CHAPTER 37

AS SOON AS ANNIE WAS OUT OF THE APARTMENT, BRIAN CALLED HER ON HER CELL PHONE. He thought it was important to tell her again he’d had a good time, that he respected her as a broker and a woman, and that everything was going to be all right. Unfortunately her cell phone was off, so he couldn’t tell her. Furthermore, he didn’t think it would be right to leave that kind of message. He shrugged to himself and put the phone aside only to pick it up and try again five minutes later. The cell was still off.

He poured himself another drink, then sat on the sofa naked, fondling his penis as he thought about all the things he liked about Annie. It was a very pleasant occupation for a few minutes. But soon his drink was all gone, and only the melting ice was left. Then he started worrying about her having to go home to a husband she hated. No one should have to do that. He headed for the shower, thinking that he was going to rescue her from a terrible fate. As he soaped himself down, he congratulated himself on his plan for getting Annie for himself. Of all the women he knew, she was the one he liked the most. Ever since they’d met, she’d been his unattainable ideal, the good wife who’d both worked and stayed home. Everything about her was exactly right. She never went to the free lunches the big corporations threw for their IPOs. She wasn’t a parasite on the firm, or her clients. She didn’t buy and sell just to generate income for herself as some brokers did. Most of the complaints he had to deal with were frivolous cases of people trying to get back money they’d lost in the course of doing business and taking risks. But some cases were well founded. Brokers did a lot of things they shouldn’t do, buying and selling when they felt like it, just for the commissions. Most of the time they didn’t get caught. Sometimes they did, and the firm had to pay reparations. And sometimes brokers became ensnared in messy situations not of their own making. Ben came to mind.

Brian knew that Annie really did think of the needs of her clients first. It hadn’t been smart to help her friend Carol, but getting caught up in the mess had humbled her. And frankly he liked her better humbled. Gone was the know-it-all Annie. This Annie wasn’t in such a hurry to go home to her washed-up husband. She wasn’t so snippy and contemptuous of him. And surprise, she was a tiger in bed. But there was more to Brian’s attraction than this short list. He admired her for having no enemies. Everybody liked her. Everybody. Nobody had a mean thing to say about Annie Custer. Her girls were beautiful. He wouldn’t mind being a stepdad to them. One of them was out of the house, graduated from high school and gone. The other one could live with her father. He didn’t know anything about children, but these children were already grown. He didn’t think they would be a problem to the relationship.

Brian was already planning the rest of his life when he got out of the shower and dialed her number. The phone rang while he toweled himself dry. Annoyed that the cell phone was still off, he checked his watch. Even if Annie had walked home, she should be there by now. He considered dialing her home number. After all, he was the branch manager. He could call any employee anytime he wanted to. He hesitated, not really wanting to talk with either Ben or the two pretty girls. He decided that the thoughtful thing would be to wait a little while in case she was having dinner. And that led him to food.

Meals in general made Brian anxious, so Annie’s having dinner somewhere else, and without him, was doubly upsetting. He did not like to eat alone. Every lunch and every dinner was an issue. He had to come up with some date, some male friend, someone to eat with him every day. Managing a stream of people with whom to eat was more time-consuming than managing the office. Tonight he was disappointed that his new love interest had gone home, and he knew that he could avoid the dinner issue by going to the gym. But after the martilas and the lovemaking, he didn’t feel like getting all sweaty on a stupid treadmill.

Since he couldn’t think of anyone to call this late and didn’t feel like ordering in, he finally pulled on a pair of jeans, a black Polo shirt, and a leather jacket. Still a little buzzed from the alcohol and the prospect of a new life, he walked slowly over to Third Avenue. As he walked, he dialed Annie’s cell a few more times just in case she’d turned it on again. She hadn’t, but that didn’t daunt him. He was just so elated.

Annie on his sofa had been an excellent event, better than Mary Beth, who was actually quite a dullard in bed. She’d moved in a wooden kind of way and hadn’t been able to learn how to touch him right. Annie, however, had the touch. She didn’t need instruction. And she had the look. And everybody liked her. That meant a lot to him. He went over his list and it didn’t change. Annie seemed very right.

Outside, night had settled in, but Third Avenue was crowded with people on their way home or their way out, people looking for food and maybe an instant friend. Brian mingled for a while without talking with anyone. As he did every night, he was thinking that it was time for him to settle down, but tonight he really had someone in mind. He was cranked up enough to enter the raucous Café Daum and seek out a solo table, so pleased with himself that he didn’t even mind ordering a skirt steak and frites, then eating them all by himself. He’d sorted everything out in his mind. He was done searching for love.