank you, Charlie,” said Elena, picking up her own plate. That was the correct reply. She didn’t say that Simon had only had access to fresh, filtered water and organic low-fat milk. She had met Charlie once, the previous summer, when he and Max had happened to be in San Francisco at the same time. They had all gone to Postrio, and Charlie had talked about his separation for three and a half hours. She said, “You seem happier.”
“You know, I’m glad you said that, because I am—”
She smiled warmly and turned away from the island
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